Oscar on disc!

Oscar noms awaiting DVD release
Only one of this year’s best-picture nominees has debuted on DVD.
Michael Clayton, with seven nominations in total, arrived this week in a single-disc edition with modest-yet-effective bonus materials. The highlight is a revealing commentary by writer-director Tony Gilroy, who explains how star George Clooney empowered his project after years of “walking in the wilderness.”
Up next is No Country for Old Men, the violent masterpiece from Joel and Ethan Coen and the nominations co-leader with eight. It debuts March 11 in a single-disc edition.
Predictably, the Coen Brothers won’t say much. They often give mumbling answers in interviews. But the DVD extras may illuminate the challenges of the project, anyway. Hopefully, they will focus on the stellar work of Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Woody Harrelson, all overlooked in the Oscar noms as Javier Bardem burst into prominence.
Further out is P.T. Anderson’s There Will be Blood, the other nominations co-leader with eight. It is due April 8 in a two-disc collector’s edition, which obviously will include generous bonus materials on the second disc.
Following that is Juno, set for an April 15 release in single-disc format. Juno is doing very well in theatres, despite minor backlash over its pregnant-teen theme. The worldwide box office is up to $143 million, most of it in North America. It is the clear box-office winner among the best-picture noms.
As for the final best-picture nominee, Atonement (tied with Michael Clayton with seven noms), no DVD dates have been announced yet.
Other Oscar nominees are currently available on DVD.
Among them is Ratatouille (five noms); La Vie en Rose (three noms); The Bourne Ultimatum (three noms); Transformers (three noms); Away From Her (two noms); 3:10 to Yuma (two noms); Elizabeth: The Golden Age (two noms); American Gangster (two noms); Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (two noms); In The Valley of Elah (one nom); The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (one nom); Eastern Promises (one nom); Gone Baby Gone (one nom); Surf’s Up (one nom); Once (one nom); Across the Universe (one nom); and the idiotic Norbit (one nom).
Nominees due soon include Into the Wild (two noms), which is due March 4, and Enchanted (three noms), due March 18.
If you want to delve into Oscar’s past, however, Fox, MGM and United Artists have teamed on five new box sets, all keyed to historic Oscar winners.
Three boxes contain best- picture winners, organized by studio. MGM’s four-disc Best Picture Collection has Rocky, Platoon, Dances With Wolves and The Silence of the Lambs. The five-disc Fox box has How Green Was My Valley, Gentleman’s Agreement, All About Eve and The Sound of Music. The four-disc United Artists set has Marty, The Apartment, West Side Story and Tom Jones.
There are two other boxes, each devoted to the acting craft. The five-disc Best Actor Collection has In Old Arizona, The King and I, Patton, Harry and Tonto and Wall Street, featuring winners from Warner Baxter to Michael Douglas. The five-disc Best Actress Collection has Anastasia, The Three Faces of Eve, Norma Rae, Boy’s Don’t Cry and Walk the Line, featuring winners from Ingrid Bergman to Reese Witherspoon.