Sandra Bullock and ‘The Blind Side’ arrive

The Blind Side

Warner, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99

Sandra Bullock’s Oscar-winning lead performance is the best part of “The Blind Side,” a maudlin, feel-good melodrama that takes the real-life story of NFL lineman Michael Oher’s tough upbringing and turns it into the story of a saintly Southern woman who plays patron. The movie is effective as a tear-jerker, but as charismatic as Bullock can be, her character doesn’t make sense unless the kid she’s taking care of is just as fleshed out, and Oher, as played by Quinton Aaron, remains a blank throughout “The Blind Side.” It’s troubling how un-troubling this movie means to be. The actual Oher says more for himself on “The Blind Side” Blu-ray, which contains a sturdy set of featurettes. DVD extras are limited to a handful of deleted scenes.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

20th Century Fox, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99

The source material may be a Roald Dahl novella and the medium may be stop-motion animation, but “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is wholly a Wes Anderson film, with all the character-dialogue-design quirks that have made the director’s work so recognizable. George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman give voice to a band of thieving animals who find new ways to outwit a trio of farmers in this funny, fast-paced, offbeat movie, great for older kids and art-house dwellers alike. “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” DVD includes two brief looks at how the movie was made; the Blu-ray adds still more featurettes.

Brothers

Lionsgate, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.99

Director Jim Sheridan and writer David Benioff’s remake of the Danish film “Brothers” stars Natalie Portman as a woman who becomes close to her ex-con brother-in-law when she mistakenly believes her soldier husband was killed. Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire play the brothers -- a casting choice so perfect that it’s surprising no one’s thought of it before -- and their performances are so powerful that they overcome Sheridan and Benioff’s thick-lined rendering of family squabbles and military life. The actors invest clichés with real intensity. The DVD and Blu-ray contain two smart featurettes -- one about the process of adapting the original and one about Sheridan’s own hardscrabble upbringing -- plus keen Sheridan commentary.

Red Cliff

Magnolia, $26.98/$29.98; Blu-ray, $29.98/$34.98

After a rocky stint in Hollywood, action maestro John Woo returns home for the Chinese epic “Red Cliff,” a detailed look back at the series of 3rd century battles that led to the forging of the Three Kingdoms. In Asia, Woo’s spectacle ran more than four hours and played in two parts; in the U.S., it was trimmed to a single 2 1/2 -hour film. Both versions will be available on DVD and Blu-ray, and both offer stirring, old-school adventure, with ships and fortresses and armies on horseback. All versions come with behind-the-scenes featurettes.

The Men Who Stare at Goats

Overture/Anchor Bay, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98

George Clooney plays one of a secret cadre of American super-soldiers and Ewan McGregor plays the journalist investigating him in “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” a shrill but often very funny satire about the delusions of would-be warriors. The whimsicality of “Goats” works against the movie, which is unfortunate, because this quasi-true story of nonconformists with a cause is engaging. The DVD and Blu-ray dig in more to the real story of the First Earth Battalion via a pair of featurettes and two commentary tracks.

And...

“The African Queen” (Paramount, $25.99/$50.99; Blu-ray, $39.99/$57.99); “After Dark Horrorfest Vol. 4: Dread/The Final/The Graves/The Hidden/Kill Theory/Lake Mungo/The Reeds/Zombies of Mass Destruction” (Lionsgate, $159.98 or $19.98 each); “Bigger Than Life” (Criterion, $39.95; Blu-ray, $39.95); “Mad Men: Season 3” (Lionsgate, $49.98; Blu-ray, $49.99); “The Prisoner” (Warner, $29.98); “Seraphine” (Music Box, $25.95); “Talhotblond” (Paramount, $22.98); “The T.A.M.I. Show” (Shout! Factory, $19.93); “Toy Story” (Disney Blu-ray, $39.99); “Toy Story 2” (Disney Blu-ray, $39.99); “Yojimbo & Sanjuro” (Criterion Blu-ray, $69.95 or $39.95 each)

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