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Guide to Home Video Releases: September 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. September 4 Memento A complex mystery of murder and revenge told in a non-linear fashion. Leonard (Guy Pearce) is an insurance investigator whose memory has been damaged following a head injury while intervening in his wife's murder. Unable to remember anything that happened more than 15 minutes prior, Leonard has taken to prolifically taking notes, shooting Polaroid photos with cryptic messages written on the back, and tattooing important clues to his wife's death on his torso, arms and legs. It's a tough road to hoe for a detective seeking revenge, especially since it keeps getting harder for him to determine whether some of the people coming to his aid (including Carrie-Anne Moss as a seemingly friendly bartender and Joe Pantoliano, who's either a helpful friend, an undercover cop, a two-bit hustler or the murderer) are messing with his already messed up mind. The plot unravels backwards (the film's opening is actually the last few seconds of the story) but the flashbacks and alternating time sequences are structured in such a way that observant viewers won't get lost. An incisive exploration of memory and reality. Director: Christopher Nolan. Stars: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Stephen Tobolowsky. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 113 min., Thriller, Box office gross: $17.271 million, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Wit Based on the 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Margaret Edson, this HBO telefilm follows one woman's journey as she faces her own mortality with dignity and humor. Emma Thompson plays disciplined English professor Vivian Bearing -- a renowned expert in the metaphysical poetry of John Donne -- who is prickly, precise, and intensely rational in her teaching, and whose penetrating intelligence and biting wit alienates her students. But her rational approach to life is suddenly overturned when she is diagnosed with cancer, and her 17th century poetic world collides with 21st century experimental medicine. Director: Mike Nichols. Stars: Emma Thompson, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Atkins, Audra McDonald, Jonathan M. Woodward, Harold Pinter. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 99 min., Drama, HBO Home Video, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. When Good Ghouls Go Bad New made-for-video/TV kids horror film based on a book by the prolific R.L. Stine ("Goosebumps"). Twelve-year-old Danny moves to a new town with his Uncle Fred, only to find out that the town is haunted by a curse that prevents it from celebrating Halloween. All hell breaks loose when a series of pranks and a fatal accident leading to Uncle Fred's death unleash the curse of the town legend, Curtis Danko. As Danko's prankster ghouls arise from the ground to terrorize the city, Danny teams up with uncle Fred (back from the grave for a visit!) to prove that Halloween is not cursed. Airs on Fox Family Channel in October. Stars: Christopher Lloyd, Joe Pichler. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 60 min., Kids, Fox, $14.98 VHS SRP. DVD: Day & Date. Surrender Dorothy Psychosexual, cross-dressing drama that offers a decidedly controversial twist in its treatment of same-sex relationships. The story focuses on two young men: 26-year-old Trevor, an angry, sexually confused busboy tormented by an intense fear of women, and Lahn, a heroin addict who needs a place to crash after stealing drugs from his former roommate. But what begins as a simple house-sharing relationship quickly turns into gender-bending manipulation as Trevor lures Lahn -- with the promise of drugs -- into becoming Dorothy, Trevor's demented concept of his ideal girlfriend. Director: Kevin Di Novis. Stars: Kevin Di Novis. 1998, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 87 min., Drama, First Run Features, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Forgive and Forget Scottish gay drama about David, a handsome, macho construction worker who is unable to admit to himself or anyone else that he is gay. That includes his good-looking, straight best friend Theo, whom he secretly loves. But when Theo moves in with a new girlfriend, David can no longer hide his real feelings, and he schemes to break up the pair, setting in motion David's rather interesting coming out -- on a British TV talk show called Forgive and Forget. Director: Aisling Walsh. Stars: Steve John Shepherd, John Simon, Laura Fraser. 1999, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 90 min., Drama, First Run Features, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. September 11 Tailor of Panama, The Set in the seamy and steamy streets of Panama City after the Noriega years, this delightfully written, directed and acted spy thriller (based on the John Le Carre best seller), has Pierce Brosnan playing a discredited British spy sent to Panama to redeem himself. He enlists -- or rather blackmails -- a cockney ex-con (Geoffrey Rush) who has reinvented himself as a popular tailor to the rich and powerful to be his source for inside information. It doesn't hurt that the tailor is married to a beautiful American woman (Jamie Lee Curtis) who works for the director of the Panama Canal company. No one trusts anyone in this dark and dreary world, and when the tailor stars creating stories for the spy -- involving a fake radical political group -- a chain of events is set off that threatens to destroy everyone's life. There are no gadgets or spy gimmicks here -- just deception, misinformation, distrust and disloyalty. Director: John Boorman. Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine McCormack. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: R, 109 min., Thriller, Box office gross: $13.256 million, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Just Visiting American remake of one of France's highest grossing comedies of all time ("Le Visiteurs") is unique in that it comes across the ocean with the original's two stars (Jean Reno and Christian Clavier), director (Jean-Marie Gaubert) and writer (Clavier). In the original, a 12th century knight and his servant are transported by an inept wizard to 20th century France, setting up all sorts of gags as the pair acclimate themselves to the modern day while searching for a way back to their past. In this version, the duo are zapped to Chicago, where they encounter the torture chamber of TV, the El, traffic and a host of modern conveniences. The premise is great, the acting stalwart, and the slapstick -- especially the real bathroom humor since the pair think that toilets are for bathing -- outrageously funny. Director: Jean-Marie Gaubert. Stars: Jean Reno, Christina Applegate, Christian Clavier, Matthew Ross, Tara Reid, Malcolm McDowell. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 89 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $4.777 million, Buena Vista, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Blow True story of George Jung, the first American to import cocaine to the United States on a large scale. Johnny Depp plays George, a shallow young man who really doesn't know what he wants from life. Wafting through the cool, hip California landscape in the 1970s, George falls into a great but illegal way to make money: importing marijuana from Mexico in the customs-free luggage of his stewardess girlfriend and selling it to his buddies on the East Coast. Soon he becomes rich and complacent and busted (several times) -- his own mother, at one point, rats on him for a parole violation. Out of jail at the end of the decade, he links up with the Medellin drug cartel and becomes the largest importer of cocaine -- 85% of the market -- into America. But again George falls on hard times -- the Colombians and the Feds are both after him. Facing middle age, George's life of greed has left him dreary in a world decidedly lacking the fun he sought all his life. George could do only three things well in his life -- sell dope, make money, and go to prison. In the end, sitting out a 30-year sentence, he's alone and lonely, long-deserted by his wife and daughter. Depressing. Depp, as usual, turns in a bravura performance and the film is worth watching just for him. Director: Ted Demme. Stars: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Jordi Molina, Franka Potente, Rachel Griffiths, Ray Liotta, Paul Reubens, Ethan Suplee. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: R, 123 min., Drama, Box office gross: $52.566 million, New Line, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. 61* It's the summer of 1961, and New York Yankees Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle are chasing one of baseball's holy grails: Babe Ruth's hallowed 1927 single-season mark of 60 homeruns. In the spotlight of the press and the fans, Mantle and Maris face mounting pressure that threatens to turn what should have been a season of triumph into a nightmare. Director: Billy Crystal. Stars: Barry Pepper, Thomas Jane, Richard Masur, Bruce McGill, Chris Bauer, Christopher McDonald, Donald Moffat, Jennifer Crystal Foley, Renee Taylor, Bob Gunton, Anthony Michael Hall. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 129 min., Biodrama, HBO Home Video, $14.95 VHS SRP. DVD: Day & Date. Lord of the Rings, The Big screen animated version of J.R.R. Tolkien's tale of Middle Earth and the Fellowship of the Ring. Timed to take advantage of the live-action version to be released December 19. Director: Ralph Bakshi. Voices of Christopher Guard, William Squire, Michael Scholes, John Hurt. 1978, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 135 min., Animated, Warner, $14.95 VHS SRP. DVD: Day & Date. Hobbit, The TV animated version of J.R.R. Tolkien's tale of the denizens of Middle Earth. Timed to take advantage of the live-action version to be released December 19. Directors: Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. Voices of John Huston, Otto Preminger, Cyril Richard, Paul Frees, Brother Theodore, Orson Bean, Richard Boone, Han Conried. 1978, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 77 min., Animated, Warner, $14.95 VHS SRP. DVD: Day & Date. Return of the King, The TV animated version of J.R.R. Tolkien's tale of Middle Earth and the Fellowship of the Ring. Timed to take advantage of the live-action version to be released December 19. Directors: Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. Voices of William Conrad, Orson Bean, Paul Frees, John Huston, Casey Kasem, Roddy McDowall, Brother Theodore, Glenn Yarbrough. 1980, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 98 min., Animated, Warner, $14.95 VHS SRP. DVD: Day & Date. Nine Tailors, The Ian Carmichael stars as Dorothy L. Sayers' aristocratic detective in the most requested title in the popular mystery series that has aired on the BBC's Masterpiece Theatre. Lord Peter Wimsey and his faithful butler and able assistant Bunter find themselves caught up in a case involving a mutilated corpse, a 20-year-old jewel robbery, an outbreak of Spanish influenza, and a set of nine church bells (the nine tailors of the title). Available as a 4-volume boxed VHS set for $59.95 and a two-volume DVD boxed set for $39.95. Stars: Ian Carmichael. CC, MPAA rating: NR, 210 min., Mystery, Acorn Media. DVD: Day & Date. Shadow Magic Set in Peking in the early 20th century as Western technologies are first coming to China. Liu Jinglun, a photographer in a small town, meets up with an Englishman who talks of a new moving picture. Conflicted by loyalty to his family and friends, and faced with the opportunity to better his standing in society so he can marry the woman he loves, Liu must decide whether he or not to risk everything in defying the traditions of his culture to help bring the motion picture industry to China and make his dreams come true. Director: Ann Hu. Stars: Jared Harris, Xia Yu, Liu Pei Qui, Lu Li Ping. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 115 min., Drama, Box office gross: $0.149 million, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Me You Them Based on a true story, this is the provocative tale of one woman's amorous adventures in rural, modern-day Brazil, in which her passions are ignited by, first, her husband, then his cousin, and finally a handsome drifter. Will all four live happily ever after? Portuguese with English subtitles. Director: Andrucha Waddington. Stars: Regina Case, Lima Duarte, Stenio Garcia, Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 107 min., Drama, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. September 18 Spy Kids At last! A kids action adventure that the whole family can really enjoy -- and from the pen and camera of Robert Rodriquez, known more for his bloodletting epics ("El Mariachi" and "From Dusk Till Dawn") than for his gentle touch. This surprise spring hit, pushing past $100 million at the box office, follows a pair of kids -- the children of retired, married spies who gave up their life of danger for parenthood -- as they embark on a wild adventure to rescue their folks from a nefarious villain and save the world from an army of robots. There's plenty of action, gadgets and gizmos, and wholesome laughs to appeal to the kids in us all. This one works for ages 6 to 60. Director: Robert Rodriguez. Stars: Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Alan Cumming, Tony Shalhoub, Teri Hatcher, Cheech Marin, Robert Patrick. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 85 min., Family Action Comedy, Box office gross: $113 million, Miramax, VHS SRP TBA. DVD: Day & Date. Driven Exciting auto-racing actioner written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. The pedal-to-the-metal film follows the duel between a top German driver (Til Schweiger) and an unstable American rookie (Kip Pardue) on the CART open-wheel racing circuit. Enter Stallone as a washed-up veteran racer hired to help the rookie. Throw in tons of point-of-view racing shots, loud music, spectacular crashes, flying debris, and a little love and you get a 240-MPH adrenaline rush. Stallone apparently spent four years researching the action on the racing circuit, and the film was shot over eight months in nine countries. It's "Grand Prix" for the new millennium, with director Renny Harlin's patented brand of stunts & effects. Director: Renny Harlin. Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Kip Pardue, Stacy Edwards, Gina Gershon, Estella Warren, Robert Sean Leonard, Til Schweiger, Stacy Edwards. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 116 min., Action, Box office gross: $32.076 million, Warner, $15.95 minimum advertised VHS SRP. DVD: Day & Date. Someone Like You Light-hearted comedy about a young woman with a broken heart who tries to understand why things went wrong with her last affair -- and to understand modern romance and what men really want. Ashley Judd plays Jane, a talent booker for a TV talk show whose latest love affair with a new executive producer (Gregg Kinnear) goes sour too fast. Jane tries to figure things out -- with the help of her best buddy (Marisa Tomei) and her new roommate Eddie, an inveterate womanizer (Hugh Jackman). Add in Jane's stint as a secret -- and suddenly successful -- Dr. Ruth-like sex columnist, and a growing attraction between Jane and Eddie, and love and relationships get more and more complex. What's a pretty girl to do? Fine acting in a well-thought out -- if not stunning -- script. Director: Tony Goldwyn. Stars: Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear, Hugh Jackman, Marisa Tomei, Ellen Barkin, Laura Regan, Catherine Dent. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 97 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $27.284 million, Fox, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. "Crocodile" Dundee in Los Angeles Resurrection of Mick "Crocodile" Dundee, the Australian outback hero played by Paul Hogan, who traveled to New York City as a fish out of water and captured the hearts (and boxoffice dollars) of audiences worldwide in 1986. Not so 15 years later. Here we have Dundee, his girlfriend Sue (Linda Kozlowski) and son happily living in the Outback until they're called to Los Angeles to investigate the mysterious death of a journalist at one of the newspapers owned by Sue's dad. Once in L.A., Dundee, in his own inimitable style, sniffs out a dastardly plot that revolves around a movie studio. Like releasing this bomb? Director: Simon Wincer. Stars: Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, Jere Burns, Jonathan Banks, Alec Wilson, Aida Turturro. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 95 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $24.739 million, Paramount, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Luzhin Defence, The Romantic drama, set in the late 1920s, about Alexander Luzhin (John Turturro), an eccentric chess master whose unstable childhood has made him incapable of relating to others. The game of chess is his only escape and solace, until he meets and falls in love with Natalia (Emily Watson) at a North Italian lake side resort where he's the favorite to win in the most prestigious championship in the country. But a former mentor turned jealous rival turns up to prey on Luzhin's weaknesses, and the fragile genius may lose more than the big game. Director: Marleen Gorris. Stars: John Turturro, Emily Watson, Geraldine James, Stuart Wilson. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 106 min., Drama, Box office gross: $0.925 million, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Living It Up: La Gran Vida Sexy Lola (Salma Hayek) is a down-on-her-luck waitress until she meets handsome and charming Martin (Carmelo Gomez), a big-spending millionaire ... or is he? While the two indulge in a storybook romance -- with hundreds of roses, extravagant dinners and champagne-filled swimming pools -- the clock is ticking on Martin's million-dollar debt to the mob. But Lola has a dark secret of her own. Spanish with English subtitles. Director: Antonio Cuadri. Stars: Salma Hayek, Carmelo Gomez, Fernando Valverde. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 114 min., Comedy, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Widow of Saint-Pierre, The A convict sentenced to death on the isolated island of Saint-Pierre strives to better himself in the eyes of the police chief's beautiful wife while waiting for a guillotine and an executioner to arrive from France. But when an event occurs that turns the local residents against the execution, the local politicians become determined to carry out the sentence -- and teach the police chief and his wife a lesson they will never forget. In French with English subtitles. Director: Patrice Leconte. Stars: Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteuil. 1999, CC, MPAA rating: R, 108 min., Drama, Box office gross: $3 million, Trimark, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Bloody Child, The A haunting meditation on violence in our society. Director Nina Menkes developed this film from an article she read about a Gulf War veteran who was found by military police digging a hole in the Mojave Desert in which to bury his wife. The senselessness of the murder is juxtaposed by Menkes with footage she shot while in North Africa with her sister, Tinka, who here plays the female officer who discovers the Marine and his wife's bloodied corpse. Adding to the film's hallucinatory effects are fragments from the witches' speeches in "Macbeth" as well as scenes in bars of off-duty Marines trying to pick up women. Strange stuff, and art of the highest order. For more info: www.facets.org. Director: Nina Menkes. Stars: Russ Little, Tinka Menkes, Robert Mueller, Sherry Siblet. 1996, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 85 min., Drama, Facets Video, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: No. Hot Summer (Heisser Sommer) Beach Blanket Bingo goes East German in this teen fluff film that offered the perfect escape from the images of Soviet tanks rolling into Czechoslovakia after the failure of the Prague Spring in August 1968, signalling the last gasp of a hope for a liberal and democratic socialism in that country. The only difference between the teens in "Hot Summer" and the teens in beach party films is that instead of driving woodies to Zuma Beach, these kids are boarding at an East German farm on the Baltic Sea. There's the usual teen fun: pillow fights and sexually charged dancing (including a hint of the Twist and the Madison among more conservative communist choreography), short shorts, and fights over girl. Camp. The film was developed to revolve around the East German pop duo of Chris Doerk and Frank Schobel. Director: Joachim Hasler. Stars: Chris Doerk, Frank Schobel. 1968, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 91 min., Musical, First Run Features,No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. I Was Nineteen Based on the secret diary by filmmaker Konrad Wolf. A young German, Gregor Hecker, fled as a child with his parents to the Soviet Union in 1926 and, 19 years later, returns to his homeland as a soldier with the victorious Soviet troops. Gregor finds he is different than his comrades in arms -- this defeated land is his home and the Germans he meets upon his return are his compatriots. He is at once a victor and a vanquished. Gregor tries to understand this strange world around him -- the lies and the atrocities -- and tries to understand his place in it. A disturbing and fascinating film. In German with English subtitles. Director: Konrad Wolf. Stars: Jaecki Schwarz, Wassili Liwanow, Alexej Ejboshenko. 1968, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 115 min., Drama, First Run Features, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: No. September 25 Heartbreakers Screwball comedy about a mother-daughter team (Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt) of con artists whose scam is to bilk rich men out of their fortunes. The con works like this: Weaver meets, woos and marries the man, while Hewitt entices him into an extramarital affair. Bingo! Adultery pays big in divorce court. But the pair get more than they bargain for when they travel to Palm Beach, Fla., for mom's last sting: their latest mark (Gene Hackman) dies, the daughter falls in love with a handsome bar owner (Jason Lee) and their last mark (Ray Liotta) tracks them down for retribution. While the comedy has its moments (particularly Hackman), for the most part it wallows in slapstick sight gags that fall far short of their marks. Director: David Mirkin. Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ray Liotta, Jason Lee, Anne Bancroft, Nora Dunn, Gene Hackman. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 122 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $40.000 million, MGM, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Along Came a Spider Sequel to 1997's successful "Kiss the Girls," which starred Morgan Freeman as Washington police detective, forensic psychologist and best-selling author Alex Cross, who foiled the work of a rather nasty serial killer. Here Freeman reprises his role, with Monica Potter coming on board as a discredited Secret Service agent who becomes his sidekick. It seems that a Senator's daughter is kidnapped by a criminal mastermind who wants Cross to write him up as the greatest criminal of the new century. It's up to Cross to figure out the obtuse clues and bring the baddie to justice. Plenty of plot twists and turns. Director: Lee Tamahori. Stars: Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Michael Wincott, Mika Boorem, Anton Yelchin, Kim Hawthorne, Dylan Baker. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: R, 103 min., Thriller, Box office gross: $72.752 million, Paramount, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Citizen Kane Special Edition DVD The greatest film of all time gets the DVD treatment with a two-disc set featuring storyboards; two commentaries, one by critic Roger Ebert and one by director Orson Welles biographer and writer-director Peter Bogdanovich; documentary "The Battle Over Citizen Kane" (on the second disc). Warners spent three years restoring the film to all its original black & white glory for DVD. Director: Orson Welles. Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloan, Dorothy Comingore, Ray Collins. 1941, Warner, $29.99. DVD: Only . Knight's Tale, A 14th century jousting adventure set to a musical backdrop of 20th century music ("We Will Rock You," "Golden Years," etc.). The anachronisms don't stop there: all the characters are imbued with modern-day attitudes and speech. The story line is right out of Screenwriting 101: a servant (Heath Ledger) to a knight dons his master's armor and becomes a champion of the court, beating out the evil knight and winning the fair lady. There's even an unemployed Geoffrey Chaucer (in his pre-"Canterbury Tales" days) to add flowery prose and humor to the affair. For the teen set only. Director: Brian Helgeland. Stars: Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Shanynn Sossamon, Paul Bettany, Laura Fraser, Mark Addy, Alan Tudyk. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 122 min., Action, Box office gross: $55.261 million, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Kingdom Come Talented ensemble cast gets lost in this big screen adaptation of a play ("Dearly Beloved"). A highly dysfunctional family makes preparations for the funeral of their recently deceased patriarch, bringing out the best and worst in the family matriarch, the children, their husbands and wives (including a philanderer, a bible-thumper, and a reformed alcoholic) and even the Rev. Hooker, who has a speech impediment and a problem with Mexican food. Director: Doug McHenry. Stars: LL Cool J, Jada Pinkett Smith, Vivica A. Fox, Loretta Devine, Anthony Anderson, Toni Braxton, Cedric the Entertainer, Darius McCrary, Whoopi Goldberg. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 94 min., Drama, Box office gross: $22.917 million, Fox, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Forsaken, The A cross-country road trip takes a dangerous detour when driver-for-hire Sean picks up Nick, a hitchhiker on the trail of a band of vampires. At a roadside diner, they meet up with a crazed, helpless woman, a recent victim of a vampire feeding, and Sean becomes infected. Now the three must race against time to track down and kill the source of the virus: a centuries old vampire with superhuman strength and a strong appetite for blood. Director: J.S. Cardone. Stars: Jonathon Schaech, Kerr Smith, Brendan Fehr. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: R, 90 min., Horror Thriller, Box office gross: $6.755 million, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Amores Perros Three different people are catapulted into dramatic and unforeseen circumstances in the wake of a car crash: a young punk stumbles into the sinister underground world of dog fighting; an injured supermodel's designer pooch disappears into the apartment's floorboards; and an ex-radical turned hit man rescues a gun-shot Rotweiler. From Mexico City's mean streets to its posh high rises, no one is exempt from destiny. Spanish with English subtitles. Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Stars: Emilio Echevarria, Goya Toledo. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: R, 153 min., Drama, Box office gross: $5 million, Studio Home Entertainment, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Dark Days Very bizarre documentary about a community of homeless people living in a train tunnel beneath Manhattan. The residents live beside the tracks, in huts built from scrap metal, plywood and sheet plastic; the interiors are furnished with discarded articles found along the city's streets. Some have lived here for as long as 25 years. Director Marc Singer spent two years in the tunnels filming this documentary; the film's entire crew consisted of people from the tunnel. Singer ended up broke and homeless himself after finishing the film; the film went on to win three awards at Sundance and Singer finally got his well-deserved recognition. The DVD version chronicles his struggle to make the film with a "making-of" featurette. Director: Marc Singer. 2000, CC, Documentary, Palm Pictures, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Dress Code, The (aka Bruno) Coming-of-age comedy about 8-year-old Bruno (Alex D. Linz), the most tormented boy at school. Frustrated, Bruno's dad (Gary Sinise) decides Bruno should live with his grandmother (Shirley MacLaine). Grandma has a plan to toughen the kid up with tough love, and Bruno finds his true identity and the courage to stand up for himself. But can father and son ever reconcile? Director: Shirley MacLaine. Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Alex D. Linz, Gary Sinise, Joey Lauren Adams, Jennifer Tilly, Kathy Bates. 1999, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 108 min., Comedy, MGM, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. Hercule Poirot's Christmas Feature-length Hercule Poirot adventure, originally shown on PBS' "Mystery!" as a two-episode special. Agatha Christie's famous detective's plans for a quiet Christmas in London are upset by a broken boiler in his flat and a call for help from the owner of a well-heated country estate. Angelic choir voices in a snowy English village at Christmastime make a charming setting for a classic whodunit. Stars: David Suchet. , CC, MPAA rating: NR, 103 min., Mystery, Acorn Media, $19.95 VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date. 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. September 23, 2001