The best DVDs of 2010:

3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg

Before The Blue Angel, legendary melodrama director Josef von Sternberg perfected his craft in late-era silent films. This beautiful set restores those treasures – including 1927’s Underworld, possibly the first-ever gangster movie – and shows how von Sternberg was helped, but certainly did not require, Marlene Dietrich’s voice to tell a great story. (Criterion Collection)

Special Features: Visual essays, von Sternberg interview, 96-page booklet

The Goonies (25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition)

Pre-teen adventure doesn’t get any better than this Richard Donner-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced gem, and this year’s anniversary celebration packed in the nostalgia. From Cyndi Lauper’s Goonies-themed music video to a new board game, this set was candy for your inner child. (Warner Home Video)

Special Features: Cast commentary with director and all actors, making-of doc, music video, outtakes, board game, storyboards, souvenirs

The Larry Sanders Show: 
Complete Series

It’s worth nearly any amount to get all of these episodes in one set. What makes this a TV geek’s Christmas are the features in which devotees such as Ricky Gervais, Jon Stewart and Judd Apatow guide the viewer through the wacky world of the show within a show and the mayhem and brilliance behind those shows. (Shout! Factory)

Special Features: Deleted scenes, outtakes, Garry Shandling lecture, feature-length making-of doc, featurettes, 60-page book

The Complete Metropolis

Excalibur! The story behind the unearthing of lost footage and how film-history scholars completed director Fritz Lang’s muddled-with masterpiece is even more compelling than the film they brought back to life. This is Lang’s posthumous revelation. (Kino)

Special Features: 
50-minute restoration documentary

The Red Shoes

With the far inferior Black Swan eating up awards, what better time than now to revisit the definitive ballet film by directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger from 1948. Cleverly timed, this digital restoration overseen by Martin Scorsese includes a giddy commentary track from Scorsese, film historian Ian Christie and those involved in the film’s making. There’s also – get this – audio of Jeremy Irons reading excerpts from Powell and Pressburger’s Red Shoes novelization and Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale. Awesome! (Criterion Collection)

Special Features: Restoration demonstration, audio commentary, making-of doc, interviews, animated film and much more