Bashir genius

New on DVD and Blu-ray this week is Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir, the first animated film to ever be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Bashir presents an intensely personal journey for Folman, who interviewed dozens of participants in the Lebanon War of 1982 to help him reconstruct his own memories of serving in the Israeli Army at the time. Soundbites from Folman’s interviews are animated in a stylish but low-fi manner, creating a dreamlike impression of life, death, peace, war, tragedy and comedy. Rated R.