Bruno (R, 2009, Universal)

Borat Sagdiyev is one seriously tough act to follow, and perhaps no one knows that quite as intimately as the man who created him. “Bruno” plays out in similar fashion to “Borat,” with Sacha Baron Cohen once again undercover in the titular role as he tries to achieve fortune in America. Fans of Cohen’s “Da Ali G Show” already know Bruno, whose segment regularly followed Borat’s on the show, so it’s not as if he’s a brand-new creation hastily devised in light of “Borat’s” big-screen success. But even with that said, it’s pretty clear “Bruno” is trying to out-Borat “Borat” – and with the main character being an outwardly gay fashionista and with most of the film’s stomping ground being rural and suburban America, it’s about as challenging as setting a leaky gas can on fire. But that’s also “Bruno’s” problem: while Cohen regularly puts himself at risk for physical harm with his stunts, the vast majority of his antics revolve around the same gag (making prudes deeply uncomfortable), and the thoroughly course nature of the stunts feels far more confrontational than Borat’s hilarious but outwardly well-meaning social flaps. that, of course, doesn’t mean “Bruno” doesn’t have its moments, because it absolutely does. Cohen’s most dangerous stunts – including a doozy at a mixed martial arts event – are wince-worthy on a horror film level, and some of his throwaway lines (or better yet, the things he gets other people to say in their haste to fulfill their own interests) are just magnificently funny.

Extras: Revelatory commentary with Cohen and director/partner-in-crime Larry Charles, deleted/alternate/extended scenes, extended Larry Robinson (makes sense if you’ve seen the movie) interview.

How to be (NR, 2009, IFC Films)

For those unnerved and annoyed by the return of “Twilight” fever and Robert Pattinson’s thousand-mile stare assaulting television commercials and movie posters everywhere, here’s an early holiday present from the man himself. In “How to be,” Pattinson (starring here as depressed supermarket clerk and wannabe musician Arthur) trades dreamy glance for every page in the socially hopeless playbook: He’s on the verge of either an epiphany or full-scale nervous breakdown, and he’s flailing wildly away at anyone and everyone – a soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend (Alisa Arnah), his best friends (Jeremy Hardy, Mike Pearce, Johnny White), his parents (Rebecca Pidgeon and Michael Irving) and eventually a published psychologist (Powell Jones) who makes extended house calls – in hopes of getting someone to understand. “Be,” for its part, travels on a similarly unstable path, regularly flirting with both light and dark comedy while also veering into darkly dramatic waters every once in a while. the result isn’t your traditional three-act storyline, and Arthur is such a bundle of nerves that he’s bound to annoy entire swaths of people in ways even Edward Cullen couldn’t, but “Be” is starkly honest, funny, and completely dead-on in its portrayal of a person who just needs a hand while waiting for all these weird new feelings to make sense.

Extras: Director commentary, behind-the-scenes feature, Pattinson interview, audition footage, photo gallery.

Andy Barker, P.I.: the Complete Series (NR, 2007, Shout Factory) the good news about the light-speed cancellation of “Andy Barker, P.I.,” which chronicles the adventures of a floundering, goody-two-shoes accountant (Andy Richter) who accidentally stumbles into a career as a suburban private detective? It gave Richter the free time he needed to reunite with Conan O’Brien (who co-created “Barker”) on “The Tonight Show.” the bad news? Take your pick. though it shares no narrative ties with Richter’s similarly under-appreciated “Andy Richter Controls the Universe,” “Barker’s” comedic philosophy should strike an immediate chord with anyone who loved that show. Similarly, while Richter doesn’t play himself the way he did in “Universe,” his lovably self-depreciating turn as Barker might as well make this a spiritual sequel. the supporting cast (Tony Hale, Harve Presnell, Marshall Manesh, Clea Lewis) keeps up, though their growth obviously suffers because of the show’s stunted run. Lack of time also hurts a few loose plot ends, which cap otherwise terrifically-written episodes with cliffhangers that never stop hanging. But that isn’t the fault of the show, which uses the little time it has to tell six pretty great stories. Watching them now is somewhat bittersweet because of how much potential “Barker” had in the tank, but that doesn’t mean Richter fans shouldn’t indulge anyway.

Contents: six episodes (cast/crew commentary on all six), plus a behind-the-scenes retrospective, a writers roundtable and bloopers.

Skills like this (NR, 2008, New Video NYC) Wannabe writer Max’s (Spencer Berger) most recent play was so awful, it caused his grandfather to pass out and end up in the hospital before it ended. his friends (Brian Phelan, Gabriel Tigerman) aren’t doing a whole lot better at their respective ambitions, and there appears to be no end in sight for all this lack of life direction. So when one of them off-handedly suggests that Max should rob a bank, Max steps outside, crosses the street, robs the nearest bank, sort of charms the teller (Kerry Knuppe as Lucy) handing him the cash, and discovers his real calling. How’s that for a productive 15 minutes? “Skills like This” can’t credibly get away with such a silly premise without being a little silly itself, and that pretty much is what it is. that means a number of things, from characters who sometimes are too cute for their own good to plot turns that could and would never pass muster in the real world. if authenticity is a problem, watching “This” will bring with it no shor tage of fits. But Max is a pretty likable character in spite of his new hobby, Lucy makes a great foil once she inevitably reenters the picture, and the whole dance comes off as a well-written, pleasantly light comedy about young idiots doing something even grizzled geniuses could never pull off.

Extras: Deleted scenes, cast/crew interviews, filmmaker bio.

The Open Road (PG-13, 2009, Anchor Bay)

Take an empty script, cover it in glue and dip it into a box of stock storytelling scraps to see what sticks, and you’ll probably come away with something like “The Open Road,” which amounts to a nicely-shot, well-acted, talent-laden collection of storylines you’ve almost certainly seen countless times already. Minor league baseball player Carlton Garrett’s (Justin Timberlake) mom (Mary Steenburgen) is undergoing potentially life-threatening surgery, but she won’t go under the knife until Carlton can convince his estranged baseball legend father (Jeff Bridges) to visit her. So he, along with his ex-girlfriend (Kate Mara), head on a road trip that will change all their lives and so on and on. You’ve heard this riddle before, and because “Road” takes no more chances with its storytelling than it does with its setup, you also know where it’s headed. the film does a nice job of getting there: the characters are sufficiently developed, the cast is certainly capable, and there’s a nice attention to detail with regard to setting and backdrop. But given how well-worn every narrative road in “Road” is, that’s probably the least it could do. a little note for those intrigued by the box: Despite Carlton’s vocation, “Road” isn’t a baseball movie. It also isn’t a comedy, despite the box’s puzzling claim – unless your idea of funny is broken families, men who hide their feelings and mile after mile of bottled-up regret coming unspooled.

Extras: Writer/director/Bridges commentary, behind-the-scenes feature.

The Limits of Control (R, 2009, Universal)

There’s something completely romantic about the way Isaach de Bankole’s unnamed character, who is sent to Spain and tasked with completing a dangerous but otherwise unspecified assignment, goes about his work, and it’s that romanticism on which “The Limits of Control” hopes to coast. the character says not a word beyond what is necessary, and multiple strings of dialogue-free scenes find him interacting blankly with his targets while working his way through his mission’s pieces with robotic precision. for a while, it’s slightly hypnotic, and “Limit” certainly is nice to look at when no one’s saying anything. But as the wait for answers grows and one character after another follows with opaque, often repetitive turns of phrase that reveal even less than our lead’s silence often does, the illusion succumbs completely. once the jig is up, all that remains is a pretty, artsy but absurdly pretentious two-hour lull that takes shallow roads and tries to pass itself off as something far more refined than it even remotely is. “Control” doubtlessly has all the ingredients it needs to fool some into giving it art-film cred it doesn’t earn, but anyone with an ounce of critical self-confidence will laugh it out of the DVD tray. Paz de la Huerta, Tilda Swinton, John hurt, Luis Tosar, Gael Garcia Bernal and Bill Murray all star.

Extras: Cast interviews, bonus landscape footage (which, as it happens, is the best part of the film anyway).

- “The Steve Coogan Collection” (NR, BBC): most collections devoted to a single actor are just excuses to sell a handful of said actor’s most obscure movies in a pretty box. But “The Steve Coogan Collection” exists on the complete opposite extreme: It includes the full series runs of “I’m Alan Partridge,” “Saxondale,” “Knowing Me, Knowing you,” “Coogan’s Run” and “Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible,” as well as “The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon” and the Paul and Pauline Calf specials. Given the brevity of British television series, it isn’t as immense as it sounds on paper, but it’s awfully hard to argue it isn’t comprehensive. Special features that appeared on previous DVD iterations of the series featured here are included as well.

- “Farscape: the Complete Series Megaset” (NR, 1999, A&E): the brilliant sci-fi classic belongs in the dictionary next to the definition for “cult favorite,” but if it’s still new to you, the time has never been better to dive in. Includes all 88 episodes, plus commentary, deleted scenes, three behind-the-scenes documentaries, a handful of smaller behind-the-scenes features, home video premiere footage for the long-lost behind-the-scenes special, series wrap footage, interviews, bloopers and promotional stuff.

- “Rome: the Complete Series” (NR, 2005, HBO): It didn’t last very long, but it was awfully good while it did. Includes all 22 episodes, plus commentary, nine behind-the-scenes features, two interactive historical guides and a photo gallery. As per usual with HBO series sets, the packaging is almost too classy for the humble DVD format.

- “UFC: the Ultimate 100 Greatest Fights” (NR, UFC/Anchor Bay): the Ultimate Fighting Championship has persevered and prospered over the course of 100 pay-per-view specials since 1993, and so this set, which features 100 hand-picked fights (tallying more than 26 hours of content) in their entirety, provides a most fitting tribute.

(Billy O’Keefe writes video game and DVD reviews for McClatchy-Tribune News Service.)