This year’s Oscar ceremony telecast had the lowest ratings ever. For that, we can’t blame host Jon Stewart but, rather, the fact that none of the major nominated films-- with the exception of Juno -- was seen by a large percentage of moviegoers. Now that everything from Best Picture winner No Country for Old Men to triple Best Song nominee Enchanted is available on DVD, there's no more excuse for missing out. Here are capsue reviews of two dozen new titles.

American Gangster
Universal
directed by Ridley Scott
starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin

Ridley Scott’s fast-moving cops-and-robbers epic about Frank Lucas, who ruled Harlem’s underworld in the 1960s and '70s, proves once again -- along with Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and Alien, for example-- that his visual chops can overcome even the most scattershot of  scripts. And Scott's work with actors keeps improving, though with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe playing Gangster’s prime adversaries, he couldn’t miss. EXTRAS: Deleted scenes; alternate opening scene; documentary about the making of the film; featurettes about transforming a true story into a script.    

Atonement
Universal
directed by Joe Wright
starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai

Ian McEwan’s tragic novel of romance and forgiveness may well be unfilmable–and Joe Wright’s faithfully plodding adaptation certainly gives ammo to those who think so. Certainly, it’s been lovingly, painstakingly done: sets, costumes, photography and editing coalesce into a brilliant recreation of the world of McEwan’s book–particularly that astonishing Dunkirk sequence. James McAvoy and Keira Knightley are the quintessentially classy British couple; but there remains that problematic ending, which cheats at everything that McEwan unfolded through his precise, lyrical writing. EXTRAS: Commentary by Wright; deleted scenes; two making-of featurettes.

Awake
Genius/Weinstein
directed by Joby Harold
starring Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Terrence Howard

This extended Twilight Zone episode will strike fear into anyone who's afraid of surgery. Our hero doesn’t succumb to anesthesia and remains awake for the entire procedure. He overhears what’s happening around him, involving his fiancee and his best friend -- who happens to be the surgeon. Alternately ludicrous and scary, the 84-minute-long Awake smartly doesn’t overstay its welcome. EXTRAS: Making-of featurette; deleted scenes; director commentary.

Beowulf
Paramount
directed by Robert Zemeckis
starring Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Alison Lohman

Robert Zemeckis has made a career out of cartoons, literally (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) and figuratively (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, Used Cars). With The Polar Express and Beowulf, he enters alternate worlds in which real actors and animation are grafted together. The results, while visually spectacular, remain remote and uninvolving. In Beowulf, Zemeckis misses a chance to make a 1000 year-old epic poem ring true for 21st century viewers. Such good actors as Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, and Alison Lohman are hidden behind Zemeckis’ technological trickery. EXTRAS: Deleted scenes; behind-the-scenes featurette.

Dan in Real Life
Buena Vista
directed by Peter Hedges
starring Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dianne Wiest, John Mahoney

Showing his versatility as a leading man, Steve Carrell convincingly plays an emotionally remote dad who dispenses advice in a newspaper column. Peter Hedges’ alternately touching and amusing melodrama benefits from a splendid supporting cast: Juliette Binoche is the luminous target of Dan’s affections, Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney are his no-nonsense parents, Norbert Leo Butz and Dane Cook spar hilariously as his brothers, and Alison Pill, Brittany Robertson, and Marlene Lawston make a credible trio of daughters. EXTRAS: Hedges commentary; deleted scenes; blooper reel; making-of and music featurettes.

Enchanted
Buena Vista
directed by Kevin Lima
starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall

With this movie, Disney found a new way to milk its animated cash cow. Enchanted opens in a cartoon world of lovely animals, a smitten prince and princess, and an evil witch. Then it switches to live-action Manhattan, where the princess is banished by her nasty nemesis. The mixture of parody, hommage, and cloyingly sweet and sophisticated characters works, probably more so for grateful parents than for their kids. Amy Adams is enchanting as the princess, and Susan Sarandon (the evil witch), James Marsden (the prince), and Patrick Dempsey (the Manhattan version of prince charming) offer more than able support. The three Best Song nominees seemed lousy onstage at the Oscars, but they fit the movie perfectly. EXTRAS: Behind-the-scenes featurettes; deleted scenes; blooper reel