New on DVD: Wild Things and Water Creatures

The high-profile new DVD release this week is Spike Jonze's visually haunting screen adaptation of the classic kids' book Where the Wild Things Are, but once you've seen it, make sure to check out Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak.

Sendak, the openly gay writer and artist behind Wild Things and In the Night Kitchen — as well as a frequent collaborator of playright Tony Kushner — makes for an outspoken and dynamic documentary subject.

Two movies that should have, by rights, been up for Oscars this weekend also make their DVD debuts this week. French director Agnès Varda retraces her extraordinary life story in The Beaches of Agnès, which takes her from her childhood during World War II to being the only female director of France's legendary New Wave of the 1960s to the death of her husband — filmmaker Jacques Demy, to complications from AIDS — to her continued artistry well into her senior citizenship.

It's the kind of movie that makes you want to get more accomplished so you'll have at least half as much to look back upon when you turn 80 yourself.

And missing from the Best Animation shortlist this year was Hayao Miyazaki's breathtaking Ponyo, a retelling of The Little Mermaid set in the modern day.

The exceptional voice cast includes Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Betty White, Lily Tomlin, and Cloris Leachman alongside youngsters Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas. Like all Miyazaki's movies, it's a visual feast, a moving plea for coexistence between man and nature, and a rousing adventure all rolled into one. (Warning: You will not get the theme song out of your head for some time after watching this delightful film.)

And P.S. If you're a fan of Miyazaki, you'll want to check out Disney's new souped-up, two-disc DVD releases of several of his classic titles, including My Neighbor Totoro and Castle in the Sky.