VIDEO NEWS

L.A. Times Archives

Nov. 29, 2001 12 AM PT

What’s New

Bread and Roses (2001). England’s Ken Loach brings his usual deft mix of the personal and the political to Los Angeles for his American debut film, which depicts a much-abused and deprived cleaning crew at a downtown high-rise gradually aroused to protest by an irrepressible labor organizer (Adrien Brody) and one of the workers, a naive and idealistic newcomer from Mexico (Pilar Padilla). Studio Home Entertainment: no list price; DVD: $24.99; (CC); R, for strong language and brief nudity.

*Divided We Fall (2001). Poignant, humanistic and irresistibly comic, this World War II story of a couple who shelter a Jewish concentration camp escapee half against their will is reminiscent of the great days of the Czech New Wave in its ability to walk the line between humor, pathos and potential tragedy. Columbia Tristar: no list price; DVD: $29.95; (CC); PG-13, for some violence and sexual content.

Made (2001). Hilarious, unpretentious comedy reunites “Swingers’” Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn as construction worker/aspiring boxer pals who agree to fly from L.A. to make a delivery for their mobster boss (Peter Falk). With Sean Combs, Famke Janssen. Artisan: no list price; DVD: $24.98; (CC); R, for pervasive language, some drug use and sexuality.

Pootie Tang (2001). This slapdash sendup of numerous genres (‘70s blaxploitation, cinema verite, superhero sagas and gritty urban dramas) contains some clever moments, but director-writer Louis C.K. relies too heavily on low humor in attempting to arouse high comedy. With Lance Crouther, JB Smoove and Chris Rock. Paramount: no list price; DVD: $29.99; (CC); PG-13, for sex-related material, language and drug content.

The Road Home (2001). Zhang Yimou’s latest is a work of poetic grandeur, set in a remote north China village and starring “Crouching Tiger’s” Zhang Ziyi as a peasant girl who falls in love with the new schoolmaster (Zheng Hao). Columbia Tristar: no list price; DVD: $29.95; (CC); G.

What’s Hot

* Last week’s Top 5 VHS rentals:

1. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider It’s got perhaps the most popular of video games as source material and a sought-after star as its marquee attraction, but what it has really got is, as the old song would have it, plenty of nothing. It lacks genuine thrills, and even the presence of star Angelina Jolie can’t keep this plodding, underwhelming film from playing like “Lara Croft: Yawn Inducer.” PG-13, for action violence and some sensuality.

2. America’s Sweethearts Reliably directed by Joe Roth, it’s well-cast, with an excellent premise and a wicked sense of humor, especially about the movie business. Enormously engaging in its opening segments, it’s unable to sustain that good feeling over the long haul. Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones and John Cusack star. PG-13, for language, some crude and sexual humor.

3. 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 Eddie Murphy. PG, for mild language and some crude humor.

4. 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 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.” PG-13, for language and sexual references.

5. 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.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD rentals:

1. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

2. America’s Sweethearts

3. Swordfish

4. Legally Blonde

5. Shrek

* Last week’s Top 5 VHS sellers:

1. Shrek

2. Mickey’s Magical Christmas

3. 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. PG, for animal action and humor.

4. Barbie in the Nutcracker.

5. Save the Last Dance (2001). A twist of fate sends an aspiring ballerina (Julia Stiles) from a small town to urban Chicago and an interracial romance with a bright youth (Sean Patrick Thomas) hoping to land a premed scholarship. There’s a lot of dancing and heart-tugging but a gritty edge of urban realism as well. PG-13, for violence, sexual content, language and a brief drug reference.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD sellers:

1. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

2. Shrek

3. America’s Sweethearts

4. Swordfish

5. Legally Blonde

What’s Coming

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

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

Dec. 18: “The Center of the World,” “Moulin Rouge,” “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.”