DVD TALKING 'BABEL'.

Byline: Rob Lowman

Entertainment Editor

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Babel" -- nominated for the best-picture Oscar -- is a three-headed tale.

One part involves a Mexican housekeeper/nanny, Amelia (Adriana Barraza), who works for a well-off Los Angeles couple (Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt). When the wife is shot while traveling in Morocco and the couple isn't returning anytime soon, the nanny is faced with the dilemma of missing her son's wedding near Tijuana. She decides to go to Mexico, taking the two children in her charge with her. They are driven there by Amelia's nephew Santiago (Gael Garcia Bernal). Later, when they come back across the border, events turn disastrous because of Santiago's hot-headedness.

Bernal, calling last week from Berlin, where he was a judge in that city's film festival, says he didn't judge his character morally.

"I try not to do good-guy/

bad-guy types of films," says the star of "The Science of Sleep" and "Y Tu Mama Tambien." "Alcohol has an effect on Santiago, and because of it he makes a stupid decision."

Though he read the script -- the other two stories involve the American couple and a deaf-mute Japanese teen -- Garcia Bernal says seeing the film was different than he imagined it.

"To see the color and hear the sound and the languages and even smell the other worlds -- I thought it was a great mix. It really worked well in what Alejandro wanted to describe, which was the problems of communication."

The Mexico native sees it as coincidence that three fellow countrymen -- Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron ("Children of Men") and Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") -- have Oscar-nominated films, although he does admit there has been an "awakening" in Latin America cinema.

"I think they (the three directors) have always made interesting films ... but to have this certification from the Oscars is an honor," says Garcia Bernal, who has just finished directing his own film, "Deficit." "It's a great personal achievement what they've done."

While imperfect, there's no doubt "Babel" is a major artistic achievement in filmmaking. It produces images that will haunt you -- of a world at a dangerous tipping point, with everyone talking and no one listening.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Christopher Nolan says he wasn't particularly a fan of magic before "The Prestige."

But after making the film about two 19th-century magicians -- played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale -- whose rivalry turns dark and sinister, the director of "Batman Begins" and "Memento" feels a "real kinship" with conjurers.

"As I studied the principles behind magic and the way in which a magic trick relies on the willful suspension of belief, I realized that a lot of what filmmakers do for an audience now is what magicians did for audiences in the past."

Given Nolan's past films, it's no surprise that the characters in "The Prestige" are obsessive.

"I've always been drawn to stories that exaggerate our everyday experience, that give them more relevance -- the film noir genre, thriller genre. It gives a heightened sense to everything that happens in the film."

But did he favor one of his crazy magicians over another?

"For me to be on my game, I have to like all the characters. My sympathies wavered between the two, which is the way I hope the audience does. I didn't want it to be an obvious good-guy/

bad-guy dynamic."

Right now, Nolan is deeply in pre-production for the next Batman movie, "The Dark Knight," which starts filming in April and also stars Bale. Nolan's reason for casting him in three films?

"Christian has got a very, very extreme form of intensity that comes across on the screen."

We get it, but despite the intensity that Nolan, Bale and Jackman put up on the screen, "The Prestige" is fun, entertaining and a bit of a trick -- one that you enjoy getting fooled by.

CHICKS ... NO CHICKENS

You know by now that the Dixie Chicks did not "Shut Up & Sing." They made a documentary and a new album, "Take the Long Way Home," for which they recently won five Grammys.

The documentary, by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck, follows the Dixie Chicks around for three years after lead singer Natalie Maines angered some country fans on March 10, 2003, by declaring in London, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."

Maines and the other Chicks -- Martie Maguire and Emily Robison -- expected the controversy to blow over. But when it didn't, fans boycotted concerts and radio stations stopped playing their music -- and the group had to rethink their lives. Despite the furor and their waning popularity, the Chicks stuck to their guns.

When Maines is offered a way to apologize as a PR ploy, she flatly turns it down, supported by the others. (A cheer for free speech here.) In fact, "Not Ready to Make Nice" -- which won the Grammy for song of the year -- is all about that.

"Shut Up & Sing" doesn't exactly take sides, although their are shots of members of the Bush administration talking about weapons of mass destruction that seem hollow now. Kopple and Peck just let the events unfold from the Chicks' camp as the trio deals with swirling events, including their tiff with country singer Toby Keith, and making their new album with producer Rick Rubin.

What the film tacitly asks, however, is if a male country singer had been brave enough to say the say thing, would he have been so ostracized?

Interestingly, the engaging "Shut Up & Sing" shows something unexpected: that the fuss -- instead of being a distraction -- spurred the Chicks into making their best music yet, which you can hear in the film.

SHORT TAKES

A film I would like to see but haven't received a copy of is "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints." The coming-of-age drama, which took home a number of prizes from Sundance, stars two interesting actors -- Shia LaBeouf and Robert Downey Jr.

"For Your Consideration" is another of Christopher Guest's this-is-so-close-

to-reality satires -- you're almost not sure if you should laugh or not. This time, the target is the Hollywood awards season, something I admit (since I have to cover it) I lost my sense of humor about long ago. Nevertheless, "Consideration" -- while not the best of Guest -- has enough amusing moments to be worth a look.

The 1966 Oscar-winning best picture "A Man for All Seasons," directed by Fred Zinnemann, boasts some extraordinary actors. Paul Scofield took home the best acting trophy for his role as Sir Thomas More, the cardinal who stood up to England's Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) when the king wanted to annul his marriage, leading to a break with the Catholic Church in Rome. Adapted from Robert Bolt's play, "A Man for All Seasons" still has power.

Rob Lowman [phone]

[e-mail]

NEW FILMS

"Babel" (Paramount; $29.99 and $39.99 Blu-ray and HD)

"The Prestige" (Warner; $29.99 and $34.99 Blu-ray)

"Dixie Chicks -- Shut Up & Sing" (Weinstein; $28.95)

"Flushed Away" (DreamWorks; $29.99)

"For Your Consideration" (Warner; $27.98)

"American Hardcore" (Columbia; $24.96)

"Man of the Year" (Universal; $29.98)

"A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" (First Look; $26.99)

"Keeping Mum" (Velocity; $27.98)

"Final Fantasy VII -- Advent Children" (Columbia; $49.95)

"Walking Tall -- The Payback" (Columbia; $24.96)

"Open Water 2" (Lionsgate; $26.98)

OLDER FILMS

"Gandhi -- Special Edition" (Columbia; $24.96)

"49th Parallel" (Criterion Collection; $39.95)

"The Alice Faye Collection" ("That Night in Rio," "Lillian Russell," "On the Avenue," "The Gang's All Here") (Fox; $49.98 and $19.98 individually)

"A Man for All Seasons -- Special Edition" (Columbia; $14.94)

"When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" (Criterion Collection; $39.95)

"Vertical Limit" (Columbia; $28.95 on Blu-ray)

TELEVISION

"Jane Eyre" (WGBH; $29.95)

"Voyage to the Bottom of Sea -- Season 2, Volume 2" (Fox; $29.98)

"Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t -- The Complete Fourth Season" (Showtime; $29.98)

"Family Ties -- The Complete First Season" (Paramount; $38.99)

"Alias Smith & Jones -- Season One" (Universal; $39.98)

"The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Set 1" (Acorn; $49.99)

"The Johnny Carson Show" (Shout Factory; $24.98)

"National Geographic -- Eye of the Leopard" ($19.98)

"The Journalist and the Jihadi -- The Murder of Daniel Pearl" (HBO; $24.98)

"The Second City -- First Family of Comedy" (Acorn; $24.99)

MUSIC

"Neil Young: Under Review 1966-1975" (Music Video; $19.95)

FAMILY/KIDS

"What's New, Scooby-Doo? -- The Complete First Season" (Turner; $19.98)

"Curious George -- Zoo Night & Other Animal Stories" (Universal; $16.98)

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

When Gael Garcia Bernal crosses the border from Mexico to the United States, complications ensue for his hotheaded, drunken character in "Babel," nominated for the best-picture Oscar.