New bid to conquer

Oliver Stone attempts to rehabilitate his derided sword'n'sandals epic Alexander with a new director's cut, Robert De Niro is playing Hide And Seek and Federico Fellini presents a witty and touching study of 19502 smalltown life in I Vitelloni...

If you must buy it, there's plenty of gallows humour to be had from Colin Farrell's squeaks, snarls and hideous blond dye job, not to mention Stone's desperate attempts to mesh world-class hamming with world-vanquishing battles by means of lurid camera tricks and unimpeded violence. A disaster, but - like Alexander's India campaign - one on the grandest of scales.
Extras: Director and historian commentary, and three profiles.

And get a new girlfriend: Elizabeth Shue. De Niro's clearly relishing his 'Jack Nicholson in The Shining' moment but he's acted off-screen by a great, ghost-white Fanning, making this a re-watchable thriller despite the botched, mile-off plottwist. That said, if it's originality you're after, look elsewhere.
Extras: Deleted scenes, commentary, four alternative endings (all equally implausible).

The gang's loves, games and resilient refusal to settle down are lovingly documented by Fellini and his narrator, the group's youngest member and the only one likely to make something of himself. It's Anthony Minghella's favourite film and it's easy to see why: made before Fellini learned to grandstand, it's just adorable.
Extras: None.

Bouquet murders his best friend's wife during a sex game, but that's OK because nobody will ever realise whodunnit. But then the culprit starts having trouble sleeping: the authorities may let him get away with murder but his mind is not so obliging. French New Wave veteran Chabrol's obsession with murder doesn't always have a happy outcome but this sophisticated meditation on human frailty works rather well.
Extras: None.