Christmas is around the corner, but those of us streaming video on demand would think we're coming up on Valentine's Day, what with three romantic comedy-dramas newly available on iTunes and the like.

In "Comet," Justin Long and Emmy Rossum play Dell and Kim, motor-mouthed young lovers whose six-year on-and-off relationship is presented in a series of unpredictable flashbacks and flash-forwards. Settings include a Paris hotel room and the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, although the film really seems to take place in Dell's mind, just as any romantic relationship ultimately resides in the lovers' memories.

Flirting shamelessly with pretentiousness from the get-go, first-time writer-director Sam Esmail makes "Comet" work through snappy dialogue, supernaturally vibrant cinematography and a genuinely original take on the most cliché-ridden genre in the universe. Dell is definitely on to something when he suggests to Kim that their relationship resembles not a narrative so much as a painting.

"The Opposite Sex," on the other hand, won't look out of place on basic cable in a few months. Mena Suvari, somewhat promising 15 years ago in "American Beauty" and "American Pie," plays newly separated Jane, who meets hotshot attorney Vince (Geoff Stults) in a bar and sets about humiliating him as a way of getting even with the male tribe. Formerly known as "A Bet's a Bet," this is a rom-com that wagers to find an audience despite lacking laughs and anything that looks remotely like love.

"In Your Eyes" at least has an excellent actor in Zoe Kazan, who amazingly lends a modicum of emotional credibility to a romance so sappy it could embarrass even Nicholas Sparks. Kazan's Becky, married to a prominent doctor (Mark Feuerstein), finds herself drawn to another guy — and no wonder! With Dylan (Michael Stahl-David), Becky shares a paranormal connection that allows them to see and hear each other despite being thousands of miles apart.

Written by Joss Whedon, whose work on TV's "Angel" and "Firefly" must have helped convince him that logic is overrated, "In Your Eyes" is unfathomably absurd — and perverse enough to be oddly entertaining.

Also notable on VOD

Not even Smaug could stop Peter Jackson's third and final "Hobbit" movie from desolating the big-screen competition when it opens Wednesday.

Insofar as the "Hobbit" trilogy is expected to gross $3 billion at box offices worldwide, its $745 million price tag was, incredibly enough, a sound investment. For my money, though, Jackson has never equaled the artistry he displayed 20 years ago on the modestly scaled and brilliantly provocative "Heavenly Creatures," available in HD through Netflix.

Based on the true story of two adolescent girls who bludgeoned one of their mothers to death in 1950s New Zealand, the movie comes daringly close to interpreting the killing as a radical triumph on the part of oppressed teens Pauline (Melanie Lynskey) and Juliette (Kate Winslet). Jackson, with great patience and precision, takes us through every step in this fact-based melodrama, showing how parental neglect causes the girls' relationship to grow increasingly intense, and how their "madness" becomes a source of pride — and yields even further neglect.

Decades from now, Jackson will be remembered as a key architect of new millennium-era digital FX. Funny thing, though: In terms of pure cinematic power, the "Hobbit" finale's quarter-billion-dollar battle of five armies can't match what two kids do with a rock in "Heavenly Creatures."

Send questions or comments to Rob Nelson at VODcolumn@gmail.com.

SEE OUR ARCHIVE

of past columns at startribune.com/VOD.