DVDs

The Informant! — Matt Damon in the role that really should have scored him an Oscar nomination is the informant, a corporate America VP who may or may not have info that could take down his company. Director Steven Soderbergh’s spoof on corporate life presents a true acting challenge to Damon, who rises to the occasion. He’s nominated for Invictus, but his truly stellar work of the year was here.

Coco Before Chanel — Coco Chanel (rumored to be antigay but, according to the director of this biopic, Anne Fontaine, anything but) came from obscure beginnings before rising to the top of France’s fashion world around the start of World War I. Amelie’s Audrey Tautou plays the fashion icon in this French flick with English subtitles.

The September Issue – The September Issue may position itself as a documentary about Vogue editor Anna Wintour and a behind-the-scenes look at creating the 2007 fall fashion issue, but creative director Grace Coddington is the one who comes out smelling like roses here. She steals the film right out from under the “devil” in Prada and instantly wins over viewers. In fairness, near the film’s end, Wintour (in a rare moment of praise) calls Coddington a genius. The film also shows Andre Leon Talley doing a whole lot of nothing. A must-see for fashion nuts, but also genuinely entertaining as a film.