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6/21/05 V9.25

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ONVIDEO'S WEEKLY GUIDE TO HOME VIDEO RELEASES
FOR TUESDAY, June 21 -- MONDAY, June 27

COACH CARTER
The inspiring true story of controversial high school basketball
coach Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson), who made headlines for his
emphasis on the importance of academics over athletics. Carter
requested that all the members of his team sign contracts,
promising to maintain a certain grade point average. When the
players failed to live up to the agreement, Carter benched the
entire team, locking the gym and forfeiting games to prove his
point. This infuriated the community, who saw this as a hindrance
to the future professional athletic careers of the players.
Through hard work and dedication, Carter eventually got his point
across to his team and the community, going above and beyond to
ensure a solid academic future for the team. Director: Thomas
Carter. Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Rob Brown, Robert Ri'chard,
Rick Gonzalez, Nana Gbewonyo, Antwon Tanner, Channing Tatum,
Ashanti. 2005, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 136 min., Biodrama, Box
office gross: $67.083 million, Paramount, No VHS SRP, Priced for
rental.

CURSED
In this chilling Wes Craven scarer, a girl (Christina Ricci) and
her brother get into a car accident off of Los Angeles's
Mulholland drive. When they attempt to help the other car's
driver, they're attacked by a wolf-like creature. Over the next
few weeks, the siblings begin to show supernatural strength and
abilities, while a large, mysterious animal launches bloodthirsty
attacks in Los Angeles. Together, the siblings must solve the
mystery of their attacker and destroy the werewolf responsible
before they turn into nightmare creatures themselves. Director:
Wes Craven. Stars: Portia de Rossi, Mya, Shannon Elizabeth,
Daniel Edward Mora, Kristina Anapau, Jesse Eisenberg, Milo
Ventimiglia, Jonny Acker, Eric Ladin, Christina Ricci, Joshua
Jackson. 2005, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 97 min., Horror thriller,
Box office gross: $19.116 million, Dimension, $19.95 VHS SRP.

HOSTAGE
Devastated by an unspeakable tragedy while on the job as a
hostage negotiator for the Los Angeles Police Department, Jeff
Talley (Bruce Willis) resigns and accepts a low-profile job as
the Chief of Police in sleepy, rural Bristo Camino. On a slow
Monday morning Jeff Talley's job becomes anything but quiet and
sets him on a course that could change not only his professional
but personal life forever. When three delinquent teenagers follow
a family home intending to steal a car, they get more than they
bargained for. The trio finds themselves trapped in a multi-
million dollar compound on the outskirts of town with no way to
escape. Panicked, they take the family hostage, placing Talley in
a situation that he never wanted to face again. The stakes
quickly evolve into a hostage situation far more volatile and
terrifying than anything Talley could imagine. Director: Florent
Emilio Siri. Stars: Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Jimmy Bennett,
Michelle Horn, Ben Foster. 2005, CC, MPAA rating: R, 108 min.,
Thriller, Box office gross: $32.234 million, Dimension, $19.95
VHS SRP.

JACKET, THE
A psychological thriller about a military veteran who returns to
his native Vermont suffering from bouts of amnesia. When he is
accused of murder and lands in an asylum, a well-meaning doctor
puts him on a heavy course of experimental drugs, restrains him
in a jacket-like device, and locks him away in a body drawer of
the basement morgue. The process sends him on a journey into the
future, where he can foresee his death (but not who did it or
how) in four day's time. Now the only question that matters is:
can the woman he meets in the future save him? Jack Starks
(Adrien Brody), a U.S. Marine serving in the Persian Gulf War,
receives a near-fatal gunshot wound to the head. Although he
recovers, the incident leaves him with shock-related amnesia.
After his release, he returns to his native Vermont. Nine months
later, hitchhiking along a snowbound Vermont highway, Starks
encounters a broken down pick-up truck. The driver, a drunken,
disoriented mother named Jean, and her eight-year-old daughter,
Jackie, are stranded at the roadside. Starks offers his help and
gets the truck started. He continues hitchhiking, and is picked
up by a station wagon driven by a young man headed for the
Canadian border. Shortly afterward, the car is pulled over by the
police and Starks blacks out. When he awakens, he finds himself
on trial for murder in a small town court. Found not guilty by
reason of insanity, Starks is committed to Alpine Grove, a state
institution for the criminally insane. There a staff physician,
Dr. Becker, subjects Starks to a jarring experimental treatment
involving mind-altering drugs and claustrophobic physical
restraint. Once medicated, Starks is wrapped in jacket-like
restraints and left alone for hours at a time in a corpse drawer
located in the hospital's basement morgue. And in the drawer, in
the dark and under the influence, Starks initially experiences
flickers of memory from the war and the shooting of the police
officer. The past gives way to the future when he is suddenly
transported to a diner in Vermont where he meets Jackie, a
waitress who takes pity on him and tries to help him find a place
to sleep for the night. Starks begins to realize that the drawer
he's been confined to is the secret to his recovery and that his
future and well-being lie in the hands of the girl he's just met.
Director: John Maybury. Stars: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley,
Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Daniel Craig, Kelly
Lynch, Brad Renfro. 2005, CC, MPAA rating: R, 102 min., Thriller,
Box office gross: $6.233 million, Warner, No VHS SRP, Priced for
rental.

MISS CONGENIALITY 2: ARMED AND FABULOUS
FBI Agent Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) has became an overnight
media sensation after successfully disarming a threat against the
Miss United States Pageant while working undercover as a
contestant in "Miss Congeniality." Things haven't been going so
well for her lately, though. Reeling from a broken romance and
frustrated to find her newfound fame is jeopardizing the
undercover work she loves, Gracie reluctantly lets her boss,
Agent McDonald (Ernie Hudson), talk her into serving the Bureau
in the only way now possible: coifed and styled for the talk show
circuit as "the face of the FBI." Though resistant at first,
Gracie soon warms to the attention and it's not long before she's
getting into her new role a little too much. Her new partner Sam
Fuller (Regina King), a tough, ambitious agent who is clearly not
her biggest fan, is the first to point out that the pampered
Bureau star is turning into FBI Barbie. But when Gracie's best
friends, pageant winner Cheryl Frazier and emcee Stan Fields
(Heather Burns and William Shatner), are kidnapped in Las Vegas,
Gracie's crime-fighting instincts kick back in. Not wanting to
risk losing their high-profile mascot, the FBI top brass sideline
her to press conference duty in Las Vegas and send Sam along as
her bodyguard, leaving local FBI supervisor Collins (Treat
Williams) to spearhead the rescue effort while junior agent Jeff
Foreman (Enrique Murciano) tries to keep Gracie and her entourage
safely out of the way till its all over. But you can't keep a
good agent down. Director: John Pasquin. Stars: Sandra Bullock,
Regina King, Enrique Murciano, William Shatner, Ernie Hudson,
Heather Burns, Diedrich Bader, Treat Williams, Eileen Brennan,
Elisabeth Rohm. 2005, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 115 min., Comedy-
thriller, Box office gross: $47.121 million, Warner, No VHS SRP,
Priced for rental.

For more release info, check out our calendar pages at
<http://www.onvideo.org/calendar.htm>


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NEWS

DVD COLLECTIBLES:
Due this week is "Dark Water" (2002), the Japanese original that
has been made into a Touchstone film, starring Jennifer Connelly,
scheduled for a July 8 theatrical release. The film, directed by
the Godfather of Japanese horror Hideo Nakata and starring Hitomi
Kuroki, Rio Kanno, Mirei Oguchi, Asami Mizukawa and Fumiyo
Kohinata, is about a young mother fighting to gain legal custody
of her five-year-old daughter. Under pressure to find a place of
their own, the two settle for a dark and musty apartment. But
little do they expect what lies ahead. Already insecure and
uncertain about her future with her daughter, the woman is
haunted by the life-like murky water dripping through the ceiling
and walls which gets worse day by day. Even more bothersome are
the random and unlikely reappearances of a small red bag, which
once belonged to a little girl who mysteriously disappeared two
years before. Another chilling outing by the creater of "Ringu."
On DVD only from A.D. Vision ... "Nada+ (Nothing More)," Cuba's
2003 Oscar entry, follows the adventures of a bored postal worker
who fulfills her loneliness and romantic longings by stealing
letters and rewriting them into passionate prose before sending
them out again to their intended recipients, $24.95 DVD from
First Run Features' Global Lens Collection.

FROM TV TO VIDEO:
Just in time for the theatrical release of the Will Ferrell-
Nicole Kidman "Bewitched" comes "Bewitched: The First Season," a
four-disc set with 36 episodes, $39.95; as well as its spinoff,
"Tabitha: The Entire Series," a two-disc set with all 13
episodes, $29.95; both from Sony ... "The Outer Limits: New
Series" is a six-disc set with 36 episodes, $69.96; each volume
(with six episodes) is available separately for $14.95: "The
Outer Limits: Aliens Among Us Collection," "The Outer Limits:
Death & Beyond Collection," "The Outer Limits: Fantastic Androids
& Robots Collection," "The Outer Limits: Mutations &
Transformation Collection," "The Outer Limits: Time Travel &
Infinity Collection," from MGM ... "OZ: The Complete Fifth
Season," a three-disc set, $49.99 from HBO.

BUZZIN' THE 'B's:
The first in a new line of Asian horror, action and suspense DVDs
from Saiko Films has been released by MTI Home Video:
"Kibakichi," about a half werewolf samurai who wanders the
countryside pleasurably until he comes across a town inhabited by
geisha who turn into giant carnivorous spiders and man-eating
demons ... First Look Home Entertainment has three diverse
entries in the DVD market this week: "Immortal" (2004), a weird
tale about the Egyptian gods in a floating pyramid in the skies
of New York City in 2095 who are seeking a human host body for
Horus and who meet their match in a young blue-haired woman who
has powers unknown even to her, starring Linda Hardy, Thomas
Kretschmann and Charlotte Rampling; "Lost in the Wild" (aka
Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7) is a 1993 telefilm
about student nurses stranded in the jungles of Mexico, starring
Lindsay Wagner, Robert Loggia and Jennifer Lopez; and "Presumed
Guilty" a 1991 telefim about a young man wrongfully convicted of
a murder he didn't commit and the adopted father who tries to set
him free (based on a true story), starring Martin Sheen and
Brendan Fraser ... "Pretty Cool" (2001) is a teen comedy about a
high school loser who wakes up one day and discovers that he has
the power to control other people, starring Will Burke, Alexis
Thorpe and Amy Brassette, on DVD and VHS from MTI home Video.

SPECIAL INTEREST:
"Riverdance: The Best of Riverdance" features 18 of the all-time
best performances of "Riverdance," from its extraordinary
beginnings at the Point Theatre, Dublin, with original stars
Michael Flatley and Jean Butler, through its phenomenal success
in Radio City Music Hall, New York to its latest live recording
in Geneva; $24.99 from Kultur ... "Orwell Rolls in His Grave" is
a documentary on the modern media and its impact on political
culture. Has America entered an Orwellian world of doublespeak
where outright lies can pass for the truth? Are the nation's
citizens being sold a bill of goods by a handful of transnational
media conglomerates and political elites whose interests have
little in common with those of the American people? Director
Robert Kane Pappas' documentary is a critical examination of the
Fourth Estate. Meticulously tracing the process by which media
has distorted and often dismissed actual news events, the film
presents a riveting and eloquent mix of media professionals and
leading intellectual voices on the media, who, together, help to
draw parallels between the classic novel of Big Brother
totalitarianism, "1984," and the current relationship between the
media and U.S. government; $19.98 from Go Cart Films ... "Death
by Design" is an intriguing documentary that takes viewers on a
guided tour into the invisible world of the cell, and "The Life
and Times of Life and Times" is a docu that tells the complex
story of how we age and how scientists hope to alter the human
gene that determines how long we live; both feature an
imaginative interplay of classic films (Busby Berkeley, Harold
Lloyd, etc.), animation and scientific research, and both are on
one $29.95 DVD from First Run Features ... also from First Run is
"Bright Leaves," a documentary that juxtaposes American history,
the tobacco business, and the myth of the cinema, by Ross McElwee
(whose great-grandgfather created the famous Bull Durham brand),
$29.95 DVD only.

Wrestling fans rejoice: World Wrestling Entertainment Home Video
has released two hot DVDs: "Road Warriors: The Life & Death of
the Most Dominant Tag Team in Wrestling History," a two-disc set
about Hawk and Animal, $24.95; and "The Greatest Wrestling Stars
of the '80s," a three-disc set that relives the glories of Hulk
Hogan, Nature Boy Ric Flair, Macho Man Savage, Sgt. Slaughter,
Mr. T and many, many more, $34.95 ... Really heating things up is
"Carmen Electra's Naked Women Wrestling League, Vol. 1" featuring
-- you guessed it -- full-frontal nude wrestling. This series is
big in the U.K. and has become a major download from the In-
Demand TV service; $19.98 from TRU Co./Sketchy Entertainment.


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THIS WEEK'S DVD RELEASES:

Weekly listings of DVD releases can now be viewed on mobile
devices at www.tagtag.com/onvideo

** ABC Africa (2002 -- Iran/Uganda) Dir.: Abbas Kiarostami.
Documentary. (New Yorker).
** Bewitched: The First Season. Four-disc set with 36 episodes,
$39.95. Extras: "The Magic Unveiled: The Making of Bewitched,"
"Magic & Mishaps" (bloopers), sneak peek: "Bewitched the Movie."
(Sony).
** Coach Carter (2005) Samuel L. Jackson, Rob Brown, Robert
Ri'chard, Rick Gonzalez, Nana Gbewonyo, Antwon Tanner, Channing
Tatum, Ashanti. Extras: Featurettes: "Coach Carter: The Man
Behind the Movie" and "Fast Break at Richmond High," six deleted
scenes, Twista music video for "Hope" featuring Faith Evans.
(Paramount).
** Cursed (2005) Dir.: Wes Craven; Portia de Rossi, Mya, Shannon
Elizabeth, Daniel Edward Mora, Kristina Anapau, Jesse Eisenberg,
Milo Ventimiglia, Jonny Acker, Eric Ladin, Christina Ricci,
Joshua Jackson. Rated and unrated editions. Extras: Unrated
version with filmmaker's commentary. (Dimension)
** Dark Water (2002 -- Japan) Dir.: Hideo Nakata; Hitomi Kuroki,
Rio Kanno, Mirei Oguchi, Asami Mizukawa, Fumiyo Kohinata. (A.D.
Vision).
** Hostage (2005) Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Jimmy Bennett,
Michelle Horn, Ben Foster. Extras: Commentary by director Florent
Emilio Siri, behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted and extended
scenes. (Dimension).
** Hustle (1975) Burt Reynolds, Catherine Deneuve, Ben Johnson,
Paul Winfield. (Paramount).
** I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982) Dianne Weist, Joe Pesci,
Geraldine Page, Jill Clayburgh. (Paramount).
** Immortal (2004) Linda Hardy, Thomas Kretschmann, Charlotte
Rampling. (First Look Home Entertainment).
** The Jacket (2005) Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris
Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Daniel Craig, Kelly Lynch,
Brad Renfro. Extras: "The Jacket: Project History," deleted
scenes, alternate ending, "The Look of The Jacket" special
effects featurette. (Warner)
** Kick 'N Rush (2003 -- Denmark) Jacob Krarup, Marie Bach
Hansen, Cyron Bjorn Melville, Esben Smed Jensen. (Home Vision
Entertainment).
** Lifeguard (1976) Sam Elliott, Anne Archer, Stephen Young,
Parker Stevenson, Kathleen Quinlan. (Paramount).
** Loch Ness (1996) Joely Richardson, Ian Holm, Ted Danson.
(MGM).
** Lost in the Wild (Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7)
(1993 -- TV) Lindsay Wagner, Robert Loggia, Jennifer Lopez.
(First Look Home Entertainment).
** Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005) Sandra Bullock,
Regina King, Enrique Murciano, William Shatner, Ernie Hudson,
Heather Burns, Diedrich Bader, Treat Williams, Eileen Brennan,
Elisabeth Rohm. Extras: Deleted scenes. (Warner).
** A Moment of Innocence (1996 -- Iran) Dir.: Mohsen Makhmalbaf;
Mirhadi Tayebi, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. (New Yorker).
** The Outer Limits: New Series. Six-disc set with 36 episodes,
$69.96; each volume (with six episodes) available separately for
$14.95: "The Outer Limits: Aliens Among Us Collection," "The
Outer Limits: Death & Beyond Collection," "The Outer Limits:
Fantastic Androids & Robots Collection," "The Outer Limits:
Mutations & Transformation Collection," "The Outer Limits: Time
Travel & Infinity Collection." (MGM).
** OZ: The Complete Fifth Season. Three-disc set, $49.99 (HBO)
** Presumed Guilty (1991 -- TV) Martin Sheen, Brendan Fraser,
Caroline Kava. (First Look Home Entertainment).
** Riverdance: The Best of Riverdance. Features 18 of the all-
time best performances of "Riverdance." $24.99. (Kultur).
** The Silence (Sokout) (1998 -- Iran) Dir.: Mohsen Makhmalbaf;
Tahmineh Normatova, Nadereh Abdelahyeva, Goibibi Ziadolahyeva.
(New Yorker).
** Starchaser: Legend of Orin (1985) Les Tremayne, Noelle North,
Anthony Delongis, Joe Colligan, Carmen Argenziano. (MGM).
** Starting Over (1979) Dir.: Alan J. Pakula; Burt Reynolds,
Candice Bergen, Jill Clayburgh, Charles Durning. (Paramount).
** Tabitha: The Entire Series. Two-disc set with all 13 episodes,
$29.95. (Sony).
** Yellow Asphalt (2002 -- Israel). Dir.: Danny Verete; Raida
Adon, Tatjana Blacher, Moshe Ivgy. (New Yorker).

For more DVD info, check out our DVD calendar pages at
<http://www.onvideo.org/calendar/cal_dvd.htm>


------------------------------------------------------------

THIS WEEK'S VHS SELL-THROUGH RELEASES:

** Cursed (2005) Dir.: Wes Craven; Portia de Rossi, Mya, Shannon
Elizabeth, Daniel Edward Mora, Kristina Anapau, Jesse Eisenberg,
Milo Ventimiglia, Jonny Acker, Eric Ladin, Christina Ricci,
Joshua Jackson (Dimension): $19.95
** Hostage (2005) Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Jimmy Bennett,
Michelle Horn, Ben Foster (Dimension): $19.95


For more sell-through info, check out our Sell-Through/Repriced
pages at <http://www.onvideo.org/reprice.htm>


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Copyright 2005 CyberPod. All rights reserved.
ISSN 1094-3676

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