By Michall Jeffers

The price of movies has gone up, gas is wicked costly, and what do you think happens to all those germs people cough out in the theater? DVDs are inexpensive in the store, cheaper in your mailbox. Stay home, get in your jammies, microwave some popcorn, and watch these great films you may have missed.

LONE STAR, the nearly perfect masterpiece of writer/director/editor John Sayles. Told with humor (“It’s always heartwarming to see a prejudice defeated by a bigger prejudice”) and great heart, the engaging stories of Anglos, Hispanics, and Blacks in a Texas border town are interwoven like a fine tapestry. Don’t miss: Chris Cooper. Ever. Chandra Wilson, as a troubled young soldier, delivering an acting lesson in how to play a scene. Kris Kristofferson, shooting a bull’s eye as the meanest sheriff West of the Pecos. Texan Matthew McConaughey, for once well cast and completely at ease; you can just hear the pitch to his agent, “It’s a small part, but pivotal.”

ENIGMA, all thriller and mystery, about deciphering codes in World War II England. It’s well worth spending the time watching the extras on the disc to help fill in some of the jumps in the plotline, but the whole thing just feels so right. Don’t miss: Kate Winslet, the leading lady as best friend who shines brighter than the dazzling Saffron Burrows. Matthew Macfadyen (Pride and Prejudice) behind an eye patch; if you don’t recognize the face, you will immediately warm to that rolling velvet voice. The discussion you’ll have about the ending; what did we really see?

VERY ANNIE MARY, British quirky and fun. Great cast, starring Rachel Griffiths and Matthew Rhys pre-Brothers and Sisters; Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four), so gorgeous and talented there’s proof once and for all that there is a God, she just plays favorites; and the picturesque little Welsh country town, exactly the way we imagine it should be. Don’t miss: Rhys and Gruffudd, totally hilarious, rehearsing “You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun” for talent night.

TWILIGHT, very film noir, all about the consequences of the star system in old Hollywood. Who covered up what, when, and why? Don’t miss: the Dream Cast. Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, James Garner, Reese Witherspoon; wow!

THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY, like Bigfoot, the last of its kind. Beautiful Debbie Reynolds is engaged to even more beautiful Tab Hunter, and all is going along swimmingly until her father, shamelessly irresponsible but impeccably dressed rogue Fred Astaire, breezes into scenic San Francisco (of course) for the wedding. Don’t miss: Edith Head in a Hitchcockesque cameo in the first scene, showing off her gorgeous costumes. The all too facile racism of the time. The evocative Alfred Newman score. The sheer stagey theatricality and bonbons in the bubble bath escapism.

Best really bad movie of all time: PARRISH, the lavishly photographed adventures of slutty teenagers in Connecticut tobacco country, starring Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Claudette Colbert, and Karl Malden (no kidding).You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be glad you gave up smoking. Don’t miss: Troy’s cute little double chin; Malden cleverly working in his family name, “Sekulovich,” as he did in all his movies; the entire Warner Brothers stable, circa 1961, in all its bleached blond glory. I won’t tell if you won’t.

And when you’re done with these, let me know. So many wonderful adventures await. Draw the blinds, put your feet up, turn off your cell phone. We’re just getting started!

Photo of Michall Jeffers and a few favorite DVDs by Michelle Hecht.

Michall Jeffers is a movie critic whose reviews, interviews, and commentary have been published nationwide. She’s discussed movies on TV with Richard Schickel, John Lahr, and Stanley Donen.