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Guide to Home Video Releases: June 2001 Release Calendar For the latest 'B' films, special interest, and direct-to-video releases, check out OnVideo's VidNews pages. DVD Releases Movies are rated on a scale of one to five, with five denoting a classic. For more information on how we rate, check out our Rentability Index. Back to Calendar Index. June 5 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon "Crouching Tiger" won the Oscar and Golden Globe as best foreign language film and garnered a host of honors for director Ang Lee (a Golden Globe for best director, among other nods from critics' associations). And no wonder: Lee's delicate merging of glorious pastoral 19th century Chinese scenes with romance and high-flying martials arts is just gorgeous. The story sings also: a legendary warrior (Chow Yun-Fat) entrusts his sword to his female warrior partner so that she can deliver it as a gift to a revered Bejiing elder. But along the way the sword is stolen by a young woman who turns out to be quite an aggressive warrior herself, setting into motion astoundingly choreographed battles. The spectacular face-offs were created by martial arts specialist Yuen Wo Ping, who choreographed the stunts in "The Matrix." Director: Ang Lee. Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Gang Zip Ii, Chang Chen, Lung Sihung, Cheng Pei Pei. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 120 min., Romantic Epic, Box office gross: $100.277 million, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount June 12 Cast Away Tour de force performance for Tom Hanks as a FedEx systems engineer -- whose life depends on time and speed -- who finds himself stranded on a deserted island when the plane he's in crashes into the sea. Now, of course, there is no modern time -- just the primordial passing of day into night and the constant struggle for survival. Hanks becomes a changed man as he learns how to survive -- and as he learns the difference between survival and living. It's a modern day Robinson Crusoe for Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis, who milk it all for what it's worth -- a giant smash at the box office. Oh yeah -- did we mention he gets rescued after 4 years? Director: Robert Zemeckis. Stars: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Chris Noh, Nick Searcy, Lari White. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 142 min., Adventure, Box office gross: $230.000 million, Fox/DreamWorks, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount O Brother, Where Art Thou? Another irony-laden comedy from the Coen brothers (director Joel and writer Ethan), taking its spiritual roots from Homer's "The Odyssey." Three convicts (George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson) escape from a Mississippi chain gang in the 1930s and head out in search of buried treasure, along the way encountering a wide assortment of colorful characters, including a black musician who has sold his soul to the devil, a one-eyed bible salesman (John Goodman), a campaigning governor (Charles Durning) and George Babyface Nelson. They even manage to record a hit record and break up a wild Klan meeting. Black comedy at its best. Director: Joel Coen. Stars: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, Chris Thomas King, Charles Durning, Michael Badalucco. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 106 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $30.823 million, Buena Vista, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Hard Core Logo Pseudo-rockumentary follows punk rock band Hard Core Logo on a whirlwind reunion tour through Western Canada, with all the tensions and pitfalls of life on the road bubbling to the surface with comically wild results. Director: Bruce McDonald. Stars: Hugh Dillon, Callum Keith Rennie, John Pyper-Ferguson, Bernie Coulson, Julian Richings. 1996, CC, MPAA rating: R, 92 min., Comedy, Miramax, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Guardian Just before the Gulf War, an archaeological team unearths an ancient sarcophagus that unleashes a Sumerian demon that destroys an entire army and then disappears. Twelve years later one of the Marines who survived the dig is now an LAPD cop investigating a series of crimes linked to a drug called Chaos. It turns out that Chaos is connected to the desert debacle and only the Marine/Cop can save the world. Director: John Terlesky and Gary Tunnicliff. Stars: James Remar, Ice T, Mario Van Peebles. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 89 min., Thriller, Studio Home Entertainment, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Requiem for Murder A homicide rookie investigating a murder link to a classical radio station announcer falls for the sexy DJ. Director: Douglas Jackson. Stars: Molly Ringwald, Christopher Heyerdahl, Chris Mulkey. 1999, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 94 min., Crime thriller, Avalanche Home Entertainment, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Wedding Party, The On his wedding day to a gorgeous, rich, loving woman, a young man spends too much time reliving his intoxicating relationship with his first love. Direct-to-video. Stars: Cate Blanchett, Richard Roxburgh, Frances O'Connor. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 91 min., Romantic Comedy, First Look Home Entertainment, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Attraction Ever since their break-up, Matthew has not left Liz alone -- she's become the object of his obsession. But when he finally meets another lover, she turns the tables, and Matthew finds out how far Liz will go to remain the object of his attraction. Director: Jonathan Krauss. Stars: Samantha Mathis, Gretchen Mol, Tom Everett Scott. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 95 min., Drama, Trimark, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount All Revved Up An unlikely group of vigilantes decide to put the brakes on a merciless garage owner involved in a stolen car scam. When the wrong woman (Lili Taylor) is ripped off by the same guy twice, she assembles a group of friends to avenge the wrongdoing. Originally titled "O.K. Garage." Director: Brandon Cole. Stars: John Turturro, Lili Taylor, Will Patton. 1998, CC, MPAA rating: R, 85 min., Action, MGM, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount June 19 State and Main Talky comedy about a Hollywood film production descending upon -- and taking over -- a small New England town. A crazy quilt of characters -- from both the cast and crew and the town -- interact in wild and wacky ways. The main problem starts when the writer of the film -- "The Old Mill" -- discovers that the town's old mill burned down 40 years ago, and has to write the central location out of the script. From there we get the bookstore owner who lusts after the writer, the male lead's predilection for underage girls, the busty female lead who refuses to bear herself, and more. Director: David Mamet. Stars: Alec Baldwin, Charles Durning, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker, David Paymer, Julia Stiles. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 102 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $6.339 million, New Line, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Save the Last Dance Coming-of-age drama about a 17-year-old woman (Julia Stiles) whose dreams of becoming a ballet dancer are shattered when her mother is killed in a car accident. Faced with the cold reality of life on the wrong side of the tracks, she meets a young man on his way to becoming a doctor and they hit it off -- except that she's white and he's black, causing all kinds of problems both at school and the hip-hop club they frequent. But -- as in "Flashdance" and "Dirty Dancing," those cool moves save the day. Director: Thomas Carter. Stars: Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Terry Kinney, Fredro Starr, Bianca Lawson, Kerry Washington. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 113 min., Drama, Box office gross: $88.034 million, Paramount, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Pledge, The A Nevada homicide cop (Jack Nicholson) on the day before his retirement makes a pledge to an anguished mother to find the rapist-killer of her young daughter -- and becomes obsessed with tracking the perpetrator. Although the police quickly close the case, the ex-cop finds new leads in the case pointing to a series of similar crimes and, on his own, buys a house and gas station at a key intersection in the county, hoping that the killer will travel his way. The driven cop enters a dubious relationship with a widow and her young daughter, but his obsession -- even though he may be right -- eventually destroys the people closest to him -- and turns his life into an emotional shambles. Director: Sean Penn. Stars: Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright Penn, Pauline Roberts, Sam Shepard, Benicio Del Torro, Aaron Eckhart, Helen Mirren, Mickey Rourke. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: R, 124 min., Thriller, Box office gross: $17.607 million, Warner, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Proof of Life Exciting drama about a "Kidnap and Ransom" specialist -- played by Russell Crowe -- and his attempts to win freedom for an American engineer (David Morse) who's been kidnapped by South American guerrillas. Complicating matters is the fact that K&R insurance on the engineer -- taken out by his company -- has lapsed and there's no large funds to pay the captors. Add in the man's estranged wife, played by Meg Ryan, who may be falling for Crowe, wild kidnappers, rough Andean terrain, and the overriding question of what is the worth of human life, and you have an exciting drama propelled along by Taylor Hackford's workmanlike direction. Director: Taylor Hackford. Stars: Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, David Morse, Pamela Reed, David Caruso, Anthony Heald, Stanley Anderson. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 133 min., Drama, Box office gross: $33.470 million, Warner, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount High Noon Telefilm remake of the classic Western, with Tom Skerrit taking the Gary Cooper role and Susanna Thompson filling in Grace Kelly's pantaloons. Stars: Tom Skerrit, Susanna Thompson, Reed Diamond, Maria Conchita Alonso, Michael Madsen. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 93 min., Western, Artisan, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Sweet Jane Thriller about a teenage patient who escapes from the hospital to follow a young woman he sees in the corridor, relentlessly pursuing her despite her rebuffs. Director: Joe Gayton. Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levit, Samantha Mathis. 1998, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 83 min., Action, Vanguard Cinema, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Rowing Through Based on the true story of Tiff Wood, a top international sculler who sacrifices everything -- a career, love, marriage -- to train to capture the Gold Medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. But his world falls apart when President Carter announces the U.S. will boycott the games. Director: Masato Harada. Stars: Colin Ferguson, Leslie Hope, Peter Murnik. 1996, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 115 min., Drama, Vanguard Cinema, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Pianist, The Two young sisters in Toronto get involved with a world-acclaimed concert pianist who moves into their neighborhood. As the girls grow up, their relationship with him becomes more complicated, emotionally charged and erotically explosive. Director: Claude Cagnon. Stars: Maury Chaykin, Macha Grenon, Eiji Okuda. 1991, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 90 min., Drama, Vanguard Cinema, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Disappearing Acts Based on a novel by Terry McMillan, this HBO telefilm follows the bittersweet story of a sometimes-employed construction worker (Wesley Snipes) and an aspiring singer-songwriter (Sanaa Latham) who's about to get her big break. Confronted with myriad financial, social and job challenges, the couple is forced to test the strength of their relationship and their love. Director: Gina Prince. Stars: Wesley Snipes, Sanaa Latham. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 116 min., Romantic drama, HBO, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Blackout, The Steamy behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood follows the descent of a mega movie star after one horrible night in Miami Beach when a shocking secret causes him to have a blackout and enter a self-destructive narcotic frenzy. Director: Abel Ferrara. Stars: Matthew Modine, Dennis Hopper, Beatrice Dalle, Claudia Schiffer. 1997, CC, MPAA rating: R, 100 min., Drama, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Meltdown A bodyguard is forced to confront his past when a gang of terrorists take over a luxury hotel and he must protect himself and hostages with only his bare hands.. Stars: Jet Li. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 101 min., Thriller, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Panic A man facing a midlife crisis decides he wants out of the family business. The only problem with that is that the family business is murder-for-hire and his father won't let him quit. Compounding matters is the sexually charged 23-year-old woman he's fallen in love with. Director: Henry Bromell. Stars: William H. Macy, Neve Campbell, Tracey Ullman, John Ritter, Donald Sutherland. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 90 min., Thriller, Artisan, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Cash Crop Teens come to the rescue of their parents in this actioner set in a small town called Oxford, located smack dab in the middle of nowhere. The local farmers have taken to growing marijuana to pay mounting debts, and all goes well until the DEA arrives, infiltrating the town and turning up the heat on the illegal crop. Only the kids can save the day. Music by Lyle Lovett and Wilco. Director: Stuart Burkin. Stars: James Van De Beek, Wil Horneff, Jeffrey DeMunn, Mary McCormack. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: R, 96 min., Action, Artisan, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Spanish Judges A ruthless con man talks his way into a scam involving two professional thieves (Vincent D'Onofrio and Valeria Golino) who specialize in stolen antiques. When the deal goes bad, the con man starts pitting the lovers against each other and it becomes clear that what he's really after are a pair of antique pistols -- the Spanish Judges -- that are worth millions and hidden somewhere in their apartment. Who will walk out alive? Director: Cz Scott. Stars: Vincent D'Onofrio, Matthew Lillard, Valeria Golino. 1999, CC, MPAA rating: R, 96 min., Thriller, Studio Home Entertainment, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Stalker A picture-perfect family man's life -- with a solid career, a loving wife, an adorable daughter, and a beautiful new home -- is shattered when a marital indiscretion comes back to haunt him when he is seated on a jury panel for the murder of the woman he briefly knew. Director: Marc S. Grenier. Stars: C. Thomas Howell, Jay Underwood. 1998, CC, MPAA rating: R, 93 min., Suspense, Avalanche Home Entertainment, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Cypress Edge A ruthless Louisiana Senator's daughter is found dead, kicking in an FBI investigation into murder and corruption. Director: Serge Rodnunsky. Stars: Rod Steiger, Brad Dourif, Damian Chapa, Ashley Laurence, Charles Napier. 1999, CC, MPAA rating: R, 90 min., Thriller, MTI Home Video, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount June 26 Unbreakable A successful follow-up (but not sequel) to "The Sixth Sense" by writer-director M. Night Shyamalan. Shyamalan again uses the canvas of the big screen to explore the meaning of life by way of characters cast into unusual roles. Here Bruce Willis plays a quite ordinary man who survives a train derailment -- in which all the passengers are killed -- without a scratch. After some investigation it turns out that Willis -- who has never been sick a day in his life -- may be a modern day "superhero" -- an "unbreakable" -- put here to protect us. Fascinating. Director: M. Night Shyamalan. Stars: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright Penn, Spencer Treat Clark, Eamonn Walker. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 107 min., Thriller, Box office gross: $93.552 million, Buena Vista, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount You Can Count on Me Lost in the flurry of end-of-the-year big budget thrillers, this delightful small drama deserves a big second chance on video. After years of drifting away from his family, footloose and fancy-free Terry (Mark Ruffalo) returns to his small home town to visit his sister Sammy (Laura Linney) and 8-year-old nephew. Sammy works as a loan officer, and is a responsible mother and churchgoer. Terry's arrival shakes things up: he stays longer than he had expected, taking a paternal interest in Sammy's son, freeing Sammy from the chores of motherhood and allowing her to express her wild side. She indulges in a bad affair with her married boss, smokes dope, and breaks up with her boyfriend. As the roles reverse, the estranged family members learn something more about themselves -- and life. Director: Kenneth Lonergan. Stars: Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Rory Culkin, Matthew Broderick, Jon Tenney. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 111 min., Drama, Box office gross: $8.409 million, Paramount, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Dude, Where's My Car? Brain-dead comedy about a pair of slackers who wake up one morning so wasted that they can't remember a thing, including where their car is. But that's only the beginning of their problems: they apparently trashed their girlfriend's house, are being chased by aliens -- and there's a refrigerator full of mysterious pudding cups. And what about those cross-gendered exotic dancers? Director: Danny Leiner. Stars: Ashton Kutcher, Seann William Scott, Jennifer Garner, Marla Sokoloff, Kristy Swanson, Hal Sparks. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 83 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $46.664 million, Fox, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Traffik The original British version of the miniseries "Traffik," with additional footage not seen on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. From the fields of Pakistan through the docks of Hamburg to the halls of London's power elite, this epic drama crosses continents and cultures to portray the dark and dangerous world of international drug smuggling. Intersecting stories of a British minister with a drug-addicted daughter, the wife of a German businessman whose husband is arrested for drug trafficking, and a Pakistani farmer struggling to live off his land. Inspiration for the academy award winning Steven Soderbergh-directed "Traffic." Stars: Bill Paterson, Lindsay Duncan, Julia Ormond. 1989, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 325 min., Drama, Acorn Media, $49.95 VHS SRP. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount Deep Core An oil drilling rig boring into the world's largest oil reserve 100 miles underneath the Mid-Oceanic Ridge triggers an explosion that sets off a series of natural disasters around the world, including erupting volcanoes, tsunami and giant sinkholes. Only one American scientist can curtail the geological nightmare that threatens to destroy humankind. Director: Rodney McDonald. Stars: Craig Sheffer, James Russo, Terry Farrell. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 90 min., Thriller, Paramount, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Claim, The Based on Thomas Hardy's novel "The Mayor of Casterbridge," transposed to Gold Rush California in the 1860s, this luscious-looking film follows the adventures of a wealthy man whose past -- in the form of a mysterious woman and her daughter -- come back to haunt him. Director: Michael Winterbottom. Stars: Wes Bentley, Milla Jovovich, Nastassja Kinski, Peter Mullan, Sarah Polley. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 121 min., Drama, Box office gross: $0.005 million, MGM, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Skipped Parts A 14-year-old boy becomes obsessed with finding out about the one topic his favorite authors skip over -- sex! The harder he tries to find out about women, the more trouble he gets into. With the aid of his fantasy girl (Drew Barrymore), a beautiful classmate (Mischa Barton) and his rebellious mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) he finds out what those skipped parts are all about. Director: Tamara Davis. Stars: Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brad Renfro, Mischa Barton, Bug Hall. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 99 min., Comedy, Trimark, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discount All DVDs are screened on a reference system consisting of a Rotel RDV-1080 DVD Audio/Video Player, a Rotel RSX-972 Surround Sound Receiver, and Phase Technology 1.1 (front), 33.1 (center), and 50 (rear) speakers and Power 10 subwoofer. | Contents/Site Map | Home | Resources | VidNews | KidVid | Sell-Through | Reviews | Links | E-mail: mail@cyberpod.com © 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 CyberPod. All rights reserved CyberPod and OnVideo are trademarks of CyberPod Productions. June 4, 2001