The Best 25 DVDs of the Year

#16: THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
The movie comedy that turned even macho men into fashionistas is well worth a second look on DVD. As the Manhattan fashion editor whose tongue is a lethal weapon, certain Oscar nominee Meryl Streep has never been funnier. And Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt excel as the assistants she lives to torture.
HOT BONUS Fifteen deleted scenes, adding up to twenty-two minutes, that kick comic butt.
KILLER SCENE The montage showing Streep's dragon lady entering her office, throwing coats of every description in Hathaway's direction and delivering a series of looks that could freeze blood if they weren't so hilarious.

#17: THE CONFORMIST
If, like me, you've been salivating for the DVD arrival of Bernardo Bertolucci's gritty and gorgeous 1971 masterpiece, The Conformist is a cause for celebration. The political parable, set in the 1930s, uses conformity as a symbol of fascism in the conflicted person of a Secret Service bureaucrat, brilliantly played by Jean-Louis Trintignant.
HOT BONUS Bertolucci and artful cinematographer Vittorio Storaro provide a master class in film as they discuss what they wanted from each stunning image.
KILLER SCENE The haunting "dance of the blind" sequence, cut for the film's theatrical release, is gloriously restored.

#18: KISS KISS BANG BANG
This may be the funniest movie you never saw in 2006. No more excuses, get this DVD and watch writer-director Shane Black turn the action-thriller genre on its empty head. There's little logic in the plot that takes thief turned actor Robert Downey Jr. to Hollywood, where he tangles with hottie actress-waitress Michelle Monaghan and gay detective Val Kilmer (at his eccentric best). Black has a ball teasing the pulp fiction he loves. You will too.
HOT BONUS Black, Kilmer and Downey provide a running commentary that's more Marx Brothers than film-school-appropriate.
KILLER SCENE Kilmer, whose cell phone plays "I Will Survive," seducing a straight hood who wants to de-ball him ("You know you want me, you know you're feeling it").

#19: DOUBLE INDEMNITY
Film noir doesn't get more classic than Billy Wilder's 1944 tale of greed and lust. The black-and-white picture glistens like never before on this two-disc edition. Barbara Stanwyck is the femme fatale who seduces Fred MacMurray's insurance man with the flash of her anklet and a proposition that involves sex and murder. MacMurray and Edward G. Robinson as his boss chew on the juicy dialogue like hungry dogs.
HOT BONUS You can hit delete on the 1973 TV remake included on Disc Two. An informative doc on film noir is the only keeper.
KILLER SCENE MacMurray sassing Stanwyck: "I sell accident insurance on husbands. You got one that's been around too long?"

#20: WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE
The year's greatest documentary -- Spike Lee's four-hour-plus requiem for the human devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina -- isn't eligible for Academy Awards because it aired first on HBO. Typical Oscar stupidity. But don't miss this powerhouse DVD. The film is fueled by rage over inadequate federal response, but what you'll remember is the valor and humor of the people of New Orleans, determined to rebuild despite obstacles from FEMA, Bush, the Army Corps of Engineers and insurance companies.
HOT BONUS The searing images speak for themselves, and you'll find yourself hitting PAUSE and REWIND when you can't believe your eyes.
KILLER SCENE After the storm, a young doctor from Gulfport, Mississippi, finds himself prevented from going home because Dick Cheney is blocking the road in a futile attempt to spin the media. "Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney," says the doc. My sentiments exactly.