Under the Radar DVDs: 2012’s oddest of the odd

Each week sees literally scores of new releases on DVD. Big-bucks advertising and studio clout propel sales of the most high-profile DVDs. But the oddball releases that fly under the radar are often the most fun. Those bottom-of-the-list releases have been spotlighted during 2012 in the “Under-the-Radar DVD Release of the Week.”

This week, here are 10 of the oddest of the odd DVD releases from the past year:

“Beware the Gonzo” – Hunter S. Thompson meets “Revenge of the Nerds” in this smart but snarky teen-angst comedy.

“The Sidelong Glances of a Pigeon Kicker” – A provocatively titled movie that pretends to be a long-lost hipster gem from 1970, this is really just an overblown hodgepodge of cultural clichés in service of on snotty, self-indulgent central character.

“Anatomy of a Bigfoot Hoax” – Our unending fascination with the possibility of something big, hairy and mysterious lurking in the dark woods led to a hokey swindle in 2008 that became national news and spawned this clunky, self-serving documentary.

“Groucho Marx in the Mikado” – It’s not generally known that Groucho Marx, that king of comic chaos, had an absolute passion for the precise, Victorian-era comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. In fact, a self-proclaimed highlight of Groucho’s long career came when he played the role of Ko-Ko in “The Mikado,” a 1960 Bell Telephone Hour TV production.