DVD levels the playing field for all of the films that, for one reason or another, didn’t get a shot upon their original releases in theaters. Whether they were Oscar contenders that got shut out, got nominated for Oscars but won none, or were “art films” or foreign releases only seen in limited runs, they all have a new start on disc. Now, it’s only a matter of whether they deserve that second chance.
 Candy
Thinkfilm
directed by Neil Armfield
starring Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, & Geoffery Rush
Tremendous performances by Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish as a lost couple unable to beat drug addiction overcome a melodramatic script and direction by Neil Armfield (Luke Davies was co-writer). Ledger showed his dramatic mettle in “Brokeback Mountain,” but it’s Cornish—a naturally unaffected actress—who, in the space of three movies (“Somersault,” “A Good Year,” now “Candy”), has proven that she can handle any role with racy authenticity. Geoffrey Rush as a fellow addict lends able support.
Extras: writer/director commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes.
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 Color Me Kubrick
Magnolia Films
directed by Brian W. Cook
starring John Malkovich, Jim Davidson, Richard E. Grant, & Marc Warren
John Malkovich’s flamboyant turn as Alan Conway, who duped many Londoners into thinking he was Stanley Kubrick in the mid-‘90s (even though he looked nothing like the reclusive director), is the main reason to watch this one-note comic journey through a man’s lunacy. Once the premise is set up, the movie has nowhere to go, relying instead on musical and visual cues from Kubrick’s films, so enlightened audience members can say, “Hey—that’s from ‘A Clockwork Orange’!” It’s fun at first, but since Malkovich has no character to play, it pales quickly.
Extra: “Being Alan Conway” featurette.
 Come Early Morning
Genius Films
directed by Joey Lauren Adams
starring Ashley Judd, Jeffery Donovan, Laura Prepon, & Diane Ladd
Ashley Judd takes a lot of knocks for those routine thrillers she makes, but there’s no denying her very real acting talents. She was a revelation in “Ruby in Paradise” back in 1993; in “Come Early Morning”—the surprisingly absorbing debut feature from writer-director Joey Lauren Adams (a commercial washout as an actress)—Judd is simply superb as a trashy Southern gal looking to make a new life for herself is handsome enough, including a plausible recreation of the premiere of the revolutionary Ninth Symphony. Extras: Holland/Harris commentary, deleted scenes, making-of featurette.that doesn’t include waking up in a different bed every morning. Judd’s on-target acting makes me wish she had followed a less obviously commercial (but far more lucrative) career trajectory.
No extras.
 Copying Beethoven
MGM/Fox
directed by Adnieszka Holland
starring Ed Harris, Diange Kruger, Ralph Riach, & Bill Stewart
Ed Harris hams up a storm as the composer in this less-than-satisfactory biopic, which invents a fictional character (a younger female composer, charmingly played by Diane Kruger) who transcribes his music and puts up with his tirades) apparently because Beethoven’s real life wasn’t dramatic enough otherwise. Director Agnieszka Holland seems damned to making hackneyed biopics (“Total Eclipse,” about French poets Rimbaud and Baudelaire was hilariously bad), even if the production itself—well-photographed by Ashley Rowe—is handsome enough, including a plausible recreation of the premiere of the revolutionary Ninth Symphony.
Extras: Holland/Harris commentary, deleted scenes, making-of featurette.
 La Crimen Ferpecto (The Perfect Crime)
Tartan Films
directed by Álex de la Iglesia
starring Guillermno Toledo & Monica Cervera
Álex de la Iglesia is considered the next big Spanish director, but his movies have so far been underwhelming. Supposedly his breakthrough, this black comedy falters badly after a terrific start as its ruthless salesman protagonist gets sidetracked by an unappealing confidant/lover. A few bright moments fall by the wayside once the gears creak into motion, and the comedy drops off after that.
Extras: making-of featurette, director commentary.
 The Curse of the Golden Flower
Sony
directed by Zhang Yimou
starring Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou & Ye Liu
That Zhang Yimou ("Hero," "House of Flying Daggers") is one of cinama's finest visual stylists is unquestionable; the question is—after seeing this staggeringly colorful, visually oppressive exercise in style–why does Yimou make such dazzling-looking movies if there’s nothing substantial underneath? Such pageantry for its own sake becomes a dramatic dead end, and whenever the characters’ machinations take over the screen, the movie becomes inert. The director’s best movies are small, personal stories, so maybe he’ll drop these extravaganzas for awhile and make something deeper.
Extras: behind-the-scenes featurette, footage from the L.A. premiere.
 Death of a President
LionsGate
directed by Gabriel Range
starring Hend Ayoub, Brian Bolad, Becky Ann Baker, & Robert Mangiardi
Not the hateful polemic that right-wing blogs made it out to be, this is actually an unerringly accurate-looking recreation of one of those cable documentaries about historical events. It’s shot and edited with utmost skill, and the unknown actors look and sound authentic, but what’s the point? Aside from showing off how well director Gabriel Range stages realistic-looking fiction, there’s little dramatic urgency, since the assassination of George W. Bush would have far-reaching consequences beyond what’s shown in the movie.
Extras: interviews with Range and collaborators.
 Freedom Writers
Paramount Pictures
directed by Richard LaGravenese
starring Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, & Imelda Staunton
Unabashedly manipulative, “Freedom Writers” is another in the “unorthodox teacher sways tough students” genre, forged by films like “Stand and Deliver” and “Dangerous Minds.” Hilary Swank is sensational as the new teacher who connects with her “misfit” kids by letting them bring their difficult lives into the classroom. Of course, she’s initially shat on by students, teachers, even her husband, but eventually wins over (almost) everyone. Writer-director Richard LaGravenese doesn’t miss a trick turning on the sentiment; since this is a true story, its tears are honestly earned.
Extras: LaGravenese/Swank commentary, deleted scenes, making-of featurette, and interview with the teacher who inspired the movie.
 The Good Shepherd
Universal
directed by Robert DeNiro
starring Matt Damon, Robert DeNiro, Alec Baldwin, & Angelina Jolie
Even at 2 hours and 45 minutes, Robert DeNiro’s ambitious film documenting the CIA’s beginnings feels foreshortened; to be a truly epic experience, the movie needs more room to breathe. There is much good stuff here, especially the acting of Matt Damon, DeNiro, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon, and even Angelina Jolie in the thankless role of the put-upon wife. A fascinating historical lesson, “The Good Shepherd” would have benefitted from an even lengthier DVD cut: the 16 minutes’ worth of deleted scenes included as an extra lack the necessary heft. Perhaps a longer cut is down the road.
 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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