The ‘Fockers’ keep providing laughs

“Meet the Fockers” has proved critic-proof. Despite mixed notices, the sequel to “Meet the Parents” has become the most successful live-action comedy ever made. Since its Christmas release, the film has raked in more than $507 million worldwide.

The digital edition of “Fockers” hits stores today (Universal, $30). It may have set a record for the greatest amount of bloopers -- 65 -- featured on a DVD. The disc also offers 20 deleted scenes, including one that features star Ben Stiller in a funny dual role. There are also brief interviews with Stiller, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand.

Rounding out the disc are lighthearted featurettes on the film’s baby wrangler, the prop master and feline costar Jinx the cat and commentary with director Jay Roach and editor/co-producer Jon Poll.

Also new this week

“House of Flying Daggers” (Sony, $29): Though it received only one Oscar nomination, for Xiaoding Zhao’s vibrant cinematography, Zhang Yimou’s acclaimed martial arts/love story was a critics’ darling. The Boston Society of Film Critics named Zhang best director of 2004, as did the National Society of Film Critics. Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhang Ziyi are the three attractive stars. The digital edition includes a lengthy making-of documentary -- subtitled in English -- a look at the special effects, film-to-storyboard comparisons and subtitled commentary from the director and Zhang Ziyi.

“Primer” (Sony, $28): This dense Rubik’s Cube of a suspense thriller picked up the Grand Jury Prize last year at the Sundance Film Festival. Shot on 16-millimeter for a mere $7,000, “Primer” stars writer/director/composer Shane Carruth as an inventor who teams up with his best friend (David Sullivan) to create a time machine.

The DVD features technical and creative commentary from Carruth, his cast and crew.

“A Love Song for Bobby Long” (Lions Gate, $27): John Travolta goes the character actor route with mixed results in this Carson McCullers-esque drama set in New Orleans. The digital edition is predictable -- deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette and passable audio commentary from first-time director Shainee Gable and cinematographer Elliot Davis.

“Stephen King’s Riding the Bullet” (Lions Gate, $27): Forgettable horror film based on King’s eBook. Jonathan Jackson, Barbara Hershey and David Arquette star .

“Dynasty -- Season 1” (Fox, $40): The prime-time soaps “Dallas” and “Dynasty” ruled the airwaves during the Reagan era. Though ABC’s “Dynasty” didn’t quite have the longevity of CBS’ “Dallas,” it had a healthy run on the network from 1981 to 1989. And for good reason -- it was a delicious wallow filled with rich, beautiful, highly dysfunctional people, lots of sex and substantial shoulder pads. John Forsythe stars as the ultra-rich Denver oil tycoon Blake Carrington; Linda Evans as his wife, Krystle; Pamela Sue Martin as his hot-headed daughter, Fallon; and Al Corley as his bisexual son, Steven. The four-disc set features commentary with co-creator Esther Shapiro and Corley, and “profiles” of Fallon and Steven.

“The Errol Flynn Signature Collection” (Warner Home Video, $60 for the set; $20): One of the most popular and athletic stars of the 1930s and 1940s, Flynn excelled in a series of well-crafted swashbucklers and action dramas. This five-movie set features five of his best from 1935 to 1942: “Captain Blood,” “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex,” “Dodge City,” “The Sea Hawk” and “They Died With Their Boots On.” Each disc includes a new documentary on the respective film, as well as trailers, shorts, newsreels and cartoons.

“Li’l Abner” (Paramount, $15): Stilted 1959 adaptation of the hit Broadway musical based on Al Capp’s popular comic strip about the colorful denizens of Dogpatch. The hard-working cast includes Peter Palmer, Leslie Parrish and Stubby Kaye.

“Teacher’s Pet” (Paramount, $15): Sparkling romantic comedy from 1958 about the May-December romance between a two-fisted newspaper editor (Clark Gable) and a sophisticated journalism professor (Doris Day). Gig Young received an Oscar nomination as Day’s perfect boyfriend; Fay and Michael Kanin’s script was also nominated for an Academy Award. Directed by George Seaton.

“Shirley Temple -- Little Darling Pack” (Universal, $30): Before she was signed to a long-term contract at Fox, the perky child star made two films at Paramount in 1934: “Little Miss Marker” and “Now and Forever.” In “Marker,” she plays a little girl left as a marker by her father on a horse race bet; in the weepy “Now and Forever,” she plays the daughter of con man Gary Cooper. The disc includes Temple’s screen debut in the bizarre 1932 short “The Runt Page.”

“The Four Feathers” (MGM $15): Alexander Korda’s handsome Technicolor 1939 British action-adventure stars John Clements, Ralph Richardson and C. Aubrey Smith.

What’s next

April 26: “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Blade: Trinity,” “The Assassination of Richard Nixon,” “Undertow,” “Darkness,” “Emile.”

May 3: “National Treasure,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “The Chorus,” “Enduring Love.”

May 10: “In Good Company,” “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,” “Racing Stripes,” “Assault on Precinct 13,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “Hairshow” and “Alone in the Dark.”

May 17: “Kinsey,” “The Sea Inside,” “Son of the Mask,” “White Noise,” “Team America: World Police,” “Notre Musique.”

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DVD sales

The 10 top-selling DVDs in the week ending April 10. Rankings are compiled from a variety of major retailers, including Amazon.com, Best Buy, Blockbuster and Circuit City.

1. “Sideways”

2. “Elektra”

3. “Spanglish”

4. “The Incredibles”

5. “Closer”

6. “Finding Neverland”

7. “After the Sunset”

8. “Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 1”

9. “Napoleon Dynamite”

10. “The Notebook”

Source: DVDExclusive.com

Los Angeles Times