Here's an eclectic mix of movies new to DVD this week, including an Oscar-nominee for best picture.
New movies
"The Prestige" (Touchstone, 2006, PG-13, $29.99). This was the second period "magic" movie of last year (after "The Illusionist"), and, for me, the lesser of the two.
Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are excellent as rival magicians, Michael Caine is even better as a mentor, and Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie are also on hand. Unfortunately, the film takes a serious, if ridiculous, science-fiction turn from which it never recovers.
Extras: Widescreen, featurettes, photo/art gallery
"Keeping Mum" (THINKFilm, 2006; R for violence, language, partial nudity, sex; $27.98). This jet-black comedy can't seem to find a steady tone and is at its worst when it sinks into cheap sex gags, which is all too often. But there are some laughs along the way, and even some warmth, in this dark spin on "Mary Poppins."
Maggie Smith is a paroled murderess who becomes the new housekeeper for a humorless, weak-willed vicar (Rowan Atkinson) in a small English village, along with his frustrated wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) and their two kids, a young boy terrorized by bullies and a promiscuous teenage daughter. Patrick Swayze is also on hand as a sleazy American golf pro.
Naturally, Smith fixes everything, though her methods are rather messy.
Extras: Widescreen, deleted/extended scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, bloopers, trailers
"For Your Consideration" (Warner, 2006, PG-13, $27.95). Eschewing his usual faux-documentary style, Christopher Guest lampoons show biz in this look at how Internet chatter about possible Oscar nominations affects actors laboring on a low-budget film. Mildly amusing inside-Hollywood gags abound, with Guest's usual suspects, the brightest being Catherine O'Hara.
Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary (Guest, Eugene Levy), faux poster gallery
"Babel" (Paramount, 2006; R for violence, nudity, sex, language, drugs; $29.99). This is up for several Oscars, but it left me rather cold, and it's way too sleazy. Several seemingly unrelated stories intersect — some just barely — led by Brad Pitt trying to keep his wife, Cate Blanchett, alive after she's accidentally shot on a bus in Morocco.
Extras: Widescreen
"Man of the Year" (Universal, 2006, PG-13, $29.98). Robin Williams is a comedian who becomes president in this comic fantasy, which unexpectedly, and disappointingly, turns rather dour. Great cast includes Christopher Walken, Laura Linney and Jeff Goldblum.
Extras: Separate widescreen and full-frame editions, featurettes
"Tideland" (THINKfilm, 2006; R violence, sex, language, drugs; two discs, $27.98). Director/co-writer Terry Gilliam introduces this film by telling the audience that many will not like it and many others will just find themselves bewildered. Put me in both camps.
Jeff Bridges and Jennifer Tilly (where's she been?) are the big names here, in the story of a young girl (Jodelle Ferland) who escapes her cruel world by spending time in fantasies.
Extras: Widescreen, deleted scenes, introduction by Gilliam, audio commentary (Gilliam, co-writer Tony Grisoni), featurettes, trailers
"Let's Go to Prison: Unrated" (Universal, 2007; R/unrated for violence, language, sex, drugs; $29.98). Stupid, although occasionally amusing (in a guilty-pleasure kind of way) farce set in a prison, with Dax Shepard, Will Arnett and Chi McBride.
Extras: Widescreen, R-rated and unrated versions, trailers
TV movies
"Jane Eyre" (WGBH, 2006, two discs, $29.95). There are many filmed versions of the classic Bronte story about an orphan who grows up to become governess to a family with dark secrets, and everyone seems to have a favorite — the respective TV versions with George C. Scott and Timothy Dalton as Rochester, and the '40s theatrical version with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine.
This recent "Masterpiece Theatre" version from the BBC is a good one, if not particularly exceptional, with Toby Stephens as Rochester, Ruth Wilson as Jane and Francesca Annis as Lady Ingram all doing a first-rate job.
Extras: Widescreen
Documentaries
"Shut Up & Sing" (Weinstein/Genius, 2006; R for language; $28.95). This film chronicles the Dixie Chicks and the uproar that followed when one of their number dissed President Bush, and it's a fascinating study not only in the way it explores this particular story but also in what it reveals about the politics of show business. Directed with style by Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple.
Extras: Full frame
"The Second City: First Family of Comedy" (Acorn, 2007, $24.99). Good documentary in three parts about the comedy company that started in Chicago and was a proving ground for many famous comics of the past 50 years.
Among those interviewed or hosting are Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Mike Myers, Martin Short, Joe Flaherty, Jim Belushi, Tina Fey, Dave Thomas, Ryan Stiles, etc., with clips galore that also include Mike Nichols & Elaine May, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, John Belushi, Rick Moranis. ... Fascinating stuff, and some of the skits are very funny.
Also quite telling about modern comedy when one of Second City's founders notes that in the late 1950s when Second City began, no one ever thought of using foul language!
Extras: Full frame, extended interviews
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com