“Little Miss Sunshine”One of the brightest little independent hits to roll along in years suitably arrives on DVD just before the holidays, so gatherings of dysfunctional kin can marvel over a family even more messed-up than their own. Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette and Steve Carell lead the cast of lovable losers in a happy-sad road-trip tale about a family’s bizarre misadventures as they race to get their little girl to her beauty pageant. DVD highlights include four alternate endings accompanied by commentary from husband-and-wife directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. One abandoned ending they found too sappy, another hilarious one they deemed too over-the-top, so in the end, they settled for one last scene of the family pushing their ailing Volkswagen van to get it started, then leaping inside. Dayton, Faris and screenwriter Michael Arndt also team up on two separate commentaries for the full film. DVD, $29.98. Read the review
“Invincible”
Mark Wahlberg stars in Hollywood’s latest inspired-by-a-true-story sports tale about an underdog who makes good. Wahlberg plays bartender Vince Papale, a blue-collar 30-year-old who never played college ball but miraculously makes the team after new Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil stages open tryouts to hunt up fresh talent. The real Papale teams with producer Mark Ciardi and screenwriter Brad Gann for one commentary track, while director Ericson Core and his editor provide separate commentary. The DVD also has a featurette on Papale’s story. DVD, 29.99. (Disney) Read the review
“Step Up”
Why do dancing fools fall in love? This romantic mini-hit stars Channing Tatum as a tough street kid doing community service at a school for performing arts, where a hot rich girl (Jenna Dewan) who’s conveniently in need of a new dancing partner enlists the slick but inexperienced hunk to bust some moves with her. Along with deleted scenes and bloopers, the DVD includes winning dance videos submitted to MySpace.com for a contest to promote the movie. Tatum and Dewan join director-choreographer Anne Fletcher for commentary, and the DVD has four music videos and a making-of featurette. DVD, $29.99. (Disney) Read the review
“Lady in the Water”
M. Night Shyamalan, creator of “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” found himself dead in the water with this strange and unsatisfying fairy tale for adults. Adding to his repertoire of sad-sacks, Paul Giamatti plays a grief-stricken man hiding from the world as an apartment-complex manager, who ends up enlisting his tenants to help return a mythical water nymph (Bryce Dallas Howard) to her own realm. The DVD has deleted scenes and audition reels for the cast, a behind-the-scenes documentary and a featurette on the movie’s origins as an epic bedtime story Shyamalan made up for his children. The movie is available on DVD or in high-definition formats with a Blu-ray release or a disc with both regular DVD and HD DVD versions. DVD, $28.98; Blu-ray disc, 34.99; HD DVD and DVD disc, $39.99. (Warner Bros.) Read the review
“Walt Disney Treasures”Disney opens its vaults to release four more collections of vintage animated and live material on two-disc sets. Leading the way is “More Silly Symphonies,” a gathering of animated shorts made from 1929-38, including two directed by Walt Disney himself and the Academy Award-winning “Three Orphan Kittens.” “The Complete Pluto: Volume Two” packs another set of cartoons featuring Mickey Mouse’s dog. “Your Host, Walt Disney” features highlights of the animation pioneer from his television shows. “The Hardy Boys” presents the boy detectives in an adventure serialized in the mid-1950s on “The Mickey Mouse Club.” Each set has introductions by critic Leonard Maltin, along with interviews and featurettes. DVD sets, $32.99 each. (Disney)
TV on DVD:
“When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts” — Spike Lee presents his four-hour documentary chronicling the Hurricane Katrina disaster and the equally tragic aftermath as emergency crews lumber to respond. Lee offers commentary, and the three-disc set has a nearly two-hour epilogue. DVD set, $29.98. (HBO)
“The St. Louis Cardinals: 2006 World Series Collector’s Edition” — An eight-disc set rounds up all five games of the Cardinals’ World Series triumph over the Detroit Tigers, plus games five and seven of the Cards’ nail-biting National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. DVD set, $79.95. (A&E)
“The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season” — The first family of TV animation returns with a four-disc set packing year nine’s 25 episodes, with commentary on each from cast members, creator Matt Groening and others. DVD set, $49.98. (20th Century Fox)
“ER: The Complete Sixth Season” — There’s life after George Clooney for the remaining cast and newcomers to the long-running medical drama. Maura Tierney leads the fresh recruits in year six, whose 22 episodes come in a six-disc set. DVD set, $49.98. (Warner Bros.)
“Hogan’s Heroes: The Complete Fifth Season” — Those wacky POWs and their inept Nazi captors are back with a four-disc set containing 26 episodes of the sitcom. DVD set, $42.99. (Paramount)
“Married With Children: The Complete Sixth Season” — The dysfunctional Bundy family returns with a three-disc set packing 26 episodes. DVD set, $39.95. (Sony)
Other new releases:
“Jet Li’s Fearless” — Action star Li says this will be his last martial-arts film, the tale of a pioneer of the sport whose arrogance makes him an outcast and forces him to find the inner peace to mount a comeback. The film is available in regular DVD format or a combo disc with the DVD and HD DVD versions. DVD, $29.98; HD DVD combo, $39.98. (Universal) Read the review
“The Wicker Man” — Nicolas Cage stars in a dud based on the 1970s original, playing a policeman whose attempt to find an old girlfriend’s missing daughter leads him into dark mysteries among the pagan citizens of a remote island. The DVD has the theatrical release and an unrated alternate version. DVD, $28.98. (Warner Bros.) Read the review
“All the King’s Men” — Sean Penn has a remake dud of his own, starring as a flamboyant Southern politician whose idealism gives way to corruption in a new adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s novel. The DVD has deleted scenes and a segment on Huey Long, the Louisiana political boss who was Warren’s inspiration. DVD, $28.95; Blu-ray disc, $38.95 (Sony) Read the review
“My Super Ex-Girlfriend” — A charming premise goes to waste in this unfunny comedy about a superhero (Uma Thurman) using her powers to take vengeance on the boyfriend (Luke Wilson) who jilted her. The DVD has deleted scenes and a music video. DVD, $29.98. (20th Century Fox) Read the review
“A Scanner Darkly” — Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder and Robert Downey Jr. star in an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s near-future tale of drug addiction, surveillance and paranoia. Reeves provides commentary with director Richard Linklater, who shot in live action then “painted” over the film with digital animation. DVD, $27.95. (Warner Bros.) Read the review