It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Ricky Gervais. From the original version of The Office to his uniquely hilarious turn hosting the Golden Globes this year to his incredibly funny podcasts with writing partner Stephen Merchant and round-headed friend Karl Pilkington, Gervais has proven to be a comedic master. His directorial debut The Invention of Lying hit DVD and Blu-ray this week and I was eager to get my hands on a copy to check out the special features.

The film is set in a world where humans haven’t evolved the gene to lie, so everyone is brutally honest. Out of nowhere, middle-class loser Mark Bellison (Gervais) suddenly discovers that he has the ability to say things that aren’t true and comedy ensues as he uses his newfound power to get money and stick it to people who wronged him. Along the way, he inadvertently creates religion and becomes an icon before learning that the one thing he really wants (Jennifer Garner) can’t be attained through lying. The film is funny, though the unbelievably stellar cast (including Rob Lowe, Louis C.K., Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Jeffrey Tambour and even appearances by Jason Bateman and Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a bit underutilized. It could have been the funniest movie of the year, but instead it was just another good comedy.

Thankfully, the special features on the DVD and Blu-ray make up for any of the film’s shortcomings. Most entertaining is “Meet Karl Pilkington”, a featurette originally produced for BBC’s The Culture Show, which introduces film audiences to the man Gervais has labeled a “little bald-headed Manc twat.” The featurette also gives a making-of look at a big deleted scene featuring Pilkington as a caveman and explaining the evolution of lying. In addition to this gem, the disc also contains outtakes, deleted scenes, a making-of featurette and a series of video podcasts from Gervais and co-writer Matthew Robinson.

If you were waiting to check out the film, now is the time since you’ll get a slew of amazing features along with it. I’d recommend watching the film first, but feel free to dive right in to the even-funnier extras.

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If one of your favorite holiday traditions involves throwing rocks at trains then It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas might be just the Christmas special for you. The special, exclusively on DVD and Blu-ray, brings the same TV-MA humor that Sunny fans love to the holiday season as Mac, Charlie, Dennis, Sweet Dee and Frank relive their favorite Christmas traditions and try to understand the Christmas spirit.

The special gives us a glimpse into Christmas past for the Reynolds family as everyone’s favorite Grinch, Frank (Danny DeVito), gives fake-out gifts to Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson) just to mess with them. They vow to teach him a lesson of their own by using his former business partner to pull a Christmas Carol inspired series of stunts to teach him what a jerk of a father he’s been to them. At the same time, Mac (Rob McElhenney) tries to repent for his family’s past gift-thieving ways and Charlie (Charlie Day) struggles to come to terms with his mom’s rather unique Christmas tradition. Of course, because it’s Sunny we also get a very nude DeVito exploding out of a couch, Charlie biting Santa in the throat and an animated sequence featuring an elf with no pants.

Sadly, some of show’s regulars, like The Waitress (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) Artemis (Artemis Pebdani) or Rickety Cricket (David Hornsby) are absent from the special and you can’t help but think how much funnier it would have been with a dose of those characters. Still, the animated sequence done in the classic tradition of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer is sure to please along with the sequences featuring a young Mac and Charlie.

For serious Sunny fans, the special is a must-have with making-of footage and a bizarre sing along that feels like a glimpse into the mind of a serial killer. Those new to the series would be better off picking up seasons 1 & 2 on DVD before diving into the Holidays with The Gang.

There’s no doubt that J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek was one of the biggest movies of the summer. The epic prequel hits stores Tuesday on DVD and Blu-ray, loaded with special features and extras that are sure to please diehard Trekkers and new fans alike.

The two-disc set includes the film and a commentary track with Abrams, executive producer Bryan Burk, producer Damon Lindelof and writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci as well as a digital copy of the film and a host of mini-features about the making of the film and the challenges of taking on a series with such a diehard fanbase.

The feature about the cast is particularly fun since all the actors expertly handled the daunting task of updating Star Trek’s beloved characters. Finding out how they arrived at Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock is interesting and hearing from other cast members, like Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and Eric Bana about how they prepared to take on these roles provides another level for the film itself. Newcomers will enjoy seeing the cast of the film and hardcore fans will enjoy hearing comments from Leonard Nimoy and others associated with the original series.

Aside from the cast, one of the biggest factors that made the film so spectacular was special effects. When you see how many old-school tricks Abrams and Co. pulled, you’re amazed to learn that not every big budget blockbuster must depend entirely on a green screen. Many of the aliens were actors in makeup as opposed to completely digital creations and miniatures or camera shakes added layers to the film that gave everything a more authentic feel.

With such an epic film based on such a beloved series it would be easy for the DVD to become bloated with clips about every last detail of production, but thankfully, the DVD seems to contain just the right amount of special features. The first disc holds everything your average fan could want, while the second disc will appease more hardcore fans. So, weather you’re just a cadet or you’ve passed the Kobayashi Maru you’ll enjoy the Star Trek DVD and Blu-ray.

It would be easy to dismiss Sex Drive as your typical teen sex comedy. It’s got gross-out gags, tons of sex jokes and enough nudity to score an R rating. But there’s one very important thing that the film has going for it, something that makes it worth watching regardless of how many of these American-Pie-type comedies you’ve sat through, and that’s Clark Duke of ClarkandMichael.com.

The story revolves around Ian (Josh Zuckerman) a teenage boy who goes on a road trip with his friends, Felicia (Amanda Crew) and Lance (Duke), to meet and have sex with a hot girl he’s been chatting with on the internet. Yes, it sounds like the plot of every other teen movie that’s ever been made, and in many ways, it is.

What makes the film at least worth adding to your Netflix queue is the special brand of funny that Duke brings to everything. His character is a smooth playboy who gets any girl and is always the life of the party. While Duke isn’t exactly Brad Pitt, you still believe him in this role because his sense of humor is so keen that it wouldn’t be hard for him to attract female attention. Like his character in the ClarkandMichael episodes, he has a certain swagger and overconfidence that makes him a comedy standout. He steals every scene with little distinct things, like calling everyone “sweetheart” or keeping the same mellow tone while throwing in brilliantly funny ad-libs and one-liners. His style is insanely effective and hilarious and he could easily become the Danny McBride of his generation.

Sex Drive also features a great performance from Seth Green as a sarcastic Amish guy who the teens encounter when their car breaks down. His jokes about the Amish lifestyle are witty and fresh and his character also serves to foreshadow a giant Rumspringa party scene with a surprise appearance from Fall Out Boy.

The theatrical version of the film is definitely worth checking out on DVD if only for the surprise that such a standard format for teen comedy can contain some really funny and original jokes. Unless you’re a die-hard fan, it’s safe to skip the unrated version because, as the amusing intro from writers Sean Anders and John Morris emphasizes, it’s just a longer version of the film with more nudity and fart sounds added in.

I admit, I was rather late to NBC’s hit superpower series Heroes. Despite being somewhat intrigued by the “save the cheerleader, save the world” promos that were everywhere a few years back, I hadn’t seen a single episode until this summer when I started watching online through Netflix. Since then, I’ve not only watched all the episodes on Netflix, but even caved and bought the first three seasons on DVD.

The series chronicles the complicated and interconnected lives of a group of regular people who find that they have special abilities. The characters portrayed by series stars Hayden Panettiere, Milo Ventimiglia, Masi Oka, Jack Coleman, Zachary Quinto, and several others, are both heroes and villains, and more than a few straddle the line between the two. With more than 50 episodes under its belt, Heroes has created a comic-book-style mythology that perfectly lends itself to marathon DVD viewing. Seeing three or four episodes in a row really makes you notice complexities in the writing and spectacular performances from the cast.

The third season DVD hits shelves Tuesday, and includes all 25 episodes from both the “Villains” and “Fugitives” volumes of the saga as well as a slew of special features and deleted scenes that are sure to please hardcore fans as well as lightweights.

Featurettes like “The Superpowers of Heroes” or “The Prop Box” provide cool insights into the making of the series from big effects like a plane crash to small, less noticeable stuff like the nametag on a waitress uniform. It’s easy to appreciate the hard work of each department involved in the production when you’re able to take an in-depth look at some of these details that might be barely noticeable on screen.

Also included is “The Writer’s Forum”, a cool little tidbit on the fifth disc in which series creator and executive producer Tim Kring sits down with co-executive producer/writer Adam Armus and supervising producer/writer Ron Eli Coleite to discuss some of the complexities of the series. Together, they talk about themes and character arcs as well as some of the challenges of writing “Villains” like transitioning some of the bad guys into good guys and vice versa. Parts about Sylar’s quest to find his father are particularly interesting.

I’ve always been a fan of DVD commentary tracks and all the Heroes DVD sets have contained some great ones. Season three continues that trend with different members of the cast and crew on each episode providing both insightful and amusing comments about the show. The tracks with star Sendhil Ramamurthy are hilarious and provide you with a fun perspective on some of the more dramatic moments.

If you haven’t seen Heroes, start from the beginning and check it out before you grab season three on DVD. If you’re already a fan, then it’s an essential because of the great features and commentaries.