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First Posted: 2/18/2015 Two of the top movies of last year &#8212; both dealing with great minds trapped inside frail bodies &#8212; are the top new DVD offerings this week.
&#8220;The Theory of Everything,&#8221; Grade A: Eddie Redmayne&#8217;s portrayal of genius Stephen Hawking is brilliant. There is beauty in Redmayne&#8217;s physicality, which is magnified by the power of all the subtext he delivers in a single look.
The film, based on the autobiography by Hawking&#8217;s first wife, Jane, is a blend of a romance story and a poignant look at Hawking as he goes from an enthusiastic college student to the epitome of irony as a brilliant man trapped in the frailest of bodies.
&#8220;Life Itself,&#8221; Grade A-: Few people working outside the film industry have had as much impact on movie making as Roger Ebert. It&#8217;s a wonderful tribute to the late critic that this bold and open documentary is so beautifully done.
Director Steve James has put together a full look at Ebert&#8217;s life and career from his battles with Gene Siskel to Ebert&#8217;s illness.
&#8220;Birdman,&#8221; Grade A: An aging action film actor tries to revive his career with a Broadway play. Michael Keaton stars.
The stunningly unique visual style and sacrificial slaughter of stardom makes &#8220;Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)&#8221; a modern day &#8220;Sunset Boulevard&#8221; &#8212; where winning and losing recognition can be a maddening experience.
&#8220;The Homesman,&#8221; Grade B: A woman (Hilary Swank) transports three women who have been broken by the harshness of pioneering. Tommy Lee Jones co-stars.
Tommy Lee Jones has crafted a painfully honest assault on the standard trappings of a Western. His attack comes mainly through its brutal look at the limits of the pioneer spirit. The approach is so brutal the film is at times as repelling as it is compelling &#8212; but the mixture is so unpredictable, the result is a success.
&#8220;Dumb and Dumber To,&#8221; Grade D-: The &#8220;Dumb and Dumber&#8221; pair reunite to look for one of their lost children. Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels star. It&#8217;s impossible to be totally disappointed with &#8220;Dumb and Dumber To.&#8221; The sequel that was two decades in the making makes it clear in the title that it isn&#8217;t trying to be creative or smart. The most it shoots for is the unwavering dumbness that fills the film.
It is nothing more than the name suggests.

New on DVD: Hawking, Ebert topics of new DVDs