“Syriana”
WARNER BROS., $28.98
Who’s in it: George Clooney, Matt Damon
Recap: The lives of spies, lawyers, oil moguls and workers, and innocent folks intersect in a confusing but intriguing depiction of current world events.
Best extra: “A Conversation with George Clooney” shows the Oscar-winning actor to be both intelligent and politically minded.
Secrets revealed: Deleted scenes unveil the ex-wife of Clooney’s CIA agent character, who is referred to but never shown in the film.
Feature to skip: “Make A Change, Make A Difference” is a didactic feature that unfortunately uses the often-impenetrable movie as some sort of teaching tool.
Trivia: While writer/director Stephen Gaghan based “Syriana” on Robert Baer’s book “See No Evil,” the film inexplicably received an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay rather than best adapted screenplay.
If you liked this, try: “The Parallax View,” the classic ’70s thriller about a mysterious and convoluted conspiracy.
“Equinox”
CRITERION, $39.95
Who’s in it: Jack Woods, Edward Connell, Barbara Hewitt
Recap: Essentially a made-on-the-cheap home movie, “Equinox” was devised by a host of future big Hollywood names in special effects, and shows how cleverness can sometimes make up for lack of cash (and a crappy story).
Best extra: Two versions of the film are included: one (from 1967) is the original filmmaker’s vision and the other (from 1970) a padded version that made its way to drive-in screens.
Secrets revealed: The two commentaries and numerous interviews truly represent the attention to detail that built Criterion’s reputation as “film school in a box.”
Feature to skip: This is the rare DVD where the film itself is hard to sit through, minus the commentaries and other supplements.
Trivia: Director Dennis Muren, then a student, went on to helm the special effects for “Star Wars” and “Jurassic Park.”
If you liked this, try: “Evil Dead II,” Sam Raimi’s frantic horror flick, which clearly is indebted to “Equinox.”
ALSO OUT TUESDAY
“Eight Below”
DISNEY, $29.99
Paul Walker leads the cast of bipeds as a guide forced by a storm to leave his team of eight sled dogs during a severe Antarctica winter. The DVD has deleted footage with commentary tracks and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
“The Hills Have Eyes”
20TH CENTURY FOX, $29.98
A vacationing family is stranded in the New Mexico desert, where they are stalked by people grotesquely disfigured by atomic testing. This unrated edition adds footage, has two commentaries with director Alexandre Aja and producer Wes Craven.
“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”
PARAMOUNT, $19.99
The 1993 tale about an oddball family gets a new edition that has interviews with Johnny Depp and co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Juliette Lewis, along with commentary by director Lasse Hallstrom.
BEST OF THE REST
– “The Omen (1976): Collector’s Edition” (FOX, $26.98)
– “Night Watch” (FOX, $27.98)
COMING SOON
IN STORES NEXT WEEK
– “Failure to Launch”
– “Imagine Me & You”
– “Madea’s Family Reunion”
– “Ultraviolet”
– “Why We Fight”
