VideoView -- UPI Arts & Entertainment

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MOVIES

"Jurassic Park III" -- The third venture into this isolated world of prehistoric beasts does not have the impact of the earlier encounters and there's no Steven Spielberg at the helm this time. But it's still a good idea and, on its own, makes for a solid, tense monsters-or-us thriller. Sam Neill reprises his role of paleontologist Alan Grant who's tricked into guiding a party to the forbidden island of Isla Sorna, off the coast of Costa Rica, the second of the dinosaur havens and site of the first sequel "The Lost World." Doing the tricking are Paul Kirby (William H. Macy) and his ex-wife Amanda (Tea Leoni) who are searching for their 14-year-old son, stranded on the island after a parasailing accident. But before Grant and his party find the boy, T-Rex and the raptors find them. 2001. 91 minutes. Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Rated PG-13 (intense sci-fi terror and violence).

"The Score" -- Robert DeNiro stars in this elaborate, engrossing crime caper as Nick, an aging break-in specialist on his last job, Edward Norton is Jack, the cocky kid with, he thinks, all the answers, and Marlon Brando is Max the mastermind. Nick owns a jazz club in Montreal, has a girlfriend (Angela Bassett) and wants to settle down with both. But old friend Max has one final job for him, one that will net him millions and the retirement he wants, the theft of an invaluable French antique from the supposedly impenetrable Montreal Customs House. One major drawback is Jack the contact, a janitor in the building, pampered by his co-workers because they think he's retarded, who knows how to get in and where the prize is hidden. He's also a loose cannon and things get very harrowing as the intricate, grueling operation is carried out. Best heist movie in years. 2001. 123 minutes. Paramount Home Entrtainment. Rated R (language).

"Rush Hour 2" -- Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker return for another brash and busy romp as the ultimate in odd-couple cops, a serious, quick-footed Hong Kong inspector and a sassy motor-mouth LA detective. The boys are enjoying some time off in Hong Kong when the U.S. Embassy is bombed and suddenly they are in the thick of the case, tracking down crime boss Ricky Tan (John Lone) and trying to avoid his beautiful but deadly assistant (Zhang Ziyi of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"). Their investigation uncovers an international counterfeiting ring and takes them to Las Vegas for the big showdown in a lavish casino. Though mostly in short spurts, Chan shows off his remarkable athletic ability at every opportunity while Tucker's character chatters too much. If you liked the original, you'll like this one. 2001. 90 minutes. New Line Home Entertainment. Rated PG-13 (violence, profanity, brief nudity).

"The Basket" -- Rich Cowan's modest but beautifully shot tale of small-town America is an inviting family film though it tries to cover so much ground it doesn't always hit the mark. Set in rural Washington state in 1918, in the midst of World War I, the story touches on wartime impact, racial hatred, forbidden love, gambling, wheat fields, German opera and a newfangled round leather object called a basketball. 1999. 104 minutes. MGM Home Entertainment. Rated PG (some mild violence and brief language).

VIDBITS

Coming up next: "The Princess Diaries" and "Scary Movie 2"... "Planet Of The Apes" is the No. 1 video rental movie this week with "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" right behind...

Buena Vista's "Pearl Harbor," depicting in glowing detail the surprise Japanese attack 60 years ago, hit the video stores Tuesday and promptly sold more than 3 million copies the first day, according to Variety... Meanwhile, "Shrek" needed only a month to become the highest-selling DVD in history. DreamWorks says more than 5.5 million copies have been sold since the ogre's opus debuted Nov. 5, topping its "Gladiator," that sold 5 million...

A treat for fans of early Disney and those who grew up watching "Disneyland" and "The Wonderful World Of Color" on TV. As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth, Disney Home Video has released on DVD a four-disc salute called "Walt Disney Treasures," covering TV show episodes, Mickey Mouse color cartoons from the '30s, the "Silly Symphonies" cartoons and all five episodes of "Davy Crockett," coonskin cap and all...

The American Film Institute has a new survey going, this time to pick the 100 best movie love stories of the past 100 years. The ballot contains 400 nominated films, all tales of romance of one kind or another, happy to tragic, a wide, wide range from such memorable works as "An Affair To Remember" and "A Place In The Sun" to, are you ready for this, "King Kong." Well, after all, it was a variation of "Beauty and the Beast"... In earlier surveys, AFI voters chose "Citizen Kane" as the best American movie of the past century, Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn as the best actors and "Some Like It Hot" the best comedy...

Meanwhile, back at the raunch... Universal promises a big slice of "American Pie 2" when it hits home video Jan. 15. It'll be available in unrated and R-rated versions on VHS and DVD with unrated versions of both the original and the sequel included on the DVD presentation which offers, according to the studio, "10 hours of in-your-face entertainment"...