What’s New

Art of War (2000). Wesley Snipes is excellent as always playing a U.N. covert-operations type, but this B-grade action picture, alternating acceptable action sequences with unconvincing plotting and characterization, makes one wonder why an actor this gifted chooses material this indifferent. Warner: no list price; DVD: $24.98; (CC); R, for strong violence, some sexuality, language and brief drug content.

The Exorcist (1973/2000) Touted as the version you’ve never seen, this is William Peter Blatty’s pungent, slightly hysterical tale of the devil, who spends most of his energy bedeviling and possessing one little girl. With Ellen Burstyn, Lee J. Cobb, Max Von Sydow, Jason Miller and the teenage Linda Blair. William Friedkin directs. Warner: no list price; DVD: $24.98; (CC); R.

Godzilla 2000 (2000). The latest Japanese-made exploits of the king of the monsters: weakly plotted, woodenly acted, indifferently dubbed, but still pleasant and familiar in its old-fashioned, home-cooking approach. Columbia: no list price; DVD: $24.95; (CC); PG, for monster violence and mild language.

What’s Hot

* Last week’s Top 5 VHS rentals:

1. “Scary Movie” (2000). Keenen Ivory Wayans, with help from his brothers Shawn and Marlon, among many others, sends up the “Scream” franchise and a slew of other horror pictures and skewers the cliches of teen pics with an envelope-pushing dose of raunchy humor. Thanks to Wayans’ all-crucial light touch, the result is frequently hilarious. Capable newcomer Anna Faris heads a lively ensemble cast. R, for strong crude sexual humor, language, drug use and violence.

2. “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.

3. “Shaft” (2000). Director and co-writer John Singleton’s updated take on the 1970s detective who was “Hotter Than Bond, Cooler Than Bullitt” benefits greatly from a galvanic performance by Samuel L. Jackson in the title role. Otherwise this is standard-issue, cops- and-crooks fare, not particularly interesting or involving. With Vanessa L. Williams, Christian Bale and Toni Collette. R, for strong violence and language.

4. “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.

5. “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. With Joaquin Phoenix as the ruthless young emperor Commodus, Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius, Connie Nielson as Commodus’ shrewd sister Lucilla, Djimon Hounsou as the gladiator Juba, and in his last screen role, Oliver Reed as a former gladiator named Proximo. R, for intense graphic combat.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD rentals:

1. “Gone in 60 Seconds”

2. “Scary Movie”

3. “Shaft”

4. “Gladiator”

5. “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps”

Last week’s Top 5 VHS sellers:

1. “The Road to El Dorado” (2000). Animated tale about two feckless guys looking to get rich quick, who stow away on Cortes’ ship bound for the New World and actually stumble onto that fabled lost city of gold, where their adventures leave them with less materialistic values. PG for mild thematic material and language.

2. “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps”

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. A delightful pageant of chicken romance, chicken rescue and chicken intrigue that never loses its priceless stamp of individuality. G.

4. “Toy Story 2” (1999). Lively and good-humored with a great sense of fun, it picks up where its predecessor left off. Even if the existential despair of toys never previously interested you, the gang at Pixar makes it all irresistibly comic as well as surprisingly emotional. With the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack. G.

5. “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 that has considerable pulp watchability and a self-referential sense of humor. PG-13, for sci-fi action violence.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD sellers:

1. “Scary Movie”

2. “Gladiator”

3. “Gone in 60 Seconds”

4. “Toy Story 2”

5. “X-Men”

What’s Coming

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

Jan. 9: “Me, Myself & Irene.”

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

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

Jan. 30: “Dinosaur,” “Goya in Bordeaux” and “What Lies Beneath.”

Feb. 6: “Dr. T & the Women,” “Urban Legend: Final Cut” and “Whipped.”

Commentary by Times critics.

Rental video charts provided by VSDA

VidTrac, sales charts by VideoScan Inc.