Bringing out the big guns

Comedy

Delicatessen. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet creates a world in which cannibalism is the meal of choice for a butcher and apartment building owner. But things run slightly aground when his daughter falls in love with one of the tenants in this wickedly funny comedy. Buena Vista: $29.99, May 2.

A Fine Madness. Imagine Sean Connery as a frustrated poet living with his wife (Joanne Woodward) in New York City, at work on a masterpiece until he encounters the wife (Jean Seberg) of his psychiatrist. Warner Bros.: $19.97, June 20.

Last Holiday. Queen Latifah updates the wistful 1950s Alec Guinness movie as a woman who decides to have fun in her final days. Paramount: includes deleted scenes, featurettes, $29.99, May 2.

The Loved One. Cinephile fave based on Evelyn Waugh’s book on the mortuary business. Directed by Tony Richardson and starring Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Dana Andrews and many more. Warner Bros.: $19.97, June 20.

Moonstruck. Amore Italiano in Brooklyn with Oscar winners Cher (for best actress) and Olympia Dukakis (for supporting actress), and Nicolas Cage and Danny Aiello, directed by Norman Jewison. Sony: with interviews, documentaries and a tour of Little Italy, $19.94, April 18.

Mrs. Henderson Presents. Stephen Frears directs Oscar-nominated Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins in this sendup of a ‘30s West End production that dispenses with clothing. Genius/Weinstein: includes featurette and interviews, $28.95, April 18.

Petulia. Four years after “A Hard Day’s Night,” director Richard Lester made this little satire on love, marriage and divorce and its attendant problems, starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott and Richard Chamberlain. Warner Bros.: $19.97, June 20.

The Princess Bride. Rob Reiner’s fairy tale about love truly conquering all. Robin Wright Penn is Princess Buttercup, Cary Elwes is her childhood sweetheart, Westley, who becomes the Dread Pirate Roberts attempting to save her from a marriage to Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). Sony: two discs, with documentaries, featurettes and commentaries, $24.96, June 13.

The Ringer. Johnny Knoxville stars as a man who poses as handicapped thinking he can enter the Special Olympics, win and pay off a debt. Fox: $29.99, May 16.

The Wedding Singer: Totally Awesome Edition. Adam Sandler pairs with Drew Barrymore in this popular flick about a man finding love again after being dumped at his own wedding. New Line: includes cut footage and an ‘80s mix tape, $19.97, April 25.

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Animation & Children

The Chipmunk Adventure. While David Seville takes off on a European trip, Alvin and the other chipmunks dream of adventure and set in motion more than they bargained for. Paramount. Includes original artwork and story panels, $14.99, May 23.

Dumbo: New Big Top Edition. Classic Disney animation on display in the story of a little elephant who puts his oversize ears to good use. Hipsters will particularly appreciate the “Pink Elephants on Parade” segment. Buena Vista: includes featurettes, animated shorts and a DisneyPedia on circus animals, $29.99, June 6.

Patlabor the Movie. Advanced robotic vehicles called Labors designed to help rebuild quake-devastated Tokyo are threatened with a virus. This Japanese animated classic was directed by Mamoru Oshii (“Ghost in the Shell,” “Jin-Roh”). Image: includes trailers, commercials and interviews, $29.99 (Collector’s Edition: $89.99), April 25.

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Drama

Un Coeur en Hiver (A Heart in Winter). Claude Sautet’s film about a female violinist seeking to penetrate the isolation and austerity of a violin maker while involved in an affair with his business partner. Koch Lorber: $29.98, Sept. 5.

The Bette Davis Collection: Volume 2. Contains “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?,” “Jezebel,” “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” “Marked Woman” and “Old Acquaintance.” Warner Bros.: seven discs, documentary narrated by Susan Sarandon, $59.92, May 30.

Body and Soul. John Garfield is a prizefighter who is sucked into mob corruption but finds a way to redeem himself in this 1947 film against which subsequent boxing movies are often judged. Paramount: $14.99, May 16.

Breakfast on Pluto. Neil Jordan’s film about a cross-dressing Irish innocent (Cillian Murphy) who goes to London in search of his birth mother and encounters strange doings. Sony: includes featurette and commentaries, $24.96, April 18.

Clark Gable Signature Collection. Contains “Boom Town,” “China Seas,” “Dancing Lady,” “Mogambo,” “San Francisco” and “Wife vs. Secretary.” Warner Bros.: six discs, $59.92, June 20.

Elevator to the Gallows. Louis Malle’s debut as a director, starring Jeanne Moreau as a woman who arranges to have her husband killed by a lover. Criterion: includes interviews with Malle and Moreau, footage of Miles Davis improvising the atmospheric score, $39.95, April 25.

The Family Stone. Complications ensue when the favorite son brings his intended fiancee home to meet his uninhibited family. Stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Dermot Mulroney as the young couple, Diane Keaton and Craig T. Nelson as the parents and Luke Wilson as Mulroney’s character’s laid-back brother. Fox: $29.99, May 2.

Film Noir Classic Film Collection: Volume 3. Contains “Border Incident,” “His Kind of Woman,” “Lady in the Lake,” “On Dangerous Ground” and “The Racket.” Films star Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Robert Ryan, Ricardo Montalban and Ida Lupino among others in this celebration of the seedy world of noir. Warner Bros.: six discs, includes documentary and commentaries, $49.92, July 11.

Fried Green Tomatoes: 15th Anniversary Edition. Oscar-nominated film about female friendships that endure through marriage, birth, death. Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker. Universal: includes deleted scenes, outtakes, commentary, $19.98, June 6.

Late Spring. Yasujiro Ozu’s poignant examination of a widower who must find a way to marry off his beloved daughter. Criterion: $39.95, May 9.

Letter From an Unknown Woman. Max Ophuls’ 1948 masterpiece starring Joan Fontaine as a woman in love with an obliviously self-absorbed pianist played by Louis Jordan. One of the quintessential tear-jerkers. Paramount: $14.99, May 16.

The Lon Chaney Jr. Collection. Contains “Manfish,” “The Golden Junkman,” “Lock-Up” and “Indestructible Man” (this particular title for the first time from a 35-millimeter source). Chaney was an actor’s actor, seemingly chameleon in his ability to move from role to role. Fox: $19.99, May 30.

Magic. Macabre relationship between a ventriloquist and his dummy, “Fats,” who it turns out has ideas of his own. Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret and Burgess Meredith star. Dark Sky: $19.98, April 25.

Match Point. Woody Allen’s film on seduction, ambition, attraction and success starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a former tennis pro caught between women -- his wife, played by Emily Mortimer, and his brother-in-law’s fiancee, played by Scarlett Johansson. DreamWorks: $19.95, April 25.

Mommie Dearest: Special Collector’s Edition. The hysteria, obsessions, descent into an alcoholic abyss and, particularly, the maternal failings of Joan Crawford, one of the queens of Hollywood’s Golden Era, as played by Faye Dunaway. Based on the book by Crawford’s daughter, Christina. Paramount: $14.99, June 6.

The Passenger. Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1975 moody, ambient film of alienation starring Jack Nicholson as a man trying to escape his past. Sony: includes commentaries, $24.96, April 25.

Pure. Molly Parker plays a widow who becomes a heroin addict while her son, played by Harry Eden, does what he can to keep the family from falling apart. Also stars Keira Knightley as a sympathetic waitress with demons of her own. Indican: $24.99, July 18.

Tennessee Williams Film Collection. Contains the movie versions of the master playwright’s “Sweet Bird of Youth,” “Night of the Iguana,” “Baby Doll,” “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone” and special editions of “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Warner Bros.: eight discs, documentaries, commentaries, interviews and outtakes, $68.92, May 2.

Track of the Cat: Special Collector’s Edition. William Wellman Jr. directs Robert Mitchum as the head of a bickering 19th century family who hunts the panther who killed his beloved older brother. Paramount: includes commentaries and featurettes, $14.99, June 6.

Transamerica. Felicity Huffman plays a man in the process of gender reassignment surgery who embarks on a cross-country car trip with a newly discovered son. Genius: includes bloopers and commentaries, $28.95, May 23.

Viridiana. Luis Bunuel’s look at a young woman whose Catholic ideals are severely tested by a corrupt uncle, a group of beggars and the uncle’s bastard son. Criterion: $29.95, May 23.

Waterland. Jeremy Irons is a history teacher who comes to grips with his past. Supporting cast includes Ethan Hawke, Sinead Cusack, Lena Headey and John Heard. Evocative photography of Norfolk in England. Fox: includes commentary and interviews, $19.99, May 9.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape: Special Collector’s Edition. Johnny Depp is Gilbert Grape, Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as Arnie, his mentally retarded brother. The film examines their relationship and the one with their sisters and Gilbert’s two liaisons -- first an older woman (Mary Steenburgen) and then one closer to his age (Juliette Lewis). Paramount, $19.99, June 20.

The White Countess. Merchant-Ivory period piece set in 1930s Shanghai starring Ralph Fiennes and three Redgraves: Natasha Richardson, Lynn and Vanessa Redgrave. Their lives intertwine at the nightclub at the White Countess on the verge of the Japanese invasion. Sony: includes featurette and commentaries, $26.96, May 16.

The William Shakespeare Compilation Box Set. Contains Julie Taymor’s bloody “Titus,” Baz Luhrmann’s updated “Romeo + Juliet” and the bewitching romance of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (the version headed by Michelle Pfeiffer and Kevin Kline). Fox: “Titus” (a two-disc set itself) and “Romeo + Juliet” include documentaries, interviews, commentaries, $24.98, April 23.

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Action & Adventure

Black Hawk Down: Extended Cut. Ridley Scott’s interpretation of real events in 1993 Somalia when Americans found themselves trapped in Mogadishu and fighting for their lives. Sony: includes PBS documentary on Somalia and eight minutes of deleted footage, $19.94, June 6.

Casualties of War: Extended Cut. When is murder murder in the context of war? That’s the question director Brian De Palma’s film poses when Michael J. Fox’s character witnesses a gang rape and murder of a young Vietnamese girl. He wants to bring the perpetrators to justice but confronts opposition from the other soldiers in his unit and the steely commanding officer played by Sean Penn. Sony: includes five minutes of deleted footage and two featurettes, $19.94, April 25.

The Cecil B. DeMille Collection. Big was never big enough for this director who can be said to have created the epic film. With “The Sign of the Cross,” “Four Frightened People,” “Cleopatra,” “The Crusades” and “Union Pacific.” Starring screen royalty: Claudette Colbert, Charles Laughton, Barbara Stanwyck and Anthony Quinn. Universal: five discs, $26.98, May 30.

Duma. Critics championed this family adventure to no avail last year; now you can judge for yourself whether they were right. A cheetah is returned to the wild by the boy who raised him, but events conspire to prevent him from succeeding. Directed by Carroll Ballard (“The Black Stallion,” “Fly Away Home”). Warner Bros.: $19.97, May 16.

Earthquake. Rolling and tumbling in L.A. with Charlton Heston as a construction engineer heading an all-star cast (Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Genevieve Bujold, etc.). A 1974 example of the modern disaster genre. Universal: $14, May 9.

Hostel. Torture, mutilation and sex in a strange Balkan byway provide the entertainment in a movie that dares the viewer to watch. Sony: includes commentaries and featurette, $28.95, April 18.

John Ford Film Collection.

Contains “The Lost Patrol,” “The Informer,” “Cheyenne Autumn,” “Mary of Scotland” and “Sergeant Rutledge.” Five classics from the dean of American cinema. Warner Bros.: five discs, $59.92, June 6.

Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut. The grand tapestry of the Crusades as imagined by Ridley Scott. Orlando Bloom is the simple blacksmith who becomes a knight. Fox: four discs, includes restored footage, bonus extras and commentaries, $34.98, May 23.

Mission: Impossible -- 10th

Anniversary Special Collector’s Edition. Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt, a secret agent running from government assassins in a succession of daredevil stunts. Paramount: $19.99, Tuesday.

The New World. The story of Pocahontas and John Smith and of two divergent cultures and an America untouched by European colonization. Directed by Terrence Malick, with Colin Farrell, Christian Bale, Christopher Plummer and newcomer Q’Orianka as Pocahontas. New Line: includes documentary, trailer, $27.95, May 9.

The Patriot: Extended Cut. Mel Gibson takes up arms against the British in the Revolutionary War to avenge his family. Sony: includes 10 minutes of deleted scenes, $19.94, April 25.

Platoon. Fear and loathing in the Mekong Delta. Oliver Stone’s unsparing look at conflict in Vietnam -- between Americans and the Viet Cong, between soldiers and their officers and within their own hearts. Winner of four Oscars, including best picture and director, it features Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp and John C. McGinley. Sony: with interviews, featurettes and deleted scenes, $24.96, May 30.

The Poseidon Adventure: Special Edition. Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Stella Stevens and Shelley Winters are among the many unlikely survivors attempting to reach the surface in their overturned ocean liner. Fox: includes many featurettes, commentaries, $19.98, May 9.

Ronin. Robert De Niro leads a crew of hard-bitten intelligence operatives in an effort to steal a metal case that might be sold to the Russians. Directed by John Frankenheimer with his considerable talent for action. Sony: two discs, includes featurettes, commentary and an alternate ending, $24.96, May 9.

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. A film on loyalty and friendship set in Mexico. Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars in this evocative western. Sony: $26.96, June 6.

The Towering Inferno: Special Edition. Paul Newman is the architect who discovers the building he designed has faulty wiring. Steve McQueen is the firefighter called in to fight an impossible battle. The all-star cast is filled out by William Holden, Faye Dunaway and Fred Astaire (who was nominated for an Oscar). Made in 1974, the film carries uncanny resonance after 9/11. Fox: $19.98, May 9.

Underworld: Evolution. Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman star in the sci-fi thriller that pits Death Dealer vampires against Lycan werewolves. Beckinsale revives the Diana Rigg look from the ‘60s TV hit “The Avengers” by sporting black leather. Sony: includes commentary, featurettes, $28.95, June 6.

Windtalkers: Extended Cut. Assigned to protect a Navajo code talker essential to the WWII effort, Nicolas Cage’s character finds that he must make a fateful decision during the Battle of Saipan. Sony: includes 20 minutes of deleted footage and three commentaries, $19.94, April 25.

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Musicals

Guys and Dolls: Deluxe Edition. Damon Runyon’s characters of street-wise hustlers, gum-popping dames and a Salvation Army sweetheart come to life with Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine. “Luck Be a Lady” and the title song are merely two of the hummable tunes from Frank Loesser’s appealing score. Sony: includes a two-part documentary with interviews and a 72-page booklet, $24.96, April 25.

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Documentary

A Bigger Splash. Exploring the work and life of painter David Hockney and his relationship with model and lover Peter Schlesinger, this quasi-documentary provides a telescopic view of the act of creation and Hockney’s inseparable personal life. First Run: includes interview and photo gallery, $32.99, April 18.

The Boys of Baraka. Popular festival entry follows a group of 12-year-old boys from a Baltimore ghetto experience to discovery and transformation at an experimental school in rural Kenya. ThinkFilm: includes commentary and deleted scenes, $29.99, June 6.

Crumb. Deep, often troubling exploration of Robert Crumb, iconographic comic artist whose work graced important album covers and who helped bring about the medium of the graphic novel. Sony: includes commentaries, $19.94, April 25.

Gay Sex in the ‘70s. A look at the breakthrough period in which entrenched mores were challenged and an effective political contingent was forged. Wolfe Video: $24.95, June 6.

The Goebbels Experiment. A look at the mind of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels using his diaries and voiced by Kenneth Branagh. Clips from German film and television punctuate the readings. First Run: $29.95, April 18.

Harlan County USA. Barbara Kopple’s Oscar-winning documentary examines a Kentucky mining strike during which the confrontation between labor and management grows violent and ugly. Criterion: includes interviews and outtakes, $39.95, May 23.

One Bright Shining Moment. Against overwhelming odds, the George McGovern presidential campaign struggled to unseat Richard Nixon in 1972 and went down in a crushing defeat. Or did it? Nixon was later impeached and the Democratic Party, for better or worse, brought to the table voices of the antiwar movement, the disenfranchised and a burgeoning left wing. First Run: includes interviews and deleted scenes, $29.95, April 18.

Protocols of Zion. An investigation into the bogus manuscript “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” that to this day is cited as justification for virulent anti-Semitism. ThinkFilm: includes deleted scenes and a Q&A; with director Marc Levin, July 11.

Winter Soldier. Important film marking the early rumblings of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and their willingness to discuss, at a 1971 gathering in Detroit, atrocities they had witnessed or participated in during the Vietnam War. Eighteen filmmakers -- the Winterfilm Collective, including award winners such as Barbara Kopple and Robert Fiore -- caught this event on film. Milliarium Zero: includes featurettes and a conversation with the filmmakers, $24.95, May 30.

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John Wayne/John Ford Film Collection

ONE of the great director-actor teams. Contains “The Searchers” (also available in a separate “special” edition at $26.99 and a “collector’s” edition at $39.92), “Stagecoach,” “Fort Apache,” “The Long Voyage Home,” “The Wings of Eagles,” “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” “They Were Expendable” and “3 Godfathers.” Warner Bros.: 10 discs, includes a 36-page press book on “The Searchers” and a reproduction of the original Dell comic book, $79.92 (other titles available separately at $12.97 to $19.97), June 6.

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Guide to the lists

The DVD preview lists include selected movies and TV-to-DVD releases scheduled through the summer. Some have already hit shelves in recent weeks. All prices are suggested list and may vary at different outlets. Release dates and titles may change.

Movies

Action/Adventure ...11

Animation and Children ...10

Comedy ...10

Documentary ...11

Drama ...10

Musicals ...11

Television

Animation and Children ...13

Comedy ...12

Drama ...12

Interview ...13

Music

All categories ...13

DVD Sneaks

Capsules compiled by

Casey Dolan