The 10 DVDs You Need to Get for Christmas

10. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Just what is AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH? It's really just a PowerPoint presentation. It could be said though that it is the single most effective slide-show ever made. It was made by Al Gore, who it seems came out of hiding in the summer of 2006 to market his documentary, which went on to become the third-highest grossing documentary of all-time. AIT is a warning about global warming, and what will, not may, happen if the world's community refuses to acknowledge the problem at hand. It will definitely open your eyes.

09. WORLD TRADE CENTER
While this movie has the burden of being the second best movie about the events of 9/11 to be released this year, it still stands on its own as a solid, well-made picture. Director Oliver Stone leaves behind his signature blend of fuzzy facts and conspiracy theories, instead opting for the truth, for the most part. WORLD TRADE CENTER tells the tale of the last two Port Authority policemen (played by Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena) to be pulled out of the rubble that became the two towers. The film is about the darkest day of this generation, but it is one of undeniable inspiration.

08. TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY
Face it, when Will Ferrel plays dumb, you laugh. You laugh a lot. TALLADEGA NIGHTS may just be the funniest movie you've seen since ANCHORMAN, back in the summer of 2004. Ferrel is basically playing the same role this time around, the clueless, happily dumb man-child that goes from zero to hero, only this time he drives a race car. He plays it so well though. He knows not to take himself seriously, but that if he winks at the camera too often it loses the effect. Make no mistake, you won't laugh harder at any movie this year than you will at TALLADEGA NIGHTS.

07. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
A disfunctional family takes a road trip in a beat-up yellow VW Bus to get their young daughter to a beauty pageant. Sounds nauseating, doesn't it? Well, its not. There are few moments that don't feel utterly heartfelt and at the same time darkly funny. If TALLADEGA has you laughing at its stupidity, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE will have you laughing at its intelligence, and yes, its absurdity.

06. X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
Whiel X3 is not as good as its predecessor (director Bryan Singer left the project to work on movie about SUPERMAN, I forget the name of it though), it stills packs a lot of wallop. Over $200 million was supposedly spent on the project, and the money is well-spent when one gets to see the Golden Gate Bridge ripped from its hinges and moved to Alcatraz (Magneto doesn't even use his hands). Its only an hour and forty-three minutes long, and I doubt you'll ever see more quality-made action scenes in under two hours.

05. A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION
I doubt you have heard of Robert Altman. He has never made an action movie, or a slasher movie, or a romantic teen movie. He has, however, been making movies since the Truman administration. This is one of his best, and quite possibly his last (he is eighty-one years old, and for insurance purposes an additional director needed to be with him at all times, in case of injury or death). Its a movie without a point or purpose, other than to tell the fictional story of the last broadcast of a radio show. Its sad, its hilarious, its well-written, well-acted, and most of all, directed like a man who has been doing it for most of his life.

04. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3
M:I 3 is, quite simply, the best MISSION yet. It is the third film in the series, and features the third different director (JJ Abrams, creator of LOST, who was given the largest directorial debut budget of all time-$150 million). There is an intensity in every minute of M:I 3, as Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) racing from continent to continent in search of his wife, kidnapped by ruthless arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman, last year's Best Actor winner for CAPOTE).

03. CARS
TOY STORY. THE INCREDIBLES. FINDING NEMO. MONSTERS'S INC. What do they have in common? They're all made by animation geniuses Pixar, and they're all great. CARS is no exception to what has almost become a rule in Hollywood. The animation is extraordinary in its attention to detail and flash, and the story is meaningful and surprisingly deep for an animated movie. Make no mistake, this isn't a 'kid' movie. CARS should be seen by everyone.

02. MIAMI VICE
Where CARS should be seen by everyone, MIAMI VICE really shouldn't. It truly is a great movie, one of the best crime films of this generation, but it doesn't slow down for its audience and it doesn't tread softly. It is Michael Mann's opus, his truest, purest artistic vision; featuring a look at the drug trade between the United States and South America and the effects that trade has on the cops working to try and stop it. There are almost no connections to the campy '80s show, save the title and the two leads (played by Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrel). MIAMI VICE is dark, sexy, lightning-paced, and complicated. Its also a great movie.

01. SUPERMAN RETURNS
Other than UNITED 93, Bryan Singer's SUPERMAN RETURNS is clearly the best movie of 2006 so far in my mind. It is an epic, gorgeous adventure, with Oscar-worthy special effects and awe-inspring scenes throughout. It is a continuation of the SUPERMAN series, starting five years after the events of SUPERMAN II. Superman (Brandon Routh) returns to Earth after searching throughout the universe for years for the remains of his home planet, but coming back empty-handed. He returns to a planet that doesn't want him, and an ex-flame (Lois Lane, played by Kate Bosworth) who has moved on and now has a fiance and a kid. When Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) threatens the human race yet again, the world turns to Superman for protection. Clearly the best movie of the summer, SUPERMAN RETURNS deserves a larger audience on DVD than it received in theaters (it was a box office disappointment, making less than half of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN's total gross). It arrives November 28th.