Masthead created by Good & Associates
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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.
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June 4, 2001
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