Kurt Russell has always had a touch of Elvis about him. The sneer, the swagger, the hair: The guy could have played the King.

It turns out he already has. Flash back, fellow potatoes, to 1979, two years after Elvis Presley's untimely death. ABC aired Elvis (also known as Elvis: The Movie), a surprisingly decent TV movie featuring Russell as a slightly dandified and pleasantly cliché-free Elvis, at least considering the cultural baggage that name and persona had already accumulated. The director was a guy named John Carpenter, who would go on to work with Russell in The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and escapes from New York and LA.

I'm not sure how I didn't know about this thing, which makes its DVD bow next week. Maybe it's the stigma that comes with the words "TV movie;" maybe it's the fact that I was 9 when it aired. But Elvis is a thoroughly enjoyable (if two-dimensional) melodrama with a cast built for maximum entertainment value. It's cool enough to have Shelley Winters emoting as Mama Presley. Throw in Joe Mantegna as Joe Esposito and a cigar-chomping Pat Hingle as Colonel Tom Parker, and you've got a nice, cheesy rock 'n' roll party on your hands. As the Man once sang, that's all right, Mama.

If you like your thrills a little fresher, a fine pair of 2009 fantasies hit the shelves next week as well.

Spike Jonze's melancholy adaptation of the beloved Where the Wild Things Are comes loaded with special features, especially on Blu-ray. That's where you'll find even more Maurice Sendak (a live-action take on his Higgelty Piggelty Pop! or There Must Be More to Life, featuring the voices of Oscar winners Meryl Streep and Forest Whitaker). There's also an irreverent series of on-set shorts directed by Lance Bangs.

On the animated side, make room for Ponyo, the latest slice of bliss from the visionary Hayao Miyazaki. The story of a 5-year-old boy and a goldfish princess, Ponyo boasts the kind of outrageously fantastical elements savored by fans of Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and other Miyazaki jewels. They're as close to a natural high as movies get.Also next week

2012 – It's the end of the world as we know it. And John Cusack feels fine.

Cold Souls – Paul Giamatti puts his soul on ice (with apologies to Eldridge Cleaver).

Alice in Wonderland (times two) – Just in time for Tim Burton's extravaganza, the W.C. Fields-Cary Grant version and the John Gielgud-Peter Sellers version. FOR MORE DVDs, go to www.dallasnews .com/entertainment/ dvd/.

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