New movies to be released tomorrow on DVD

Battle in Seattle (2008) ** With the World Trade Organization about to convene in his city, Seattle’s Mayor Jim Tobin (Ray Liotta) tries to make sure all events go smoothly. As tensions between protestors and authorities rise out of control, activists and bystanders get caught in the crossfire. The picture’s ambition, cogency and decent performances make up for its uneven aspects. Woody Harrelson has some especially good moments as a cop.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) **½ When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno (Asa Butterfield) befriends Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone wears striped pajamas, unaware of the fate of those Jewish prisoners or the role his own Nazi father plays in it. The movie should be heartbreaking, but it isn’t. The muted quality of its impact is the result of narrative shortcuts and a desire to keep the images from being too startling.

Cadillac Records (2008) *** The true story of Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody), a bar owner turned record mogul who signs a lineup of future legends to his fledgling label, Chess Records. The movie may be a mess dramatically, but it’s a wonderful mess, and not just because of the great music. The people who made it must have harbored the notion, almost subversive in a season of so many depressing films, that watching movies should be fun.

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) ***½ Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a perpetually cheerful 30-year-old London teacher. When her beloved bike is stolen, she decides to take up driving, and is paired with Scott (Eddie Marsan), an instructor who’s her polar opposite. For all of its laughs and a star-making performance by Hawkins, this film represents a serious philosophical inquiry by writer-director Mike Leigh, who has illustrated a consistently pessimistic view of humankind in his semi-improvised movies.

Let the Right One In (2008) ***½ Twelve-year-old Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), the constant target of bullies, spends his time plotting revenge and collecting news items about the grisly murders plaguing his town. This is a sweetly queasy film that suggests the spirit that sustains us, the demons we hide from the world, and the monsters that prey upon us in the dark might all be variations on the same beast.

Milk (2008) ***½ Sean Penn stars in this fact-based drama about Harvey Milk, the openly gay activist and San Francisco politician who was murdered along with mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber) by disgruntled city employee Dan White (Josh Brolin) in 1978. The film is superbly crafted, covering huge amounts of time, people and the zeitgeist without a moment of lapsed energy or inattention to detail.

Nobel Son (2008) * On the verge of receiving the Nobel Prize in chemistry, Professor Eli Michaelson (Alan Rickman) learns that kidnappers have snatched his son Barkley (Bryan Greenberg), a promising graduate student. A dreary little thriller that irritates more than it thrills.

Rachel Getting Married (2008) ***½ When drama queen Kym (Anne Hathaway), a former model who’s been in and out of rehab for 10 years, returns to her parents’ home just before the wedding of her sister, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), long-standing family conflicts begin to resurface. The longer it goes on, the more you’re swept up into the jet stream of good feeling.

Role Models (2008) **½ Slackers Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) have coasted their way through jobs at an energy drink company. When their goofing off catches up with them, they’re sentenced to community service with the Sturdy Wings mentoring program.The movie has a tart surface, a heart of goo and grows more obvious as it goes along.

Synecdoche, New York (2008) *** After his painter wife (Catherine Keener) leaves him and takes their daughter to Berlin, theater director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) stages a new autobiographical play in a massive warehouse amid a life-size replica of Manhattan. It is a sprawling, ambitious and very long look at so many things, it’s almost a miracle writer-director Charlie Kaufman was able to wrap it up in just two hours. And yet, for a film that is principally about death, the conclusion is surprisingly life-affirming, especially coming from Kaufman.

Transporter 3 (2008) ** Follows the adventures of Frank Martin (Jason Statham), a mercenary driver who makes his living by delivering important cargo, no questions asked. This film is so far over the top that it more than once spills into outright cartoonishness.