Selected home-video releases:
“Scary Movie 4” – The franchise that spoofs horror flicks marches on, scoring another hit though it packs few laughs and little cleverness.
Anna Faris and Regina Hall return as the dopey protagonist and her randy pal, with Craig Bierko parodying Tom Cruise as the movie essentially lifts scenes from “War of the Worlds,” “The Grudge” and “The Village” then adds silly tweaks that aren’t very funny.
The DVD is available in the PG-13 theatrical version or an unrated edition that spices up the language and gags a bit. Director David Zucker and some of his collaborators offer commentary for the full movie and 15 deleted scenes. DVD extras also include six behind-the-scenes features. $29.95. (Genius)
“RV” – Here’s Robin Williams and director Barry Sonnenfeld (the “Men in Black” movies) at their infantile slapstick worst.
Williams stars as a harried dad who cons his family into scrapping their dream getaway in Hawaii and instead taking a road trip under the guise of renewing family ties when he’s really scheming to get to a critical business meeting.
The DVD packs five features, including one on Sonnenfeld and one on co-star Joanna “JoJo” Levesque, the teen pop singer who plays Williams’ daughter.
Sonnenfeld provides commentary, and the disc includes an alternate scene. Some traffic advice: The price of this DVD would be better spent on tickets to “Little Miss Sunshine,” a road-trip black comedy that’s one of the year’s best films. $28.95. (Sony)
“Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier” – For Francis Ford Coppola completists, a two-disc set contains both the original 1979 theatrical version of his Vietnam War-era retelling of Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” and the 2001 expanded cut “Apocalypse Now Redux,” which adds 49 minutes of footage.
The reasonably priced package has commentary by Coppola on both editions of the film, which stars Marlon Brando as a crazed U.S. colonel who has gone renegade and Martin Sheen as an officer sent to do away with the madman.
The set also comes with documentary segments on the film’s music, editing and sound design and an outtake featuring Brando doing a full reading of T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men.” $19.99. (Paramount)
“James Stewart: The Signature Collection,” “Ronald Reagan: The Signature Collection” – Two five-disc sets offer six films starring Stewart and five with Reagan, all making their DVD debuts.
The Stewart set is anchored by four films from 1949-59: the crime chronicle “The FBI Story,” the Charles Lindbergh saga “The Spirit of St. Louis,” the bounty-hunting tale “The Naked Spur” and the baseball drama “The Stratton Story.” A fifth disc has 1968’s “The Cheyenne Social Club” and 1970’s “Firecreek,” two Westerns from late in Stewart’s career, both co-starring Henry Fonda.
The Reagan set has two of the best-known films in the future president’s career, 1940’s football tale “Knute Rockne, All-American” and 1942’s soap opera “Kings Row,” plus the 1949 war chronicle “The Hasty Heart,” the 1951 court saga “Storm Warning” and the 1952 baseball story “The Winning Team.”
The Stewart titles also are available separately; of the Reagan movies, only “Knute Rockne” and “Kings Row” can be bought individually. DVD sets, $49.92 each; single DVDs, $19.97 each. (Warner Bros.)
“Clark Gable Collection” – Gable stars in three adventure tales debuting on DVD, led by 1935’s “Call of the Wild,” co-starring Loretta Young in an adaptation of Jack London’s novel about fortune-seekers and a hardy sled dog in the Klondike gold rush.
The set also has two flicks from 1955: “Soldier of Fortune,” with Susan Hayward as a woman who hires a mercenary (Gable) to rescue her husband, who’s imprisoned in communist China; and “The Tall Men,” a Western co-starring Jane Russell and Robert Ryan in the story of a cattle drive from Texas to Montana. $49.98. (20th Century Fox)
“Eric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales” – Another marvelous set from the DVD masters at Criterion collects the six “Moral Tales” films French director Rohmer made from 1962-72.
The six-disc set starts with the 23-minute “The Bakery Girl of Monceau” and the 55-minute “Suzanne’s Career” and continues with the four full-length films that make up the heart of Rohmer’s cycle of stories about love, longing, jealousy and temptation: “La Collectionneuse,” “My Night at Maud’s,” “Claire’s Knee” and “Love in the Afternoon” (better known to American audiences as “Chloe in the Afternoon”).
The set has a 56-page booklet of essays by Rohmer and film critics plus a paperback book with the filmmaker’s prose versions of each tale, which he used as blueprints for the films. $99.95. (Criterion)
TV on DVD
“Rome: The Complete First Season” – Two Roman soldiers are caught up in the intrigue, excess and corruption that marked the beginning of the long decline of the ancient empire. A six-disc set has all 12 episodes from season one, plus cast-and-crew commentary, making-of segments and historical featurettes. $99.98. (HBO)
“The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season” – The first family of cartoon dysfunction is back with a four-disc set packing year eight’s 25 episodes, along with commentary from series creator Matt Groening and others. $49.98. (20th Century Fox)
“The Jeffersons: The Complete Fifth Season” – Laundry mogul George (Sherman Hemsley) and no-nonsense wife Louise (Isabel Sanford) return with a three-disc set containing 24 episodes. $29.95. (Sony)
“Hogan’s Heroes: The Complete Fourth Season” – The Allies continue to make buffoons of the Nazis in the prisoner-of-war sit-com. $38.99. (Paramount)
“Remington Steele: Seasons Four &Five” – Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist resume their sleuthing and sparring ways. $49.98. (20th Century Fox)
“Full House: The Complete Fourth Season” – Bob Saget’s back as the widower raising three girls on his own. The sit-com’s 26 episodes from season four are packed in a four-disc set. $29.98. (Warner Bros.)
“The Flying Nun: The Complete Second Season” – Sally Field takes to the skies again as the church’s airborne good-deed-doer. Year two’s 26 episodes come in a three-disc package. $29.95. (Sony)
Other new releases
“Hoot” – Luke Wilson leads the adult cast in this adaptation of Carl Hiaasen’s teen novel about three kids battling a corrupt businessman to protect the habitat of endangered owls. Hiaasen joins director Wil Shriner for commentary, and other extras include a feature on producer and co-star Jimmy Buffett, who recorded songs for the movie. $27.95. (New Line)
“L’Enfant” – Last year’s top prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival is a stark drama about a small-time thief who sells his newborn baby on the black market then scrambles to retrieve the child to win back the faith of his girlfriend. The DVD has an interview with sibling directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. $24.96. (Sony)
Anna Farris finds out the house she lives in is haunted by a little boy in “Scary Movie 4.”
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