He first achieved critical success for his role in Tootsie and for his direction of Out of Africa, which won seven Oscars, including Best Director.

If you saw the recent Made of Honor, it was his last role in front of the camera. The one I will remember is his portrayal of Marty Bach opposite George Clooney in Michael Clayton.

While he may be remembered for his directing and acting, he was also a producer and has an even bigger portfolio there. I had no idea he was a producer on Sliding Doors with Gwynneth Paltrow, one of my favorite movies.

It’s always sad to me when we lose these filmmaking legends. I honestly had no idea he had cancer, so this is kind of a shock.

Case in point, Michael Clayton was just released on DVD and Blu-Ray this past Tuesday and it’s already on Direct TV available for pay-per-view.

While I’m still sort of crying over the death of HD-DVD, at least Direct TV is doing their part to help us get over it. Granted, watching a PPV movie doesn’t give you the stuff of DVDs, like commentaries, special features, etc., but the fact that it’s still in high definition is good enough for me.

This week, not only is Michael Clayton available, but Saw IV (unrated) is out and Superbad. There is also No Reservations, Resident Evil: Extinction, 3:10 to Yuma, The Kingdom and The Invasion (ugh).

You can find these HD PPV channels on Direct TV from 135 to 179. They are all labeled PPVHD.

Another way to find the is to look at ALL HD channels by clicking the Guide button once or twice (depending on how you’ve tweaked your system) and choosing the HDTV Channels category.

Besides, this week’s DVD releases are pretty awesome and may even give you a chance to watch a Best Picture nominated film before Sunday’s Academy Awards.

Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton made my Top 10 films of 2007 so of course this is a hot choice this week. George Clooney is as his best in a great legal thriller than really doesn’t involve a courtroom in the least bit. Like someone said, this is what ever John Grishman movie wished they’d been like.

If you want to see it before Oscar night, I’d suggest running out to Blockbuster before Friday, because I have no doubt it will be out of stock otherwise.

American Gangster

I’ve not seen American Gangster yet, but I heard it was pretty awesome, despite the fact that it was totally inaccurate. There was actually a lawsuit filed over this, and it was dismissed, but not before the judge made sure everyone knew the ending legend was a lie.

But regardless, Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington are supposed to be awesome here, so check it out when you get a chance.

In the Valley of Elah

Another one I haven’t gotten to see, but it stars Tommy Lee Jones and I’ve heard nothing but good things about In the Valley of Elah. Here is the plot from IMDB:

A career officer (Jones) and his wife (Sarandon) work with a police detective (Theron) to uncover the truth behind their son’s disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.

It got a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.7 on IMDB. Not too shabby.

He-Man and the Master of the Universe: Volume One

Wow, I totally watched He-Man but can’t remember a single thing about it. The fact that it’s the first season out might be pretty awesome to some fans of the show. I remember liking Thundercats a lot more.

I’m not into watching these old cartoons, but I do love the fact that they are coming out on DVD anyways for those that want to see them.

And here are the rest:

Other DVDs (437 total titles released)

• Rendition – I was so excited about this movie with Reese Whitherspoon, but the reviews were pretty bad.
• Coach: The Third Season – I loved Coach!
• Margot at the Wedding – Nicole Kidman, Jack Black…mixed reviews on this one, but an interesting little indie film.

Blu-ray (7 total titles released)

• Deep Purple: Live at Montreux 2006 (Eagle Rock)
• In the Valley of Elah (Warner)
• Michael Clayton (Warner)
• Night of the Werewolf/Vengeance of the Zombies (BCI)
• Run Lola Run (Sony)
• Santana: Hymns for Peace – Live at Montreux 2004 (Eagle Rock)
• Yes: Live at Montreux 2003 (Eagle Rock)

The movie will be shown on 1,000 screens, more than usual I hear for a re-release. The film only made $39 million on its first run, but it was to make back its $25 million budget and then some.

I can’t recommend it enough, if you haven’t had a chance to see it, take this opportunity to do so.

It was so good that I can’t believe it hasn’t gotten more publicity and hype. After Atonement won the Golden Globe for Best Picture, I just lost all hope for award shows because Michael Clayton was brilliant.

I think most critics love the film, but it seems like the regular public may have missed out on this gem.

You can read my review on this movie from back in October for a full scoop on what it’s about and why it was so good.

The awesome news is that Warner Brothers is re-releasing the film on January 25th in approximately 1,000 locations around North America.

No word yet on where those locations are, but I will post them if we ever get that information.

Michael Clayton: (A+) IMDB : ROTTENTOMATOES

The new guy on Ebert and Roper, I forget his name but he hosts a movie show on HDNet, said it best: Michael Clayton is what every John Grisham movie should have been like.

The Firm was good of course, but Michael Clayton is so better than any legal thriller I can remember watching. It stars George Clooney, but has some amazing performances by Sydney Pollack, Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton.

I guess if you get Pollack, Clooney and Steven Soderbergh together, you’re going to get a great film. What a group.

Clooney shines in this as he does his other films. He’s such a good performer and he knows how to pick good movies. Michael Clayton needs to be watched carefully. It kind of starts off in pieces, where you are trying to figure what the heck is going on. The opening scenes with Clooney are particularly awesome. The cinematography is spectacular.

As the story unfolds, you find out there is a lawyer (Wilkinson) who is supposed to be defending a huge corporation from a class-action lawsuit. He’s a manic depressive, goes off his medication and loses it. Or was he really losing it? The results are a mad-scramble to stop what he might be doing.

Clooney is Michael Clayton, a janitor or cleaner if you will. He comes in to get problems fixed. He’s got his own problems though and you aren’t sure how much they have to do with the main story.

I really can’t say much about the plot other than that because it’s got some twists and turns and awesome moments that you just don’t want to give away. Needless to say, this was an amazing movie. It was subtle at times, tense, nail-biting and heart-pounding. The acting like I said was superb, even the very, very end when the credits are rolling. Stick around for a few minutes after they start…you’ll see a moment of great acting as Jina pointed out to me.

In terms of thrillers, I’d put this as the best of the year, perhaps topping Bourne Ultimatum because of the smarts it had, the writing and the plot. I even felt at times that it was as action-packed as Bourne, even if it was just done in looks and shots, instead of car chases and gun battles.

Check it out, come back and let me know what you thought.