DVD Releases

The Pulitzer Prize that John Patrick Shanley received for his stage version of "Doubt" says everything about the story's dramatic merit. The Oscar nods for all four actors featured in the 2008 film adaptation - Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis - are a nice endorsement as well. Still, what's most impressive about Shanley's writing and direction here is how, for all the dialogue, for all the weighty, painful social ground being covered, the film is thoroughly compelling, and feels nothing like the draining sermon the uninitiated might expect. Streep and Hoffman crackle as an imperious '60s Catholic school principal and a progressive parish priest squaring off over her belief that he's abusing a student. Adams deftly trades on her sunny persona as a sweet-natured nun shaken by the episode, and Davis displays her theater chops as the troubled boy's beleaguered mother. Extras: Shanley's audio track moves along with even more life than the film, full of engaging reminiscences about his youth at the same Bronx parochial school seen onscreen. Shanley also addresses the challenge of lending cinematic dynamism to scenes such as Streep's initial confrontation with Hoffman: "I can't tell you how frightening it is to do an extended tea scene in a modern feature film and hope to hold an audience's attention. It really requires . . . some kind of religious fervor to take the chance." (Miramax, $29.99; Blu-ray, $34.99; available now).

MUSICAL

SOUTH PACIFIC (1958)

With Rodgers and Hammerstein's take on Michener once again packing them in on Broadway, Fox opens its vault for a golden anniversary Blu-ray reissue of the feature version - just what all that lush Kauai scenery demands. Now when Mitzi Gaynor vows to wash that man right outta her hair, you can see every strand and soap bubble. Extras: A new 90-minute retrospective documentary strives to place the film in a historical context, but predictably is better at production background. Both the feature and an extended "road show" cut boast film historian commentaries. Singalong subtitles and Gaynor's screen test are also included. (Fox, $34.98; available now)

COMEDY

YES MAN (2008)

The word on Jim Carrey's latest during its multiplex run was that he wasn't just playing it safe, he was remaking "Liar Liar" to boot. There are certainly echoes of that in Carrey's turn as a self-actualization victim compelled to have a can-do attitude, literally, about everything. But there's also some fresh appeal to the story thanks to his quirky romance with Zooey Deschanel as a Vespa-riding cutie up for anything, and other offbeat touches from director Peyton Reed ("Bring It On"). Extras: Carrey mugs extensively, of course - and on Blu-ray, methodically chugs Red Bull. (Warner, $34.99; single-disc edition, $28.98; Blu-ray, $34.99; available now)

ACTION

THE SPIRIT (2008)

After shifting from graphic novels to filmmaking by co-directing "Sin City," Frank Miller goes solo with a valentine to comics legend Will Eisner's 1940s crime fighter strip. Gabriel Macht plays Denny Colt, a supernaturally empowered crusader forever tangling with arch-nemesis the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), not to mention a bevy of beautiful dames (Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Sarah Paulson, etc.). The movie's visual pop is an able extension of "Sin City," but the writing and pacing are disappointingly muddled, and only erratically capture Eisner's whimsical, noir-lite sensibility. Extras: Commentary by Miller; production featurettes; alternate ending storyboards. (Lionsgate, $34.98; single-disc edition, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.99)

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (2008)

Enigmatic alien Keanu Reeves and his menacing robot sidekick come to teach us the error of our ways, sternly, in this remake of the classic atomic anxiety parable. A new environmental-crisis spin works, but the human story doesn't, wasting Jennifer Connelly and bit player Jon Hamm ("Mad Men"). For more fully satisfying Keanu cipher-dude escapism, check out the new 10th anniversary Blu-ray reissue of "The Matrix." Extras: The 1951 original. (Fox, $34.98; single-film edition, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99; available now)

CLEOPATRA (1934)

Universal fetes Cecil B. DeMille's work on this early, signature spectacle, with Claudette Colbert as his Egyptian queen. Borrowing a page from Warner's "Forbidden Hollywood" sets, the studio also releases its "Pre-Code Hollywood Collection," featuring such uncensored golden oldies as Cary Grant and Randolph Scott's "Hot Saturday" (1932). (Universal; "Cleopatra," $29.98; "Pre-Code," $49.98; available now)

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1996)

Colin Firth makes Darcy his own in the BBC's acclaimed miniseries adaptation of Jane Austen's classic, newly polished for Blu-ray. (A&E, $49.95)

TIMECRIMES (2009)

A murder witness turns quarry, inadvertent time traveler, and metaphysical head case in director Nacho Vigalondo's mind-bending Spanish import. Extras: A Vigalondo short with a serenade as nutty as the feature. (Magnolia, $26.98; available now)

THE PAPER CHASE: SEASON ONE (1978-79)

John Houseman reprises his Oscar-winning feature work as the professor of law students' nightmares. Unlike the film, not Harvard-specific. (Shout! Factory, $39.99; available now)

Titles are in stores Tuesday unless otherwise specified.