New movies to be released tomorrow on DVD

Chandni Chowk to China (2009) ** As with many a Bollywood epic, you can bring the kids, your lunch, your cell phone, your unfiled taxes. There’s so much here, and in such heaping, lengthy portions, you could probably weave a sari before the end credits. It’s a live-action Looney Tunes cartoon that lasts 154 minutes rather than just five, and it’s as exhausting as it sounds.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) *** Question: Is life still like a box of chocolates if you’re going in reverse? The answer, in the case of the curiously Gumpian The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is a gooey yes. What Button shows is that Ben is ultimately not the hero of his own life or his own movie. He gets inside our head, that’s for sure, but, frustratingly, we never get inside his. But it’s worth seeing just for the superb prosthetic makeup and seamless computer-generated effects in which Brad Pitt’s head is digitally imposed onto older bodies.

Just Another Love Story (2009) *** Contrived excess is rarely as entertaining as it is in this ironically titled film, a furiously overheated romantic thriller from Danish writer-director Ole Bornedal.You could call it nothing more than an exercise in style, but A) Bornedal’s got style to burn and B) that’s not quite fair. Beneath all the dazzling cinematography, propulsive score and overcommitted acting, I found this movie an affecting, mordant comedy about male midlife crisis in its most extreme form. It may not go anywhere in particular, but it is as exciting as a trip through a well-equipped, scary fun house.

Last Chance Harvey (2008) **½ This mundane romantic comedy is notable for one reason only: its leading couple. Imagine Paddy Chayefsky’s Marty saddled with more sentimentality and sprinkled with a few more laughs and you pretty much have Last Chance Harvey.

Look (2007) ** With its emphasis on its interweaving stories, this movie offers no commentary on the phenomenon of increasingly pried-apart privacy, positive or negative. Not that it needs to be political, or even particularly deep, but that nonexamination, coupled with lack of real insight into the characters, leaves one sensing an opportunity missed. An unsettling, rudely funny but not entirely credible feature.

Momma’s Man (2008) ***½ A comedy of sorts, though to writer-director Azazel Jacobs’ credit, he doesn’t aim for cheap laughs. Perhaps the most indispensable cast member is the Jacobs’ dwelling, their residence since 1966.

Smother (2008) *½ It’s very sad to watch Diane Keaton here. In the most excruciating scene, she gets drunk in a bar, staggers up to a microphone and starts to sing, or rather squawk. For those of us who still revere Annie Hall and her blissfully unaffected rendition of Seems Like Old Times, this is sacrilege.

Wendy and Lucy (2008) ***½ Writer-director Kelly Reichardt is a tremendously conscientious filmmaker, and not out to torture the audience. Yes, this is a fraught and agonizing story, but the way it ends, although heartbreaking, is absolutely right. A masterful low-budget drama in which Michelle Williams gives as lovely a performance as a moviegoer could ask for.