Action: fast, furious. Dialogue: at standstill

2 Fast 2 Furious

Paul Walker, Tyrese

Universal, $27

In the summer of 1991, then 22-year-old John Singleton was critically lauded for his first film, the heartfelt drama “Boyz N the Hood.” The African American filmmaker subsequently became the first minority and the youngest person ever to be nominated for an Oscar for best director. Unfortunately, none of his films since has measured up critically or commercially to “Boyz.” And now Singleton is a director for hire.

He does show flashes of brilliance with his latest film, which made more than $100 million this summer. Singleton has staged some frenetic, high-octane car chase sequences in sequel to the 2001 hit, “The Fast and the Furious.” But as soon as his young stars open their mouths to utter the trite dialogue, the film comes to a standstill; the whole plot reads like a discarded “Miami Vice” script. The digital edition includes some clever animated menus, several behind-the-scenes documentaries, a look at how the cars were customized, deleted scenes and uneven commentary from Singleton, who too often tends to summarize the action instead of offering insights.

*

Bend It Like Beckham

Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley

Fox, $28

In what could be a first in the history of DVDs, a film’s director not only gives commentary but offers a cooking lesson. And the end result is yummy fun. For the enjoyable digital edition of this year’s surprise art house hit from England, director Gurinder Chadha makes the traditional Indian dish aloo gobi (which consists of cauliflower, potatoes and curry) with her Indian-born mother and aunt watching her every move and giving her tips on how to cook it. Every time they announce their disapproval of her technique, Chadha turns to the camera, smiles and crosses her eyes.

Besides the cooking segment, the digital edition of this charming comedy, about a British-born teenager (Nagra) from a traditional Indian family who wants to play soccer like her idol, David Beckham, features 10 deleted/extended scenes, a decent “making of” featurette, outtakes, a music video, the recipe for aloo gobi and breezy commentary from Chadha and co-writer Paul Mayeda Berges.

*

Nowhere in Africa

Juliane Kohler, Merab Ninidze

Columbia TriStar, $29

This attractive, moving epic drama from Germany won the best foreign language film Oscar this year. It’s a well-acted, inspired factual story about a wealthy Jewish family that flees Nazi-occupied Germany and moves to a farm in Kenya. The cultural shock for the wife is almost too much for her to bear, though her young daughter takes to the region like a fish to water, befriending their benevolent African cook. As the years progress, the husband and wife realize they have little in common but learn to love again.

The two-disc set includes interviews with the cast, a behind-the-scenes featurette, storyboard-to-film comparisons, deleted scenes, commentary in German with subtitles with director Caroline Link, producer Peter Herrmann and star Kohler. The best extra is a still gallery of the locations with commentary from Herrmann, who offers compelling insights on how difficult it was to make this movie in the wilds of Kenya.

-- Susan King