Summer’s Highs and Lows
This summer’s home entertainment offerings include last Christmas’ big movies, as well as some of the dogs of the new millennium.
Arriving in stores Tuesday is Milos Forman’s biopic on Andy Kaufman, “Man on the Moon” (Universal), starring Jim Carrey; the murder mystery “Snow Falling on Cedars” (Universal) and Mike Figgis’ adaptation of the Strindberg classic, “Miss Julie” (MGM).
“Girl, Interrupted” (Columbia TriStar), featuring Angelina Jolie’s Oscar-winning turn as a mental patient, makes its debut June 6, as does the hip-hop comedy “Next Friday” (New Line).
Best picture nominee “The Green Mile” (Warner), starring Tom Hanks, is scheduled for June 13, along with the Robin Williams sci-fi drama, “Bicentennial Man” (Touchstone), and Chen Kaige’s epic “The Emperor and the Assassin” (Columbia TriStar).
June 20 is jammed with goodies such as Mike Leigh’s “Topsy-Turvy” (USA), Woody Allen’s bittersweet comedy “Sweet and Lowdown” (Columbia TriStar), with Sean Penn and Samantha Morton, and Barry Levinson’s nostalgic “Liberty Heights” (Warner), along with the disappointing “Anna and the King” (Fox) and the sleeper Christmas comedy, “Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo” (Touchstone).
Set for June 27 is Anthony Minghella’s Oscar-nominated psychological thriller, “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (Paramount), starring Matt Damon and Jude Law. Also due that week is the dull comedy “Hanging Up” (Columbia TriStar) with Meg Ryan and Walter Matthau. And horror fans can ring in the Fourth of July with Wes Craven’s “Scream 3” (Dimension).
Pedro Almodovar’s Oscar-winning Spanish drama, “All About My Mother” (Columbia TriStar), is scheduled for release July 11, as is “The Hurricane” (Universal), starring Denzel Washington in his Oscar-nominated performance, the Jane Austen drama “Mansfield Park” (Miramax) and the sentimental family film “My Dog Skip” (Warner).
Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry headline the popular comedy “The Whole Nine Yards” (Warner), which arrives July 18. Also set for release that week is “Angela’s Ashes” (Paramount), based on Frank McCourt’s autobiography, the Garry Shandling bomb, “What Planet Are You From?” (Columbia TriStar), Ang Lee’s little-seen western, “Ride With the Devil” (Universal) and “Diamonds” (Miramax), which heralded Kirk Douglas’ return to the screen after his stroke.
Tom Cruise’s Oscar-nominated performance is on view in the ensemble drama “Magnolia” (New Line), which hits video stores on July 25. Also due that date are two bombs from earlier this year: the Leonardo DiCaprio drama “The Beach” (Fox) and the black comedy “Drowning Mona” (Columbia TriStar).
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For vintage-movie fans, Kino on Video has unearthed two rarely seen comedies, “On Our Merry Way” and “A Scandal in Paris,” which are due out June 6. Two weeks later, Kino offers two terrific Fritz Lang thrillers, “Spiders” and “The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse.” And on Aug. 22, Rhino Home Video is releasing its first installment of episodes from the ‘70s TV series “The Flip Wilson Show.”
The critically acclaimed CBS miniseries “Jesus” (Trimark), starring Jeremy Sisto, will arrive on July 25. And sequels to two popular feature films are going the made-for-video route. Judge Reinhold and the beloved St. Bernard star in the family film “Beethoven’s 3rd” (Universal), scheduled for July 25, and Disney’s “The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea,” the follow-up to the 1989 feature film, arrives Sept. 5.
Though most of these titles will also be available on DVD, there are several special-edition discs due for the summer.
Set for Tuesday from Universal are the collector’s editions of the Alfred Hitchcock classic “Marnie” and the Arnold Schwarzenegger hit “Conan the Barbarian.” On June 6, Brad Pitt fans can enjoy two of his flicks on DVD: Fox is offering a special two-disc set of “Fight Club” and MGM is presenting “Interview With the Vampire.” Also due that date from Warner is a special edition of the 1996 thriller “Twister.”
MGM is debuting eight Woody Allen films on DVD July 5.
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