VIDEO NEWS

Compiled by Kevin Crust. Commentary from Times reviews. Films considered noteworthy are designated with a *.

What’s New

*Apocalypse Now Redux (2001). Nominated for eight Academy Awards 22 years ago, Francis Ford Coppola’s surreal epic meditation on the Vietnam Wwar starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall returns in a spectacular dye transfer print with 49 minutes of never-before-seen footage. No matter what you thought before, no one can fail to be impressed by the beauty, power and ambition of what’s on the screen today. Paramount: $24.95; DVD: $29.99; (CC); (3:16) R for disturbing violent images, language, sexual content and some drug use.

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). This is one overstuffed movie, but it’s by no means a turkey. The film’s frenetic attempts to create a full-length feature film out of a slender, albeit beloved, 1957 children’s book can be exhausting. However, the lively and amiable spirit of the endeavor converts our inner curmudgeon just as the spirit of Christmas eventually overpowered that larcenous Grinch. Making that stretch possible is Ron Howard’s balanced direction, a cheerful and inviting look, guided by production designer Michael Corenblith and visual effects supervisor Kevin Mack, Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman’s clever script ideas and, in a part he seems almost to have been predestined to play, Jim Carrey as the Grinch. Universal: $24.98; DVD: $26.98; (CC); PG, for some crude humor.

Planet of the Apes (2001). The least surprising movie of the summer. It’s not only that after the original 1968 film, four sequels plus two television series, everyone who cares knows the underlying material; it’s also that the sensibility of director Tim Burton is equally well-known and twice as predictable. Outside of a hyper-energetic, irresistibly evil portrayal by Tim Roth as General Thade, the baddest ape in town, the sad truth about “Planet of the Apes” is that, disappointingly, it’s just not very much fun to watch. With Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter and Michael Clarke Duncan. PG-13 for some sequences of action/violence.

What’s Hot

* Last week’s Top 5 VHS rentals:

1. Shrek (2001). A gleeful piece of wisenheimer computer animation, this new version of William Steig’s fractured fairy tale about an ogre who rescues a princess from captivity is all comic attitude, all the time. The movie especially benefits from its superb voice talent, including Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow and an unstoppable Eddie Murphy as a donkey sidekick named, well, Donkey. PG, for mild language and some crude humor.

2. Legally Blonde (2001). A high concept can be a wonderful thing. Up to a point. Starring an impeccably groomed Reese Witherspoon as a Bel-Air airhead who is wending her way through law school, this is basically “Clueless Goes to Harvard.” There’s nothing wrong with that notion, but this is no “Clueless.” With Luke Wilson and Selma Blair. (Turan, July 11) (1:36) PG-13, for language and sexual references.

3. Swordfish (2001). A dirty fairy tale of cyber-terrorism in which nasty people inhabit a trash-talking world of fast cars, complaisant women and major explosions, this John Travolta-Halle Berry-Hugh Jackman vehicle is what you’d expect from commercials/video director Dominic Sena and action fan/producer Joel Silver. R, for violence, language and some sexuality/nudity.

4. The Animal (2001). “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo’s” Rob Schneider returns in a raunchy, clever summer comedy as a nerdy small-town police department clerk who when he regains consciousness after a car wreck is a veritable superman with a wide array of amazing abilities and weird traits. With “Survivor’s” Colleen Haskell, John C. McGinley and Ed Asner. PG-13 for some crude and sexual humor.

5. Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001). The new item is an improvement over Eddie Murphy’s first “Dr. D” (not the most difficult feat, perhaps, but true nevertheless) and features an engaging performance by Murphy. But precisely because it is an improvement, “Dr. D 2” is also more depressing than its progenitor. With the application of more intelligence and a different sensibility, this could have been a good film instead of one that’s content with not being a complete waste of time. With Kristen Wilson, Kyla Pratt, Raven-Symone and Jeffrey Jones. PG, for language and crude humor.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD rentals:

1. Legally Blonde (2001).

2. Shrek

3. Swordfish

4. The Animal

5. Dr. Dolittle 2

* Last week’s Top 5 VHS sellers:

1. Shrek

2. Mickey’s Magical Christmas

3. Save the Last Dance (2001). A twist of fate sends a 17-year-old aspiring ballerina (Julia Stiles) from a Norman Rockwell small town to inner-city Chicago and an interracial romance with a bright youth (Sean Patrick Thomas) hoping to land a premed scholarship. There’s lots of dancing and heart-tugging but a gritty edge of urbanrealism as well. The film’s talented young actors include Kerry Washington, Fredro Starr and Bianca Lawson. PG-13, for violence, sexual content, language and a brief drug reference.

4. Cats & Dogs (2001). A very resistible movie made from what sounds like an irresistible premise, it proves one more time that it’s easier to make animals talk than to give them anything interesting to say. With the human actors (Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins) marking time, it becomes a series of expensive special effects in search of a scenario worth the price tag. If anyone had doubts about what an extraordinary accomplishment the original “Babe” was, seeing this will put them to rest. PG, for animal action and humor.

5. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). An eccentric, picaresque Southern period comedy, rife with the kinds of genial madness only writer-director Joel Coen and writer-producer Ethan Coen can come up with. “O Brother’s” music is a living presence and--apologies to an excellent cast--just about the star of the picture. The film’s inspiration and story line are a typically eclectic Coen Brothers mix, contrasting the ancient Greeks with the cliched movie South. With George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson. PG-13, for some violence and language.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD sellers:

1. Shrek

2. Legally Blonde

3. Swordfish

4. Baby Boy (2001). A story of Peter Pan in the ‘hood, of a lost boy who can’t or won’t grow up, John Singleton’s “Baby Boy” is heartfelt and personal as it attempts to deal with something real, but its increasing desperation to get everything said leads it to stumble over itself. With Tyrese Gibson, Omar Gooding, A.J. Johnson and Ving Rhames. (2:09) R, for strong sexuality, language, violence and some drug use.

5. Stars Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (1999). Although this prequel to the original “Star Wars” trilogy is serviceable, it’s noticeably lacking in warmth and humor. Its visual strengths are considerable, but from a dramatic point of view it’s ponderous and plodding. “Episode I” stars Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor as the Jedi knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala of Naboo and Jake Lloyd as young Anakin Skywalker. PG, for sci-fi action/violence.

What’s Coming

Wednesday: “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Planet of the Apes.”

Nov. 27: “Made,” “Bread and Roses,” “Pootie Tang.”

Dec. 4: “Pearl Harbor,” “Summer Catch,” “American Outlaws,” “John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars.”

Dec. 11: “The Basket,” “Hedwig & the Angry Inch,” “Jurassic Park 3,” “Rush Hour 2,” “The Score.”

Dec. 18: “The Center of the World,” “Princess Diaries,” “Scary Movie 2,” “Series 7.”

Dec. 26: “Dancing at the Blue Iguana,” “Evolution,” “Two Can Play That Game.”

Dec. 29: “Atlantis: The Lost Empire.”

Jan. 2: “Brother,” “The Fast and the Furious,” “The Glass House,” “Greenfingers,” “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?”

Jan. 8: “Jeepers Creepers.”

Rental video charts provided by VSDAVidTrac, sales charts by VideoScan Inc.