Last Week in DVD

Gone Baby Gone: How's this for an odd juxtaposition of phrases: "Directed by Ben Affleck," and "Underrated gem"? Well, I'm going there. As I said before, this is an outstanding, provocative adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel, and it easily earns a spot in my Top 10 of 2007. What's that, you say? I never posted a top 10 list? Hmm. I'll have to rectify that soon.

I Could Never Be Your Woman: Well, as bad as "Loser" was, I Could Never Believe an Amy Heckerling flick starring Michelle Pfeiffer could go direct to video, but that's what happened here. Entertainment Weekly had an interesting piece about this recently that detailed the whys and hows of this but somehow left me feeling I didn't really know anything about the actual movie.

Becoming Jane: A rather speculative look at the romantic life of Jane Austen. Women may see this on the shelf and think of the parallels between this and, say, "Emma." Men may see this on the shelf and think, "Anne Hathaway really is a babe."

Charlie Chan Collection Volume 4: Fox quietly cranks out set after set of restored Chan flicks, each box loaded with special features. And I really mean loaded with quality special features like useful commentaries and informative featurettes, as opposed to those DVDs that boast copious extras but count things like trailers and interactive trivia games. With volume 4, Fox moves to the Sidney Toler era, and though many prefer predecessor Warner Oland's Chan, Fox is not treating this as a comedown.

George of the Jungle: The Complete Series: 3 reasons to rejoice: 1) Unlike other Jay Ward toons, you're getting all of these in one shot (we're still waiting for the rest of Rocky and Bullwinkle). 2) This release isn't as flawed as the Underdog DVDs. 3) Most importantly, it's not that Cartoon Network remake now drawing such ire.

Lubitsch Musicals Collection: Criterion's Eclipse line rolls out 4 early romantic comedies from the master of the acclaimed "Lubitsch touch,"

We Own the Night: GRITTY crime drama starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg from the director of "The Yards." If this were any grittier, you could file your nails with it. That doesn't make any sense, does it? Hey, give me a break. I didn't see this one, and I know very little about it. Except it's gritty.

No Reservations: American remake of "Mostly Martha." I didn't see this one, either, but "American remake" generally indicates broader, sillier, and boobier.