Perhaps in the midst of SIFF you would like to take a break? That would be crazy. But if you would like to watch a film at home for a change, there are plenty of options new to DVD.

Unfortunately, the big new releases for this week are not very good. I Am Number Four, based on the first book in the “thrilling paranormal teen romance sci-fi adventure” series, is about an alien or something, while Gnomeo and Juliet is yet another kids’ film overly heavy on adult pop culture references. Which means that you’re going to have to split the difference and watch The Royal Wedding: William and Catherine instead.

Better bets for new DVD releases this week are in the documentary section. There’s Martin Scorsese’s look at writer Fran Liebowitz in Public Speaking, while Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies shows early filmmaking’s influence on cubism. A Small Act is the true story of how a young Kenyan boy’s life is changed when his education is paid for by a woman he never met, and after he becomes a success, he decides to pay it forward. Similarly, there’s Phish: Live in Utica.

This week also brings four documentaries to DVD by French director Nicolas Philibert: In The Land Of The Deaf, his 1992 film chronicling the lives of hearing-impaired people of all ages and walks of life; Every Little Thing (1997) follows patients at a psychiatric clinic as they put on a play; and Louvre City (1990) goes behind the scenes of the world-famous museum. His latest film Nenette is a portrait of a 40-year-old orangutan who lives at the Paris zoo.

And that’s when the documentaries started to get weird. Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo played SIFF a few years ago, and explores the number of beetles and other insects kept as tiny pets in Japan! Do not see Eatrip until after you’ve already had a big meal. The film explores the interpersonal relationships that food nurtures via an “eating trip” (hence the title), and this documentary takes you on a journey through Japan looking at how life can be lived richly simply through the daily ritual of eating. Meanwhile, in God Went Surfing with the Devil, young surfers (Israelis and Arabs) risk their lives to hit the waves by smuggling surfboards into Gaza.

Seasons 1 and 2 of Adult Swim’s Grey’s Anatomy satire Children’s Hospital are now on DVD, in anticipation of the beginning of season 3 next week. Also on the comedy tip is The Kids in the Hall’s latest, Death Comes to Town. Transformers: The Complete Series is out on DVD, as is The Unknown War: WWII and the Epic Battles of the Russian Front, which are really the same thing, if you think about it. If you have not lived until you’ve seen Ice Road Truckers taking on India, there’s season 1 of Deadliest Roads. And surely you’ve heard of the sitcom pairing up Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence? Whoa.

Also this week, Platoon has a new two-disc Blu-Ray DVD combo pack, the Gettysburg director’s cut is now on Blu-Ray, and not to be outdone, Gods and Generals has an expanded director’s cut out this week. The Criterion Collection has two new releases, and they’re big ‘uns: Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator and Andrey Tarkovsky’s Solaris. Shout Factory has another new Roger Corman Cult Classics double feature with Eat My Dust and Grand Theft Auto. Also new to Blu-Ray: Tigerland, Grand Prix, Le Mans, and Papillon.

In the grab bag, The Big Bang is a budget bin private investigator thriller that somehow stars Antonio Banderas, James Van Der Beek, and Snoop Dogg. And I don’t know what a Lemonade Mouth is, but apparently it’s family-friendly.