The DVD Filter

Matchstick Men on DVD

By Logan Hill
Published Feb 23, 2004

Dave Chappelle

(Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment)

Chappelle’s Show: Season 1
TV’s funniest Dave—sorry, Letterman—unbleeped, unblurred, and unbridled. The DVDs toss in some borderline-stoner commentary, a 30-minute blooper reel, and an extended “Ask a Black Dude With Paul Mooney” riff. Two discs; NR; $26.99.

Matchstick Men
Ridley Scott’s twitchy con-artist drama, starring Nicolas Cage and Sam Rockwell, is “itself a kind of con,” wrote New York’s Peter Rainer. “It presents us with a disturbing character and then turns him into a species of clown.” PG-13; $27.95.

The Missing
Ron Howard’s first Western didn’t exactly reinvent the genre. Two discs; R; $28.95.

Pieces of April
In Peter Hedges’s surprisingly moving film about a Lower East Side hipster girl (Katie Holmes) who invites her parents for Thanksgiving dinner, Patricia Clarkson delivers her best performance yet (and one that’s certainly Oscar-worthy) as a tough, sarcastic, and often cruel mother. PG-13; $25.98.

Journeys With George
Dubya chugs nonalcoholic brewskis as he charms the boys on the bus in Alexandra Pelosi’s campaign-trail documentary. NR; $19.98.

Our Pick
Indie writer-director Robert Rodriguez had one of film’s most fascinating years in 2003—delivering the swaggering, mythic brutality of Once Upon a Time in Mexico and the pure high-tech child’s play of Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. The terrific DVD set (a great alternative to The Lion King 11⁄2) comes in 2-D and 3-D editions, and you get four sets of goofy glasses, so the whole family can watch Antonio Banderas and his pint-size team trounce the evildoer Sylvester Stallone with extra realism. There’s even an educational twist: Robert Rodriguez’s Ten Minute Film School is a simple guide for aspiring filmmakers with access to a home-video camera, delivered by an indie icon who knows what it’s like to have an allowance-size budget. Two discs; PG; $29.99. Extras: Behind-the-scenes footage; games; commentary by Robert Rodriguez.