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ONVIDEO E-MAIL NEWS
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3/18/03 V7.11

ONVIDEO'S WEEKLY GUIDE TO HOME VIDEO RELEASES
FOR TUESDAY, March 18 -- MONDAY, March 24

ABANDON
Collegiate thriller that investigates the mysterious
disappearance of a student. Katie (Katie Holmes) is in her senior
year of college, swamped with essays, a final thesis paper, job
interviews and exams. Compounding her stress is the arrival of
Detective Wade Handler (Benjamin Bratt) to investigate the
2-year-old disappearance of Katie's last boyfriend, Embry.
Haunted by the memory of the missing boyfriend and plagued by a
fear of abandonment as a result of being left behind by her
father at the age of three, Katie is forced to choose between
past passions and new possibilities as Wade uncovers the truth
behind Embry's final days. Director: Stephen Gaghan. Stars:
Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt, Charlie Hunnam, Zooey Deschanel,
Gabriel Union. 2002, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 98 min., Thriller,
Box office gross: $10.719 million, Paramount, No SRP, Priced for
rental. DVD: Day & Date.

AUTO FOCUS
Fascinating study of radio and TV personality Bob Crane, who rose
from obscurity -- by hard work -- in the late 1950s on drive-time
L.A. radio to the pinnacle of stardom as the lead in primetime's
"Hogan's Heroes." But success brings -- or unleashes -- demons,
and Crane (played by Greg Kinnear) gets involved with the seedy
side of Hollywood -- wild sex, strip clubs, pornography --
especially when he falls under the spell of a pioneer in
videography, John Carpenter (Willem Dafoe), who shows Crane the
fine art of recording one's own sexual escapades. Eventually, so
the story goes, Crane tried to pull himself away from Carpenter's
spell -- his career and marriage were beginning to slip -- but
Crane turned up dead -- murdered in a motel room in Scottsdale,
Arizona. Director: Paul Schrader. Stars: Greg Kinnear, Willem
Dafoe, Rita Wilson, Maria Bello, Rob Leibman. 2002, CC, MPAA
rating: R, 107 min., Drama, Box office gross: $2.008 million,
Columbia TriStar, No SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date.

8 MILE
For Jimmy Smith Jr. (Eminem), life is a daily fight just to keep
hope alive. Feeding his dreams in the city's vibrant movie scene,
Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own
voice -- and earn a place in the world where rhymes rule, legends
are born and every moment ... is another chance. A terrific
outing for director Curtis ("L.A. Confidential") Hanson and rap
star Eminem. It's an underdog movie about the struggles of a
young rapper to rise above his desolate life on the wrong side of
8 Mile Road, a street that separates the inner city from the
suburbs in 1995 Detroit. Eminem turns in a robust performance in
one crucial week of the life of Jimmy, known as Rabbit, as he
juggles the conflicting needs of his girl friends, his crew, his
job and his dysfunctional family. Its modern day existential
angst for the hip-hop generation. Or, if you're familiar with the
call-and-bait of rap battles, this might be billed as the new
millennium's "Rebel Without a Pause." Director: Curtis Hanson.
Stars: Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Evan
Jones, Omar Benson Miller, De'Angelo Wilson, Eugene Byrd, Taryn
Manning. 2002, CC, MPAA rating: R, 111 min., Drama, Box office
gross: $117.000 million, Universal, No SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.

EMPIRE
A compelling tale of crime, greed and retribution that chronicles
gangster Victor Rosa's quest for the American Dream that goes
awry when the gritty streets of the South Bronx meet the
white-collar world of Wall Street. Victor (John Leguizamo) is
determined to escape his criminal past and make a new,
legitimate life for himself and his girlfriend (Delilah Cotto).
He thinks he may have found a way out of the trappings of easy
money and the violent streets when he meets a Wall Street
investment banker (Peter Sarsgaard), who promises Victor a new
lifestyle. Victor soon discovers, however, that the price he must
pay for his new life is more than he bargained for in a shocking
climax that leads to the destruction of an Empire. Original score
by multi-Grammy Award winner and Latin music legend Ruben Blades.
Director: Franc Reyes. Stars: John Leguizamo, Denise Richards,
Isabella Rossellini, Peter Sarsgaard, Delilah Cotto, Sonia Braga,
and rap superstars, Fat Joe and Treach. 2002, CC, MPAA rating: R,
90 min., Drama, Universal, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD:
Day & Date.

GREY ZONE, THE
Heart-wrenching drama about a group of Sonderkommandos who
attempt to organize a Jewish uprising in the infamous Auschwitz
death camp. Director: Tim Blake Nelson. Stars: Steve Buscemi,
Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvini, David Arquette, Natasha Lyonne.
2002, CC, MPAA rating: R, 108 min., Drama, Box office gross:
$0.507 million, Lions Gate, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD:
Day & Date.

JUST A KISS
Slow-moving romantic comedy explores the tangled web that
infidelity weaves. When commercial director Dag (Ron Eldard)
kisses (and then some) his friend Peter's (Patrick Breen)
insecure dancer-girlfriend Rebecca (Marley Shelton), this single
act of infidelity sets off a chain reaction. Dag's girlfriend
Halley (Kyra Sedgwick) leaves him and ends up with a smooth
talking cellist (Taye Diggs), who recently walked out on his
wife, flight attendant Colleen (Sarita Choudhury). Colleen later
runs into Peter, whom she invites to join the Mile-High Club,
only to result in an embarrassing display. Meanwhile, at a
bowling alley where Dag and Peter come to heads over Rebecca, Dag
becomes enticed by the bowling alley attendant and dominatrix
Paula (Marisa Tomei), who has the hots for Peter. As each
individual is thrown for a dizzying loop, a twist in time's arrow
suddenly brings Dag and his friends full circle back to where all
the mayhem started: with just a kiss and a rare second chance to
make things right. First-time director Fisher Stevens uses the
rotomation animation technique to highlight climactic scenes in
brilliant color and surrealistic forms. It's the same technique
used in "Waking Life," but where in that film it was an
experimental delight and integral to the storyline, here it seems
tacked on just as an affect. Director: Fisher Stevens. Stars: Ron
Eldard, Kyra Sedgwick, Patrick Breen, Marley Shelton, Taye Diggs,
Marisa Tomei, Sarita Choudhury. 2002, CC, MPAA rating: R, 90
min., Romantic comedy, Box office gross: $6.797 million,
Paramount, No VHS SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date.

MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS, THE
Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger and Julianna Margulies star in the
provocative tale of a struggling novelist who resorts to extreme
measures in order to provide for his family. Becoming a
successful writer remains an elusive dream for Byron Tiller
(Garcia). No longer able to pay the bills, worried about his
family's livelihood and seeing no other option, he reluctantly
seeks employment at Elysian Fields, an upscale male escort
service. But as Byron slowly succumbs to the demands of the job
-- and his own desires -- a destructive pattern of deception
threatens the very thing that he sought to protect -- his family.
A romantic drama about seduction and betrayal. Director: George
Hickenlooper. Stars: Olivia Williams, Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger,
Julianna Margulies, James Coburn, Anjelica Huston. 2002, CC, MPAA
rating: R, 106 min., Drama, Box office gross: $1.413 million,
Columbia TriStar, No SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date.

PERSONAL VELOCITY
Based on writer-director Rebecca Miller's book of short stories.
Three stories on three very different women: Delia (Kyra
Sedgwick) escapes from an abusive husband. Greta (Parker Posey)
risks everything on a new career. Paula (Fairuza Balk) takes
flight after a tragic accident. The three women must overcome
seemingly insurmountable obstacles that confine them. But are
they really on their way to new lives -- or are they just making
new versions of old mistakes. Succinct, tight, expressive writing
and wonderful performances by the three lead women makes for an
impressive debut by Miller. Winner of the Grand Jury prize at the
2002 Sundance Film Festival. Director: Rebecca Miller. Stars:
Kyra Sedgwick, David Warshofsky, Parker Posey, Tim Guinee,
Wallace Shawn, Ron Liebman, Fairuza Balk, Taylor Pucci, Patti
D'Arbanville. 2002, CC, MPAA rating: R, 85 min., Drama, Box
office gross: $0.703 million, MGM, No SRP, Priced for rental.
DVD: Day & Date.

ROGER DODGER
Well-done indie film explores the psyche of a single-minded,
intelligent, witty modern-day Lothario, who's only goal in life
is to snare women. Having just been dumped by his older boss
(Isabella Rossellini), with whom he had been having an affair,
Roger (Campbell Scott) takes the opportunity to vent his anger
against the opposite sex by tutoring his 16-year-old nephew in
the fine art of seduction. What follows is a scathing barrage of
pickups, one-ups and wild encounters, from underground sex clubs
to upper crust parties, as Roger and nephew meet and woo and
destroy women, and get back as good as they give ... all in the
course of one night. A finely written, acted and tuned
production. Director: Dylan Kidd. Stars: Campbell Scott,
Isabella Rossellini, Jesse Eisenberg, Elizabeth Berkley, Jennifer
Beals, Ben Shenkman, Mina Badie, Chris Stack. 2002, CC, MPAA
rating: R, 104 min., Drama, Box office gross: $1.245 million,
Artisan, No SRP, Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date.

SORDID
Lives A small-town Texas clan reunites for the funeral of the
family matriarch in a black comedy about white trash that has
become a midnight cult hit. The sordid details about a southern
family surface with a vengeance when relatives converge for the
funeral of "Grandma Peggy," who died after tripping over her
lover's wooden legs. Toss in a couple of feuding, big-haired
daughters, a jumpy aunt who just quit smoking, the scorned
neighbor from hell, and crazy, cross-dressing "Brother Boy," and
you've got an wildly black comedy about people you love to hate.
Director: Del Shores. Stars: Olivia Newton-John, Beau Bridges,
Bonnie Bedelia, Delta Burke. 2002, CC, MPAA rating: R, 111 min.,
Black comedy, Box office gross: $0.809 million, Fox, No SRP,
Priced for rental. DVD: Day & Date.

WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD
"Welcome to Collinwood" is a comedy of errors in which a group of
bumbling, small-time criminals screw-up what should be the
perfect heist. In this remake of the 1958 Italian comedy, "Big
Deal on Madonna Street," Collinwood, a seedy suburb of Cleveland,
is home to a group of hapless but colorful low-lifes. When petty
thief Cosimo (Luis Guzman) hears of a plan for the perfect heist
from a fellow prison inmate, he enlists the help of his
girlfriend (Patricia Clarkson) to find a group of patsies to
execute this dream job. Led by Pero (Sam Rockwell), the motley
crew consisting of Riley (William H. Macy), Leon (Isaiah
Washington), Toto (Michael Jeter) and Basil (Andrew Davoli) set
out to steal from a pawnbroker's safe. Even the expert advice of
veteran safecracker Jerzy (George Clooney) can't save these fools
from screwing up what's supposed to be a perfectly foolproof
plan. Director: Anthony and Joe Russo. Stars: William H. Macy,
Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter, Luis Guzman, Patricia Clarkson,
Isaiah Washington, Andrew Davoli, George Clooney. 2002, CC, MPAA
rating: R, 86 min., Comedy, Box office gross: $0.333 million,
Warner, $22.98 SRP. DVD: Day & Date.


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


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THIS WEEK'S DVD RELEASES:

**Abandon (2002) Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt, Charlie Hunnam,
Zooey Deschanel, Gabriel Union. Extras: Commentary by director
Stephen Gaghan and cinematographer Matthew Libatique; "A Look at
the Dark Side" making-of featurette; deleted and extended scenes.
(Paramount).
**Akira Kurosawa;s Dreams (1990) (Warner).
**Auto Focus (2002) Dir.: Paul Schrader, Greg Kinnear, Willem
Dafoe, Rita Wilson, Maria Bello, Rob Leibman. Extras: Commentary
by Schrader, commentary by Kinnear and Dafoe, "Murder in
Scottsdale" documentary, making-of featurette, five deleted
scenes with optional director's commentary, producers and writers
commentary. (Columbia TriStar).
**Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure (2003) Animated
with the voices of Amanda Bynes, Harrison Chad. Extras: Two
educational interactive games. (Paramount).
**Crossing the Line (1990) Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant. (Anchor Bay).
**Day for Night (1973) Dir.: Francois Truffaut; Jacqueline
Bisset, Valentina Cortese, Dani, Alexandra Stewart, Jean-Pierre
Aumont, Jean Champion, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Francois Truffaut,
Nathalie Baye. Extras: Two new documentaries: "Day for Night: An
Appreciation" with Truffaut biographer Annette Insdorf, and "Day
for Night" by Jacqueline Bisset and Nathalie Baye; vintage
making-of documentary, "Truffaut: A View From the Inside";
Valentina Cortese interview; two Truffaut interviews: one from
the 1973 Cannes International Film Festival and another from the
1973 National Society of Film Critics Awards. (Warner).
**8 Mile (2002) Dir.: Curtis Hanson; Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi
Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Evan Jones, Omar Benson Miller,
De'Angelo Wilson, Eugene Byrd, Taryn Manning. Two DVD versions,
one with censored bonus material and one with uncensored
materials. Extras: "The Making of 8 Mile" featurette; never-
before-seen footage: Five "Rap Battles" shot during the making of
the film that feature spontaneous rap performances between Eminem
and audience extras from the film; the music video for
"Superman," from the best-selling album "The Eminem Show,"
available only on the DVD. (Universal).
**The Eighteenth Angel (1997) Christopher McDonald, Rachael Leigh
Cook, Stanley Tucci, Maximilian Schell. (Columbia TriStar).
**Elephant Parts (1981) Ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith's 1981
post-psychedelic combination of music videos and comedy sketches.
Extras: Commentary by Nesmith. (Anchor Bay).
**Empire (2002) John Leguizamo, Denise Richards, Isabella
Rossellini, Peter Sarsgaard, Delilah Cotto, Sonia Braga, and rap
superstars Fat Joe and Treach. Extras: Behind-the-scenes
featurette "The Making-of Empire," audio commentary, deleted
scenes, footage from the film's Los Angeles premiere with
interviews from the hottest Latino entertainers. (Universal).
**In a Lonely Place (1950) Dir.: Nicholas Ray; Humphrey Bogart,
Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy. Extras: "In a Lonely Place:
Revisited" featurette, restoration story. (Columbia TriStar).
**Just a Kiss (2002) Ron Eldard, Kyra Sedgwick, Patrick Breen,
Marley Shelton, Taye Diggs, Marisa Tomei, Sarita Choudhury.
(Paramount).
**A Man and a Woman (1966 -- French) Dir.: Claude Lelouch; Anouk
Aimee, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Pierre Barough, Valerie Lagrange,
Antoine Sire. Extras: Two documentaries: the new "A Man and a
Woman: 37 Years Later" and the vintage "Un Homme et Une Femme,"
featuring Aimee, Trintignant and Lelouch. (Warner).
**The Man From Elysian Fields (2002) Dir.: George Hickenlooper;
Olivia Williams, Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, Julianna Margulies,
James Coburn, Anjelica Huston. Extras: Commentary by
Hickenlooper, writer Phillip Jayson Lasker and Garcia. (Columbia
TriStar).
**NYPD Blue Season One Six-disk set. Extras: Commentary by
producer/co-creator David Milch and director Brad Silberling,
"The Making of Season 1" featurette; "Love on NYPD Blue"
featurette, "Cast Blotter" featurette; script-to-screen
comparison; $59.98. (Fox).
**One Down Two to Go (1982) Richard Roundtree, Jim Kelly, Jim
Brown, Fred Williamson. Extras: Commentary by actor-director Fred
Williamson. (Anchor Bay).
**Personal Velocity (2002) Kyra Sedgwick, David Warshofsky,
Parker Posey, Tim Guinee, Wallace Shawn, Ron Liebman, Fairuza
Balk, Taylor Pucci, Patti D'Arbanville. Extras: Commentaries by
writer-director Rebecca Miller and cinematographer Ellen
Kuras,"In Conversation" featurette with Miller and the cast,
behind-the-scenes featurette. (MGM).
**Roger Dodger (2002) Campbell Scott, Isabella Rossellini, Jesse
Eisenberg, Elizabeth Berkley, Jennifer Beals, Ben Shenkman, Mina
Badie, Chris Stack. Extras: Commentary by writer-director Dylan
Kidd and cast and crew, deleted scenes, cast and crew video
postcards, "Steppin Out With Jesse Eisenberg" featurette as he
travels through the streets of Manhattan searching for love in
all the right places, "Indie on Indie" featurette. (Artisan).
**Sordid Lives (2002) Olivia Newton-John, Beau Bridges, Bonnie
Bedelia, Delta Burke, Beth Grant, Kirk Geiger, Leslie Jordan.
Extras: Commentary by writer-director Del Shores; commentary by
producer Sharyn Lane; various cast commentaries; 10 deleted
scenes; interviews with Shores, Bedelia, Grant, Geiger, Jordan.
(Fox).
**Square Dance (1987) Winona Ryder, Jason Robards, Jane
Alexander. Extras: Commentary by director Daniel Petrie. (Anchor
Bay).
**Welcome to Collinwood (2002) William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell,
Michael Jeter, Luis Guzman, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney.
Extras: "Welcome to Collinwood" behind-the-scenes "Mockumentary,"
viewer's guide to Collinwood low-life lingo. (Warner).


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


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THIS WEEK'S VHS SELL-THROUGH RELEASES:

**Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure (2003) Animated
with the voices of Amanda Bynes, Harrison Chad. (Paramount):
$19.99
**Welcome to Collinwood (2002) William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell,
Michael Jeter, Luis Guzman, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney
(Warner): $22.98


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


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NEWS

COMING SOON:
Just announced: New Line will release the Jack Nicholson
tour-de-force "About Schmidt" on June 3 on DVD and sell-through
VHS ($22.98); MGM will release light romantic comedy "A Guy
Thing," starring Jason Lee, Julia Stiles and Selma Blair, on DVD
and VHS on May 27; and MGM has confirmed the June 3 release of
"Die Another Day" in a jam-packed two-disc DVD set and a
rental-priced "special edition" VHS (that features a "making-of"
documentary). Date changes: Columbia TriStar has moved the
release of "Talk to Her" from May 13 to May 27, and moved the
release of "Darkness Falls" from April 29 to April 22.

FOR THE KIDS:
HIT Entertainment has added another title to its popular "Bob the
Builder" line of pre-school videos: "Bob the Builder: The Knights
of Fix-a-Lot" follows Bob and his loveable crew of animated
machines as they restore an ancient castle, available now on VHS
($14.99) and DVD ($16.99) ... The latest edition in the Baby
Einstein Company's franchise of videos for babies and toddlers is
"Baby Neptune: Discovering Water," which takes infants on a
musical voyage from the bath to the beach, featuring sea turtle,
duck and octopus hand puppets, from Buena Vista this week, on VHS
($14.99) and DVD ($19.99) ... Also from Buena Vista this week is
"Pokemon 4Ever," an all-new animated movie featuring Ash, Pikachu
and requisite dark forces, on VHS ($19.99) and DVD ($29.99) ...
And Paramount will release this week a sequel to the
much-cherished animated kids film "Charlotte's Web," "Charlotte's
Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure" (2003), with the voices of
Amanda Bynes and Harrison Chad, on VHS ($19.99) and DVD ($19.99).

BUZZIN' THE 'B's:
Due this week are: "Paper Soldiers" (2003), a hip-hop comedy that
follows one man's inept introduction to a life of crime that
turns into a series of amateurish antics, starring Jay-Z, Stacey
Dash and comedian Kevin Hart, from Universal ... from Lions Gate
comes the telefilm "Alien Tracker" (2001), about a futuristic
detective in hot pursuit of intergalactic convicts who have
escaped through a wormhole to the Earth ... From New Line comes
"Table One" (2000), a comedy about four friends -- fed up with
the singles life -- who open a trendy restaurant and get more
than they bargained for when they find they have become partners
with the mob, starring Stephen Baldwin, Burt Young, Luiz Guzman
and Michael Rooker, and "Cheats" (2002), a teen comedy about four
friends who successfully cheat their way through high school --
until their last semester, starring Matthew Lawrence, Griffin
Dunne and Mary Tyler Moore ... From Artisan comes "Redeemer"
(2002), a telefilm starring Matthew Modine about a writing
teacher who helps a convict sentenced to life for murder write a
letter to the victim's sister, changing the lives of everyone and
giving then each a second chance to be redeemed; "Down Time"
(2001), an urban drama about a heroin junkie who must battle
prison gangs and his own demons on his road to personal
redemption, based on the true-life saga of writer-director Sean
Wilson; and "The Kingston High" (2001), a coming-of-age comedy
about a high school misfit's last chance to get the girl of his
dreams.


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Copyright 2003 CyberPod. All rights reserved.
ISSN 1094-3676

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