'Spirit' needs substance to match its style
"The Spirit" (two-disc special edition) - "The Spirit" coulda been a contender. It's based on a beloved pulp hero created by the late comics legend Will Eisner. It has Frank Miller, another comics legend, behind the camera. And it offers the perfect visual style for a geeked-out audience dying to see the next "Sin City" or "300" (both based on Miller's comics).
Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Miller hasn't learned how to graft his hard-boiled imagination onto an actual story. The narrative lurches forward in stops and starts. Characters enter and exit without reason. It's a shame because Miller has visual style to burn, and he delivers some knockout images here. (I also liked the performances by Gabriel Macht as the title character and Samuel L. Jackson as his arch-nemesis, the Octopus.) If Miller ever gets ahold of a top-shelf script, he could make a pop film for the ages.
The two-disc DVD is pretty good, with a Miller commentary, a featurette about his career in comics and a cool alternate ending (among other goodies). All this fits on disc 1; the second disc contains a downloadable copy of the film. The Blu-ray adds a featurette on Eisner's career, along with some interactive features. (PG-13; Lionsgate, $34.98 or $39.99 for Blu-ray)
"The Reader" - As cold and slow as a glacier, "The Reader" never capitalizes on the wealth of talent in front of and behind the camera. Kate Winslet won an Oscar for her portrayal of a German trolley conductor with a dark past who has a summer affair with a teenage boy. Years later, the boy, now a law student, is horrified to see his ex-lover walk into a courtroom as a defendant in a trial against former Nazi guards. Winslet is great, and strong supporting turns come from David Kross and Ralph Fiennes (they play the teenage and adult versions of the boy, respectively). But while the movie tries to be both a love story and a Holocaust drama, it ends up doing neither particularly well. The DVD release comes with deleted scenes, a conversation with Kross and director Stephen Daldry ("The Hours") and a look at the aging process Winslet went through. Note: The Blu-ray edition won't be available until April 28. (R; Genius Products, $29.95 or $34.99 for Blu-ray)
"Doubt" - Anyone who went to Catholic school will smile (or shudder) when they see Sister Aloysius, the stern nun played to perfection by Meryl Streep in the excellent drama "Doubt." Sister Aloysius is the principal of a school in 1960s New York, and she patrols its halls, eyes narrowed, like a prison warden. When a young teacher comes to her with evidence that suggests the parish's dynamic young pastor has behaved inappropriately with a student, the principal goes on a relentless mission to have him removed, even when it appears he's done nothing wrong. "Doubt" crackles with writer-director John Patrick Shanley's great dialogue and superb acting from Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays the pastor (both received Oscar nominations). Viola Davis, also an Oscar nominee, nearly steals the movie with her brief but devastating performance as the student's mother. See this one, folks. The DVD and Blu-ray versions come with the same set of extras, which include a nice Shanley commentary and several informative behind-the-scenes featurettes. (PG-13: Disney, $29.99 or $34.99 for Blu-ray)
"No Country for Old Men" (three-disc collector's edition) - Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar-winning 2007 crime epic returns in a three-disc set that's sure to annoy all those who bought the single-disc version a year or so ago. All of the extras from the first DVD are here, plus a full disc's worth of interviews with the Coens, cast members, even cinematographer Roger Deakins. (The third disc contains a downloadable copy of the film.) It's an exhaustive, if somewhat repetitive, array of material that blows the previous release away. If you already shelled out your hard-earned cash on the single-discer, I'd suggest recouping some of that on eBay and going for this deluxe set. If you haven't yet added this flick to your collection, buy this now. "No Country" is a masterfully constructed thriller, and this release delivers the DVD goods. (R; Disney, $32.99)