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 The History Boys Fox
directed by Nicholas Hytner
starring Sameul Anderson, James Corden, Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour & Samuel Barnett
Alan Bennett’s smash hit play came to Broadway with its London cast intact. In between, director Nicholas Hytner made this film adaptation: that the onstage cast stars in the film goes a long way toward selling this indisputably entertaining if marginally shallow exploration of British schoolboy life, circa 1980s, when the most important thing is getting into Oxford or Cambridge. The delicious ensemble is led by Richard Griffiths as the boys’ favorite unorthodox teacher. A few missteps aside, “This History Boys” is an acceptable substitute for those who missed the superior stage version.
Extras: interviews with Hytner, Bennett and cast; Hytner/ Bennett commentary; featurette about the play’s tour of Japan, Australia and New York.
 Little Children
New Line
directed by Todd Field
starring Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, & Jennifer Connelly
Actor Todd Field’s second film as writer-director (after the overrated “In the Bedroom”) is based on Tom Perotta’s novel about small-town couples thrown into turmoil when a convicted child molester moves into the neighborhood. There’s much to admire about this adult look at parents acting more immaturely than kids, including excellent performances from Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Gregg Edelman, and Jackie Earle Haley (the kid from “The Bad News Bears” and “Breaking Away”), along with Field’s terrific eye for the off-kilter observation. Still, its implausible plot (would extra-marital affairs occur in this town with no one knowing?) and unnecessary narrator–who often says what’s already obvious from visuals and dialogue–make this strangely unsatisfying.
No extras.
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 The Nativity Story
New Line
directed by Catherine Hardwicke
starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Hiam Abbass, & Shaun Toub
For her followup to the controversial “Thirteen,” director Katharine Hardwicke makes another movie about a teenager–the Virgin Mary–in circumstances beyond her control. In this beautifully-shot drama, Hardwicke eschews the slow, solemn pacing of other Biblical epics, instead making a more emotionally direct reading of this familiar tale. It works thanks to the performances, notably the astonishing Keisha Castle-Hughes, who showed in “Whale Rider” a maturity beyond her years, and is the perfect actress to play Mary.
No extras.
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 Notes on a Scandal
Fox
directed by Richard Eyre
starring Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Tom Georgeson, & Michael Maloney
If you want juicy acting from two stars at the top of their game–and don’t mind a creaky dramatic vehicle–then “Notes on a Scandal” is worth watching. Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett are mesmerizing as a veteran teacher and the newcomer she befriends: their relationship is tested when the new teacher is embroiled in a sex scandal with a male student. Patrick Marber’s script is hopelessly cliched, as is Philip Glass’s scandalous musical score– predictably, both got Oscar nominations. At least Dench and Blanchett got deserved nods.
Extras: director Richard Eyre commentary, interviews and featurettes.
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 Shortbus
Thinkfilm
directed by John Cameron Mitchell
starring Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, & Adam Hardman
John Cameron Mitchell wanted to make a movie with actual sex scenes, so here’s “Shortbus.” It’s too bad that, apart from the sex–a big chunk of the movie–“Shortbus” is amateurish, horribly acted, and indifferently put together. It’s healthy to see young people onscreen with no hangups about letting it all hang out–and then some. But when they’re lousy actors, it’s difficult to care about their relationships.
Extras: Mitchell’s commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes.
 Tideland
Thinkfilm
directed Terry Gilliam
starring Jodelle Ferland, Janet McTeer, Brendan Fletcher, Jennifer Tilly, & Jeff Bridges
Terry Gilliam is a mad genius in spite of himself. Sometimes–“Brazil,” “Baron Munchausen,” “The Fisher King”–his singular brand of adult fantasy is exhilarating; at other times–“12 Monkeys,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “The Brothers Grimm”–he fails miserably. “Tideland” lands in the latter camp, since Gilliam never finds a cinematic equivalent for Mitch Cullin’s novel to explore the fantasy world of youngster Jeliza-Rose after her parents die. It’s tailor-made for Gilliam–there are extraordinary scenes here–but it never coalesces. Thinkfilm dropped the ball releasing “Tideland” on DVD in the wrong aspect ratio, so that although this two-disc set contains numerous must-see features for Gilliam fans–interviews, making-of documentary, deleted scenes–the actual movie is ill-served.
 Volver
directed by Pedro Almodovar
starring Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, & Blanca Portillo
Penélope Cruz, whom I’ve rarely found interesting onscreen, gives a meaty, well-defined performance about a new widow’s complex relationships with the women in her life (daughter, mother, sister) in this soapy but entertaining melodrama. In typical Pedro Almodovar fashion, women are luminous creatures and men are jerks; that’s fine, but he’s been at it for 25 years now and rarely delves deeply into his characters and their cliched stories. Still, when it’s as well-acted and filmed as “Volver,” it’s easy to be swept along.
Extras: commentary (in Spanish w/subs) by Cruz and Almodovar, interviews.
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