DVD picks

Sleepers, odds and ends

Good films fail at the box office all the time, for a million reasons. Often the problem is poor marketing or distribution; sometimes it's just bad timing. This is precisely why nature, in her infinite wisdom, has provided us with DVD and home theater. Many a great movie has found a second life on DVD, from cult comedies such as "Office Space" to angsty freakouts like "Donnie Darko."

A few potential DVD sleepers stood out in 2008, the first coming very early in the year. "Sunshine" is my Sci-Fi Sleeper of the Year. Director Danny Boyle ("28 Days Later," "Millions") never met a genre he didn't want to update, be it zombie horror or kids' movie. With "Sunshine," Boyle takes on a science fiction staple and supercharges it with visual pyrotechnics and punk rock energy.

It's a familiar setup, especially in spaceship and submarine movies. A small crew is locked in a hermetically sealed vehicle, surrounded by an extremely hostile environment. Resources are limited, oxygen and/or life support are threatened and to go outside is certain death.

In "Sunshine," the crew is headed from the Earth to the sun, intending to deliver a nuclear payload that will jump-start our dying star. Cillian Murphy and Michelle Yeoh headline the muli-culti cast, who drop like flies when an unexpected saboteur comes aboard.

It's a little bit "Solaris," a little bit "Alien," even a little bit "Crimson Tide" as crew members fight over the proper course of action. But director Boyle reassembles the pieces in an intriguing fashion and delivers one of the most visually stunning DVD experiences of the year.

The film eschews the shadowy approach typical of the genre and instead employs a palette of oversaturated, superbright colors. Raw sunlight floods several crucial scenes. The blues of the coolant tanks and the lush greens of the oxygen farm are blown out into kaleidoscope shimmers, and each shot is meticulously composed. Even the actors seem to be selected for their reflective qualities. Murphy's cheekbones, for instance, are clearly genetically designed to please cinematographers.

Anyway, it's a simply gorgeous movie to look at, with story and dialogue much better than they have to be. If you liked what Boyle did with the zombie movie in "28 Days Later," you'll like his similarly intense approach here.

In the runner-up position, Harmony Korine's ode to pop-art hauntedness "Mr. Lonely" is my Art Film Sleeper of the Year. Plotwise, the movie tells the story of a commune of celebrity impersonators in Scotland, with a sidebar on skydiving nuns. But plot is the least of its concerns. What it's really about can't be easily described -- the absurdity of life, maybe, or the absurdity of hope. It's very much like an abstract painting. Just look at it for a while and see what feelings pop up.

In third place comes "Michael Clayton," my '70s-Style Sleeper of the Year, from Bourne trilogy screenwriter James Gilroy. This is the kind of grown-up thriller they used to make a lot of back in the 1970s. George Clooney plays a corporate fixer dropped into a thousand-acre moral minefield, with startling supporting turns from Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton.

Finally, a few end-of-the-year awards from the DVD beat:

The Yes, It's As Good As Everyone Keeps Saying Award: "The Dark Knight"

The First Half Hour = Cinematic Genius Award: "WALL-E"

The Permanent Collection Award: "The Godfather Trilogy" on Blu-Ray

The TV on DVD Award: (tie) "The Sopranos" / "The Wire" complete series sets

The Impeccable Comedy Writing Award: "30 Rock," Season 2