United 93, Lost, District B13: Region 1 DVD Releases for September 5, 2006

This week, you have your pick of real or imaginary plane tragedies. Neither will waste your time.

United 93

Director Paul Greengrass brings the disciplined cinéma vérité aesthetic he brought to the harrowing Bloody Sunday to another dark chapter in human history, creating a very heroic, but nonetheless disturbing, portrait. This is not a movie you walk into thinking "Wow, I really want to see that!" but you're still glad that you did. It's very powerful, yet very detached. One thing that comes through very clearly in this re-enactment is how little anyone truly understood was really happening until it was far too late, and how the people on the plane actually managed to gather more information more quickly than the authorities on the ground, which allowed them to make the choice that probably saved many lives while ending their own.

Extras include director's commentary and a featurette on the families of the passengers.

Lost - The Complete Second Season

The season that introduced the term "tailies" into the vernacular. Was it as good as season one? Empirically, no. Was it still a season of excellent television? Hell, yes! It's just that this season had a couple of skippable eps, and that just didn't happen in season one. But the mystery of the hatch alone (not to mention a season finale that answers one fundamental question once and for all) makes it all worth it.

Extras include unaired flashbacks, conspiracy theories, a featurette on the "Fire and Water" ep, "Secrets from the Hatch," deleted scenes, bloopers, a Channel UK promo from the director of Rize, "The World According to Sawyer," and something that describes itself as an "interactive experience that plants seeds for season three."

Lost newbies, you have about one month to burn through this before season three begins on October 4th.

District B13

One of the best action films of the year shows that co-writer Luc Besson (The Professional) has still got it. The year is 2010 (wow, that's close) and a particularly nasty French ghetto has been walled in and abandoned by the government — until they get the bomb. A criminal and a cop are sent in to save the day. The script is tight and the action even tighter. Parkour icon David Belle plays the criminal and shows in the blistering opening sequence (one of the best you'll see) why you should probably find out what parkour is (I think you'll be seeing some in the new James Bond, as well, if the trailer is to be trusted). You can check out some of the cooler scenes (including the opening) on YouTube, if you'd like a taste.

Article Author: David Dylan Thomas

David Dylan Thomas is a Philly-based writer/filmmaker who opines voraciously about dem pictures what move on the screen at DavidDylanThomas.com.

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