Just in time for consideration by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Columbia/Tri-Star unleashes two of their leading Oscar contenders on DVD. But before we get to these fine films, I'd like to discuss my mother, who unwittingly provided me the opportunity to check them out... My mother lives, eats & breathes Christmas. I believe she starts shopping sometime in March, and commences wrapping packages in September, done up so immaculately that you're almost afraid to open them. And every year she asks for a Christmas list from me, her only son, but said list is purely procedure - every year I send a list that includes DVDs I'd like, which she almost never buys. She pretty much has her game plan already laid out, because even though I'm now in my 40s, she loves to dress and accessorize me. But, God bless her, she also thinks I'm still in high school, and tries to dress me as such. Hence, I get a lot of stuff that may look good on the average single guy still cruising dance clubs, but makes me feel like a f**king idiot to wear it. Don't get me wrong. I love clothes, and deeply appreciate the effort she puts into my wardrobe, especially since she generally pays a lot more than I would have for the same stuff (my mom is a confirmed Nordstrom junkie...you know, place where you can purchase a pair of socks for $25.00). So anyway, this year she gave me a pair of black slacks from Nordstrom, which I promptly returned and was able to get three shirts & a pair of cargo pants from Target, along with two DVDs, Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid . I normally wouldn't have shelled out my own cash for them, and Columbia doesn't send us screeners, otherwise these two guilty pleasures would already be proudly displayed in my DVD collection. But the originals were fun the way spinning around in the yard until you're dizzy is fun, so I figured...what the hell.