What’s Hot

* Last week’s Top 5 VHS rentals:

1. “Sleepy Hollow” (1999). An exquisitely mounted (if ghoulish) retelling of the Washington Irving short story (with Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane and Christina Ricci as Katrina Van Tassel) created to the exact specifications of bizarre-meister Tim Burton. How pleased others will be depends on their tolerance for the grotesque. (Kenneth Turan, Nov. 19, 1999) R for graphic horror violence and gore, and for a scene of sexuality.

2. “American Beauty” (1999). Unsettling, unnerving and undefinable, this examination of the hollow space behind the American Dream through the life of one particularly dysfunctional family is a strange, brooding, extremely accomplished film that offers fury, warmth and hope and never goes quite where you think it will. Starring Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. Winner of five Academy Awards, including best picture. (Turan, reviewed Sept. 15, 1999) R for strong sexuality, language, violence and drug content.

3. “Eye of the Beholder” (2000). Ewan McGregor plays a surveillance expert, a professional voyeur, who gets drawn out of his high-tech cocoon by a strange obsession with a serial killer (Ashley Judd). He follows her across the country, spying on her and protecting her from harm. This psychological thriller constantly undermines its best intentions with contrivance, heavy-handedness and an over-reliance on cheap thrills. (Eric Harrison, Jan. 28) R for some strong violence, sexuality, language and brief drug content.

4. “Man on the Moon” (1999). Jim Carrey does a brilliant, almost terrifying job impersonating edgy comic Andy Kaufman, but even director Milos Forman can’t make this film’s hostile, manipulative subject into someone we care about. Danny DeVito, Paul Giamatti and Courtney Love co-star. (Turan, Dec. 22, 1999) R for language and brief sexuality/nudity.

5. “The World Is Not Enough” (1999). James Bond is back for the 19th time, with Pierce Brosnan effortlessly reprising his splendid take on Agent 007. Not so effortless for the viewer is trying to keep track of a murky plot, involving an arch anarchist (Robert Carlyle) and an oil heiress (Sophie Marceau) supervising construction of a pipeline across Western Asia. (Kevin Thomas, Nov. 19, 1999) PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, some sexuality and innuendo.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD rentals:

1. “Sleepy Hollow”

2. “Man on the Moon”

3. “Eye of the Beholder”

4. “Bringing Out the Dead” (1999). This visually stylish but emotionally cold look at the world of night-shift Manhattan paramedics is a natural for director Martin Scorsese, who excels at capturing the crazed cacophony of lives sustained by adrenaline, coffee and bravado. But the film’s virtuoso style doesn’t compensate enough for an emotional coldness that keeps us at a distance. Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette and John Goodman star. (Turan, Oct. 22, 1999) R for gritty violent content, drug use and language.

5. “Dogma” (1999). A raucous, profane but surprisingly endearing and high-energy combination of a breezy save-the-world fantasy with an adolescent sense of humor and a sincere exploration of questions of faith. The eclectic cast includes Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, Alan Rickman and, as God, Alanis Morissette. (Turan, Nov. 12, 1999) R for strong language including sex-related dialogue, violence, crude humor and some drug content.

* Last week’s Top 5 VHS sellers

1. “The World Is Not Enough”

2. “American Pie” (special edition) (1999). An unexpected hybrid of “South Park” and Andy Hardy that uses its surface crudeness as sucker bait to entice teenagers into the tent to see a high school movie that is sweet and sincere at heart. With a cast of likable young people. (Turan, July 9, 1999) R for strong sexuality, crude sexual dialogue, language and drinking, all involving teens.

3. “Stuart Little” (1999). The shy and pleasant mouse of E.B. White’s famous children’s book has been turned into a rodent whose ready line of patter would make him at home on the “Tonight” show. The computer animation is excellent, but though the film won’t harm tiny viewers, there’s nothing very involving about it either. Stuart is voiced by Michael J. Fox. (Turan, Dec. 17, 1999) PG for brief language.

4. “Pokemon: Water Blast.” Straight-to-video animated release.

5. “Pokemon: Picture Perfect.” Straight-to-video animated release.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD sellers:

1. “Sleepy Hollow”

2. “The World Is Not Enough”

3. “Man on the Moon”

4. “The Matrix” (1999). A wildly cinematic, futuristic thriller that stars Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne as battlers against a computer-controlled world that treats people like Eveready batteries. (Turan, March 31, 1999) R for sci-fi violence and brief language.

5. “The Sixth Sense” (1999). Director M. Night Shyamalan’s startling and nervy film about a child psychologist (Bruce Willis) who tries to help a boy with a disturbing secret (Haley Joel Osment) is one of the creepiest thrillers to arise in years. Off-kilter from the start and rich in a kind of matter-of-fact horror. (John Anderson, Aug. 6, 1999) PG-13 for intense thematic material and violent images.

What’s New

In stores this week:

“Bicentennial Man” (1999). Robin Williams gives a touching performance as a robot who transforms into a human being in this romantic but overly glossy sci-fi fable. (Kevin Thomas, reviewed Dec. 17, 1999) Buena Vista/Touchstone: no list price; DVD, $32.99; (CC). PG for language and some sexual content.

“The Emperor and the Assassin” (1999). China’s masterful Chen Kaige’s period epic about the first emperor of China and his brutal campaign of unification, which Chen treats with the dignity, power and complexity of Shakespearean tragedy. With Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi and Li Xuejian as the emperor. In Mandarin with English subtitles. (Thomas, Dec. 17, 1999) Columbia Tristar: no list price; DVD, $29.95; (CC). R for violence.

“The Green Mile” (1999). Though its Stephen King story is a good one, this Frank Darabont-written and -directed version is hampered by excessive length, the suffocating deliberateness of its pace and some truly stomach-turning moments. Even Tom Hanks’ compelling performance as the head guard on death row in a 1935 Louisiana prison can’t overcome that. (Turan, Dec. 10, 1999) Warner Bros.: no list price; DVD, $24.98; (CC). R for violence, language and some sex-related material.

“Light It Up” (1999). A cross section of winners and losers at a Queens high school takes a cop (Forest Whitaker) hostage, making their local concerns very global. With Usher Raymond, Vanessa L. Williams, Judd Nelson, Sara Gilbert and Rosario Dawson. (Gene Seymour, Nov. 10, 1999) FoxVideo: no list price; DVD, $29.98; (CC). R for language and violent content.

“Play It to the Bone” (1999). Director Ron Shelton vividly captures the raw excitement of boxing with this story of sparring partners (Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson)--middleweights whose shots at the big time backfired--who are suddenly asked to be last-minute replacements for the under-card event preceding one of those Vegas “Fight of the Century” matches. (Thomas, Dec. 24, 1999) Buena Vista/Touchstone: no list price; DVD, $32.99; (CC). R for brutal ring violence, strong sexuality including dialogue, nudity, pervasive language and some drug content.

“The Third Miracle” (1999). Agnieszka Holland’s complex, challenging film is at once a spiritual odyssey and a detective story as a troubled Chicago priest (Ed Harris) is charged with investigating the claims of miraculous healings purportedly caused by an immigrant woman (Barbara Sukowa) who had dedicated her life to caring for her church’s needy children--but at the expense of abandoning her own daughter (Anne Heche). (Thomas, Dec. 29, 1999) Columbia Tristar: no list price; DVD, $29.95; (CC). R for some language and some violence and sexuality.

What’s Coming

Tuesday: ‘Topsy-Turvy,” “Sweet and Lowdown,” “Liberty Heights,” “Anna and the King,” “Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo” and “Gun Shy.”

June 27: “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Hanging Up.”

July 4: “Scream 3.”

July 11: “All About My Mother,” “The Hurricane,” “Mansfield Park,” “My Dog Skip,” “Onegin,” “Boiler Room” and “Down to You.”

July 18: “The Whole Nine Yards,” “Angela’s Ashes,” “What Planet Are You From?,” “Isn’t She Great,” “The Ninth Gate,” “Ride with the Devil,” “The Big Tease,” “Diamonds” and “The War Zone.”

Rental video charts provided by VSDA

VidTrac, sales charts by VideoScan Inc.