New movies to be released tomorrow week on DVD

(Click on title to see trailer)

4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (2008) **** Pitch perfect and brilliantly acted, "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days" is a stunning achievement, directed with a purity and honesty that captures not just the illegal abortion story at its core but the constant, unremarked negotiations necessary for survival in the final days of the Soviet bloc. Nothing good happens in this film, a riveting, horrifying chronicle of an illegal abortion performed in 1987 when Nicolae Ceauescu’s dictatorial hand still gripped Romania’s throat. And yet no lover of greatness in filmmaking will want to look away from one of the very best movies of the year. Tense, kinetic, intelligent and real – as if Paul Greengrass had remade "Vera Drake." An elegantly crafted, brilliantly acted film.

The Edge of Heaven (2008) ***½ Writer-director Fatih Akin divides this movie into thirds, and ends the first two sections with emotionally devastating scenes of violence, before easing into a third section that deals with the repercussions and lessons learned.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) **½ The biggest problem with this film is one that’s lately plagued director Steven Spielberg in otherwise excellent films like "Munich" and "War Of The Worlds": He fails to stick the landing. And for an entertainment with nothing much on its mind, that hurts.

Mongol (2008) *** With its breathtaking landscapes, bloody battles, bitter betrayals and an aching love story, this is a sumptuously crafted epic. It is purportedly the first in a multi-film saga on the wrath of Khan; as such, it’s probably the last thing you’d expect — great fun.

The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: Veggie Tales (2008) ** My 3-year-old granddaughter had a fine time, pronouncing the movie "very good" and backing up her assessment by going 90 minutes with barely a fidget. Which may actually be the highest compliment any movie can ask for.

Standard Operating Procedure (2008) *** Documentarian Errol Morris makes a persuasive case that many of the Abu Ghraib photos don’t show us what we think they do, and that some of the episodes depicted were staged specifically to be photographed (and might not otherwise have occurred). In presenting their testimony to the jury of public opinion, Morris would seem to be building a case for absolving some of them of mistreatment charges and implicitly asking for an investigation of those who were not charged.

Stuck (2008) **½ While not strictly a horror film, it is steeped in gore and carries a seam of mocking gallows humor as relentless as that of "Sweeney Todd." Mena Suvari’s increasingly loopy and cruel selfishness is its own nifty moral suspense, while Stephen Rea’s sad sack vibe — he already looks like a collision victim in the pre-accident scenes — is a bleakly amusing counterpoint to his gritty refusal to go quietly.

War, Inc. (2008) *½ A film that, in attempting to ridicule the Bush administration, finally just settles for being ridiculous itself.