• Watchmen (Director's Cut) (2008): Zack Snyder's long-awaited adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel excises much of the striking peripheral material that made the genre-smashing comic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon so deeply layered and compelling. But it still follows the plot, almost panel by panel. Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead) uses a spectacular series of opening credits to set the stage. We witness the evolution of the superheroes, from the Minutemen circa World War II to the more modern Watchmen to Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin'. The Watchmen's best days are behind them, though, since Richard Nixon, president in 1985 when the story is set, won the Vietnam War with the help of big, blue superhero Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) and his grinning, gun-toting amoral sidekick The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). But despite the rising threat of nuclear holocaust, Congress has outlawed superheroes, so the former masks tend to keep a low profile. One exception is Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), a flashy-dressing entrepreneur who seems bent on cashing in on every version of himself as action-hero figure. But then The Comedian is murdered, and the sociopathic Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) steps up to investigate whether some villain is knocking off superheroes with a big End Times endgame in mind. Warner. $34.98, $35.99 Blu-ray.

-- CONNIE OGLE

• Coraline (2009): The best children's stories aren't afraid of the dark. Henry Selick's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel is essentially a horror movie for kids, but it is so gentle, funny and whimsical that even in its darkest moments, it never forgets its target audience. When little Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) opens a secret door behind the wallpaper in her bedroom, a glowing tunnel opens. When she explores the mysterious otherworld beyond -- essentially a duplicate of her real, drab world, except that everyone is a lot nicer and happier -- the viewer understands why she would be tempted never to return home. Except for one, exceedingly creepy detail: All the people in this other world, including Coraline's parents (Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman), have buttons for eyes. ''You could stay here forever if you wanted to,'' the sweet, doting alternate mom tells her. ''There's just one little thing we need to do.'' Cue the thread and needle. Selick is the only animator left in Hollywood still making full-length, stop-motion films, and he's so good at his craft that the film is worth seeing just for its visuals. Besides, what kid won't sit still for a story in which the magical place on the other side of the rainbow turns out to be a nightmare? Universal. $29.98, $34.98 two-disc edition, $39.98 Blu-ray.

-- RENE RODRIGUEZ

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