Chatting up history

Taking the affirmative, I must say “The Great Debaters” fulfilled my expectations as an inspirational, well-acted and moving (I got misty-eyed at the end) drama, like others of this ilk: Against all odds, a teacher or coach shapes a ragtag bunch of underdogs into a champion.

The difference here is that the underdogs aren’t so ragtag; they’re more polished and ambitious from the get-go.

Like “Pride,” “Remember the Titans” and “Glory Road,” their story is based on a real incident.

In 1935, professor Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington), debate-team coach at Wiley College, a small African-American university in Texas, takes his four-member team (three men and the team’s first woman member) against a number of black-college squads and, for the first time in history, against white schools.

Their year culminates in a debate with national champion Harvard.

The story’s focusing on mini-melodramas among the students and the professor’s closeted union activities adds tension and a modicum of depth.

Performances, all credible, brim with passion.

The negative: Washington’s direction sometimes turns clunky or stagy.

Extras: Engaging set, with surviving characters such the woman who was on the team, the professor’s son and a former student, now a debate teacher who’s a joy to listen to; actors at debate camp; shorts on music, design, costumes; Forest Whitaker interview (he plays the dean); in two-disc and single-disc versions.

The ol’ whip-cracker

If you want to bone up on “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” scheduled to open precisely at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, you can buy new editions of the three earlier Indie films or the all-inclusive “Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection.”

“Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the series’ first, still seems the most fun, because of its freshness, its brisk pace and the presence of Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, the trilogy’s most appealing leading lady.

The only differences between this and the previously released versions of the trilogy (“Raiders,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”) are 12 new extras.

So if you already own other versions, you can save your money.

Extras: chatty introductions by director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas; brief interview with Indie’s three female co-stars (“Doom’s” Kate Capshaw, “Crusades’” Alison Doody and Allen, who comes off best here, too); “Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures” game demo (looks fun) and trailer; storyboards; photo galleries; shorts on effects, rats, snakes and bugs.

Thievery 101

The teen-oriented “Graduation” opened in a couple Bay Area theaters May 2. It’s out on DVD this week.

Given the drama’s preposterous premise and bland acting, it’s kind of shocking the film opened at all.

Little-knowns Shannon Lucio, Riley Smith, Chris Marquette (“The Invisible”) and Chris Lowell play high school seniors who plan to rob a bank on graduation day and be back in time to get their diplomas.

They decide on the heist because Marquette’s mom needs a bone marrow transplant but she’s used up her insurance and the hospital doesn’t believe in good Samaritanism.

The robbery’s the girl’s idea. Her dad (Adam Arkin) owns the bank and the day he denies Marquette a $100,000 loan for the operation, she discovers pop’s been having an extramarital affair with a teller.

The girl’s been accepted at Harvard, so this all may be a commentary on the school’s admission process.

Extras: Alternate opening is snappier than the original; cast members come across better in the bloopers than in the film; deleted and extended scenes; commentary; slide show.

Also on DVD

“The Big Trail: Fox Grandeur Special Edition”: Early John Wayne Western in original 70mm and full screen.

“Botched”: Heist/horror/humor with Stephen Dorff as a thief stuck on an apparently deserted 13th floor in a Russian skyscraper with two incompetent (and grating) Soviet accomplices, a host of odd hostages and a lurking terror.

“The Cottage”: Horror/comedy about combative siblings who kidnap a woman who won’t stop talking, then deal with a psychotic neighbor; with Andy Serkis.

“Cover”: Murder, mystery, adultery, AIDS, revenge; with Vivica A. Fox.

“Die Hard Ultimate Collection”: Two-disc versions of all four “Die Hard” films.

“The Fox Western Classics Collection”: “Garden of Evil,” “The Gunfighter,” “Rawhide.”

“Frontier(s)”: French thieves stop at a motel run by Neo-Nazis.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”: Three women deal with personal demons, relationships and family; based on a 1990s gospel stage play; with Hill Harper.

“John Wayne: The Fox Westerns”: “The Big Trail,” “The Comancheros,” “North to Alaska,” “The Undefeated.”

“La Chinoise”: Jean-Luc Godard’s restored 1967 saga of five French student roommates, their politics and activism; in French.

“Lost in Beijing”: Erotic, comic, character-driven look at the effects of new money on the current Chinese economy; in Mandarin.

“Mad Money”: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes decide to rob a bank; it’s a comedy.

“Marvel Heroes Collection!”: Includes the three “X-Men” films; the “Fantastic Four” duo; animted “Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes, Volume 1”; “Daredevil”; “Elektra”; comic books.

“National Lampoon’s Cattle Call”: Women want revenge after falling for fake casting call set up by trio of lonely guys; with Thomas Ian Nicholas.

“Nora’s Hair Salon”: Sequel with Stacey Dash running into staff problems after inheriting her aunt’s salon.

“Numb”: A depressed screenwriter (Matthew Perry) goes through a variety of therapists trying to determine what’s real, then finds a girlfriend; a comedy.

“The Rat Pack Ultimate Collector’s Edition”: Frank Sinatra and pals in the original “Ocean’s 11,” “4 for Texas,” “Robin and the Seven Hoods,” “Sergeants 3.”

“Untraceable”: FBI agent (Diane Lane) tracks serial killer who shows his murders on the Web.

“Walk All Over Me”: Runaway teen (Leelee Sobieski) takes over former baby-sitter’s identity as a dominatrix.

“Youth Without Youth”: Elderly, depressed scholar’s (Tim Roth) youth is restored after he’s struck by lightning; directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

TV on DVD

“The Adams Chronicles” (1976 miniseries with George Grizzard as John Adams)
“American Idol: Season 6 Finale Performance Show – The Top 2”
“Ballroom Bootcamp, Season One”
“The Backyardigans: High Flying Adventures!”
“The Chase: The Complete First Season”
“DNA” (“CSI”-ish Brit mystery)
“Drawn Together Season Three: Uncensored”
“Elite XC: Destiny” (fighting)
“Elite XC: Renegade” (more fighting)
“HDNet Fights: Fedor Returns” (didn’t know he left)
“Lovejoy: The Complete Season Three” (pre-”Deadwood” Ian McShane)
“Mission Impossible: Season 4”
“A Raisin in the Sun” (most recent version)
“Sinatra (The Miniseries)”
“Saturday Night Live: The Complete Third Season”
“They Filmed the War in Color”
“Twelfth Night” (1970 British version with Alec Guinness)
“Two and a Half Men: The Complete Third Season”
“Stargate Infinity: The Complete Series” (animated)

Coming soon

May 20: “National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets”
June 3: “Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector’s Edition”

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[please bold first mention of titles and Extras:]

If there’d been any justice, “Gone Baby Gone,” Ben Affleck’s taut directorial debut, should’ve been a contenduh for best picture.

For one thing, it has the year’s most thought-provoking.

Then there’s the way Affleck bathes the film in a tough, Boston, working-class atmosphere that complements the edgy story based on “Mystic River’’ writer Dennis Lehane’s novel.

Affleck made all the right moves, beginning with believing his younger brother Casey could carry the movie.

Casey Affleck does just that as a private investigator who, with his girlfriend/partner (Michelle Monaghan), works with reluctant police officers to locate a missing child.

The younger Affleck, who earned a supporting-actor nomination for “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,’’ hits the daily double with this go-round as a shrewd, hardened but compassionate shamus still living in the neighborhood where he, the missing girl’s family and many of the suspects grew up.

The supporting cast – Monaghan, Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman as cops and Amy Madigan as the girl’s troubled aunt – also excel, but it’s Oscar-nominated Amy Ryan who is the real standout as the girl’s low-rent single mother.

Extras: An overly ballyhooed alternate ending consists of a couple lines of narration added to the last scene, which plays better without them; an extending opening gives a peek at the private-eye couple at work; audio commentary; a look at the pains taken to capture the flavors of the area; deleted scenes.

Jane, Jane, Jane

There’s no escape: Last week, it was “The Jane Austen Book Club”; this week, “Becoming Jane.”

What’s next: “Calamity Jane’’ (in which Jane Austen moons over Wild Bill Hickock)?

In “Becoming Jane’’ – whose drawn-out storytelling grew difficult to sit through – Anne Hathaway harnesses her natural comedic tendencies, letting loose only in snippets of wit as she portrays the future author experiencing love, life and class troubles that lay the groundwork for her novel “Pride and Prejudice.’’ (The film’s fiction but ostensibly based on fact.)

Hathaway, who takes some getting used to in the role, brings spunk and soulfulness to the well-dressed film. “Atonement’s’’ James McAvoy, the heartthrob of the moment, plays Tom Lefroy, the rascally, wastrel attorney with whom Jane becomes smitten – to the consternation of her hardscrabble mother (scene-stealing Julie Walters).

Mom wants Jane to forget about affection and marry well, for Jane’s sake and for their family’s.

All Jane must do is swallow her standards and say “yes’’ to the wealthy neighbor’s (Maggie Smith) stodgy son.

The period’s rigidity drizzles through the story.

Extras: A who-is-Jane Austen piece with an authority from the “Jane Austen Book Club’’ extras; pop-up facts and footnotes; deleted scenes; audio commentary.

Predictable menu

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart play adversarial chefs in “No Reservations,” the year’s most predictable romantic comedy–of-sorts.

Based on the German film “Mostly Martha,’’ the story focuses primarily on Zeta-Jones’ workaholic character and her relationship with her gloomy young niece (Abigail Breslin), whom she inherits when the child’s parents die in a car crash.

Clueless at mothering, Zeta-Jones’ character amps up the insecurity when she returns from a brief leave to find the handsome, gregarious sous chef Eckhart hired to help out in the upscale restaurant.

Eckhart is the film’s bright light. Zeta-Jones creates a believable, slow-to-warm, stick-in-the-mud. Breslin is Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine’’).

The food scenes are the movie’s most delectable. The dialogue needs seasoning.

Extras: A Food Network episode of “Unwrapped.’’

I’m from Venus. You?

Widowed sci-fi writer John Cusack decides to adopt a child as a single man in “Martian Child,” a poignant, offbeat story that rides well on the chemistry between Cusack and Bobby Coleman as the 7-year-old title character, an orphan who isolates himself from others by insisting he’s from Mars.

Naturally, the emotionally damaged child appeals to the emotionally damaged adult – Freud 101.

Gradually they build trust and learn lessons.

Though oozy with syrup in parts, the movie plays better than you expect, in large part because of the casting. With Joan Cusack as the writer’s sister and Amanda Peet as his girlfriend.

Extras: Watchable ones covering the real “Martian Child’’ (subject of an acclaimed story by the real boy’s father, David Gerrold – who also wrote “Star Trek’s’’ “Trouble with Tribbles’’) and Coleman’s casting and preparation (the director compares the boy to Kurt Cobain in terms of spontaneity and charisma); commentary; deleted scenes.

Also on DVD

“The Amateur’’: Residents of a small town work with the community to realize their dream of making an adult film; with Jeff Bridges, Ted Danson, Lauren Graham.

“Blue State’’: Deciding to honor his vow to move to Canada if George Bush won the 2004 election, a young activist (Breckin Meyer) finds a quirky hitchhiker (Anna Paquin) to join him in this coming-of-age comedy.

“The Charlie Chan Collection – Volume Four”: “Charlie Chan in Honolulu,’’ “…in Reno,’’ “…in The City of Darkness’’ and “…at Treasure Island.’’

“Dirty Laundry’’: In a kind of lower-budget “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins,’’ the culture-clash comedy takes a successful New York writer back to his traditional Southern home after a 10-year absence; with Loretta Devine, Rockmond Dunbar and Jenifer Lewis.

“Furnace – Unrated’’: Supernatural creepiness with Tom Sizemore, Ja Rule and Danny Trejo in a prison where bloody suicides are the norm after an old wing is unsealed.

“Love Is My Religion’’: Ziggy Marley’s 2006 concert in L.A.

“The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun’’: Documentary about an aging Danish bachelor who teams with a stubborn Russian nun to transform a rundown castle he donates into a Russian Orthodox monastery.

“Royal Tramp 1 & 2’’: Hong Kong star Stephen Chow powers 1990s martial-arts comedies about the adventures of a con man who fights, loves, and saves a dynasty.

“Snow Buddies’’: Live-action Disney comedy about puppies in snow.

“Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married’’: Perry drops the drag for this look at four couples who examine their relationships during a Colorado getaway.

“We Own the Night’’: One of detective’s sons becomes a cop (Mark Wahlberg), the other (Joaquin Phoenix) hangs with mobsters.

TV on DVD

“Blade: The Series’’
“The Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav: Extended & Uncensored’’
“Family Ties: The Third Season’’
“General Hospital: Night Shift, Season 1’’
“Girlfriends: The Third Season’’
“Tell Me You Love Me: The Complete First Season.’’

Coming soon

March 11: “No Country for Old Men”

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Chick-flicky wit

O UNLUCKY MAN, forced to sit through “27 Dresses,” a romantic comedy about weddings and gowns and high-heel shoes, about sisterly silliness, hopes and dreams and unrequited love.

The first half is like brain freeze, an ice cream migraine for males.

Surviving it, though, will gain guys points with their sentimental significant other and help them appreciate the bright, upbeat second half (the final credits are clever) and the sparkling performance by Katherine Heigl.

A rising star (“Knocked Up,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) who shows emotional depth and good comic timing, Heigl plays a woman who loves planning weddings, has 27 ugly bridesmaid dresses to show for it, and remains happily single as she waits for her hunky boss (Ed Burns) to fall for her.

Naturally, he becomes smitten with her flaky little sister (Malin Akerman of “The Heartbreak Kid”) instead, and big sis must plan the wedding.

As an ambitious wedding writer who serves as her potential love interest, James Marsden does shallow well, but comes up zero on depth and chemistry with Heigl.

Extras: Entertaining “Running of the Brides” short about a New Jersey shop that draws throngs to its once-a-year wedding-dress sale; deleted scenes; making-of piece; shorts on designing sets and dresses.

Smokey’s in-law

Considering the complexity of Philip Pullman’s “The Golden Compass,” one of the great fantasy books for adults and older children, the movie adaptation is pretty good, thanks in large part to the casting of Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra, the plucky young heroine.

In an alternate world where people’s souls are represented by animals who serve as their closest companions, Lyra runs away from the oppressive authorities, embodied by a beautiful but chillingly evil woman (Nicole Kidman, perfect as an ice-queen type) to find a kidnapped orphan boy she promised to protect.

On her quest, she encounters helpful gypsies, witches, warrior polar bears and fiendish scientists. An alethiometer, a compass-like apparatus that shows the truth, helps guide her.

That’s the story at its most simplistic.

Exposition-laden exchanges that give the tale philosophical and religious underpinnings will leave little kids ho-humming. The action and fantasy amp up midway through, and the battling bear, voiced by Ian McKellen, is a scene-stealer.

Familiarity with the book — which is one of my favorites — helps, but isn’t necessary. The film’s ending (different from the book’s) sets up a sequel; Pullman’s book is the first entry in a trilogy.

Extras: Two-disc version: audio commentary; author interview; 11 making-of shorts (one on making the movie’s alethiometer is fun for folks who like to tinker). Single-disc version: animated menus.

2007’s best?

A film about a man paralyzed from head to toe and able to communicate only with one eyelid is a hard sell.

But critics were buying. Most put “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” on their top-10 lists, some voted it the best movie of 2007.

A French bio-pic directed by American Julian Schnabel, “Diving Bell” centers on Jean-Dominique Bauby (Jean-Do to friends), a well-known editor paralyzed after a rare kind of stroke.

Taught a difficult, time-consuming method of communicating by blinking, Jean-Do manages to write the memoir that give the picture its title.

Schnabel tells Jean-Do’s story (with Mathieu Amalric in the lead) from the perspective of what he sees through that one eye and his thoughts, a technique intended to make the audience his confidante, the director says in the extras.

It’s an effective approach, starting with a kind of claustrophobia and gradually expanding via flashbacks and fantasies from Jean-Do’s imagination and wheelchair excursions outdoors.

I’m not a fan of the subject matter and put off seeing the DVD until a few days ago; the film proved engrossing, the language poetic, the tone sad but hopeful.

Extras: Audio commentary; making-of shorts; Schnabel interview; English and Spanish subtitles.

In Camelot

Richard Gere, at his prettiest, plays Lancelot as a free-spirited wanderer with an eye for the queen in “First Knight,” a 1995 romance/adventure with Sean Connery as King Arthur and Julia Ormond as Guinevere.

The reworking of the Arthurian legend weighs in heavy with pomp and conversation (patience is a good thing; pass it on). The intermittent action sequences are well-rendered by director Jerry Zucker.

Extras: Entertaining, insightful commentary by an amusing academic (dubs a sword demonstration “a little bit Vegas”); filmmakers’ commentary; making-of shorts.

Also new on DVD

“The Classic Caballeros Collection”: Disney’s “Saludos Amigos” and “The Three Caballeros.”

“A Generation Apart”: First-person documentary about the children of Holocaust survivors.

“How She Move”: Young woman tries to escape nasty neighborhood by joining all-male step-dancing team and winning a contest; better than you think; with Rutina Wesley.

“Jorge El Monito Ciclista … Y Cinco Cuentos Mas”: Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat and other stories adapted in Spanish.

“Moondance Alexander”: Young girl’s life turns around when she finds a runaway pony; with Kay Panabaker, Don Johnson.

“Nanking”: Documentary about unarmed Western expatriates who worked to save 200,000 Chinese from the invading Japanese army in Nanking in 1937; narrators include Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway.

“Prism”: Supernatural thriller about a psychologist trying to help an autistic boy who becomes catatonic after witnessing something very bad.

“Trevor Romain: If You Don’t Take Care of Your Body, Where Else Are You Going to Live?”: Fitness for kids.

TV on DVD

“Bernard and Doris” (Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon); “The British Empire in Color”; “The Big Gay Sketch Show: The Complete Unrated Second Season”; “Celebration of Gospel: Spirit in Song”; “Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is – The Complete Second Season”; “Intelligence, Season One” (Canadian crime drama); “Paranormal State: The Complete Season One”; “Surviving Motherhood: Your Guide to Being a Mom”; “The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Years of Change” (with Sean Patrick Flanery, on 10 discs).

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New this week on DVD

If there’s a monster on the loose, film it

Odds are, if a giant monster is destroying your town, you’re more likely to dump the camcorder and exit stage left than to run deeper into the quagmire, filming as you go, like the unfamiliar stars do in “Cloverfield.”

The film is pretty silly when you think about it ­— so don’t think; put your brain on hold and enjoy the ride. It’s exciting.

The caveat is: You have to stomach the whole thing’s being shot on a hand-held camera. Unlike “The Blair Witch Project” — “Cloverfield’s” been described as “Blair Witch” meets “Godzilla” — the scenes don’t jump all over the place.

Instead, they quickly sweep right to left and up and down, but mostly they’re semi-steady frontal shots of hell breaking lose.

I found “Blair Witch’s” herky-jerkyness grating, but could watch “Cloverfield” without taking Dramamine.

After a so-so start, the movie turns into a fast-moving rush with a little emotion tossed in for good measure.

Extras: Commentary by director Matt Reeves; making-of documentary; alternate endings; deleted scenes; visual-effects short; on-set tomfoolery.

Glossy fun

“Charlie Wilson’s War” is an entertaining adaptation of a true story: In the 1980s, Rep. Charlie Wilson convinced his colleagues to help Afghan freedom fighters drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan by increased funding for covert operations.

Directed by Mike Nichols, the picture glitters with charisma — from Tom Hanks as the affable title character (a bachelor known as “Good Time Charlie”) to Julia Roberts as a wealthy Texas socialite who spurs him on (and sleeps with him) and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a crusty CIA agent who helps him convince rival countries to work together to provide weapons.

Hoffman’s portrayal of an atypical agent (straight-talking, blue collar) grounds the story, which is amusing, playful and intriguing.

Extras: A making-of short; a documentary on the real Wilson (tall, good-looking, candid), who still radiates swagger.

Hoffman redux

Many reviews pegged “The Savages” as an eccentric dark comedy about a brother and sister (Hoffman and Laura Linney) who deal with the onset of their estranged father’s (a volatile Philip Bosco) dementia as well as their sibling rivalry.

In actuality, the film is very dark — and painful — and only occasionally humorous or eccentric.

If you have an aging parent on a downward slide and, perhaps, unable to fend for himself or herself, “The Savages” is a decent mini primer on what to expect. If you’ve already been through it, as I have, then pass; it’s too close to reality.

Hoffman and Linney excel as dysfunctional siblings confronting their emotions and their relationship with each other and their abusive dad as they set him up in a rest home.

Writer-director Tamara Jenkins, an Oscar nominee for original screenplay, paints them as skittish intellectuals with strains of elitism and difficulties with commitment.

Extras: Extended scenes of an elder tap-dancing group and a couple singing; director’s snapshots.

DVD snippets

“Black House”: Horror thriller about an insurance investigator who digs too deeply into a little boy’s death by hanging — in the perennial creepy old house — after it’s ruled a suicide. In Korean with subtitles.

“Call of the Wild”: Jack London story of a guy and his dog in the Klondike; with Shane Meier as Miles and Kavic as Buck, the dog.

“Daytona 500: 50 Years of ‘The Great American Race’”: Fast cars on two discs.

“Flash Point”: A police detective determined to rid his city of three criminal brothers plants a mole in their mob, then tries to keep him alive. Hong Kong martial-arts actioner with Donnie Yen.

“The Major and the Minor”: Classic Billy Wilder romantic comedy with Ginger Rogers forced to masquerade as a little girl and Ray Milland as the major who lets her stay at his military academy; lively and fun.

“Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy”: Live-action story of a pup who wants to become a sheepdog. (Think “Babe” without the pig.)

“One Missed Call”: In an anti-technolgy parable, young people get cell-phone messages with the sounds of their last moments days before they die; with Ed Burns and Shannyn Sossamon.

“The Orphanage”: Atmospheric ghost story about a woman who accidentally releases a nasty spirit after returning with her family to the orphanage where she grew up; solid chiller; in Spanish with subtitles; produced by Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”).

“The Shirley Temple Collection Volume 6”: “Wee Willie Winkie,” “Young People” and “Stowaway”; digitally restored in wide screen.

“Starting Out in the Evening”: Ambitious grad student ingratiates herself into the life of reclusive, aging, once-famous novelist (Oscar nominee Frank Langella).

TV on DVD

“The Best of Backyard Habitat: Volume 1”; “Bigfoot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks – Shifting Gears (Vol. 3”; “Friday Night Lights: The Second Season”: “Oban Star-Racers – Vol. 1: The Alwas Cycle”; “Laverne and Shirley: The Complete Fourth Season”: “My Boy Jack”: “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!: Season 1”; “ToddWorld: Making New Friends (Vol. 3)”; “The Wonder Pets!: Save the Beetles.”

Coming soon

April 29: “The Golden Compass,” “27 Dresses”

May 20: “National Treasure 2 — Book of Secrets”

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Big `Country’

People who have read Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men” and seen the movie tell me they like the picture better – perhaps because it’s tighter (McCarthy loves description).

Rightly voted best film of 2007, “No Country” is like sitting on the edge of menace for two hours.
The Oscar-winning Coen brothers unleash the violence with shocking suddenness, keeping some off-screen and letting it fester in the imagination.

As they did in “Blood Simple,” the directors permit silences, quiet moments mirrored by the environs.

Laconic like its characters, except for Tommy Lee Jones’ sheriff, the picture opens on the parched West Texas plains; then it jumps straight away to the story’s linchpin, the cold, implacable killing machine played by Javier Bardem, winner of the supporting-actor gold.

When a man (Josh Brolin) takes off with $2 million he finds at the scene of a bloodbath, Bardem’s character pursues, with the sheriff trying to intercede along the way.

The atmosphere and attitude remain intact on a decent-sized home screen. The tale’s more intimate, the attention to detail more evident and the killer more frightening. The acting’s solid from top to bottom and the movie remains captivating the second time around.

Extras: Skimpy: making-of featurette; shorts “Working with the Coens” and “Diary of a Country Sheriff” (on the relationship between cop and killer). No commentary, so expect to find one on a “collector’s edition” down the road.

Relationship antics

A low-key widower with three daughters falls for a woman he meets at a bookstore, only to learn later that she’s his brother’s new girlfriend.

What’s a lonely guy played by Steve Carell to do? As the title character in the relationship comedy “Dan in Real Life,” he shows real emotion for a change — despite continuing to move like an erector-set man.

Dan’s tussling with his conscience at a big family gathering (think “Parenthood” with more grown-ups) as he become more drawn to his sibling’s alluring girlfriend (a playful Juliette Binoche) forms the heart of the film.

Dane Cook, who still gets roles despite my inability to see why, plays Dan’s brother. Dianne Wiest portrays his mother, John Mahoney his dad.

Despite a soft ending and some unevenness, the film is funny, touching and worth a look.

Extras: Audio commentary by writer/director Peter Hedges; entertaining making-of piece and creating-the-score short; deleted scenes (watch the extended version of the party talent show without commentary, then with it); outtakes.

A little stinger

Kids will be captivated by the bright colors and busyness of the animated “Bee Movie,” but the “Seinfeld”-like one-liners with fly right over their heads.

That shouldn’t matter as they focus on the spirited honeybee voiced by Jerry Seinfeld as he works to escape the hive and explore the outside world with the hive’s heroic pollen gatherers.

When he breaks the bee code by speaking to a human (Renee Zellweger), then goes to court, children and adults may both start to squirm from the inertia.

Extras: Audio commentary; trivia track; alternate endings; short on animators; effects short; deleted scenes; music video; single-disc and two-disc editions.

Shoot the messenger

Someone’s set up our hero, a genetically engineered assassin played with impassive cool by Timothy Olyphant in “Hitman – Unrated Special Edition.”

As bodies fall, the man with the bald pate and big bar code on his neck (which, for some reason, does not make him or his bald brethren stand out in crowds) deals with other assassins, an intrepid Interpol agent (Dougray Scott), a vulnerable prostitute (Olga Kurylenko) — the only kind — and assorted Russian heavies.

It’s all action all the time without a lick of logic to interfere.

Extras: Deleted scenes; new footage; behind-the-scenes piece; alternate ending; gag reel; more.

Accent on crime

The smart, darkly comic and extremely violent New Zealand crime story “You Move, You Die” centers around a crook (Ketzal Sterling, who also directed and wrote the movie) who’s mugged on the way to proposing to his girlfriend.

The muggers steal the ring. The crook and his cohorts have one hour to find the muggers and the ring and get the proposal back on track.

It’s a captivating caper film, if you can stomach the incessant killing. The payoff is a wild and unpredictable finale.

One caveat: The accents are so thick you may want to turn on the subtitles.

Extras: Behind-the-scenes short.

Also on DVD

“Appleseed: Ex Machina”: Anime adaptation of futuristic manga saga about battling cyborgs.

“Black Widow”: Classic femme-fatale noir with Ginger Rogers (not dancing).

“Bachelor Party 2: The Last Temptation”: Nudity, sex, heavy drinking, broad humor, but no Tom Hanks.

“Crave”: Short-film collection inspired by Erwin Raphael McManus’ “Soul Cravings.”

“Curious George Rides a Bike…And More Monkeying Around”: Title says all.

“Daisy Kenyon”: Nasty noir love triangle with Otto Preminger directing Joan Crawford.

“Dangerous Crossing”: Noir mystery on the high seas with Jeanne Crain.

“En la Cama” (“In Bed”): Erotic Chilean Oscar nominee about two people who meet at a party, go to a motel, have sex, spill secrets and open up emotionally.

“The Last Supper”: In Cuba in the 1700s, a man invites 12 of his slaves to reenact the Last Supper to teach them about Christianity.

“Outlaw”: Iraq war veteran (Sean Bean) creates an eye-for-an-eye vigilante band to battle villainy on the streets of London.

“Pop Go the Wiggles”: Ask any parent.

“The Secret Things of God”: Judeo-Christian perspective on the bestseller “The Secret.”

“Stargate The Ark of Truth”: Straight-to-DVD sci-fi film extends story plot from TV-series finale.

“Summer Palace”: The fight for political reform in China serves as background to the turbulent relationship between two Peking University students.

TV on DVD

“`Cops’ 20th Anniversary”
“Five Days”
“Housewife 49”
“`L’il Bush: Resident of the United States’ – Season One”
“The Most Extreme – Season 1”
“Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam”
“Sam & Max: Freelance Police!!! The Complete Series”
“South Park: Imaginationland – Uncensored Director’s Cut”
“Tom and Jerry Tales: Volume 4”
“Visions of Ireland.”

Coming soon

March 18: “Atonement,” “Enchanted”
March 25: “The Kite Runner”

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The Awakening

I experienced my first out-loud Oscar cheer this year, ironically, to me and those who know me, when “La Vie en Rose” won for makeup, of all things; normally, Scarlett, I wouldn’t give a damn, but Marion Cotillard’s transformation to Edith Piaf , from youth through premature aging was just too impressive.

Normally I am silent during Oscars telecasts, unless I have money riding on them or my picks are public, in which case getting ‘em right is a matter of saving face vs. losing face.
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I might make a snarky remark, say about the black tent/toga worn by indie icon Tilda Swinton - but her delightful enthusiasm and candor in accepting the supporting-actress gold for “Michael Clayton” made be want to keep my snark to myself.

I had a similar inclination to snark at the fur trim covering Penelope Cruz’s decolletage - shameful waste in the mind of every healthy all-American male.

But I wanted to at least aim for the higher road, especially when I found myself shedding my cynicism and cheering for my best-actress favorite, Cotillard, when she, too, picked up the gold.

I was actually happy. It was a stunning portrayal in what was otherwise an uneven downer. And it upset the “sure thing” in this year’s competition: Julie Christie - also excellent, - for “Away From Her.”

Upsets always give cheer, especially when they’re about an award going to the most deserving.

Diablo Cody solidified the anti-snark, for this Oscars telecast and, perhaps, beyond.

The favorite to win for original screenplay for “Juno,” the little movie that could, the former stripper was wearing some sort of thin, shimmery leopard-like frock cut so high she held it closed as she walked up to the stage to receive her award.

Add the fact that she was covered with tattoos and her look was all about “weird” or “odd,” “inappropriate” or, simply, “out of place,” or so the snarker would be tempted to say.

And then Diablo Cody spoke, radiating sincerity: And she ended her speech with the clincher, letting the tears finally spill as she walked off: “And most of all I’d like to thank my family for loving me exactly as I am.”

And there it was.

And there it is.

She feels free to express herself -and damn the naysaying, naythinking, disapproving snarkers.

Why? Because she grew up feeling loved and accepted by the people who matter most; her family, clearly extending with the making of “Juno.”

Bravo, Dakota.

You convinced me to tear up my snarking license.

And it feels good.

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