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This week on DVD: Frost/Nixon, X-Men

By Joe Bardi on Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 12:17 pm

[image-1]In anticipation of the imminent release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the original X-Men trilogy is being released on Blu-ray as three-disc special editions or as a huge nine-disc box set. The real draw of this X-tra special release is the wealth of special features assembled in this set. They include: director commentaries by Bryan Singer (the first two films) and Brett Ratner (The Last Stand), behind the scenes docs, early casting footage (Hugh Jackman's first reading and screen test as Wolverine are included), and a digital copy of each film is included with the set. And that's just scratching the surface. If only the films were just a little better to justify all this loving attention.

Two other releases this week that are worth noting: Mickey Rourke's much lauded but ultimately not Oscar-worthy performance in The Wrestler hit DVD and Blu-ray, as did a three-disc DVD edition of the Biggie Smalls bio-pic Notorious starring Angela Bassett.

And remember: For daily film coverage, podcasts and more, be sure to visit CL's Movie & Television site.

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Last year's critical darlings continue their march to DVD and Blu-ray with Frost/Nixon leading the April 21 slate of releases. Ron Howard directed this excellent adaptation of Peter Morgan's Tony award-winning play recounting the historic television interviews of disgraced former president Richard Nixon by British TV gadfly David Frost. Though Howard does his usual, slick job with the film, it's the acting that's the ultimate draw. Frank Langella dominates the film, big and grand as Nixon but still granting the ex-prez a touching humanity he is often denied. (For example: Dan Hedaya's hilarious but lightweight caricature in Dick.) Michael Sheen plays Frost as an Austin Powers-lite figure that grows into an able foil for Langella's outsized Nixon, and supporting turns by Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt and Sam Rockwell are uniformly excellent. The only real weakness to Frost/Nixon is that it plays a little fast and loose with the history, but hey, this is Hollywood after all.

Geeks unite!There's a new X-Men box set! More after the break …