Intelligence carries over in ‘The Hours’

The Hours

Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep,

Julianne Moore

Paramount, $30

One of last year’s big prestige pictures -- Kidman won the best actress Oscar and a Golden Globe for her performance as troubled novelist Virginia Woolf -- arrives on DVD in an equally thoughtful, intelligent disc. Based on the novel by Michael Cunningham, the drama, adapted by David Hare, interweaves the lives of three women: Woolf as she begins work on her novel “Mrs. Dalloway,” a dissatisfied housewife and mother from 1949 who is reading Woolf’s novel and a modern-day book editor.

The DVD includes informative featurettes on the actresses, Woolf, Phillip Glass’ Oscar-nominated score and Cunningham’s inspiration for writing the novel. There is also an introduction to the DVD by Academy Award-nominated director Stephen Daldry. The three actresses supply an engaging commentary track, and Daldry and Cunningham are equally loquacious.

Punch-Drunk Love

Adam Sandler, Emily Watson

Columbia TriStar, $29

There were two types of reactions to Paul Thomas Anderson’s (“Boogie Nights”) offbeat comedy-drama about a lonely small businessman with several bossy sisters who finds himself a victim of an extortion plot after he calls a phone sex line -- viewers either loved the film or found it as excruciating as the sound of nails being scratched down a blackboard. Sandler should at least get kudos for trying something different, but his character of Barry Egan is such a loser it’s hard to muster any sympathy for him. Watson, though, shines as a young woman who inexplicably falls in love with the socially immature Barry.

The two-disc DVD is pretty much a waste. There’s no commentary from Anderson, and the second disc features some trailers and a weird 12-minute featurette titled “Blossoms & Blood,” which includes alternate takes, art work and a music video. There are also two deleted scenes, 12 “Scopitones” -- those multi-colored panels that lead in and out of scenes -- and a funny faux commercial for “Mattress Man,” starring the great Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Dark Blue

Kurt Russell, Brendan Gleeson

MGM, $27

Russell gives one of his best performances in this crackling detective thriller. The only problem is that no one saw this film. The low-budget release, based on a story by novelist James Ellroy and adapted by David Ayer of “Training Day,” came and went in theaters this past February.

In a story set just before the 1992 Rodney King riots, the underrated Russell plays a Los Angeles cop who has bent the rules throughout his career and now he is about to pay the price. Scott Speedman plays his young partner, and Gleeson is their crooked boss.

Ron Shelton, who currently has “Hollywood Homicide,” in the theaters and made his name with the sports comedies “Bull Durham,” “White Men Can’t Jump” and “Tin Cup,” directed.

The DVD features three decent featurettes on the making of the film, a ho-hum photo gallery and fact-filled commentary from Shelton.

*

Also this week

“Kangaroo Jack,” a caper comedy featuring a marsupial created with the magic of CGI (Warners: $28); “Lost in La Mancha” (New Video Group: $29.95); “Cowboy Bebop: The Movie” (Columbia Tristar: $26.95).

Top VHS rentals

1. Old School

2. Tears of the Sun

3. Die Another Day

4. About Schmidt

5. The Recruit

Top DVD rentals

1. Old School

2. Tears of the Sun

3. Die Another Day

4. The Recruit

5. About Schmidt

What’s coming

Tuesday: “Gangs of New York,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” and “The Real Cancun”

July 8: “Phone Booth” and “Basic”