'No Country For Old Men'

3 1/2 stars = Very good
Ratings explained

In the extras for the Academy's Best Picture of 2007, Tommy Lee Jones tries to put his finger on what it is.

"I'd say it's a road movie ... or a horror film, a lot of killing goes on ... there's a good deal of humor in it, so you could call it a comedy ... I'd say it's a horror comedy chase."

Horror comedy chase Western noir, whatever you want to call it, "No Country for Old Men" is unnerving.

Joel and Ethan Coen, adapting the screenplay from the Cormac McCarthy novel, have fashioned a cold-blooded killer that ranks on the creepy scale with Hannibal Lecter and Frank Booth from "Blue Velvet." To a certain viewing audience, the words "call it" will forever be linked to Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh, who leaves a portion of his slaughters up to chance.

"Got some hard bark on 'im," Jones, as Sheriff Bell, will say, resigned to the reality that he's an old-timer not equipped to deal with this new breed of indiscriminate killer.

Chigurh looms over the Coens' desert wasteland like a ghoul or demon tracking the satchel of cash Josh Brolin has found at the scene of a botched drug deal. But really, his only motive, only moral code, seems to be his commitment to blood and mayhem.

The message is chilling -- nowhere is safe, violence is random, as one old lawman puts it, "This country's hard on people" -- and the Coens add little warmth to the conversation. If there's any relief to the suspense, it's that they never let you get too close to anyone. Viewers will be hard-pressed to find the comedy Jones mentions, not even Coen black comedy, and the chase doesn't produce anything resembling a Hollywood ending.

There are no alternate endings or deleted scenes to be found in the extras. The three featurettes, punctuated by replays of the violence, shed light on the Coens (who work like one two-headed person), the actors, the setting, the stunts and the thinking behind such a ruthless and atmospheric project.

-- Scott Mervis, Post-Gazette Weekend Mag editor

'Dan in Real Life'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

Having pushed Ben Stiller aside as the reigning master of awkward, Steve Carell goes from one uncomfortable moment to the next in "Dan in Real Life."

The awkward situation at the core of this comedy-drama is that he's fallen hard for his brother's girlfriend. Carell plays an advice columnist and heavy-handed father of three who can't move on after the death of his wife -- until he meets Marie (Juliette Binoche), who's impossibly pretty, talented, worldly, funny, athletic and self-effacing, to boot.

The setting is a Rhode Island vacation home where a big extended family gathers on a chilly fall week for charades, stone-skipping, touch football, crossword puzzles, even a talent show. Unlike so many romantic comedies (some of Stiller's come to mind) that to resort to cheap laughs or easy resolutions, "Dan in Real Life" takes the last two words of its title to heart.

Carell brings pathos and just enough absurdity home from "The Office" to make it funny, the girls who play his daughters are great, and Binoche with Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney as the parents also elevate it a notch.

Most of the deleted scenes were cut for good reason, but Carell's gross eating scene is funny, and his deadpan comments about the director and cast make the featurette worth watching.

-- Scott Mervis

Also new this week

>"Bee Movie"

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

Jerry Seinfeld produced, co-wrote and speaks for the lead bee in this animated story about the secret life of bees ... and how one gets a crash course in the ways of the human race. It doesn't have the heart of "Toy Story" or "Ratatouille," but it's smartly imagined and animated, and the comedy does for bees what "Monsters, Inc." did for the monsters under the bed: It makes sure they're not scary for younger moviegoers, and it shows that bees are just as afraid of humans as humans are of them. The two-disc edition features Seinfeld commentary, alternate endings and "Jerry's Flight Over Cannes."

"August Rush"

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

Cynics need not apply to this sentimental family-fare fantasy starring Freddie Highmore as a musically gifted child performing on the streets of New York and looking for his birth parents. There's not one realistic minute, but Highmore somehow carries it with his tranquil disposition and magically sweet half-smile. Aside from Highmore, what saves the picture is the music itself, an eclectic blend of symphonic, rock, gospel and street styles. The corny climax is dragged out mercilessly, but, hey, wholesome tearjerkers fostering music appreciation have their place. Robin Williams, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Keri Russell also star.

"Hitman"

Tim Olyphant and Doug-ray Scott star in an action movie based on the video-game franchise about a genetically engineered, elite assassin known as Agent 47. Despite some impressive explosions, stunts and gunplay, "Hitman" feels oddly bloodless -- despite much blood being shed.

"Nancy Drew"

2 1/2 stars = Average
Ratings explained

Teen detective Nancy Drew, played by Emma Roberts, goes on a business trip to California with her dad and must solve a mystery involving a movie star. At times, it plays like a "Murder, She Wrote" for preteens. Its peril is pallid, but it still makes for good, wholesome, girl-friendly fun.

Kids: "Wiggles: Pop Go the Wiggles."

TV on DVD: "Comedy Central's Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States," season 1; "Exalted," season 1; "Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, Vol. 3"; "Love American Style: Season One, Volume Two"; "The Mod Squad: The First Season, Volume Two": "My Boys," season 1.