Saved!
Macaulay Culkin, Eva Amurri, Jena Malone, and Mandy Moore star in Brian Dannelly’s sweetheart farce, set in a Christian high school. “It’s an alternately satirical and uplifting movie,” wrote New York’s Peter Rainer, in which “the uplift wins out over the satire.” PG-13; $26.98.
Born Rich
A ghoulish documentary about spoiled brats. NR; $19.98.
The Five Obstructions
A fascinating, if frightening, study of the filmmaking process unspools as the often-sadistic Danish director Lars von Trier challenges his idol, Jørgen Leth, to remake his short The Perfect Human five times under increasingly difficult conditions. NR; $24.98.
Tanner ’88
Robert Altman and Garry Trudeau’s pioneering election drama, filmed for television in the heat of the 1988 campaign, tracks a liberal truth-teller on the campaign trail with Michael Dukakis and Jesse Jackson. NR; $29.95.
The War Room
The D. A. Pennebaker– Chris Hegedus documentary about the Clinton campaign that made James Carville a star and George Stephanopoulos a heartthrob. PG; $14.98.
Aladdin
This belated DVD release will un-doubtedly outsell Disney’s recent dud Home on the Range this holiday season. Two discs; G; $29.99.
OUR PICK
Many critics of Michael Moore’s record-breaking, Palme d’Or–winning, McCain-infuriating Fahrenheit 9/11 shrug off his achievement as predictable propaganda. But watch the score of anti-Bush documentaries that have appeared in its wake, and Moore’s expertise becomes clear: articulated outrage, superb pop production values, original reporting (unlike Dan Rather, Moore dug up real memos), and, rarest of all, a sense of humor. No matter how much we disagree with his oil-pipeline conspiracy theory or his House of Saud fearmongering, Moore’s screed may be the only political film of this season that isn’t a sputtering mess. Rather, like a good protest anthem, Moore’s angry backbeat thumps hard, beginning to end. R; $28.95. Extras: The Release of Fahrenheit 9/11 featurette; extended scenes; additional footage of Iraq; a short on Arab-American comedians.