'Prestige,' 'Babel' among new films on DVD

Here's an eclectic mix of movies new to DVD this week, including an Oscar-nominee for best picture.

New movies

• "The Prestige" (Touchstone, 2006, PG-13, $29.99). This was the second period "magic" movie of last year (after "The Illusionist"), and, for me, the lesser of the two.

Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are excellent as rival magicians, Michael Caine is even better as a mentor, and Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie are also on hand. Unfortunately, the film takes a serious, if ridiculous, science-fiction turn from which it never recovers.

Extras: Widescreen, featurettes, photo/art gallery

• "Keeping Mum" (THINKFilm, 2006; R for violence, language, partial nudity, sex; $27.98). This jet-black comedy can't seem to find a steady tone and is at its worst when it sinks into cheap sex gags, which is all too often. But there are some laughs along the way, and even some warmth, in this dark spin on "Mary Poppins."

Maggie Smith is a paroled murderess who becomes the new housekeeper for a humorless, weak-willed vicar (Rowan Atkinson) in a small English village, along with his frustrated wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) and their two kids, a young boy terrorized by bullies and a promiscuous teenage daughter. Patrick Swayze is also on hand as a sleazy American golf pro.

Naturally, Smith fixes everything, though her methods are rather messy.

Extras: Widescreen, deleted/extended scenes, audio commentary, featurettes, bloopers, trailers

• "For Your Consideration" (Warner, 2006, PG-13, $27.95). Eschewing his usual faux-documentary style, Christopher Guest lampoons show biz in this look at how Internet chatter about possible Oscar nominations affects actors laboring on a low-budget film. Mildly amusing inside-Hollywood gags abound, with Guest's usual suspects, the brightest being Catherine O'Hara.

Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary (Guest, Eugene Levy), faux poster gallery

• "Babel" (Paramount, 2006; R for violence, nudity, sex, language, drugs; $29.99). This is up for several Oscars, but it left me rather cold, and it's way too sleazy. Several seemingly unrelated stories intersect — some just barely — led by Brad Pitt trying to keep his wife, Cate Blanchett, alive after she's accidentally shot on a bus in Morocco.

Extras: Widescreen