New movies to be released tomorrow on DVD

The Children of Huang Shi (2008) *½ An old-fashioned story of courage and self-sacrifice in the face of war and deprivation. It’s also sappy, boring and obvious.

City of Ember (2008) **½ For a kiddie adventure, the movie, based on the Jeanne DuPrau book, has a pleasingly moody, eerie quality.

Elsa & Fred (2008) ** This begins to get interesting in the home stretch, as the woman’s chronic deception begins to catch up with her, but for the most part it’s an extended Geritol commercial.

The Express (2008) **½ Has Dennis Quaid really never played a college football coach before? With his handsome, craggy face and likable intensity, he was born for the job, and he’s the main attraction in this film.

Henry Poole Is Here (2008) ** It’s easy to see how a film so unafraid of religious touchstones could become a phenomenon among the faithful. Nonbelievers, however, need not apply.

Igor (2008) *½ An animated twist on the Frankenstein story that never sparks to life.

Max Payne (2008) * A banal revenge melodrama-cum-detective story, but fans of the video game on which it is based should not be alarmed.

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) * The biggest mystery about this film is why the grisly Goth-horror musical opened the week after Halloween. The second-biggest mystery is why this unfunny, unscary, preposterous bloodbath about organ transplants opened at all.

Save Me (2008) **½ An earnest drama about the futility of "rescuing" gay men back to Jesus, this film presents a paradox: It’s an issue drama in which the most compassionately drawn character is on the other side of the issue.

Saw V (2008) ½* Oh, Jigsaw. Here we go again. You kill. I doze off. Someone at the studio goes "ka-ching!"

Sputnik Mania (2008) *** The archival footage here is great, and the cosmos-conquering craziness will satisfy space-race nuts.