The PhilmGuy's DVD Review: 'The Kids Are All Right'; 'A Christmas Carol'

The Kids Are All Right – Lisa Cholodenko’s heartstring-tugging Oscar contender rounds up a strong cast for a tale of a lesbian couple’s (Annette Bening, Julianne Moore) teen children (Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson) who seek out the sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo) who is technically their biological father.

Bening, who many prognosticators say is a shoo-in for a best actress Oscar nomination, is excellent as a supportive mother and wife who does her best to restrict her jealousy and distrust of the immature Ruffalo character. A making-of doc joins with Cholodenko’s emotional, incisive commentary track make the extras a masters class in how to construct a heartfelt, unpredictable story.

Elf Ultimate Collector’s Edition – The excellent 2009 Blu-ray of the 2003 fish-out-of-water comedy – starring Will Ferrell as a man who was raised in Santa’s workshop who is forced into the real world – comes in a tin along with a stocking, the CD soundtrack, gift tags and a magnetic picture frame. In other words, you get everything but spaghetti with M&Ms and chocolate syrup on top. On the disc, you get deleted scenes, trivia about the movie and several featurettes, including sing-along songs and background on the North Pole set construction.

Modern Times Blu-ray – Charlie Chaplin had the concept for The Office back in 1936. The master comedian mocks the workplace, as well as mankind’s yearning to disconnect from one another via technology, in this insightful satire that only grows more poignant through the decades. It’s no surprise that Criterion bowls you over with historical commentary and background information in the extras. True fans of the film can spend weeks analyzing this stuff, which analyzes every aspect of the film, from Chaplin’s comic timing to the precise set design.

Peanuts Holiday Collection Ultimate Collector’s Edition – Warner Bros. teased Peanuts fans with individual releases of the various holiday specials, and rewards those who held off on buying the earlier releases for this blowout set that includes It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas on one disc, along with a stand-up decoration and window decals. I feel bad for those who have already bought the movies individually, but since WB made no secret of its plans to release this set, it just goes to show how important it is to do your homework before you buy movies.

A Christmas Carol – Never passing up the opportunity to ham it up, Jim Carrey stars as Scrooge as well as several other characters in this Polar Express-like motion-captured animated take on the Dickens legend. The film came out a full year ago, and the producers used the extra time to stuff the stocking with ample extras, such as deleted scenes, an interactive advent calendar and an intensive look at the animation process. If you’ve got a 3D TV, there’s a 3D Blu-ray version that will let you show off your expensive toy to gawking friends.