“Barney’s Version,” the Canadian import that earned Paul Giamatti (“Sideways”) the Best Actor award at the Golden Globes this year, arrives with little fanfare; a true shame, as this is one of the best-acted and moving films to come along in a good while.

The film, based on the book by Mordechai Richler, follows Barney Panofsky (Giamatti), a successful but petulant Canadian television producer, as he traverses the rollercoaster that is life.

Along the way, we are privy to his encounters with his lovable but politically incorrect father (Dustin Hoffman), horrible shrew of a second wife (Minnie Driver), true-love third wife (Rosamund Pike) and the best friend that Barney may have murdered (Scott Speedman).

Director Richard J. Lewis, along with his cast and excellent makeup supervisor Adrien Morot, develops a complete study of a complicated human being with all his foibles and triumphs. “Barney’s Version” effectively presents the full story of a man’s life that we can relate to our own lives; the truth about ourselves is only entirely revealed at our end point. A

Writer/director Sylvain Chomet (“The Triplets of Bellville”) again delivers another 2-D, hand-drawn, emotional knockout of a film with the Best Animated Feature Academy Award nominee, “The Illusionist.”

Though the production is French, the arresting visuals tell the mostly silent story of the bond between an aging magician and the young woman he takes under his wing as they traipse around Edinburgh, Scotland.

Based on an unproduced screenplay by the legendary (and again, almost silent) French maestro of slapstick, Jacques Tati, “The Illusionist” is a welcome homage/addition to his oeuvre as well as an independent, stand-alone, bittersweet whimsy in the burgeoning career of Chomet.

In many ways, the two main characters exemplify the two filmmakers. Just as the magician he passes along his wisdom to the young teenager making her way to impending womanhood, Tati hands the reigns of his masterly grasp of the genre to promising protégé Chomet. A-

Ari Silber is a Loyola MBA student. Before graduate school, he worked for nine years in the Los Angeles film industry, focusing on marketing publicity and distribution. He can be reached at [email protected]

By LESLIE GAMBONI Contributing Writer

Mardi Gras, a celebration commonly regarded as one big mess of a party from an outsider’s perspective, is now under the analysis of students in The Sociology of Mardi Gras course.

Most consider Mardi Gras as the celebration the media depicts as “one big party, a bunch of beads and boobs,” said Kevin Zansler, mass communication junior and one of the first students to sign up for The Sociology of Mardi Gras.

“I’ve only missed one Mardi Gras in my life. I love it. Every year it’s still fun; there’s something about it.”Zansler said.

This is the first semester that the course is being offered. Sue Mennino, chairwoman of the sociology department, is the creator and professor of this new course.

Mennino said she aims to show that New Orleans’ carnival season is more than just a party. Through the use of readings, films, interviews and discussions, she said she hopes to provide students the tools needed to view New Orleans sociologically and to help them realize that social forces have power to affect society.

“Try to explain Mardi Gras to people. It’s impossible,” Mennino said. “Mardi Gras is more than what you think you see. One of the books we’re reading starts off with saying Mardi Gras is a spirit and it is so important to the culture here, but it doesn’t work anywhere else.”

Recently, the class viewed a film that displayed various aspects of Mardi Gras, such as debutante balls, which are commonly overlooked by outsiders.

Students are constantly involved in class discussions about the material.

The course is seminar-based and is made up of students from different majors with varying experiences studying sociology and New Orleans culture.

When thinking of how to advertise the new course, Meninno said her first thought was putting out king cake to attract students, but then realized there was no need.

“It filled up. Originally we had the limit of 30, like we typically do, and it filled up within hours … then raised the limit to 40, and even then many were wait-listed,” Mennino said.

With the New Orleans minor and classes such as The Sociology of Mardi Gras, students and professors are working to debunk stereotypical beliefs related to the city, Mennino said. She said that she hopes word will get out that New Orleans is more than just a city of debauchery and is instead one of rich history and culture.

The latest in the DC Universe’s Animated Original Movies brings the explosive “All-Star Superman,” which finds Superman recognizing his approaching death and dealing with saving the Earth one last time and revealing himself to the one he loves the most: Lois Lane. The Blu-ray is packed with illuminating special features and the disc looks great. B+

Wesley Snipes is at it again; kicking butt and paying off his debt to the IRS. It would at least be interesting if that were the actual plot of his latest direct-to-Blu-ray release “Game of Death.” But alas, the movie is just another run-of-the-mill actioner that finds Snipes as a CIA agent out to clear his name and take down powerful assassins. Snipes, per his usual, looks bored, and frankly, so are we. F

Woody Allen is back, but unfortunately, it’s one of his dreary dramas coming to Blu-ray and DVD with his latest, “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.” Again, intertwining stories dealing with unhappy marriages (Anthony Hopkins and Gemma Jones, Josh Brolin and Naomi Watts), infidelity (Hopkins and Brolin, again) and blatant unethical behavior (the two men, yet again). For all the dour examination of relationships, no revelations can save this movie. The only diversion is the fantastically loopy performance of Lucy Punch as Hopkins’ new wife. The disc contains no bonus features (per Allen’s usual). D+