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Guide to
Home Video
Releases: December 2001 Releases
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.
- December 4
-
Pearl harbor
Disney's epic recreation of the
attack on Pearl Harbor -- with a price tag of $135 million -- has gotten more
press than any film this year (though Spielberg's "A.I." has come in a close
second). It's been chastised and attacked for political incorrectness, but hey,
its just basically a love story that takes place before, during and after Pearl
Harbor, with great special effects and a hip, young cast. So just sit back and
enjoy three hours of top moviemaking, eat three bags of popcorn, and ponder
this: Disney spent $50 million (the cost of an entire film in anyone eles's
hands) on the premiere of the film in Hawaii.
Director: Michael Bay. Stars: Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Alec
Baldwin, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, William Lee Scott, James
King. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 183 min., War drama, Box office gross:
$200 million, Touchstone. A two-cassette 60th Anniversary Commemorative
Edition, with historical documentary "Unsung Heroes" and Faith Hill's
"There You'll Be" music video, will sell for $24.99 VHS SRP in widescreen and
fullscreen editions ($29.99 for a two-disc DVD, which also includes "Journey to
the Screen: The Making of Pearl Harbor"). A two-cassette 60th
Anniversary Commemorative Gift Set, with historical documentary "Unsung
Heroes," Faith Hill's "There You'll Be" music video and one-hour "National
Geographic: Beyond the Movie: Pearl Harbor," will sell for $39.99 fullscreen
only ($49.99 for a two-disc DVD, which includes "Journey to the Screen: The
Making of Pearl Harbor" as well as actual Pearl Harbor newsreel footage, bonus
historical footage, documentaries on the Japanese Relocation and the role of the
Army nurse during the war). A three-disc DVD set, "Pearl Harbor Vista
Series," featuring the director's cut of the film, historical
documentary "Unsung Heroes," Hill's "There You'll Be" music video, "Journey to
the Screen: The Making of Pearl Harbor," a definitive bibliography, "One Hour
Over Tokyo," multiple commentaries, multiple "making-of" featurettes, multi-
angle scene: The Surprise Attack, storyboards, animatics, multiple audio tracks,
veteran commentaries, historic timeline set-up feature and more, will be
available January 15 for $39.99.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars
Typical John Carpenter outing --
gore and weird special effects -- here meshing horror with science fiction. Its
2176, and Earth has populated Mars, mostly with strip miners. At one far-flung
outpost, a contingent of Mars Police has been sent to track down a wanted
criminal (Ice Cube), but instead of finding a populated work town all they find
are -- ghosts. It seems that a long-dormant, evil Martian force has been set
loose during a dig, and its on the prowl, turning everyone into, well, the
walking dead, with a penchant for decapitation. So the Police, headed up by
Natasha Henstridge, must take on the ghosts in a gruesome fight to the finish.
Director: John Carpenter. Stars: Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Jason Statham,
Pam Grier, Clea Duvall, Joanna Cassidy, Liam White. 2001, CC, MPAA rating:
R, 98 min., Science Fiction, Box office gross: $8.5 million, Columbia TriStar,
No VHS SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
American Outlaws
Revisionist look at the legend of Jesse James,
with Colin Farrell playing the infamous outlaw as if he were a Robin Hood of the
West. Returning from the Civil War, the James brothers are confronted by a
railroad robber baron (Harris Yulin) and his henchman (Timothy Dalton) who kill
and maim in their effort to clear a path for their intercontinental railroad.
When the James' matriarch (Kathy Bates) and farm are blown up, the James boys go
on a rampage, robbing the rich railroads and giving the money to the poor.
There's plenty of action, some weak attempts at humor, and a perfunctory love
story between Jesse and girlfriend Zee (Ali Larter), but for the most part this
misfires on all chambers.
Director: Les Mayfield. Stars: Colin Farrell, Gabriel Macht, Scott Caan, Ali
Larter, Will McCormack, Timothy Dalton, Harris Yulin, Nathaniel Arcand, Gregory
Smith, Kathy Bates. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 94 min., Western comedy,
Box office gross: $12.726 million, Warner, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Summer Catch
Post-WWII sentimental drama with a baseball
background. Set in small New England towns in the innocence after the second
World War, the film revolves around the Cape Cod Baseball League, a kind of farm
team where college all-stars battle it out to impress pro baseball scouts. Into
the picture comes Ryan, the first local boy (from the wrong side of the tracks)
to make it on the Cape Cod lineup. Throw in a love affair with a rich girl
(Jessica Biel), her "villainous" father (Bruce Davison), rival ballplayers, a
tough-guy coach, a loser of a brother (Jason Gedrick), plenty of barroom and
baseball scenes, and you have an old-fashioned soap opera that, unfortunately,
belongs on the small screen.
Director: Mike Tollin. Stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Jessica Biel, Matthew Lillard,
Brian Dennehy, Fred Ward, Jason Gedrick, Brittany Murphy, Bruce Davison, Corey
Pearson, Beverly D'Angelo. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 106 min., Baseball
drama, Box office gross: $19.037 million, Warner, No VHS SRP, Priced for
rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Beethoven's 4th
More of the slobbering St. Bernhard and his
outsized antics. Here the Newton family's Beethoven gets sent off to obedience
school but a mix-up at the park switches Beethoven with his dead-ringer
look-alike and well-mannered Michelangelo. The Newtons think that the school has
done the trick, while Michelangelo's Sedgewick family is in for a surprise.
Direct-to-video.
Director: David Mickey Evans. Stars: Judge Reinhold, Julia Sweeney, Joe Pichler,
Michaela Gallo, Kaleigh Krish, Matt McCoy, Veanne Cox, Mark Lindsay Chapman,
Nick Meaney. 2001, CC, Family, Universal, $19.98 VHS SRP.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Strange Case of Senior Computer,
The
Quirky film explores the
relationship between an antisocial, repressed, virginal computer scientist and
the robot he has created, who calls him "Father" and offers advice on his
troubled life. When Charles creates his artificial-intelligence computer the
robot's brain overloads and is set aside by the scientist. But the computer is
just dormant -- he misses Father. Luckily he's befriended by Charle's
housekeeper Carlotta, who dubs him Senior Computer and nurtures him like a
child. Ike (the name he takes for himself) learns about humanity through
Carlotta and TV. Before long he discovers credit cards, 900 numbers, mail order
and women -- and tries to help Father get a new life-with comic, tragic results.
Director: Tom Sawyer. Stars: Rich Ziegler, Gladys Hans, Lisa Goodman, Barbara
Beneville. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 81 min., Science Fiction, World
Artists, $24.98 VHS SRP.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Execution of Justice
TV docudrama about the assassination of San
Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk. In the mid-1970s S.F. was in the middle of a
radical political and social upheaval. Liberal Democrat George Moscone was
elected mayor after years of conservative leadership and Harvey Milk became the
first openly gay elected official in U.S. history. The events prompted Dan
White, an intense, conservative man, to run for supervisor in order to fight the
"radicals, social deviates and incorrigibles" he felt were taking over his city.
Feeling impotent, White waltzed into the offices of Milk and Moscone and killed
them both in cold blood. His trial was a sensation for the city -- in particular
his famous "twinkie" defense, in which his lawyers claimed that White's diet of
twinkies changed his metabolism, causing him to be mentally imbalanced and not
responsible for his actions. White got a short sentence, was released from
prison, and killed himself. A fascinating story.
Director: Leoni Ichaso. Stars: Tim Daly, Peter Coyote, Stephen Young. 1999,
CC, MPAA rating: R, 98 min., Docudrama, Paramount, No VHS SRP, Priced for
rental.
DVD: No.
-
Cora Unashamed
Uplifting telefilm of human drama about an
African-American housekeeper who faces social isolation and deep-seated racism
while working in a small town in Iowa during the depression. Based on a story by
Langston Hughes.
Director: Deborah Pratt. Stars: Regina Taylor, Cherry Jones, CCH Pounder.
2000, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 95 min., Drama, Warner, No VHS SRP, Priced for
rental.
DVD: No.
- December 11
-
Jurassic Park III
The long-awaited second sequel to "Jurassic
Park," though not up to the snuff of its predecessors despite new and nastier
dinosaurs, is still out there gobbling up the box office, having chomped almost
$81 million in its first five days of release. The film is non-stop thrills and
chills, as is to be expected, with excitingly believable action, at least on the
part of the dinos. This time out, though, one has to double one's suspension of
disbelief to go along with the implausible human antics on display. Sam Neil
returns as Dr. Alan Grant, conned by divorced husband and wife William H. Macy
and Tea Leoni to rescue their son, who disappeared on the dino island during a
parasailing adventure. And off we go.
Director: Joe Johnston. Stars: Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Tea Leoni, Alessandro
Nivola, Trevor Morgan, Michael Jeter, John Diehl, Bruce A. Young. 2001, CC,
MPAA rating: PG-13, 91 min., Science Fiction, Box Office Gross: $180 million,
Universal, TBA VHS SRP.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Rush Hour 2
The boys are back in town -- or rather the
modern-day crime fighting Abbott and Costello of police enforcement are back on
screen for more of the same that made "Rush Hour" a $250 million smash hit.
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker return as hapless heroes who use fist and mouth
(respectively) to disarm their enemies. This time around motor-mouth LAPD cop
Tucker travels to Hong Kong, where he's squired around as a tourist by Chan's
Inspector Lee. But the fun and games in massage parlors, yachts and nightclubs
eventually take a back seat to crime, as the duo begin a rogue cop investigation
into the deaths of two U.S. Customs agents involving counterfeit money, taking
them to L.A. and Las Vegas and getting involved with a triad leader (John Lone),
a nasty henchwoman (Ziyi Zhang), a casino boss (Alan King) and a possibly
corrupt secret agent (Roselyn Sanchez). The patented Chan martial arts and
Tucker motor mouth mesh well again for two hours of sheer entertainment.
Director: Brett Ratner. Stars: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, John Lone, Ziyi Zhang,
Roselyn Sanchez, Harris Yulin, Alan King, Kenneth Tsang, Don Cheadle, Saul
Rubinek. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 90 min., Comedy, Box office gross:
$220 million, New Line, VHS SRP TBA.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Score, The
Robert De Niro has paid his dues. From "Greetings" to
"Mean Streets" to "The Godfather II" to "Taxi Driver" to "The Last Tycoon" to
"Raging Bull" through later work in "Cape Fear," "Wag the Dog" and "Ronin," De
Niro has created some of the 20th Century's greatest characters. But in his last
several outings -- "15 Minutes" and this by-the-numbers thriller, he's just been
wiring home his parts (though he did again step out in "Meeting the Parents"). A
departure for comedy director Frank Oz, "The Score" is a throwback to the days
before heist films were laden with blood and explosions. That's laudable, but
unfortunately this I'm-out-for-one-last-score thriller is a bit too routine and
predictable. De Niro plays an expert heist man Jazz club owner drawn into the
robbery of a priceless golden French scepter by puffy fence Marlon Brando.
Though no job seems too tough for De Niro, this one has a major catch: its
stored in the basement of the Customs House in Montreal. With the aid of a
rather nasty apprentice crook with a giant chip on his shoulder, played by
Edward Norton, who happens to have gotten a job at the Customs House in the
guise of a mentally-challenged janitor, and with $4 million dangled in front of
him, De Niro takes on the job. De Niro is a the consummate pro while Norton is
out to screw anyone he thinks is better than him. The film's plotting of the
preparation for the crime and its twists and turns are elaborate but, in the
long run, lacks the impact of true heist gambits (By contrast, check out the
December 11 DVD release of Jules Dassin's 1964 "Topkapi," a classic of the genre
starring Melina Mercouri, Maximilian Schell, Robert Morley, Akim Tamiroff, and
Peter Ustinov). This is definitely a boy's film -- Angela Bassett appears
briefly as De Niro's wallpaper love interest.
Director: Frank Oz. Stars: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Angela Bassett, Marlon
Brando, Gary Farmer, Paul Soles. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: R, 123 min.,
Thriller, Box office gross: $70.307 million, Paramount, No VHS SRP, Priced for
rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
John Cameron Mitchell directs and
stars in this film adaptation of his Broadway rock musical about an
"internationally ignored" rock singer and her search for stardom and love.
Hedwig, born a boy with a life's dream to find a missing part of himself,
submits to a sex change operation to marry an American G.I. and get over the
Berlin Wall to freedom. The operation is botched, leaving an "angry inch," and
Hedwig finds herself alone and divorced in a Kansas trailer park. She forms a
rock band and meets a lover/protege, who turns around and steals her songs and
becomes a huge rock star. Hedwig forms a pan-Slavic band, the Angry Inch, and
goes on tour in seedy dives in the shadow of her ex-lover, seeking to make her
way in the rock world.
Director: John Cameron Mitchell. Stars: John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor,
Theodore Liscinski. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: R, 91 min., Rock theater, Box
office gross: $4.000 million, New Line, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & Date
-
Following
A wickedly clever story of obsession by the director
of recent indie hit "Memento." Bill, an unemployed "aspiring writer" has a
peculiar hobby: shadowing strangers at random in the streets of London. When
Cobb, a man Bill has been following, catches him in the act, Bill is drawn into
Cobb's world of breaking into flats and prying into the personal lives of their
victims. Eventually he's duped into an elaborate triple-cross. As with
"Memento," Nolan has created a filmic structure -- flash-forwards and doubling
backs -- that makes the audience an active player in the creation of the film.
Director: Christopher Nolan. Stars: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, Lucy Russell.
1998, CC, MPAA rating: R, 70 min., Thriller, Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP,
Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & date.
-
Mists of Avalon, The
Imaginative retelling of the myth of King
Arthur and Camelot, from a woman's point of view. TNT miniseries.
Director: Ulrich Edel. Stars: Angelica Huston, Julianna Margulies, Joan Allen.
2001, CC, MPAA rating: NA, 183 min., Adventure, Warner, No VHS SRP, Priced
for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
4 Dogs Playing Poker
Four friends participate in a heist gone
awry and are forced to devise a desperate payback plan by taking out $1 million
life insurance policies and drawing cards to see who lives -- and who dies.
Director: Paul Rachman. Stars: Olivia Williams, Stacy Edwards, Balthazar Getty,
Daniel London, Tim Curry, Forest Whitaker. 1999, CC, MPAA rating: R, 98
min., Thriller, Warner, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Orfeu
When Orfeu, a charismatic and beloved samba/hip-hop
musician living in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, falls in love with Euridice, an
Indian girl visiting her aunt, he arouses the jealousy of his fiery mistress,
forgotten lovers and his childhood friend Lucinho, the community's brooding drug
lord. And then there's Rio's Carnival as a background. Reminds one of "Black
Orpheus, Marcel Camus' 1959 wonderful retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice
legend, also set during Rio's Carnival. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
Director: Carlos Diegues. Stars: Toni Garrido, Patricia Franca, Murilo Benicio.
1999, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 112 min., Drama, New Yorker, No VHS SRP, Priced
for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Druids
In 60 B.C., Vercingetorix (Christopher Lambert) is a
strong, peaceful Gallic chieftain with a legacy to protect his fellow Druids on
the Celtic isles. But when Julius Caesar and his Roman army declare war,
Vercingetorix has no choice but to fight. Reunited with his childhood love and
armed with little more than raw courage, he unites his people and prepares them
for the battle of their lives.
Director: Jacques Dorfman. Stars: Christopher Lambert, Klaus Maria Brandauer,
Max Von Sydow, Ines Sastre. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: R, 124 min., Action,
Columbia TriStar, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
- December 18
-
Scary Movie 2
More of the same horror-spoof shenanigans that
made "Scary Movie" a teen-college audience smash hit. This time around the
surviving cast members of "SM" (now in college) are invited by a nasty
professor (Tim Curry) to spend the weekend in a haunted house, giving the
filmmakers the opportunity to spoof "The House on Haunted Hill," "The Exorcist,"
"The Changling" and even "Charlie's Angels." And there's the usual soft-core sex
added in, with enough prurient ghostly sex scenes to definitely give this one a
strong R-rating.
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans. Stars: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris,
Regina Hall, Chris Masterson, Tim Curry, Tori Spelling, James Woods, Natasha
Lyonne, Andy Richter, Kathleen Robertson, Chris Elliott, David Cross. 2001,
CC, MPAA rating: R, 82 min., Horror spoof, Box office gross: $71.277 million,
Buena Vista, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Princess Diaries, The
Second surprise hit of the summer
revolving around the trials and tribulations of young women trying to find their
way in the world (the other being "Legally Blonde") that shows that there is
always a large audience for innocuous comedy sans explicit sex and bathroom
humor. This typical Disney comedy (a throwback to the 1960s/1970s) stars Anne
Hathaway as a clumsy 10th-grader in San Francisco who discovers she is in fact
the heir to the throne of the small country of Genovia. With the aid of her
grandmother Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) the ugly duckling is turned into a
lovely, poised princess. A delightful film for young girls that has found a much
wider family audience.
Director: Garry Marshall. Stars: Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Hector Elizondo,
Heather Matarazzo, Caroline Goodall, Robert Schwartzman, Kathleen Marshall,
Sandra Oh. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: G, 115 min., Comedy, Box office gross:
$105 million, Buena Vista, $22.99 VHS SRP.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Vigil, The
Following Nirvana's Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994, a
group of twentysomething adults leave Lethbridge, Alberta, on a journey to
join the vigil for him in Seattle, learning about life, love and death along the
way. A wry road film.
Director: Justin McGregor. 1998, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 86 min.,
Drama, Vanguard Cinema, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Burnzy's Last Call
Ensemble cast depicts a day in the life of a
Manhattan watering hole, the last holdout in a rapidly gentrified neighborhood.
With music by Deborah Harry, Iggy Pop, Evan Dando, The Smithereens.
Stars: Sherry Stringfield, Sam Gray, David Johansen, James
McCaffrey, Chris Noth, Roger Robinson, Tony Todd, Carolyn McCormick, Michael
Massee, Jamie Waters, Eddie Brill, James Burton. 2000, CC, MPAA rating: NR,
88 min., Drama, Vanguard Cinema, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Blood Money
Mob drama about the son of a "made" family who left
his roots and became a successful Wall Street businessman, trading in the
rackets and dope deals for stocks and bonds. But when his brother is murdered,
he returns home for the funeral and gets drawn into the shady underworld of
crime and deceit. Now he must save the family he once escaped and find his
brother's unknown assassin. Telefilm.
Director: Aaron Lipstadt. Stars: Brian Bloom, Alan Arkin. 2000, CC, MPAA
rating: R, 95 min., Thriller, Paramount, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: No.
-
Princess of Thieves
Disney TV adventure about the daughter of
Robin Hood and Maid Marion, who's ready to follow in her father's footsteps.
Director: Peter Hewitt. Stars: Keira Knightley, Malcolm McDowell, Jonathan Hyde,
Stephen Moyer, Stuart Wilson. 2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG, min., Adventure,
Disney, $19.99 VHS SRP.
DVD: Day & Date.
-
Child Star: The Shirley Temple
Story
TV biodrama about Shirley
Temple, the most successful child star in Hollywood history.
Stars: Ashley Rose Orr, Emily Hart, Connie Britton, Colin Friels.
2001, CC, MPAA rating: PG, Biodrama, Disney, $19.99 VHS SRP.
DVD: Day & Date.
- December 26
-
Two Can Play That Game
Failed romantic comedy about a
self-assured, self-made female advertising executive (Vivica A. Fox) who
discovers that her boyfriend (Morris Chestnut) has been playing around with her
rival (Gabrielle Union). To get even -- and teach her ex a lesson, she
decides that two can play that game -- and undertakes a 10-day plan that she's
certain will make him come running back to her. But she soon finds out that
playing the field isn't as easy as she thought. In typical sitcom fashion, the
writers bring in a bevy of girlfriends and their beaus for comic support, but
the main underpinnings of the romp are way too weak.
Director: Mark Brown. Stars: Vivica A. Fox, Morris Chestnut, Anthony Anderson,
Mo'Nique, Tamala Jones, Raquel Robinson, Gabrielle Union, Bobby Brown. 2001,
CC, MPAA rating: R, 90 min., Romantic Comedy, Box office gross: $20 million,
Columbia TriStar, No 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.
July 2001 Releases
August 2001 Releases
September 2001 Releases
October 2001 Releases
November 2001 Releases
January 2002 Releases
February 2002 Releases
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October 5, 2001
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