This week, we start with two comic masters:

Whatever Works (***1/2) Rated PG-13, 92 minutes. Coming Tuesday to DVD.

Sony Pictures Classics

Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood star as an aging intellectual and a young runaway who are drawn to each other in Whatever Works.

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Woody Allen dusted off an old script, revised it, and stuck Larry David into a role once destined for Zero Mostel.

David plays an aging, cantankerous intellectual who takes in a teenage runaway (Evan Rachel Wood). She enters his life and even falls for him, resulting in an unlikely marriage.

Allen ingeniously milks this attraction of opposites, delivering pungent observations on death and dying and a variety of other subjects. Funny and insightful. Also on Blu-ray.

*

Cheri (**1/2) Usually reliable Stephen Frears (The Queen) directed this quasi-dreary tale based on two Colette novels.

In France’s Belle Epoque period, an aging courtesan (Michelle Pfeiffer) takes up with Cheri (Rupert Friend), the 19-year-old son of one of her colleagues (Kathy Bates). Despite their age differences, they stay together for six years, until an arranged marriage separates them. Once apart, they realize how much they love each other.

Rated R, 108 minutes.

The DVD offers a nine-minute “making-of” featurette and two deleted scenes.

*

Where the Day Takes You (***) This reprise of a 1992 film deserves attention because much of its cast eventually gained greater renown: Will Smith, Dermot Mulroney, Sean Astin, Ricki Lake, Christian Slater, Alyssa Milano, Lara Flynn Boyle and others. It follows a group of young Los Angeles homeless, as they struggle to find food and shelter without sacrificing what little dignity they possess.

Rated R, 103 minutes.

*

The Crew (***) This formulaic British gangster flick delivers twists and several vicious bad guys. The leader (Scot Williams) of a gang wants to pull the inevitable “one last job” before going straight. That turns out more difficult than expected, with trouble coming from his wife, his brother and a thieving neighbor.

Rated R, 122 minutes. The DVD, also on Blu-ray, offers commentary, a 30-minute “making-of” featurette, 13 deleted scenes and more.

*

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan The story of the annihilation of the human colonies is told from the Cylon attackers’ perspective. With Grace Park, Michael Trucco, Dean Stockwell and Tricia Helfer.

Not rated, 112 minutes.

The DVD, also on Blu-ray, contains commentary from actor/director Edward James Olmos, a trivia game, deleted scenes, a featurette on Olmos, interviews with the actors, a featurette on the special effects, and more.

*

The International Film Channel continues its worldwide search for interesting fare and again comes up with a few notable films, all unrated. To start, the best comes from the U.S., Medicine for Melancholy; others include Fear(s) of the Dark, The Objective, Iand Left Bank.

Medicine for Melancholy (***1/2) In this slight but warm-hearted film, Tracey Heggins and The Daily Show correspondent Wyatt Cenac star as a couple who, after a one-night stand, spend the next day together touring San Francisco. They go to museums, cook, make love, argue and slowly get to know each other.

The seams show in the stretched narrative, but the film pulls the viewer into its inviting world. 88 minutes. The DVD holds a 22-minute interview with director Barry Jenkins.

Fear(s) of the Dark (***) contains six striking black-and-white animated shorts (reminiscent of Persepolis), pulled together by their nightmarish vision. 80 minutes.

The Objective (**1/2) In Afghanistan, soon after the attacks of Sept. 11, a U.S. military patrol searches for a mysterious, other-worldly presence. 91 minutes.

Left Bank (***), from Belgium, uses few effects in its unsettling story of a young runner who falls for a fellow athlete. As their relationship progresses, her body begins to change and weird things happen, all leading up to a shocking unraveling. 102 minutes, with 16 minutes of deleted scenes.

Sauna (***1/2) goes back to 1595 for its creepy story set on the border of Finland and Russia. A group from both countries attempts to set boundaries. When they discover a hidden village not on the map, bodies pile up and the blood flows. 84 minutes.

*

Other IFC films lead us into the myriad releases on tap for Halloween:

Children of the Corn (**1/2) This recent remake of the 1974 version of the Stephen King story falters overall but does deliver a few frights. A couple leaves the highway and find themselves in a town populated only by children who have the power and intention of sacrificing them.

Not rated, 92 minutes.

*

Terror Pack — Sheitan (***1/2), Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (***), Slaughter Night (***) Palisades Tartan has packaged three quality, previously released foreign-language horror flicks.

Some teens find themselves in a strange house in the French Sheitan (94 minutes). In the Japanese Carved, the frightful title figure seeks revenge on the husband who disfigured her and others (90 minutes). In the Danish Slaughter Night, another group of lunk-headed teens gets stuck in a mine where an evil presence awaits (90 minutes).

All three versions contain the original supplements, so check labels.

*

And, as always, it’s a good week to be young:

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas In this new feature, George and the Man with the Yellow Hat celebrate the holidays with songs both new and old.

Not rated, 58 minutes.

*

Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s, Vol. 2 and 1970s, Vol. 2 From the 1970s come 21 episodes of 12 different cartoons, while the 1960s offer 34 from 13 variations. Included are vintage favorites Quick Draw McGraw, Batman, Atom Ant and many others.

The DVDs come with several behind-the-scenes featurettes.

*

Three holiday gift sets arrive from Thomas, Barney and Bob: Thomas and Friends: Sodor Friends Holiday Collection (120 minutes), Barney: Tee-riffic Holiday Collection (177 minutes), and Bob the Builder: Building Crew Holiday Collection (127 minutes).

*

Also this week: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, Orphan.