Five fascinating films to offer challenging options to viewers
In the film noir-influenced tale, a meek small-town barber (Billy Bob Thornton of “Monster’s Ball”) sets in motion a deadly chain of events after discovering an affair between his wife (Frances McDormand of “Fargo”) and her wealthy boss (James Gandolfini of HBO’s “The Sopranos”). Fabulous ‘Friends’
Each of the 24 original episodes – starring Lisa Kudrow, Courtney Cox-Arquette, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc as Phoebe, Monica, Rachel, Ross, Chandler and Joey, respectively – will feature previously unseen footage. Star-watchers will also have fun watching performers such as George Clooney, Noah Wyle, supermodel Jill Goodacre and comic actor Jon Lovitz show up in the early episodes.”Friends: The Complete First Season” joins other programs – including “The X-Files,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Ally McBeal,” “The Simpsons,” “M*A*S*H,” “All in the Family,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Sex and the City” and “The Larry Sanders Show” – available in complete seasons as boxed sets. It’s a welcome addition.
Coming Soon!
The following titles either have been or soon will be released to video stores. (If your local tape outlet doesn’t stock them, tapes can be mail ordered by calling (800) 523-0823 or DVDs by calling (800) 624-3078, unless otherwise noted.)n “Ali” (Columbia TriStar; $99.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; April 30) with Oscar-nominee Will Smith as legendary boxer Muhammad Ali in director Michael Mann’s $100 million cinematic biography.
– “Not Another Teen Movie” (Columbia TriStar; $99.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; April 30) with Jamie Pressly (“Joe Dirt”) and Eric Jungmann (“Varsity Blues”) in a raunchy spoof of teen-oriented comedies.
– “Touch Me” (Steeplechase/Iron Home Entertainment; $49.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; now available) with Amanda Peet (“High Crimes”), Michael Vartan (TV’s “Alias”) and Olympic gold-medal winner Greg Louganis in a drama about a young woman who meets the man of her dreams. She then discovers that her ex-boyfriend has AIDS and may have given her the virus.
– “Blind Heat” (Monarch; $49.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; April 30) with Maria Conchita Alonso (“Moscow on the Hudson”) and Jeff Fahey (“The Lawnmower Man”) in a thriller about a husband racing against the clock to save his kidnapped wife.
– “Cruel and Unusual” (Columbia TriStar; $99.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; April 30) with Tom Berenger (“Training Day”) in a psychological thriller about a killer who moves to a small fishing village in pursuit of his next victim.
– “Re-Animator: Millennium Edition” (Elite; $29.99, DVD only; April 30) with Jeffrey Combs in director Stuart Gordon’s outlandish adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s novel about a mad scientist bringing the dead back to life.
– “Jerry Maguire: Special Edition DVD” (Columbia TriStar; $27.99, DVD only; April 30) with Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger, Cuba Gooding Jr., Kelly Preston and Jonathan Lipnicki in a new pressing of director Cameron Crowe’s comedy romance about a driven sports agent. The double-disc set includes deleted scenes, commentary by Crowe, Cruise, Zellweger and Gooding and theatrical trailers. Gooding won an Oscar as best supporting actor, and the film received Academy Award nominations for best picture, actor (Cruise), screenplay (Crowe) and editing.
– Two titles – “Greatest Hits & Rarities” and “All Time Favorites” (Anchor Bay; $14.99 each, DVD only; now available) – in “The Three Stooges” comedy series.
– “America’s Greatest Victories” (A&E; $29.99, tape and DVD; (800) 423-1212; April 30), a documentary on the United States’ military triumphs from the American Revolution through The Gulf War.
– “The World Trade Center: A Modern Marvel” (A&E; $19.99, tape and DVD; (800) 423-1212; April 30), a History Channel documentary that was completed seven months before the 9/11 tragedy and traces the construction history of the engineering and architectural marvel.
– “Avengers ’68, DVD Sets 3 & 4” (A&E; $39.99 each, DVD only; (800) 423-1212; April 30) with Patrick Macnee and Linda Thorson in re-mastered episodes of the British TV favorite.