VIDEO NEWS

What’s New

The Cell (2000). Psychologist Jennifer Lopez enters the mind of a twisted serial killer in hope of helping his latest victim stay alive. A torture-chamber film about a man who tortures women that puts viewers through as much misery as the people on the screen. New Line/Warner: no list price; DVD: $24.98; (CC); R, for bizarre violence and sexual images, nudity and language.

Chuck & Buck (2000). A highly original, high-risk comedy that looks to be another “Fatal Attraction” as an eccentric childhood friend (Mike White, the film’s writer) latches on to a successful young music executive (Chris Weitz), but the film proves exhilaratingly unpredictable. Artisan: no list price; DVD: $24.98; (CC); R, for sexuality and language.

Loser (2000). Writer-director Amy Heckerling’s formulaic new teen opus is unique mostly for its refusal to indulge the hard-sell, gross-out desires of its intended youth market. There are a number of losers here, most prominently the NYU freshman played with disarming affability by Jason Biggs. Columbia: no list price; DVD: $24.95; (CC); PG-13 for drug content, crude sexual material and language.

Love’s Labour’s Lost (2000). The idea of combining one of Shakespeare’s comedies with 1930s musical dancing and classic songs by the likes of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin is a good one, but under the direction of Kenneth Branagh (who co-stars with Alicia Silverstone) the result is regrettably leaden and lifeless. Miramax/Buena Vista: no list price; DVD: $32.99; (CC); PG for sensuality and a brief drug reference.

Pop & Me (2000). Documentary about a middle-aged father and his twentysomething son who take a trip around the world interviewing fathers and sons about their relationships. The result is a film brimming with humor, emotion and universal identification. MGM: no list price; DVD: $19.98; (CC); Unrated. Mature themes, suitable for older children.

Road Trip (2000). Uproarious college gross-out comedy from newcomers writer-director Todd Phillips and co-writer Tod Armstrong that finds a bunch of Ithaca College students hitting the road to Austin to intercept a compromising videotape inadvertently sent to the girlfriend of one of the guys. Breckin Meyer, Amy Smart and Tom Green head a smart ensemble cast. DreamWorks: no list price; DVD: $26.99; (CC); R for strong sexual content, crude humor, language and drug use.

Saving Grace (2000). Brenda Blethyn is sympathetic and appealing in a pleasantly formulaic British comedy of a middle-class widow raising some very illegal crops in her greenhouse. With Craig Ferguson, Martin Clunes. New Line/Warner: no list price; DVD: $24.98; (CC); R, for drug content and language.

Small Time Crooks (2000). Brisk and breezy comedy about a would-be bank robber (Woody Allen) and his wife (an endearing Tracey Ullman) who are launched into high society when the wife’s cookie business suddenly takes off and makes them ultra-nouveau riche. Written and directed by Allen. DreamWorks/Universal: no list price; DVD: $26.99; (CC); PG, for language.

The Virgin Suicides (2000). Sofia Coppola makes her directorial debut with her adaptation of the Jeffrey Eugenides novel about the fates of five beautiful and enigmatic sisters, daughters of strict, religious parents (Kathleen Turner, James Woods). Subtle, disturbing and very accomplished but also a downer. Paramount: no list price; DVD: $29.99; (CC); R for strong thematic elements involving teens.

Where the Money Is (2000). Paul Newman, Linda Fiorentino and Dermot Mulroney are in fine form, but they can’t redeem a stale caper comedy plot, which needed to be played for pitch-dark humor instead of treated as a lark to keep it from seeming dated. USA: no list price; DVD: $26.98; (CC); PG-13 for some sexual content.

What’s Hot

* Last week’s Top 5 VHS rentals:

1. “Gone in 60 Seconds” (2000). Remake of H.B. “Toby” Halicki’s 1974 cult classic about a legendary car thief (Nicolas Cage) who is drawn out of retirement to save the life of his brother (Giovanni Ribisi), also a car thief. The movie, which co-stars Angelina Jolie, features some fine driving, but the problem is not what “Gone” does on the straightaways; it’s how it maneuvers through those hard-to-handle character curves.

2. “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps” (2000). The further adventures of the poundage-challenged Professor Sherman Klump is all Eddie Murphy, all the time--he plays eight different roles--but the film’s decision to compete in Hollywood’s trendy Gross-Out Derby means this sequel is a lot less funny than it sounds.

3. “Gladiator” (2000). Director Ridley Scott’s latest is a supremely atmospheric film that shrewdly mixes traditional Roman movie elements--like senators in carefully pressed togas and fighters who say, “We who are about to die salute you”--with the latest computer-generated wonders. Russell Crowe is commanding as the heroic gladiator Maximus. But the movie--too long at 2 1/2 hours--is not as nimble outside the arena as inside. R, for intense graphic combat.

4. “The Replacements” (2000). A cliche-ridden, stereotype-driven comedy, starring Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman, about average guys following their dream of football glory. Inspired, if that is the right word, by the 1987 NFL strike, the result is a haphazard film about half as sophisticated as the average beer commercial. PG-13, for some crude sexual humor and language.

5. “The Perfect Storm” (2000). Creating one of the most terrifying storms in screen history goes a long way toward obliterating flaws in character and dialogue that crop up in this version of the best-selling book about a 1991 Atlantic maelstrom and the people unlucky enough to be caught in it. George Clooney stars. PG-13, for language and scenes of peril.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD rentals:

1. “Gone in 60 Seconds”

2. “Gladiator”

3. “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps”

4. “X-Men” (2000). A solid summer entertainment with “The Usual Suspects’ ” Bryan Singer directing British heavyweights Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. It doesn’t take your breath away, but it’s an accomplished piece of work. PG-13, for sci-fi action violence.

5. “The Perfect Storm”

Last week’s Top 5 VHS sellers:

1. “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps”

2. “The Land Before Time VII” (2000). Animated made-for-video.

3. “Chicken Run” (2000). Nick Park, British master of clay animation and three-time Oscar-winning creator of “Wallace and Gromit,” and co-director Peter Lord have put chickens front and center with this gleeful parody of prison and escape movies. G.

4. “X-Men”

5. “Toy Story 2” (1999). Lively and good-humored with a great sense of fun, it picks up where its predecessor left off. With the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack. G.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD sellers:

1. “Gone in 60 Seconds”

2. “Gladiator”

3. “The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps”

4. “The Perfect Storm”

5. “X-Men”

What’s Coming

Tuesday: “The Art of War,” “The Exorcist” and “Godzilla 2000.”

Jan. 2: “Autumn in New York,” “Crime + Punishment in Suburbia,” “Hollow Man,” “Under Suspicion” and “The Way of the Gun.”

Jan. 9: “Me, Myself & Irene” and “Wonder Boys.”

Jan. 16: “Battlefield Earth,” “Coyote Ugly” and “Disney’s the Kid.”

Jan. 23: “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,” “An Affair of Love,” “Bait,” “Bring It On,” “Cecil B. Demented,” “The Five Senses,” “Steal This Movie” and “MVP: Most Valuable Primate.”

Commentary by Times critics.

Rental video charts provided by VSDA

VidTrac, sales charts by VideoScan Inc.