It seems inevitable -- and richly deserved -- that Angelina Jolie will be nominated for a best actress Oscar for A Mighty Heart.

She really is that refined, that eerily accurate in conjuring the spirit of heroine and journalist Mariane Pearl. Mariane is the French widow of American journalist Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped by Islamic terrorists in Pakistan in 2002.

With Jolie's interpretation of Mariane at its core, A Mighty Heart chronicles the desperate search for him after the kidnapping, a search that galvanized a remarkable group of people from the U.S., Pakistan and India to work together in a common cause.

A Mighty Heart, skilfully directed by Englishman Michael Winterbottom, arrived on DVD this week in a widescreen-only edition that sets the story in its proper context. Despite being Oscar-bound, despite hoopla because it was produced by Brad Pitt, despite being a taut, documentary-style thriller, A Mighty Heart has a higher calling.

Jolie explains her commitment to the story and to Mariane Pearl in an excellent 31-minute DVD documentary, Journey of Passion: "She, to me, is just one of the best examples that we have in the world today of somebody who can keep us all on the right path and not get distracted."

Jolie adds that Mariane Pearl "suffered the ugliest side" of world politics and terrorism through the death of her husband, and yet emerged with a desire to broker peace, to maintain dialogue between extremes. Pearl's message, Jolie says, is clear: "We cannot just be angry and blinded by hatred."

The film, of course, carries that message in a dramatic setting. That is why it is so important, even if it appears to be a simple rendering of the facts. The greater message is woven into the mostly real-life characters presented.

The DVD also has a brief doc on the 25-year-old Committee to Protect Journalists and a public service spot from Christiane Amanpour on that committee.

Transformers

I goofed when writing Monday about the Transformers DVDs. This film is not available in fullscreen in any version. For that, I salute Paramount Home Entertainment. Both the single-disc version and the two-disc Special Edition are widescreen-only.

For a mainstream megahit like this, that is unusual. It is also smart, because pan-and-scan fullscreen versions of widescreen movies are compromises. Some (including me) think the process butchers the visual composition of the original, reducing impact.

In addition, as more people convert to high-def widescreen TVs, folks who once collected fullscreen DVDs of widescreen movies will regret it.

Transformers also has some peculiarities of packaging. There is a gigantic gift box set with collectibles, as well as the special edition. Meanwhile, Future Shop is offering a special steelcase version. Cool. I don't have one. Wish I did. Another retail chain has an exclusive Transformers prequel disc. I presume it is an animated special but I cannot locate one for review yet.

This store-specific marketing gimmick is an unfortunate one, like that coffee chain that puts out exclusive music CDs. It is very free enterprise but it seems undemocratic, too.

Grindhouse Presents: Planet Terror

No wonder the Grindhouse double bill failed in theatres. Robert Rodriguez's contribution, the sloppy horror movie Planet Terror, is the weak link. Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof is just so much more stylish and effective.

If Planet Terror actually was a 1950s or '60s horror movie, it would be appealing on some trashy level. As an homage or as a satire, however, it just seems tired and it is not especially cult-funny. Not even with extremes such as Rose McGowan's machine gun leg stump.

Arriving on DVD this week in a two-disc Extended and Unrated version, Planet Terror is now 145 minutes (too) long. But the extras, as usual with Rodriguez, are expansive, fun and work as an open book into his filmmaking. If you do at least like the movie, you will love the DVD. It puts Grindhouse cinema in perspective.