Greed, fear, insanity and lots of heartbreak
There Will Be Blood
Paramount, $29.99/$34.99
After the Oscar and milkshake talk subsides, “There Will Be Blood” will still be watched, debated and -- one hopes -- enjoyed. Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic deconstruction of American business and religion is audacious on many levels, including its unsparing depiction of a misanthropic “oil man” as well as Daniel Day-Lewis’ outsized, award-winning portrayal of that man as a tragically lonely creep. The movie is a downer, but Anderson’s filmmaking is thrilling, and his story -- loosely adapted from Upton Sinclair’s novel “Oil!” -- is often blackly comic. “There Will Be Blood” is a morose masterpiece, with a pioneering spirit and a broken heart. The double-disc DVD adds an hour of unrevealing special features.
Lions for Lambs
United Artists, $29.99
Writer Matthew Michael Carnahan and director Robert Redford serve up a series of overheated polemics, delivered by one-note characters: a professor (played by Redford), a senator (Tom Cruise) and a reporter (Meryl Streep). The DVD includes a Redford commentary track, a back-patting making-of and a short look at the past output of the newly revived United Artists.
Walk Hard:
The Dewey Cox Story
Sony Pictures, $28.95/$29.96, Blu-Ray, $43.95
The Judd Apatow comedy machine slipped a gear with this mock biopic, which stars John C. Reilly as a baggy-pants version of Johnny Cash (and Ray Charles, and every other drug-addicted superstar who ever had a movie made about him). Still, “Walk Hard” is likely to play better on DVD -- especially in the double-disc edition, which offers a slew of deleted scenes and bonus parody songs.
The Water Horse:
Legend of the Deep
Columbia Tri/Star, $28.96; Blu-Ray, $38.96
It wasn’t as high-profile as some other big ’07 holiday releases, but director Jay Russell’s gentle kid flick is the kind of well-paced adventure fare that endures on home video. Alex Etel plays a Scottish boy who copes with his father’s deployment overseas by befriending a strange hatchling that grows up to be the Loch Ness Monster. The DVD includes a generous helping of featurettes; the Blu-Ray edition adds an interactive game.
And . . .
“Classic Musicals From the Dream Factory, Vol. 3” (Warner, $69.98); “Houdini: The Movie Star” (Kino, $39.95); “Perry Mason: 50th Anniversary Edition” (Paramount, $49.99); “Reservation Road” (Universal, $29.98); “Resurrecting the Champ” (20th Century Fox, $27.98)
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-- Noel Murray