President’s Day, or February 18^th as the good people residing in Bhutan may call it, is a second-tier holiday. Most get the day off, a few buy a mattress and everyone else is looking ways to kill the time on a Winter day. No parades, no festival of lights, or even sparklers. What better way to honor the men (sorry ladies) that have served as the lone executive to the United States and spruce up the holiday than watching a movie with a President in the starring role?

Denzel Washington earned his sixth Oscar nomination for “Flight,” a film in which he delivers a brilliant portrayal of a booze-and-drug-addled pilot who crash lands a disabled airplane. The great thing about Washington is his characters always have enough depth to move beyond movie archetypes, and his drunken pilot – Whip Whitaker – is no exception.  Ultimately, “Flight” isn’t about an aircraft crash. It’s about Whip’s demons, and the movie offers a surprisingly realistic view of addiction. 

Al Pacino plays a just released “gangster” who has all the exaggerated manners of Pacino, circa someone impersonating Pacino in Scent of Woman with a dash of Al Pacino from Heat. Christopher Walken plays Christopher Walken circa numerous Saturday Night Live appearances and one particular Fat Boy Slim video. For popcorn entertainment purposes this not a bad thing. Walken could read bird bath installation instructions on the big screen for two hours and elicit more than a few chuckles. The movie is at its best with Arkin serving as an emotional fulcrum and delivering dry one-liners to extinguish Pacino’s over-acting.

In 2008, writer-director Martin McDonagh teamed with actor Colin Farrell for  “In Bruges,” one of the best movies of the year. With the rollicking dark comedy “Seven Psycopaths,” they’ve proven that lightning can indeed strike twice. The film focuses on Marty (Farrell), a Hollywood screenwriter struggling to finish his latest project, a story about seven characters with psychopathic tendencies. 

Writer-director David Ayer made his name showing film lovers the ugly, dangerous side of Los Angeles, and his greatest achievement to date is “End of Watch.”  The documentary-style film focuses on two police officers working the roughest parts of L.A. Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) is an ambitious former Marine who films many of his on-duty adventures for a night-school project. His partner, Miguel Zavala (Michael Pena), is a devoted father and husband expecting his second child. 

Director Pierre Morel’s “Taken” was a surprise hit in 2008, and it helped turn Liam Neeson into a full-fledged action star. In the film, Neeson introduced us to Bryan Mills, a former CIA operative with an uncanny aptitude for finding and dispatching bad guys. After learning that his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), fell victim to a human-trafficking ring, Bryan travelled to Europe and put his skills to work, eventually recovering her. 

Some deserving films were left out of the drama category, but thankfully, many deserving actors were awarded their due. The few exceptions most definitely include Best Actress contender Quvenzhane` Wallis, the pint-sized wonder who enchanted in the emotional and profound Beasts of the Southern Wild, as well as Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master for Best Picture. Perhaps the film was a bit beyond its time, or perhaps star Joaquin Phoenix’s flippant comments hurt The Master’s chances. Let’s hope it wasn’t the latter, because Phoenix gives a gut-wrenching, career-best performance in the film (and thankfully he was nominated for Best Actor.) Let’s also hope that the Oscars wise up and learn from the Globes’ mistake.

By most accounts, 2012 was a good year for movies. Not only were there more quality theatrical releases than normal, the home video offerings were very impressive. The past year was particularly strong when it came to DVD and Blu-ray boxed sets. That’s important because it’s these collections that stand apart and have the potential to convince consumers that DVDs and Blu-rays still have advantages over the increasingly popular digital download. Following are five 2012 boxed sets that rank among the best of the best.  

Most of Burton’s movies are instantly recognizable thanks to the filmmakers’ unique artistic vision and his ability to blend dark, film noir elements into genres known for sunnier treatments.  His touch is particularly welcome here because “Frankenweenie” – presented in black and white – is visually similar to director James Whale’s 1931 version of “Frankenstein.”  The likeness adds to the idea that Burton is not only re-imagining Shelley’s story but paying tribute to its previous film incarnations. 

It’s a lesson Markowitz now knows well after years of working with directors including Thornton, Robert Duvall and Nicholas Cage on Southern films such as Sling Blade, The Apostle and Sonny. He also served as director of photography for Thornton’s latest, Jayne Mansfield’s Car. So how did this New Yorker who earned a degree in Jewish history from Israel’s Hebrew University become the go-to cinematographer for Southern films for these Oscar-winning directors and actors? Markowitz is a self-professed stranger in a strange land populated – at least in films – by pickup trucks, hunting dogs and humidity levels higher than hell's.