New on DVD: ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Walt Disney, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99/$49.99

There’s a distinct “hanging around town after graduation” vibe to “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the fourth installment of the billion-dollar Disney franchise. With Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and director Gore Verbinski all out of the picture, Johnny Depp is left to shoulder the bulk of the swashbuckling as Capt. Jack Sparrow, with some help from Penélope Cruz as Blackbeard’s daughter (and Ian McShane as Blackbeard). Depp has always been the star of the show, but the earlier films worked Capt. Jack into a bigger, stranger tapestry, while “Stranger Tides” feels like just another pirate adventure — solidly made and even exciting at times, but nothing special. The DVD and Blu-ray add a blooper reel, animated shorts and a commentary track by director Rob Marshall.

Bad Teacher

Sony, $30.99; Blu-ray, $35.99/$40.99

There’s nothing wrong with broad comedy, but “Bad Teacher” miscalculates by setting an outrageous lead character — a foul-mouthed, pot-smoking, gold-digging junior high school teacher played by Cameron Diaz — against a supporting cast that’s equally extreme, but in the opposite direction. The “slacker versus the squares” shtick produces the occasional shock-laugh, as Diaz says something ridiculously obscene while her costars look aghast, but unlike the similar “Bad Santa,” there’s not enough effort here to ground the jokes in some kind of truth. It’s just vulgarity for the sake of vulgarity. The DVD and Blu-ray include the usual assortment of bloopers, deleted scenes and jokey featurettes.

A Better Life

Summit, $26.99; Blu-ray, $30.49

A sort of modern-day version of Vittorio De Sica’s “The Bicycle Thief,” the illegal immigrant melodrama “A Better Life” stars Demián Bichir as a Los Angeles gardener trying to raise his son, skirt the law and track down the stolen truck that represents his livelihood. This might seem like alien subject matter for director Chris Weitz, whose previous films include “American Pie,” “The Golden Compass” and the second film in the “Twilight” saga, “New Moon,” but Weitz gives Eric Eason’s screenplay (from a Roger Simon story) exactly the right mix of gloss and grit, bringing a lot of heart into what could have been a wallow. The DVD and Blu-ray add a Weitz commentary and deleted scenes.

Page One: Inside the New York Times

Magnolia, $26.98; Blu-ray, $29.98

Andrew Rossi’s documentary considers how the New York Times has weathered the revolution in the way people produce and consume news. “Page One” features some fascinating you-are-there footage as Times editors and reporters debate the newsworthiness of the iPad and WikiLeaks, but Rossi also includes superfluous details about Times columnists David Carr and Brian Stelter and largely fails to cover in enough detail how a massive, hidebound organization like the Times is integrating with a medium as fast-moving as the Internet. The movie ends before it gets anywhere; it should really be the first part of a series. There’s more information, however, on the DVD and Blu-ray, which contain bonus scenes and interviews.

And…

Batman: Year One

Warner Bros., $19.98/$24.98; Blu-ray, $24.98

Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest

Sony, $30.99; Blu-ray, $35.99

Red State

Lionsgate, $27.98; Blu-ray, $29.99

Robotech: The Complete Original Series

A&E, $99.95

Thundercats: Season One, Vol. 1

Cartoon Network, $19.98

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory: 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition

Warner Bros. Blu-ray, $64.98