Howard shows he’s wild about westerns

The Missing

Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett

Columbia TriStar, $29

Director Ron Howard followed up his Oscar-winning “A Beautiful Mind” with this violent and brooding western that despite generally strong reviews didn’t catch on at the box office last fall. Blanchett plays a frontier woman -- a respected healer -- who turns to her estranged father (Jones) for help when her daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by Indians.

Howard did sturdy audio commentaries for “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” and “Beautiful Mind,” but surprisingly didn’t do one for this two-disc DVD set. But he’s front and center in all of the special features, including five featurettes on the making of the film and in the “Ron Howard On” extra where he talks about westerns, filmmaking and working with John Wayne in “The Shootist.” The most enjoyable extras are the crude but clever little Super 8 westerns Howard made as a teenager, which feature his father, Rance, and brother, Clint.

*

H.R. Pufnstuf --

The Complete Series

Jack Wild, Billie Hayes

Rhino, $40

Baby busters of a certain age seem to love this 1969-70 children’s show created by veteran puppeteers Sid & Marty Krofft. Anyone else tends to shake his head in disbelief at the show’s cult following. The three-disc set features all 17 episodes from the series that starred the elfin Jack Wild of “Oliver!” fame as a boy named Jimmy, who, with his talking flute Freddie, lands in the magical world of Living Island. But just like Dorothy in Oz, Jimmy finds himself battling an evil witch named Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes).

The DVD includes audio commentary from the quiet Sid and the gregarious Marty Krofft on the first episode, an interview with the siblings, an interview with Wild -- time hasn’t been kind to the actor -- plus chats with Hayes and TV historian Hal Erickson. Rounding out the extras is the 1957 TV pilot for the Krofft puppet series “Irving.”

*

Pieces of April

Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson

MGM, $26

Patricia Clarkson is nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress for her multilayered turn as a wife and mother dying of breast cancer who reluctantly agrees to have Thanksgiving dinner at the apartment of her bohemian daughter (Katie Holmes). Peter Hedges wrote and directed this lovely little comedy drama, shot on digital video. The DVD includes an above average “making of” featurette and thoughtful commentary from the soft-spoken Hedges, whose own mother died of breast cancer.

Matchstick Men

Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell

Warner Home Video, $28

After making such action-packed epics as “Gladiator” and “Black Hawk Down,” director Ridley Scott turned to this uneven but enjoyable character comedy about two con men: one (Nicolas Cage) who has an obsessive-compulsive disorder and the other (Sam Rockwell) who is slick, ambitious and greedy. Into the picture enters a teenage girl (Alison Lohman) who claims to be Cage’s daughter from a brief marriage.

Scott has embraced the DVD format and the digital editions of his previous films have included superior behind-the-scenes documentaries and astute commentary. “Matchstick Men” doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the added features. “Tricks of the Trade” is a lengthy, revelatory look at Scott’s filmmaking process, and the director also offers his customary insightful commentary. This time around, screenwriters Nicholas and Ted Griffin join him.

*

Also this week

Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega reprise their roles as young secret agents in “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” (Miramax/Dimension: $29.99); “Camp” is about a summer camp for young performers (MGM: $29.98); Deborah Harry stars in the life-affirming “My Life Without Me” (Columbia Tristar: $24.96); indiscretions of the privileged are exposed in “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” (ThinkFilm: $24.98).

Top video rentals

1. “Radio”

2. “Second Hand Lions”

3. “Intolerable Cruelty”

4. “Under the Tuscan Sun”

5. “Open Range”

What’s coming

Tuesday: “School of Rock,” “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” “Good Boy!,” “Cold Creek Manor,” “Duplex,” “Dog Park” and “Searching for Debra Winger”