DVD Releases

If you’re considering brightening this suddenly Patriot-less stretch of the football season by watching the bitingly dark comedy “Big Fan’’ (2009), be warned: If the film isn’t strictly laughing at you, it certainly isn’t laughing with you all that often. First-time director Robert Siegel (writer of “The Wrestler’’) sharply works a touch of pathos and a whole lot of “King of Comedy’’ absurdity into his portrait of Paul Aufiero (fearless Patton Oswalt, “The King of Queens’’), a 35-year-old parking garage attendant whose world is ruled by the New York Giants. Paul still lives at home with his mother, but he really lives for his weekly moment in the spotlight as sports-radio caller Paul from Staten Island, delivering painfully scripted blather about the Giants’ greatness. When a chance encounter with his favorite player turns brutally ugly, Paul is tormented by the very public turmoil he’s created for the team, a personal crisis the film lays out sympathetically. Another nicely illustrated point about the way professional sports doesn’t love the fans back: For all their devotion, Paul and his buddy (Kevin Corrigan) can’t afford tickets, and watch games on TV in the stadium lot. Extras: An entertaining arthouse Q&A with Oswalt and Siegel is supplemented by DVD-ROM interview material - fittingly, from NPR, the anti-sports-radio. “I didn’t judge [Paul] at all, because the script didn’t judge him,’’ Oswalt insists. Still, when it comes to recognizing the joy and feeling of community that pro sports can inspire, that same script can also feel condescendingly dismissive. (Vivendi, $26.99; available now)

COMEDY

THE INVENTION OF LYING (2009)

In his locally shot directing debut, Ricky Gervais lives in a world where people always tell the truth, spouting blunt thoughts like open hydrants. When Gervais suddenly realizes he can just, you know, make stuff up, it’s clear what it means for his rom-com pursuit of unattainable Jennifer Garner. The unexpected turns come when he starts spinning comforting tales of the afterlife, too. As he did in “Extras,’’ Gervais demonstrates a surprising willingness to check his self-important model-of-mediocrity persona and pursue emotional sincerity. Extras: on Blu-ray, a fun Stone Age “prequel’’ short (or glorified deleted scene? you make the call). (Warner, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99)

COMEDY

IN THE LOOP (2009)

The Brits put a timely spin on war-and-politics satire in the “Wag the Dog’’ mold with a comedy about governmental middle management on both sides of the pond stumbling toward Middle East conflict. The movie holds interest not only for its crackling dialogue and bemused British view of DC but also its eclectic cast: Scottish actor Peter Capaldi as a foul-mouthed Parliamentary handler, James Gandolfini as a Soprano-esque general, and grown-up Anna Chlumsky (“My Girl’’) as a beleaguered aide. Don’t miss Gandolfini and diplomat Mimi Kennedy (“Dharma & Greg’’) crunching deployment numbers on a Hello Kitty laptop. Extras: too-short featurette. (IFC Films, $19.98; Blu-ray, $29.98; available now)

DRAMA

STREAMERS (1983)

It’s a DVD debut for Robert Altman’s little-seen adaptation of David Rabe’s Tony-winning Broadway play (and 2007 Huntington Theatre revival pick) about Army recruits bound for Vietnam, and their wrangling over race, class, and sexual orientation. Despite the film’s solid critical reviews, it’s a highly imperfect, glaringly static translation of now-dated stage drama - a far cry, certainly, from Altman’s “M*A*S*H.’’ Still, we get a look at Matthew Modine playing recruit pre-“Full Metal Jacket,’’ and then-newcomer David Alan Grier in a very different sort of role. Extras: retrospective with Modine, castmate George Dzundza, and, from the Broadway version, Bruce Davison. (Shout! Factory, $24.99)

GAMER (2009)

Gerard Butler is the star combatant in a brutal online game in which convicts serve as brain-jacked avatars for players at home. Extras: cast and crew commentary; production featurettes. (Lionsgate, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.99)

DEPARTURES (2008)

Last year’s Oscar winner for best foreign language film features Masahiro Motoki as a newly unemployed cellist who transitions into an undertaker’s job and learns some transformative life lessons along the way. Extras: interview with director Yojiro Takita. (E1 Entertainment, $26.98; available now)

THE BURNING PLAIN (2009)

Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger are women caught in their own separate, yet linked, jumbles of sex and unhappiness in the directing debut of fractured-narrative specialist Guillermo Arriaga, writer of “21 Grams’’ and “Babel.’’ Extras: production featurettes. (Magnolia, $26.98; Blu-ray, $29.98; available now)

WHITEOUT (2009)

Too-glam Kate Beckinsale plays a dumpy federal marshal investigating murders at an Antarctic research station in this weak adaptation of a page-turner comic book. Somehow, Beckinsale and frostbite amputation shots don’t mix. Extras: interviews with the comic’s creators, who deserved better. (Warner, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99)

THIRTYSOMETHING: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (1988-89)

What’s the tougher challenge for Elliot: winning back Nancy, or matching wits with his and Michael’s new workplace foil, Miles Drentell (David Clennon)? Extras: cast interviews. (Shout! Factory, $59.97)

MAGNOLIA (1999)

Now on Blu-ray: the Paul Thomas Anderson film we’d choose over companion reissue “Boogie Nights’’ and “There Will Be Blood’’ as the director’s must-see, partly for Tom Cruise’s cartoonishly self-aware ensemble gig. Extras: getting to hear that Aimee Mann soundtrack in hi-def. (Warner, $28.99)

Titles are in stores Tuesday unless specified.