Time to Pause, Rewind

The summer’s home video fare includes the hits and misses from last Christmas and early 2001, along with art-house movies, vintage films and collector’s editions of classics. Here are the highlights (all titles are on VHS and DVD unless otherwise noted):

Mainstream

On tap for Tuesday are the multi-Oscar-winning drug thriller “Traffic” (USA); “Shadow of the Vampire” (Universal), a tongue-in-cheek retelling of the making of “Nosferatu”; “The House of Mirth” (Columbia TriStar), an acclaimed adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel starring Gillian Anderson; and the Sundance Festival favorite “Two Family House” (Universal).

Ang Lee’s award-winning Taiwanese martial arts fantasy “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (Columbia TriStar) arrives June 5.

Tom Hanks received his fifth Oscar nomination and won the Golden Globe for his performance as a Federal Express executive stranded on a desert isle in Robert Zemeckis’ “Cast Away” (Fox), set for release June 12. The DVD version contains four hours of extra material.

Also scheduled for that day is the Coen brothers’ comedy “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (Touchstone) and the French import “Venus Beauty Institute” (Winstar).

The hit teen drama with music “Save the Last Dance” (Paramount) arrives June 19, along with the Russell Crowe-Meg Ryan political thriller “Proof of Life” (Warner), the Jack Nicholson thriller “The Pledge” (Warner) and the David Mamet comedy “State and Main” (New Line). Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson star in the fantasy “Unbreakable” (Touchstone), set for June 26. Also on tap is Kenneth Lonergan’s intimate drama “You Can Count on Me” (Paramount), the teen comedy “Dude, Where’s My Car?” (Fox) and the western drama “The Claim” (MGM).

Jennifer Lopez’s romantic comedy “The Wedding Planner” (Columbia TriStar) debuts July 3, along with the Brad Pitt caper flick “Snatch” (Columbia TriStar), the Freddie Prinze Jr. comedy “Head Over Heels” (Universal), the bloody “Dracula 2000” (Dimension) and the Antonio Banderas vehicle “The Body” (Columbia TriStar).

On tap for July 10 is the gripping Cold War thriller “Thirteen Days” (New Line), starring Kevin Costner, and the Oscar-nominated Italian comedy “Malena” (Miramax).

The following week heralds the arrival of the Nicolas Cage fantasy “The Family Man” (Universal), the Taiwanese romance “In the Mood for Love” (USA), the buddy comedy caper “Double Take” (Touchstone), the Samuel L. Jackson drama “The Caveman’s Valentine” (Universal), the cheerleading comedy “Sugar and Spice” (New Line) and the teen comedy “Saving Silverman” (Columbia TriStar).

Ed Harris and best supporting actress Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden headline the bio-pic “Pollock” (Columbia TriStar), debuting July 24. Also new that week are Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron in the weepie “Sweet November” (Warner) and the horror flick “Valentine” (Columbia TriStar).

The Oscar-nominated romance “Chocolat” arrives Aug. 7 (Miramax), along with the Disney animated comedy “Recess: School’s Out.”

TV

For Anglophiles, Acorn is releasing a set of the Agatha Christie mysteries “Tommy & Tuppence: Partners in Crime” on Tuesday. BSF is offering the classic saga “The Flambards” on June 5.

For the less discerning, Rhino is offering a DVD set of the short-lived 1976 NBC variety series “Pink Lady and Jeff” on June 26. Also new that date from National Geographic Video is the NBC special “Beyond the Movie: Pearl Harbor.”

Special Collections

On Tuesday, two days before what would have been her 75th birthday, Fox is releasing its “Marilyn Monroe--The Diamond Collection,” featuring the restored versions of “Bus Stop,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “The Seven Year Itch,” “How to Marry a Millionaire” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Also included is a new documentary on the troubled production of Monroe’s unfinished last film, “Something’s Got to Give.”

There’s also a great new documentary, “Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures,” included in Warner’s new Kubrick collection that features restored editions of the late director’s films including “Lolita,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “Full Metal Jacket” and “The Shining.”

DVD

It’s a big summer for DVD addicts. Arriving on disc Tuesday are special editions of “A Few Good Men,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Tootsie” (all Columbia TriStar).

John Wayne favorites “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “The Sons of Katie Elder” and “Donovan’s Reef” go digital June 5 (Paramount). Also new that day are three German silent film classics from Kino--”Faust,” “The Last Laugh” and “The Love of Jeanne Ney”; a new collection from MGM of Woody Allen films, including “Alice” and “Another Woman”; and the special editions of Oliver Stone’s “Salvador” and “Platoon,” also from MGM.

On June 19, the Criterion Collection releases the digital editions of several classics: Gregory La Cava’s screwball comedy “My Man Godfrey,” Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers,” John Schlesinger’s “Billy Lair” and Douglas Sirk’s lush melodrama “All That Heaven Allows.” Also new for that date from Kino are digital versions of the 1912 “Richard II” and the German silent version of “Othello” with Emil Jannings.

MGM will be releasing three Brian De Palma thrillers Aug. 28: “Carrie,” “Dressed to Kill Special Edition” and “Blow Out.”