‘Our Town’ a la Lars Von Trier

Dogville

Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany

Lions Gate, $27

As with previous films of his such as “Breaking the Waves,” Lars von Trier’s three-hour drama is not for everyone’s tastes. Theatrically staged with a minimum of sets and props in the style of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” “Dogville” tells the Depression-era tale of Grace (Kidman), a beautiful young woman on the lam from gangsters who arrives one night in a small Rocky Mountain town. Bettany plays the town’s moral guide; John Hurt captures the perfect tone as the story’s narrator.

The digital edition includes an uneven commentary track from the iconoclastic Danish filmmaker and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle.

*

The Girl Next Door (unrated version)

Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert

Fox, $28

You can ignore this “Girl Next Door.” The smarmy teen comedy revolves around a bright, virginal high school senior (Hirsch) who sows wild oats with his new next-door neighbor, a 19-year-old porn star (Cuthbert). The “unrated” version includes 90 seconds more of nudity and sexual situations.

Director Luke Greenfield must have pulled an arm muscle patting himself on the back in his self-congratulatory commentary track. There’s also a decent trivia track, passable scene-specific commentary with the two stars, a making-of featurette, a relentlessly unfunny gag reel, the original ending and deleted and extended scenes.

*

Purple Rain

Prince, Morris Day

Warner Home Video, $27

The most entertaining aspect of this enjoyable two-disc 20th anniversary edition of the Purple One’s box-office musical drama is footage of the coverage of the “MTV Premiere Party” for “Purple Rain.” Sequences feature Prince arriving with bodyguards at the premiere at the Chinese Theatre and interviews with several guests at the post-party, including a red-leather-jumpsuit-clad Eddie Murphy, as well as “Weird Al” Yankovic and a baby-faced John Mellencamp.

Other extras include three compelling retrospective documentaries, eight classic Prince music videos and fun, trivia-filled commentary from director Albert Magnoli, producer Robert Cavallo and cinematographer Donald E. Thorin.

*

Ella Enchanted

Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy

Miramax, $30

This hip adaptation of the young-adult novel by Gail Garson Levine turns the Cinderella fairy tale on its ear. Hathaway (“The Princess Diaries”) proves again she is an adept comedian who is not afraid to look foolish; leading man Dancy is a real charmer.

The digital edition features two repetitious behind-the-

scenes featurettes, an interactive game, deleted and extended scenes and giggly commentary with Hathaway, Dancy and director Tommy O’Haver.