The Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno The two DVDs feature one extra disc each, filled with behind-the-scenes documentaries, filmmaker commentaries, photograph libraries and much more. They're superb packages for superb movies. To miss either would be the real disaster.

Brokeback Mountain, Au Revoir Les Enfants and King Kong These three films couldn't seem more different. Yet they're also -- intriguingly -- cut from the same cloth. The theme of star-crossed lovers and ill-fated friends binds them in unexpected ways.

Jarhead Jarhead tries to make war both fascinating and repulsive at the same moment. As alluring as a train wreck, pointing its camera on the horror, futility, comedy, characters and occasionally stunning imagery of war.

National Treasure Released last winter -- and recently on DVD -- National Treasure stars Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Franklin Gates, a sort of modern-day Indiana Jones, a man steeped in history, in the intricacies of puzzles and the wonder of ancient buried treasure.

On A Clear Day You Can See Forever On A Clear Day is one beautiful film. Photographed by Harry Stradling, the images are crisp, with deep color and a fine attention paid to Barbra Streisand, the film's star.

De-Lovely De-Lovely provides an intimate musical portrait of a man who had plenty of money, plenty of style and plenty of desire to write terrific songs.

Aladdin and Mulan Aladdin and Mulan, for all their entertainment value and their DVD extras, should be remembered as the works of high art they are, examples of the "old style" that should live forever.

The China Syndrome The China Syndrome benefited from a real-life accident that happened within days of the film's opening, the Three Mile Island disaster. What happened there was pretty much what could have happened in the movie, which made the movie all the more terrifying.

Sex and the City Sex and the City was, from the outset, one of those must-see shows that grew more lustrous with age. Like The Mary Tyler Moore Show three decades ago, Sex and the City was about a girl and her friends, all trying to make their way in the big city.

Purple Rain Purple Rain is one of those films that goes a long way to defining its generation. Though marred by a sometimes simplistic script, it remains a stellar piece of entertainment and a lasting testament to the often jaw-dropping talent of the artist who will forever be known as Prince.

The Manchurian Candidate The Manchurian Candidate is the kind of movie one studies in a university film course. It's entertainment, but it's also literature: a layered, carefully assembled time capsule.

Le Cercle Rouge What can we learn today from French director Jean-Pierre Melville's 1971 film Le Cercle Rouge? One aspect is Melville's attention and respect for detail. His films possess a rare poetic quality that enlightens even the most bare and mundane subjects.

Angels in America by Tony Kushner Angels in America triumphs because it shows what's possible in the world. The message is optimistic, even hopeful. The newly released DVD of director Mike Nichols' cable extravaganza has raised new interest in Kushner's classic.

Kill Bill Volume 2 What does Kill Bill, Volume 2 show? You might think Volume 1 was just a lucky break; but it's too good for that. On the other hand, Tarantino's treatment of Volume 2 is puzzling. It has none of the panache, style, and wit of the earlier film.

Les Liasions Dangereuse Remakes are an interesting sub-genre. Hollywood certainly loves them: Why make something new when you can make something old (and proven) in a new way?

Illusion by David Copperfield More than a magician, Copperfield is a showman in the classic mold. He's not content to just get up and do his tricks. Rather, he augments the magic with genuine showmanship and seems to be as amazed as his audience that these things actually work.

Big Fish Tim Burton has made a career of telling us fables. From his earliest movies to his most recent, Burton has taken his audiences on journeys that no other director would dare to, in ways that no other director seems to know how to do.

Kill Bill Volume 1 Kill Bill is a massive assemblage of Tarantino's own movie history, a globally influenced pop-culture puzzle that so much wants you to unravel it.

Schindler's List To finally have Schindler's List on DVD is a major event for those who care deeply for film. It is the last of the director's works to appear in this archival format for all to share for decades to come.

Alien and Planet of the Apes Alien and Planet of the Apes launched massively successful series. The value of the sequels aside, the original films are brilliant works of science fiction.

The Adventures of Indiana Jones Perhaps, in the end, these movies aren't about religion at all, or even faith. Perhaps they're about the idea, the belief, that stories are the most important thing we have. The stories we pass on to one another tell us less about the objects in the tales, and more about those who tell them.

The Looney Tunes Golden Collection Nothing even approaches the sophistication of the work of the key members of the team at Warner Brothers. They didn't make cartoons so much as classic comedies. They were the Pixar of their day: brilliant filmmakers whose chosen medium was animation.

Black Sunday It isn't too long ago that the kind of scenario Black Sunday depicts was unthinkable. Unfortunately, we now know better. And this sad fact turns this unforgettable political thriller into a truly terrifying cautionary tale.

Blues Story Blues Story is one of the most brilliantly conceived and executed films released on the blues. This is strictly the artists telling it like it was.

Paper Moon If you've never seen Paper Moon, add it to your list. It doesn't make many (if any) best-of lists, but it's a unique movie made in a unique time in Hollywood, when character and vision were more important than stars and effects.

Die Another Day Choices are important on any film, but they're really key on a Bond film. This time, the director was terrific and the script was tight, but even with all the references to other 007 movies, this felt like just another action film.

Chicago and All That Jazz While All That Jazz and Chicago weren't anything alike, both are "funny, shocking, and intensely creative" films. And our reviewer points out more commonalties than might at first meet the eye.

Fame The Fame DVD includes commentaries by Alan Parker and much of the film's cast, featurettes about the film and the actual High School of the Performing Arts, and the trailer. It's a great package.

Cinema Paradiso: The New Version Whether you care more for the extended version or the original, Cinema Paradiso is worth watching simply because it's a movie that celebrates the joy of watching movies.

Talk to Her (Hable con Ella) Pedro Almodovar's Talk To Her is a wonderful blend of calm passion and vibrant emotion, telling the tale of two men brought together by loneliness and a longing for the love of their fallen women of choice.

Signs Signs, for all its flaws, is the third great film in a row from M. Night Shyamalan. There's no filmmaker in Hollywood who has a voice anywhere close to his.

James Bond by Tony Buchsbaum From the first strains of the Bond Theme in 1962 to the somewhat strained overuse of it in 2002, the music has defined not just 007, but a whole generation.

Spider-Man Way back when, a young comic artist named Stan Lee thought up Spider-Man. Though no one thought the idea was worthwhile, Lee stuck to his guns. In the decades since, Lee's hero has become a legend.

The Laramie Project The Laramie Project was the opening night feature presentation at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, and it was broadcast on HBO soon after. The newly-released DVD includes the film in widescreen format, two featurettes, a director commentary track and a making-of documentary.

Saturday Night Fever and Grease Taken together, these films are an eye-opening look at all the reasons there ever was a zeitgeist that surrounded John Travolta. And they're a time capsule of a when the most important thing was figuring out who we were...and not wondering if we'd actually make it back from vacation alive.

Victor/Victoria on CD and DVD Victor/Victoria is one of those rare films that simply has to be seen -- and heard. Everything about it is first-rate, from the screenplay to the songs, from the direction to the performances; if the actors hadn't already been stars, their work here would have made them so.

Soundtracks/Retro The Magic Show DVD & Original Broadway cast CD A breathtaking original cast recording and a marginal video recreation commemorate the mid-1970s Broadway classic with varying degrees of success.

Andrew Lloyd Webber by Tony Buchsbaum Contributing editor Tony Buchsbaum looks at the music and magic of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. From Jesus Christ: Superstar to Cats and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sir Andrew has become the"wunderkind musical theater composer of our time."

The Count of Monte Cristo Although contemporary adaptations of classics don't always work, this Count of Monte Cristo is vibrant, vital and smart. It's a more-than-worthwhile addition to the growing DVD collection.

Fiddler on the Roof CD and DVD Fiddler on the Roof is celebrating 30 years on film. That anniversary is being celebrated on both DVD and CD, with the release of spiffed up editions of the film and its celebrated musical score.