By MICK LASALLE, San Francisco Chronicle

"TAXI." (1932. NOT RATED.THE WARNER ARCHIVE. $19.99)

There is nothing more buoyant, dangerous or irrepressible than James Cagney in his first years of stardom. Every film he did between 1931 and 1934 is worth seeing. Each one is a delight.

"DRAGON TATTOO TRILOGY EXTENDED EDITION." (VARIOUS DATES. NOT RATED. MUSIC BOX FILMS. $79.95.)

"THESE AMAZING SHADOWS" (2011. NOT RATED. PBS HOME VIDEO. DVD: $24.99; BLU-RAY: $29.99)

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has just announced the nominations for the Golden Globe Awards, and you're reading this article, even though you don't care what the Hollywood Foreign Press Association thinks, and I don't either.

The first time I saw Marilyn Monroe, she was walking by a train in "Some Like It Hot," and I was sitting in front of a black-and-white TV. I was 5 years old, and she was the most beautiful human being I had ever seen.

"FANNY & ALEXANDER" (1982. RATED R.THE CRITERION COLLECTION. DVD AND BLU-RAY: $59.95)

Ingmar Bergman announced his retirement after making this film in 1982. A family epic, it begins on Christmas 1907 and revisits all the grand Bergman subjects -- God, death, marriage, infidelity, passion -- but in ways that are more generous and less dour than in his previous films.

No one knows for sure who will be nominated for an Oscar this time around, but it's a pretty safe bet that Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams will be front-runners in the Best Actress category and Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio will compete for Best Actor.

"THE FOUR FEATHERS." (1939. NOT RATED. CRITERION COLLECTION. BLU-RAY: $39.95; DVD: $29.95.)

This 1939 Technicolor film, from Zoltan Korda, is the best of the British colonial action-adventure films -- the most rousing, the most nuanced and the most emotionally satisfying.

It's also the most intelligent.

"LAUREL AND HARDY: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION." (NOT RATED. VARIOUS DATES. RHI ENTERTAINMENT. $99.98.)

Of all the comic duos that achieved great popularity (Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, Rowan and Martin, etc.), none has had anything near the shelf life of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

"SEPTEMBER 11TH: MEMORIAL EDITION" (2011. NOT RATED. THE HISTORY CHANNEL. $24.95.)

I approached with skepticism this History Channel collection of four documentaries about the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 -- then found myself watching them straight through.