New on DVD

The Letter

(Warner, $20)

This 1929 drama represents a “crucial piece of film history,” said The New York Times. A 1940 remake with Bette Davis has overshadowed it, but the original was one of the first talkies to win critics’ interest, mainly because of Jeanne Eagels, its “brilliant, eccentric” star.

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The Beaver

(Summit, $27)

Say what you will about this uneven, Jodie Foster–directed film, said the Chicago Tribune. The story of a suicidal businessman who speaks through a puppet in order to check his rage, it “can’t be dismissed”: If nothing else, it “reasserts the feverish, defiant talent of actor Mel Gibson.”

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

(Strand, $28)

This Cannes award-winner is a “boldly original” meditation on the afterlife, said the San Francisco Chronicle. While on his deathbed, a Thai farmer is visited by family members both living and dead, producing images that will “linger for a lifetime.”