This is the Holy Grail of DVDs, folks. Previously available only on muddy, Japanese-dubbed bootleg videotapes, Chilean surrealist visionary Alejandro Jodorowsky's mind-bending, spiritual masterpieces are now finally on DVD. Included: the avant-garde quasi-religious Western El Topo, the groundbreaking Catholic-baiting of The Holy Mountain and the nonsensically brilliant Fando y Lis all in beautifully remastered prints, special editions filled with extras and, in the greatest gift ever bestowed to the format, commentary by the mystical director, in which he maddeningly describes what he believes the symbolism in each film to be, but never offers any explanation as to why they are used. Even better, the box set comes with the frenetic soundtracks for El Topo and The Holy Mountain. This is, without a doubt, the best DVD(s) of 2007. Louis Fowler
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Fletch (PG)
Universal
As much as he has tried to destroy our memory of him, Chevy Chase was actually once a comedic genius. He was a headliner who guaranteed a hilarious movie just by being in the cast. There was National Lampoon's Vacation, Foul Play, Three Amigos and this 1985 classic, Fletch, which is loosely based on the mystery novels of Gregory McDonald, and fully based on Chase's persona. For the uninitiated, Fletch is a muckraking, anonymous journalist who undertakes numerous identities in order to get to the bottom of a story. Only, he ends up embroiling himself in a fraudulent murder case while he's at it. Chase is in top form here, moving from character to character with ease, delivering one classic one-liner after another. It's weird to think there are actually people out there who haven't seen this. Louis Fowler
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Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (R)
New Line Cinema
This is going to ruffle some feathers, I know, but one of the most pretentious artists of the 20th century had to have been Sylvia Plath. Even so, a close second was Diane Arbus, the trustafarian photographer who turned her back on her wealthy family after falling for Lionel Sweeney, another pretentious artist. Sweeney introduced Arbus to the world of the lower class and underprivileged, which helped Arbus make most of her bread and butter. She turned those visions into so-called art, which was praised and turned her into an undeserving legend. In this, as the title says, "imaginary portrait," she's made even more shrill with the casting of icy Nicole Kidman. And it's all made more wrist-cuttingly fantastic by the film's nonstop brooding demeanor, so utterly bleak and depressing it might have well been based on fact. Louis Fowler
