See those worthy films you might have missed on DVD

"See those worthy films you might have missed on DVD | HdBluDVD.Com - More HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, DVD Info"

Claudia Puig, USA TODAY

Last year was a record-breaker for blockbusters, from Transformers 2 to Avatar. But a number of excellent films that flew in under the radar deserve a larger audience and are either now available on DVD or will be soon.

•Amreeka. A slice of American life as seen through the eyes of a family of Palestinian immigrants who make a difficult, but ultimately hopeful, transition to a country that isn't always sure what to make of them. (On DVD Jan. 12.)

•The Boys Are Back. An unflinchingly honest film about a fractured family coping with fallout from divorce and death. The effects of these calamities on their innocent victims — children — are explored poignantly and with humor. Clive Owen is superb as a sportswriter living in the Australian countryside who struggles to raise his two sons. (On DVD Jan. 26.)

•The Brothers Bloom. This genial comic adventure starring Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz and Adrien Brody feels old-fashioned with its charming romance and stately European locations. But its quirky twisting story, magical realism and witty contemporary dialogue make it an enchantingly offbeat genre-buster.(Available on DVD.)

•The Cove. This well-crafted, suspenseful documentary about the slaughtering of wild dolphins off the coast of a Japanese town informs, unsettles and calls audiences to action.

•It Might Get Loud. An unconventional documentary featuring a trio of real-life guitar heroes —Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's The Edge and Jack White of the White Stripes and The Raconteurs — demonstrating and discussing, fret-à-fret, their techniques and inspirations.

•Phoebe in Wonderland.Elle Fanning is phenomenal as the title character in this moving character study of a troubled and imaginative 9-year-old. Her parents (Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman) are caught between embracing her creativity and urging conformity as Phoebe's flights of fancy spiral.

•Rudo y Cursi. Mexican actors Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna re-team after their breakthrough performances in 2001's evocative road saga, Y Tu Mamá También. They have heaps of chemistry as a pair of twentysomething rubes recruited from a banana plantation to play pro soccer. It's a raucous, entertaining rags-to-riches-to-rags comedy.