Hits and misses now out on DVD

Here are some of the latest movies to arrive on DVD, led by a terrific performance from a new Oscar nominee.

"Frozen River" (Sony, Blu-ray, 2008; R for language; $39.95). Melissa Leo may not be a major movie star, but she deserves her Oscar nomination as best actress for this film, a wonderfully modulated and timely tale of illegal immigrants being transported for money.

But the film focuses on Leo's character, a down-on-her-luck mother of two in dire need of cash, and her uneasy alliance with an equally downhearted Mohawk woman hoping to earn enough to regain custody of her young son.

Their journey, which takes them across the titular body of ice on Mohawk land between upstate New York and Quebec is chilling, for more reasons than one. And the cold — especially effective in the Blu-ray version — adds to the aura of desperation.

Leo's character is most sympathetic and compelling, and it may be the best performance in a movie you didn't see.

Extras: widescreen, audio commentary (also on DVD, $28.96)

"Nights in Rodanthe" (Warner, Blu-ray, 2008, PG-13, $35.99). With "Message in a Bottle," "The Notebook" and other best-sellers adapted for film, Nicholas Sparks is single-handedly keeping alive the tragic star-crossed romances that were a moviegoing staple in the 1950s.

Here, Diane Lane and Richard Gere are the two beautiful people thrown together in a beautiful inn on the beautifully photographed Outer Banks of beautiful North Carolina (even more beautiful in Blu-ray). If sappy and sentimental is your thing, look no further.

Extras: Widescreen, alternate scenes, featurettes, music video (also on DVD, $28.96)

"The Romance of Astrea and Celadon" (Koch Lorber, 2007, $26.98). This slight, stylized romance is set in a pastoral French forest during the fifth century, where the title characters engage in a lyrical dance that includes feuding families, misimpressions and jealousies, though we know it will all end hopefully. Directed by 88-year-old Eric Rohmer, it is slow-moving and talky but mildly enjoyable on its own fanciful terms.

Extras: Widescreen, in French with English subtitles, trailers