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The 6th Day: An evil biotech corporation that illegally clones humans accidentally Xeroxes helicopter pilot Arnold Schwarzenegger, then sets out to kill the original. Those who don’t like one Arnie per film, let alone a twosome, may still find themselves willfully engaged this slick and clever sci-fi thriller. PG-13; 124 minutes (Columbia TriStar) 15 Minutes: Media-darling detective Robert DeNiro and do-gooder Fire Marshall Edward Burns trail a pair of murderous thugs bent on claiming their obligatory quarter-hour of fame. Director John Herzfeld lends fresh paint to the otherwise done-to-death portrait of America as a violence-obsessed reality show. Kelsey Grammar co-stars as a Jerry Springer clone. R; 121 minutes (New Line) 61*: This double-headed biopic tracks the 1961 race between New York Yankees Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris as they vie to top Babe Ruth’s season record of 60 homeruns. Cramming his chronicle with period details (check out those buzz cuts) and plenty of diamond footage, director Billy Crystal knocks this one out of the park. Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane star. NR; 128 minutes (HBO) 102 Dalmatians: After her release from prison (see 101), Cruella DeVil (Glenn Close) buddies up with eccentric fashion designer Gerard Depardieu in a plan to dupe a flagging animal shelter into feeding their spotted-fur fetish. More imaginative than the last installment, with Glenn giving extra bite to the demonic doggie diva. G; 100 minutes (Disney) 3000 Miles to Graceland: When their hair-brained Vegas heist goes awry, a posse of Elvis-impersonating casino bandits (led by Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell) turn on each other—with disastrous results. Shoot-‘em-up mayhem drowns out the cleverly plotted storyline, though Costner has never been so deliciously evil. Courtney Cox co-stars as Russell’s scheming moll. R; 125 minutes (Warner) About Adam: Irish coffee house singer-waitress Kate Hudson falls for the perfect man (Stuart Townsend), then embarks on a torrid affair with him. The only snag: he's also shagging her two sisters. As usual, Hudson brims with her signature blend of sex and effervescence, while Townsend toes the line between charming rake and smarmy cad. A delight. R; 97 minutes (Miramax) Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided: Abe needed Prozac? Mary was an obsessive shopper? This and more unfolds in David Grubin’s compelling six-hour documentary on the first couple of the American Civil War. The three-disk set packs in segments not previously aired, notably a batch of first-person narratives by abolitionists and soldiers. David McCullough narrates. NR; $59.98 (PBS) The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle: The famed moose-and-squirrel cartoon duo does battle with live-action bad guys Boris and Natasha (Jason Alexander and Rene Russo) over a plot to dominate the world. Smart and silly—just like the original Sixties series—it co-stars a wickedly self-lampooning Robert DeNiro as Fearless Leader. Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal appear in cameos. PG; 92 minutes (Universal) Africa: Happy Kwanzaa: Exploring the continent through the eyes of Africans themselves, this nine-hour travelogue tours both the remote and renown, from a salon in Nairobi to the sands of the Sahara to a Congo rain forest. Spellbinding. DVD (National Geographic) Akira: This two-disk Special Edition of Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 animated epic about a gang-ridden, post-WWIII neo-Tokyo boasts a crisp digital restoration (price tag: $1 million) and new English dub, along with three making-of documentaries, character designs, storyboards and a glossary of Akira terms. It also comes in a cool metal case. R (Pioneer) All the Pretty Horses: Matt Damon and Henry Thomas ride tall in director Billy Bob Thornton’s picturesque horse opera about two Texas cowboys on the lam in Mexico. Critics derided Thornton for cranking up the scenery at the expense of a decent script. Not so—from spur to saddle, it’s a beaut. Penelope Cruz is Damon’s wealthy south-of-the-border honey. PG-13; 112 minutes (Columbia TriStar) Almost Famous: This semi-autobiographical coming-of-ager from writer-director Cameron Crowe follows a boy-wonder journalist who hits the road with a rock band, gains insights, loses his virginity and lands the cover of Rolling Stone. A letter- perfect ode to the Seventies, it co-stars Oscar nominees Frances McDormand and Kate Hudson. Brilliant. R; 122 minutes (DreamWorks) Almost Famous/Untitled: The Bootleg Cut: The new DVD edition of Cameron Crowe’s (self-)portrait of a whiz-kid Rolling Stone journalist includes an extended version of the film, deleted scenes, new audio commentary, rehearsal footage (featuring the fictional band Stillwater), the complete Oscar-winning script and Crowe’s personal Top Ten album picks, circa 1973. Rock on. R (DreamWorks) Along Came a Spider: A whacko rogue with visions of villainous grandeur kidnaps a Senator’s daughter in hopes of luring ace detective-turned-author Morgan Freeman out of retirement. Once again, Freeman’s dexterous handiwork juices up an otherwise sputtering script, while Monica Potter (Patch Adams) lends nice quirk to her role as a Special Agent with a secret. R; 103 minutes (Paramount) America’s Sweethearts: Catherine Zeta-Jones and John Cusack ignite as a Liz- and-Dick-type Hollywood couple, whose recent breakup threatens to play havoc with the p.r. for their new flick. Julia Roberts and Billy Crystal crack wise as the duo's desperate handlers, frantically trying to get the prickly pair to play nice. A riot. PG-13; 103 minutes (Columbia TriStar) American Pie Ultimate Edition: Just in time for the big-screen sequel, here comes a deluxe, two-disk homage to the 1999 pastry-molesting classic, complete with director commentary, deleted scenes, script-to-scene capability and “Movie Cash” (redeemable for a free ticket to Part 2). Jason Biggs stars as the horny teen who finds true love in Mom’s pantry. R (Universal) American Tragedy: It’s billed as “the motion picture O.J. Simpson doesn’t want you to see”—and for once he may be right. This backstage reenactment of the trial of the century is just like the real thing: overacted, overcrowded and way too long. Ron Silver and Ving Rhames chew scenery as Bob Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran. PG-13; 170 minutes (Trimark) An Affair of Love: When a self-assured single (French screen star Nathalie Baye) places a personal ad seeking a recreational (but anonymous) sex partner, the respondent (Sergi Lopez) clearly fits the bill. But then love walks in. Think Last Tango with less kink and more feelings. A stand-out at the 1999 Venice Film Fest, it's also great date vid. (In French with subtitles.) R; 78 minutes (New Line) An Everlasting Piece: Tin Men goes to Belfast in Barry Levinson’s came-and- went comedy about a pair of door-to-door toupee salesman in Eighties Ireland, hawking their hairy wares to Catholics and Protestants alike. Screenwriter-star Barry McEvoy’s script lends humanity and humor to the tale of a war-torn nation clinging to its roots. Billy Connolly plays a psycho. R; 103 minutes (DreamWorks) Angel Eyes: Jennifer Lopez is a street-tough, fist-swinging, potty-mouthed policewoman who falls for the mystery man (Jim Caviezel) who saved her life, only to discover that their paths may have crossed before. Naturally, J Lo looks great— whether in sweats or snug dress-blues—but too bad no one busted her for overacting. Luis Mandoki directed. R; 110 minutes (Warner) The Animal: Bumbling police clerk Rob Schneider awakes from a car crash to learn that a mad doc has patched him back together using spare animal organs. Predictable crotch-sniffing, goat-mating sight gags ensue, but Schneider’s beastly capering prevails in this goofy zoo story. Adorable Survivor also-ran Colleen Haskell co-stars. PG-13; 83 minutes (Columbia TriStar) Antitrust: Whip-smart software designer Ryan Phillippe (Cruel Intentions) is wooed to the Pacific Northwest by computer company potentate Tim Robbins, only to learn that the new job’s marketing strategy may include murder. Director Peter Howitt randomly surfs between the clever and predictable, though Robbins’ spin as a Bill Gatesean villain is eerily spot-on. PG-13; 108 minutes (MGM) Apocalypse Now Redux: At long last, Francis Ford Coppola gets the cut he wanted, adding 49 minutes to his 1979 chronicle of an Army Captain (Martin Sheen) sent to Vietnam to assassinate a Commander gone mad (Marlon Brando). New footage includes a dreamy plantation sequence, and a jungle encounter between Sheen’s crew and a trio of touring Playboy Playmates. Spectacular. R; 203 minutes (Paramount) Arbuckle & Keaton: This formidable collection of ten silent shorts from Joseph Schenck’s Comique/Paramount studios, circa 1917 to 1920, stars then-superstar Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle—soon to be blacklisted by scandal—and newcomer Buster Keaton, fresh from the vaudeville circuit. All of the films have been color- tinted and digitally mastered, with new scores and sound effects, and restored intertitles. NR; two disks (Kino) The Art of Buster Keaton: Get a big stocking. Eleven features and 19 shorts are crammed into this daunting 10-volume celebration of the rubber-faced silent screen star. Also included: a bonus disk of rare Buster gems, such as the 1937 Educational Films quickie, Jail Bait. (Kino) Baby Boy: Writer-director John Singleton’s unapologetic portrait of urban black youth stars Tyrese Gibson as a jobless serial dad and gang-dabbling mama’s boy from South Central, who’s sharp enough to grasp his predicament, but reluctant to change his ways. Potent stuff, with nice supporting turns by Ving Rhames and Snoop Dogg. R; 130 minutes (Columbia TriStar) Bait: Sneaky federal agents implant an electronic tracking device in the jaw of former petty thief Jamie Foxx in hopes that he’ll lead them to $42 million worth of stolen gold bouillon. But will he? Foxx recently lent needed focus to Oliver Stone’s engaging but chaotic gridiron epic, Any Given Sunday. Ditto his performance here. Antoine Fuqua (The Replacement Killers) directed. R; 119 minutes (Warner) Battlefield Earth: Ishtar, anyone? Roundly despised by the critics (Time called it “a planetary disaster”) and starring John Travolta beneath great gobs of alien makeup, this sci-fi mess about vicious ETs fighting to inhabit our home orb was based on a novel by Scientology guru L. Ron Hubbard. To be sure, it’s predictable, dumb and downright sloppy—so why rent? Because it’s that bad. PG-13; 117 minutes (Warner) Beautiful: In Sally Fields’ directorial debut, Minnie Driver plays an ugly duckling- turned-beauty pageant regular will do anything to wear the crown, no matter how sleazy. A decent enough premise; too bad it’s lost in a jumble of cardboard characters and far-fetched plot contrivances. Sorry, Sal—next time keep it simpler. Joey Lauren Adams co-stars. PG-13; 112 minutes (Columbia TriStar) Bedazzled: in this untethered remake of the 1967 comedy of the same name (starring Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Raquel welch), computer technician and big-time loser Brendan Fraser selling his pathetic soul to the she-Devil (a barely dressed, perpetually horny Elizabeth Hurley) in return for a guarantee of true love. Hellishly scripted and practically aflame in done-to-death gags, it’s miraculously redeemed by the impressive comic caperings of Fraser, Hurley and co-star Frances O’Connor (Fanny Price). Harold Ramis directs. PG-13; 108 minutes (Fox) Before Night Falls: Best Actor Oscar-nominee Javier Bardeem electrifies in this elegiac portrait of Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas, whose dissident prose and openly gay lifestyle led to his victimization by the Castro regime, exile to America and ultimate suicide. Directed by Julian Schnabel (Basquiat), the movie won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Venice Film Fest. R; 125 minutes (New Line) Ben-Hur: Step aside, Gladiator. In this 1959 Oscar-hog (it won a record eleven, including Best Picture), Charlton Heston is a Jewish nobleman who becomes a slave to the Romans, seeks vengeance and drives a mean chariot. Included: a making-of documentary, along with recently uncovered screen tests and the rarely heard Overture and Entr’acte music. G; $24.98 (Warner) Benji (1974): Move over Cats and Dogs. Twenty-seven years after romping onto the big screen, the icon of American poochdom returns in a digitally remastered edition of the original, in which the endearingly mangy mutt saves two abducted children. Your kids will love the story; you’ll get a serious déjà-vu. Sequels to follow. G; 87 minutes (Ventura/Mulberry Square) Best in Show: Mockumentarist Christopher Guest goes to the dogs in an achingly funny send-up of coiffed canine competitions and the poodle-primpers who frequent them. The usual suspects—Parker Posey, Eugene Levy and Fred Willard (in a pee-in-your-pants turn as a color commentator)—lend just the right bite to this peerless pooch parody. A howl. PG-13; 90 minutes (Castle Rock) Billy Elliot: In last year’s big sleeper, the 11-year-old son of a Brit coal miner blows off his weekly boxing lessons for the daintier doings of ballet class, where he discovers his true calling. A sweet reflection on classism and the true meaning of masculinity, it stars Jamie Bell, whose Oscar snub (he wasn't even nominated!) remains mind-boggling. R; 110 minutes (Universal) Blow: Johnny Depp rants and snorts through this true tale of George Jung, the reckless cocaine trafficker who opened the U.S. floodgates to the 1970s Columbian drug trade. Despite Depp’s spot-on hyperkinetics, the storyline arcs like a bad coke high—spiking intermittently, then plummeting to an unsatisfying crash. Penelope Cruz and Paul Reubens co-star. R; 123 minutes (New Line) The Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2: The bad news: it ain’t the original. The good? It doesn’t suck. Five Blair Witch enthusiasts camp out in the Black Hills, awakening to find their cameras smashed and souls tinkered with. The mystery unravels with the occasional jolt, but the real joy is the film’s ability to laugh at its own cultishness. Give it a shot. R; 91 minutes (Artisan) Bounce: After an overbooked jet crashes, almost-passenger Ben Affleck seeks out the widow of the man to whom he’d given his seat (Gwyneth Paltrow), then promptly falls in love with her. As romance-dramas go, it’s by-the-numbers. But Ben and Gwyneth—former real-life paramours—provide enough skin-tingling chemistry to keep the story airborne. Natasha Henstridge co-stars. PG-13; 106 minutes (Miramax) Bridget Jones’s Diary: In this bouncy adaptation of Helen Fielding’s bestseller, a puffy Renée Zellweger shines as a wise-cracking, chain-smoking, booze-swilling lonely heart looking for love any place she can find it. RZ’s clipped Brit accent is as spot-on as her comic delivery, while Hugh Grant oozes smarm as Mr. Wrong. Sharon Maguire directed. R; 116 minutes (Miramax) Bring It On: Kirsten Dunst is the perky captain of a sultry cheerleading team that’s scheduled to compete with a local hip-hop squad, whose routines they’ve secretly stolen. Can a movie about duplicity and pom-poms keep you in your La-Z-Boy? In this case, you bet—especially when the girls start busting a move. Jessica Bendinger provided the sassy screenplay. PG-13; 99 minutes (Universal) The Brothers: Sex & the City meets the African-American yuppie in this frank and bawdy tale of four basketball buddies searching for love beyond the bedroom. Morris Chestnut (The Best Man) leads the able ensemble as a commitment-phobic pediatrician whose shrink implores him to make the big leap. Gabrielle Union co- stars. R; 106 minutes (Columbia TriStar) Cast Away: Bearded, bedraggled and rail-thin, Tom Hanks is a clock-watching Fed Ex exec stranded on a Pacific isle after his delivery plane goes down. Bookended by ho-hum back-home sequences (featuring Helen Hunt as the suffering fiancée), the long middle stretch is a compelling study of solitude, survival and Hanks’ peerless craftsmanship. A volleyball co-stars. PG; 143 minutes (Fox) Cats & Dogs: The fur flies as an army of brilliantly computer-manipulated mutts and kitties tangle in a battle-of-the-species thriller, complete with high-tech gadgetry, clever plot-twists and hilarious claw-versus-paw sight gags. The DVD edition includes storyboard-to-scene comparisons, as well as a featurette on the special effects, aptly titled “Teaching a Dog New Tricks.” PG; 87 minutes (Warner) The Caveman’s Valentine: Draped in matted dreads, Samuel L. Jackson is a Juilliard-trained pianist-turned-crazed city park denizen in search of the villain who deposited a frozen corpse outside his cave. As usual, Jackson’s high-voltage virtuosity saves an otherwise ho-hum effort. Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou) directs. R; 106 minutes (Universal) CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years: 1976 anniversary tribute to Lucy. Digitally remastered; with John Wayne, Jack Benny, Bob Hope and Carol Burnett. NR (Image) Cecil B. Demented: Merry maverick of moviemaking John Waters provides grist from his own mill in this story of a rogue film auteur from Baltimore (sound familiar?) who, with his band of guerilla cineophiles, kidnaps a mainstream movie star (Melanie Griffith) and forces her to headline in his next masterpiece. No trenchant thesis on art here—just an odd story, odder cast and Melanie looking lost. R; 87 minutes (Artisan) Charlie’s Angels: The Powerpuff Girls in tight pants. Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore resurrect the legendary babe detectives with (respectively) smarts, class and machismo as they search for a missing mogul. Limp action and a ho-hum script make for an empty-headed outing—but talk about your eye-candy. PG-13; 98 minutes (Columbia TriStar) Cheaters: High school teacher Jeff Daniels enlists seven top students to face off against rival brainiacs in the local academic competition, even though he knows it’s a lost cause. That’s when someone suggests a little hanky-panky to level the playing field. Based on a true story, it’s refreshingly honest—especially for a movie about dishonesty. Jena Malone co-stars. R; 106 minutes (HBO) Chocolat: Academy Award-nominee Juliette Binoche is sumptuous in this bittersweet confection about a nomadic single mother who upends a quiet French village with magical concoctions from her chocolate shop. Director Lasse Hallstrom's valentine to passion is rich and intoxicating—with a divine aftertaste. Johnny Depp and Judi Dench co-star. PG-13; 105 minutes (Miramax) Cinderella: The long-awaited DVD edition of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s tuneful take on the rag-to-riches fairy tale (which aired on CBS-TV in 1965 and starred then up-and-comer Lesley Ann Warren) includes a retrospective featurette on the family favorite as well as a sing-along version of the showstopping ballad, “My Own Little Corner.” G (Columbia TriStar) Cirque Du Soliel: Two volumes: Quidan and Dralion. 54 artists from 8 different countries, including 37 Chinese acrobats. Making-of featurette, multi-angle performances (extras on “Dralion”). NR (Columbia TriStar) Citizen Kane: How do you improve upon a film already considered a masterwork? The two-disk 60th anniversary edition of Orson Welles’s thinly-veiled biopic of publisher William Randolph Hearst includes full-length commentary by Roger Ebert and Peter Bogdanovich, newsreel footage, memorabilia, and the captivating two- hour expose, The Battle Over Citizen Kane. An instant collectible. PG (Warner) Cleopatra (1964): In this three-disk gem, the original uncut version of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’ deliciously bloated Queen of the Nile biopic is accompanied by a trove of extras, including a making-of documentary that redishes the dirt on Elizabeth Taylor—from her then jaw-dropping $1,000,000 salary to her fiery off-screen tryst with co-star and future serial husband Richard Burton. A keeper for collectors. NR (Fox) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977): This collector’s edition of Steven Spielberg’s eye-popping paean to things that go whoosh in the night is accompanied by a stellar 101-minute making-of featurette that reveals the groundbreaking techno-wizardry behind all that movie magic. Also included: interviews with the cast and crew and eleven deleted scenes. Out of this world. PG (Columbia TriStar) Company!: This ground-breaking 1970 documentary by D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room) plays fly-on-the-wall inside the New York sound studios during the recording sessions for the original cast album of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical, Company. Tense and thrilling, the program also includes a photo gallery of production shots and a previously unreleased version of “Have I Got a Girl For You.” For fans and neophytes alike. NR; $24.95 (Docurama) The Contender: Oscar-nominee Joan Allen is a candidate for mid-term Veep replacement whose Senate confirmation is hobbled by questionable photos from her past. Though preachy and speechy, Allen still dazzles as the principled politico who knows how to hang tough. Fellow nominee Jeff Bridges swaggers as the Chief Exec. R; 127 minutes (DreamWorks) Coyote Ugly: Cocktail meets Footloose meets Showgirls in this slickly shot, terminally formulaic story of a Jersey girl (Piper Perabo) who moves to Manhattan in search of a songwriting career but ends up slinging shots with a pack of tight- jeaned, butt-shaking barmaids in a neighborhood hot spot. Perabo shines and the soundtrack pulses—but the story’s emptier than a beer keg the morning after. PG- 13; 100 minutes (Buena Vista) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: As a story, Ang Lee’s critically acclaimed Oscar-hog doesn’t go much beyond fortune-cookie cliché (goodness triumphs over evil—so what else is new?). But the spellbinding martial arts sequences—awash in acrobatic sword play and aerodynamic chop-socky—make this one an instant collectible. Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh star. PG-13; 120 minutes (Columbia TriStar) Dancer in the Dark: In her film debut, rock songstress Björk is an awkward single mom and factory worker doomed by fading eyesight and a circumstantial murder rap. Despite the peculiar pacing and herky-jerky camerawork, the film triumphs, thanks to its musical-fantasy sequences and immeasurably gifted star. R; 137 minutes (Fine Line) Dancing at the Blue Iguana: Lap dance, anyone? Daryl Hannah, Sandra Oh and Jennifer Tilly bump, grind and grouse in Michael Radford’s down-and-dirty slice-of- lifer about a pack of Los Angeles strippers trying to get by. Flesh, flash and a red- hot Hannah turn this B-movie spin on the G-string world into A-1 entertainment. R; 123 minutes (Trimark) The Dick Van Dyke Show: It was arguably the best sitcom of its era (sorry, Lucy lovers). Now D.V.D. meets DVD with a special compilation of six episodes, including: “Never Name a Duck” (the Petries mourn the passing of Richie’s pet quacker) and “Bank Book #6565696” (Rob discovers Laura’s secret nest egg). Volume two, anybody? NR (BFS) Die Hard: Subtitled the “Five Star Collection,” the impressively packaged two-disk replay of Bruce Willis’ 1988 skyscraper hair-raiser includes script-to-scene capability, deleted lines and outtakes, extended action sequences, a gag reel, and a special cutting-room feature that allows viewers to re-edit their favorite scenes. As if they could do better. R (Fox) Dinosaur: Adorable Cretaceous-era Iguanodon joins a pack of migrating dinos after a meteor shower pulverizes their paradise. Cutesy story notwithstanding, the eye-popping computer animation—from sweeping, live-action backdrops to the dripping fangs of a cranky T-Rex—are nothing short of miraculous. Be forewarned: it’s a bit too scary for wee ones. D.B. Sweeny and Julianna Margulies lend their voices. PG; 82 minutes (Disney) The Dish: Based on a true story, this Sundance audience favorite documents the travails and triumphs of a small Australian tracking station, assigned by NASA to broadcast TV images of the historic 1969 Apollo 11 moon walk. Hilarious scripting, inspired casting and the perfect golden-oldies score make for an out-of-this-world joy-ride. Sam Neill stars. PG-13; 100 minutes (Warner) Doctor Zhivago: The long-awaited two-disk edition of David Lean’s 1965 Russian Revolution love saga, based on Boris Pasternak’s epic novel, boasts six hours of additional content, including full-length commentary by stars Omar Sharif and Rod Steiger, nearly a dozen making-of feaurettes, and a music-only audio track devoted to Maurice Jarre’s exquisite score. PG-13 (Warner) Dogma (1999): Kevin Smith’s warped Biblical allegory about two banished angels (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck) plotting their return to heaven—via New Jersey—gets the two-disk treatment here, with 100 minutes of deleted footage, complete story boards for three scenes, funny cast and crew outtakes, web links and audio commentary from just about everyone. Linda Fiorentino and Chris Rock co-star. R (Columbia TriStar) Don’t Let Me Die on a Sunday: When a beautiful young woman (Elodie Bouchez) overdoses at a Paris rave club, she’s carted off to the morgue, where a perversely smitten attendant has sex with her. Then she wakes up and becomes his girlfriend. Provocative and original, it’s a compelling look at the darker side of sexual fulfillment. In French, with subtitles. NR; 86 minutes (First Run) Down to Earth: In this wanting remake of Warren Beatty’s Heaven Can Wait, Chris Rock is a standup comic-turned-hit-and-run cadaver whose restless soul takes refuge in the body of an elderly white tycoon. Despite Rock’s twinkling eye and trademark sassiness, the gag-choked screenplay keeps him off Cloud Nine. Chazz Palminterri co-stars. PG-13; 87 minutes (Paramount) Dr. Dolittle 2: In this no-surprises sequel, animal kingdom chatmeister Eddie Murphy saves an endangered Pacific forest from loggers, abetted by a mobster raccoon and a sexually repressed grizzly (the latter of whom answers the age-old question: Does a bear go number-two in the woods?). Lisa Kudrow provides the voice of the bear’s honey. PG; 87 minutes (Fox) Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas: For die-hard Grinchophiles, the DVD edition of Ron Howard’s wickedly skewed spin on Seuss comes packaged in a pop-up book that features three colorful pull-tab-here scenes from the flick. Jim Carrey stars—on disk and on cardboard. (Universal) Dr. Strangelove (1964): 13 Days meets Fail Safe meets The Three Stooges in this slick re-issue of Stanley Kubrick’s razor-sharp satire of Cold War calamity, starring the incomparable Peter Sellers (in three roles), George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden. Digitally mastered, this special edition includes animated menus, a making-of documentary, a featurette on Kubrick’s career and split-screen interviews with Sellers and Scott. A keeper. PG (Columbia TriStar) Dr. T & the Women: In Robert Altman’s riotous romp, Richard Gere is the charming and sensitive Dallas GYN-OB whose ritzy clientele, whacked-out wife (Farrah Fawcett) and golf pro lover (Helen Hunt) keep him running on overtime. Chaotic, hilarious and so Texan it practically twangs, it’s—hands down—Altman’s best in years. Shelly Long, Laura Dern and Liv Tyler co-star. R; 132 minutes (Artisan) Dracula 2000: In this new-millennium spin on the age-old story, Hollywood’s favorite blood-sucker—here an incarnation of Judas Iscariot—raises hell in New Orleans. Top-heavy in pyrotechnics and second-rate flying combat sequences (Crouching Tiger it ain’t), the film was “presented”—not directed—by Wes Craven. Whatever that means. R; 99 minutes (Dimension) Driven: Critics may have bent the fender on this rubber-burning racecar actioner starring Sylvester Stallone and Burt Reynolds, but that didn’t stop producers from going the extra mile on the DVD. Included: two behind-the-scenes featurettes—one on the making of the film, the other on the visual effects—plus 50 minutes of action that never made it out of the pit. Renny Harlin directs. PG-13; $24.98 (Warner) Dude, Where’s My Car?: This terse yet penetrating expose on the plight of American youth explores the sociological nuances of….wait, wrong film. How about: Two stoned morons wake up after a bender to discover they can’t find their wheels. Subsequent scenes involve killer ostriches, alien women and lots of pudding. It made $50 million at the box office. PG-13; 83 minutes (Fox) Duets: Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis headline this stylish but uneven road picture about six dreamers searching for fulfillment on the karaoke circuit. The choppy script and improbable plot turns make for an off-key outing, occasionally lifted by the soulful singing of Lewis and (surprise!) Paltrow. Andre Braugher plays the ex-con with the golden pipes. R; 112 minutes (Hollywood Pictures) Earth Wind and Fire: Shining Stars: Thirty years after exploding onto the disco- funk landscape, the seminal dance group (and 2000 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee) gets the full docu-bio treatment here, with tons of concert footage, interviews with band members and, on the DVD edition, a photo gallery and montage of album art. Boogie down. NR; 90 minutes (Eagle Vision) Elena and Her Men: Ingrid Bergman positively sizzles in Jean Renoir’s 1958 confection (restored here to its original length) about a destitute Polish princess in 1900’s Paris, betrothed to a wealthy boot maker but romantically entangled with two others—a dashing count (Mel Ferrer) and a French general (Jean Marais). Oddly, the whole affair wraps up in a brothel. In French, with subtitles. NR; 98 minutes (Kino) Elmo’s Musical Adventure: The Story of Peter and the Wolf: Features the Boston Pops, a “Meet the Muppets” section and games. NR (Sony Wonder/Sesame Workshop) Elvis: That’s the Way it Is—Special Edition: Culled from 50,000 feet of newly found footage, this remastered, remixed version of a 1970 documentary (in which cameramen tracked Presley during a star-studded Vegas concert) features tons of new scenes, along with ten songs and backstage glimpses of the King doing his thing. Also included: a bonus featurette that explains the film’s painstaking restoration process. PG; 109 minutes (Warner) Empire of the Sun: Arguably Steven Spielberg’s most underrated, overlooked film, this 1987 tale of a well-heeled British boy (Christian Bale) interned by the Japanese in WWII China enjoys top-notch DVD treatment, with an enhanced digital transfer, remixed Dolby sound and the compelling making-of documentary, A China Odyssey. John Malkovich and Miranda Richardson co-star. PG (Warner) The Emperor's New Groove: Disney's latest animated toe-tapper finds a snooty tyrant (voiced by David Spade) learning to mend his evil ways after being transformed into a beast of burden. The infectious score includes the irresistibly swinging "Walk the Llama Llama" and Sting's Oscar-nominated ditty, "My Funny Friend and Me." John Goodman and Eartha Kitt co-star. G; 78 minutes (Disney) Enemy at the Gates: WWII: Jude Law stars as real-life Russian sharpshooter Vassili Zaitsev, whose rise from obscure Urals wolf-hunter to the hero of Stalingrad is machinated by a Soviet propagandist (Joseph Feinnes). Though saddled with noisy battles and a convenient love triangle, it’s still gripping. Ed Harris plays Zaitsev’s German sniper nemesis. R; 131 minutes (Paramount) The Exorcist: The subtitle, "The Version You’ve Never Seen,” isn’t just marketing hyperbole. This reissue of the 1974 girl-meets-devil classic—and possibly the most horrifying film ever made—boasts 11 minutes of footage excised from the original, including a rejiggered ending and Linda Blair’s deeply unsettling inverted “crab walk” down the stairs. Also: new feature-length commentary from director William Friedkin. View with caution. R (MGM) The Eyes of Tammy Faye: This cheeky documentary digs beneath the gooey layers of mascara to reveal the helplessly wacky, infectiously optimistic wife of philandering televangelist Jim Bakker, as she recounts her roller coaster career from queen of the TV ministry to weeping national joke. A Sundance favorite, it features great clips, biting interviews and narration by RuPaul Charles. PG-13; 79 minutes (Universal) (See Bruce Kluger's 2001 Us Weekly video/DVD reviews, F-M, N-S, T-Z) |