new video releases

12 ANGRY MEN is my favorite courtroom drama. You can feel the summer heat in the jury room as Henry Fonda refuses to be bullied into a guilty verdict and must plead his case point-by-point to his eleven fellow jurors. Lee J. Cobb, Jack Klugman, E.G. Marshall, Martin Balsam and Ed Begley deliberate. Sidney Lumet's first film based on the stage play by Reginald Rose.

AMERICAN BUFFALO (1996)- David Mamet's play about three dim bulbs planning to steal a coin collection. Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz star.

BABETTE'S FEAST (1987) - I generally don't go for Danish films but this story about a pair of sisters in a small town, one of whom gains a finiancial windfall interested me. Of course that was 14 years ago. The expressions on the faces of the actors as they enjoy a very special meal still sticks in my memory.

BEFORE NIGHT FALLS: SPECIAL EDITION Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas was imprisoned in his own country for his homosexuality in the 1950s and found liberation in New York in the '80s. Actor Javier Bardeem was Oscar nominated for his portrayal in Julian Schnabel's film. Rent It

ELMER GANTRY Burt Lancaster in an over-the-top performance as a charlaton preacher man. Sinclair Lewis is unflinching in his rebuke of hucksters who use the Lord's name for personal gain. If you remember The Partridge Family, you won't want to miss Shirley Jones in her Oscar winning role as a prostitute. Written and directed by Richard Brooks.

FOUR MUSKETEERS Richard Lester's pair of Musketeer movies from the seventies had the right tongue-in-cheek approach as far as I'm concerned. Don't mistake this for the one where Bryan Adams sings, "One For All and All for Love."

I SHOT ANDY WARHOL (1995) - Lili Taylor gave the best performance of her career to date playing militant feminist Valerie Solanas, author of SCUM (SOCIETY FOR CUTTING UP MEN). Fun depiction of the Andy Warhol universe and sly direction by Mary Harron who couldn't quite bring off American Psycho.

JEEVES & WOOSTER Two seasons of the BBC series based on PG Wodehouse's most famous upper middle class twit and his long suffering servant. Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. A good-natured skewering of England's most worthless class.

JEWEL IN THE CROWN Tim Piggott Smith is thoroughly despicable in this British TV version of Paul Scott's RAJ QUARTET. Anglo-Indian history beautifully realized.

JUDE Kate Winslet and Chris Ecclseston in a good adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel. Typically tragic romance set in the mythical English countryside of Wessex. Directed by Michael Winterbottom.

THE LONGEST YARD (1974) Robert Aldrich's football movie is probably my favorite of that genre (not that it's a favorite genre of mine. Burt Reynolds plays a professional quarterback imprisoned for throwing a game. The climactic game features the prisoners against the guards.

THE MIRACLE WORKER A young Patty Duke made a name for herself as Helen Keller. Teacher Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) works tirelessly to find a way to reach her deaf-dumb-and-blind student.

MOTHER Albert Brooks' s last great film. Brooks plays a writer who gets divorced and goes to live with his mother, Debbie Reynolds, to see if he can figure out what's causing his disastrous relationships with women. Debbie Reynolds is great.

MR. AND MRS. BRIDGE This quiet Merchant /Ivory production features two beautifully understated performances by Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in a story about some uptight WASPS.

NORTH DALLAS FORTY (1979) Nick Nolte plays an aging wide receiver who endures pain killers and management on and off the field. Mac Davis (is he down in Branson, Missouri now) co-stars.

THE QUIET MAN (1952) John Wayne plays an American ex-boxer who moves to Ireland to escape his past and find the fiery Maureen O'Hara. Barry Fitzgerald also stars. John Ford directs. DVD includes a "Making of" documentary hosted by Leonard Maltin and the original trailer.

REAL LIFE With reality television now the mainstay of the commercial broadcast networks, Albert Brooks's satire of a documentary filmmaker recording the life of an American family is more timely than ever.

REAR WINDOW Magazine photographer Jimmy Stewart has broken his leg and watches his neighbors to pass the time as he convalesces. His fiancee Grace Kelly disapproves. Across the courtyard, Raymond Burr seems to be up to something peculiar. Has he murdered his wife? Thelma Ritter is hilarious as Stewart's nurse. Restored version of a Hitchcock classic.

ROPE Alfred Hitchcock's conceit of filming in a single, continuous shot doesn't add much, nor does it detract from the suspense of Patrick Hamilton's play. Thrill seeking college students John Dall and Farley Granger hold a dinner party in the very room where they've hidden their victim's corpse.

RIVER'S EDGE (1986) - Your stranger than average "teens find dead body" movie primarily because of Crispin Glover who, scarily enough, may be playing himself here. A young Keanu Reaves and Ione Skye, plus Dennis Hopper, the Bruce Dern of the '80s. Unfortunately, there is no commentary track by Mr. Glover.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS - Anthony Hopkins will be the only repeat offender in the upcoming HANNIBAL (which I thought was Mark Twain's biography for a while). The original creeped and gored me out.

SHADOW OF A DOUBT features Joseph Cotten as one of Hitchcock's trail blazing serial killers, The Merry Widow murderer, who visits his sister in sleepy Santa Rosa, California, as his niece Theresa Wright begins to suspect him. Some nice Thornton Wilder small town humor. Crime fiction buffs Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn casually hypothesize ways to kill each other without leaving a trace.

SMALL CHANGE (1976) - If you're a Truffaut fan, there's plenty of new stuff out this week. This is my favorite film about kids being kids.

SOME LIKE IT HOT: SPECIAL EDITION After accidentally witnessing the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, musicians Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis take it on the lamb (in drag) with Marilyn Monroe and her all girl band. Recently voted the best comedy of all time. Includes documentary with Leonard Maltin and Tony Curtis. Rent It

TAXI DRIVER: SPECIAL EDITION (1975) Robert De Niro in his finest performance. Martin Scorsese's night time world also includes a brilliant Bernard Herrmann score and supporting performances by Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle and Jodi Foster. Making of feature. Interactive screenplay.

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in a pleasant enough romantic comedy with a Nora Ephron script and Rob Reiner direction. Deleted scenes, documentary, commentary track by Rob Reiner.

ZARDOZ I don't know of anyone who thinks this is a good movie but I've enjoyed it every time I've seen it. It's totally ridiculous. Sean Connery runs around in a pony tail and women's shoes in some bizarre alternate future. John Alderton and Charlotte Rampling also appear. John Boorman's commentary may answer the question: what the hell was he thinking?