Intimate romance, on a budget

Sometimes movie gems come out of left field. Case in point: “Sweet Land” (Fox, $28), an independently made romantic drama by Minnesota-based, first-time feature writer-director Ali Selim.

The critically acclaimed tale revolves around a German-born mail-order bride (Elizabeth Reaser) who arrives in rural Minnesota in the 1920s to marry a taciturn Norwegian immigrant farmer (Tim Guinee).

Alan Cumming, who was also a producer, Lois Smith and Paul Sand also star in the film, which was made for a mere $1 million. A darling on the festival circuit, “Sweet Land” was the winner of the Independent Spirit Award for best first feature.

On the DVD, out today, extras include a “making of” featurette and informative commentary from Selim, his two stars, producer Gil Bellows (Billy from “Ally McBeal”) and others who talk about the difficulties and rewards of bringing this intimate romance to life.

Though it lost the best foreign language film Oscar this year to Germany’s “The Lives of Others,” Danish director Susanne Bier’s “After the Wedding” (IFC, $25) is a beautifully wrought romantic drama starring Mads Mikkelsen (“Casino Royale”) as a thirtysomething Dane struggling to keep his orphanage and food program open in India. One day, he receives news from a billionaire Danish businessman (Rolf Lassgard) that he will fund the orphanage on the condition that Mikkelsen return to Denmark to meet him. Sidse Babett Knudsen also stars as the wife of the businessman. Extras include a thoughtful interview with Biers.

Also new

“The Film Crew: Hollywood After Dark” (Shout, $17): Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, three of the wild guys behind “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” are the stars of this new DVD series in which they play workers on a film crew assigned to give the worst movies ever made their own commentary tracks. The first assignment is the 1968 exploitation thriller, “Hollywood After Dark,” starring -- of all people -- “Golden Girl” Rue McClanahan as a stripper working in Hollywood hoping for her big break in the movies. Their commentary is fast and funny and more risque than on “Mystery Science Theater.”

“Joan Collins: Superstar Collection” (Fox, $50 for the set; $20): Though she’s best known as the conniving diva Alexis Carrington from “Dynasty,” the British actress began her sex symbol ways in the 1950s at 20th Century Fox. This collection features five movies she made for the studio. The delicious 1957 camp fest, “Sea Wife,” casts her as a nun! The misguided 1958 comedy “Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys” wastes Collins, as well as her costars Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. The 1955 drama “The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing” finds her playing the infamous showgirl Evelyn Nesbit, who only has eyes for the married character of Ray Milland. The tepid 1957 romantic drama “Stopover Tokyo” teams her with Robert Wagner, and in the watchable 1960 crime caper “Seven Thieves” she is trying to rob a casino. Extras on the discs include limited commentary from author-film historian Aubrey Solomon, mini-documentaries and restoration comparisons.

“MGM Film Noir Collection” (MGM, $20 each): Edward G. Robinson is in fine form in three of the titles offered here. In Fritz Lang’s impeccable 1944 thriller “The Woman in the Window,” he plays a college professor who finds himself embroiled in murder when he hooks up with a femme fatale (Joan Bennett). In 1946’s “The Stranger,” he stars as an investigator searching for an escaped Nazi war criminal (Orson Welles, who also directed); and in 1955’s low-budget “A Bullet for Joey,” Robinson plays a dogged cop trying to capture a thug (George Raft) and his crew who have been hired to murder a federal agent. Rounding out the collection is the taut “Kansas City Confidential” (1952), starring John Payne.

And: “The Last Mimzy” (New Line, $29); “The Astronaut Farmer” (Warner, $28).

susan.king@latimes.com