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VideoView - UPI Arts & Entertainment

By JACK E. WILKINSON, United Press International
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What's new on the home video scene...

Movies

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"Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" -- Upset that a movie based on their comic book alter egos is being made but they aren't getting a cut, those ultimate slackers Jay and Silent Bob invade Hollywood to halt production. Their wacky cross-country jaunt and assault on movieland makes up what passes for a plot in this uniformly crude but funny final installment in Kevin Smith's misadventures of his dipsy duo that began with "Clerks" and "Mallrats." Whereas the boys in the past have been mostly in the background, this is their movie, throughout, and it takes a fan to really appreciate it. While Bob (played by writer-director Smith) is the quiet one, a sort of pudgy Harpo, his scatterbrain sidekick Jay (Jason Mewes) chatters non-stop, but with a limited vocabulary in which words rarely go beyond four letters; if the "f" word were deleted, this movie would be about Silent Jay and Silent Bob. They go scampering about, weirdos bumping into fellow weirdos, poking fun at everything they see, leaving no turn unstoned. Among those appearing briefly are Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Shannon Doherty. 2001. 104 minutes. Dimension Home Video. Rated R (non-stop crude and sexual humor, pervasive strong language and drug content).

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"Bones" -- In this old-fashioned horror flick for a new generation, rap star Snoopy Dogg gets his first featured role, though most of the time he's a ghost, as '70s hustler Jimmy Bones who's murdered by people he trusted. Now, more than two decades later, he has come back for revenge. Bones' malevolent spirit resides in a musty, rundown tenement that once was a classy home with his red-eyed wolfhound and other assorted spooky things. When the sons of a man involved in the killing buy the building and move in, with the dim idea of turning it into a ance hall, they unwittingly set Bones loose on the neighbrhood. Pam Grier plays his jittery ex-girl friend. 2001. 94 minutes. New Line Home Entertainment. Rated R (violence, gore, language, sexuality, drugs).


"A Glimpse Of Hell" -- In 1989, a gunnery turret aboard the battleship USS Iowa explodes during a training exercise, killing 47 men. This is the story of that blast, its aftermath -- and its save-face cover up. The Navy, through manipulation and intimidation, wants to blame it all on a homosexual rift between two sailors and the ship's captain (James Caan) goes along, to a point. No one wants to listen to a skeptical lieutenant (Robert Sean Leonard), who contends that faulty equipment and gunpowder on board were the real causes of the tragedy, a stand that gets him branded disloyal. An intriguing tale well laid out. 2001. 85 minutes. Fox Home Entertainment. Rated PG-13 (Disturbing images of explosion aftermath, thematic elements and some language).

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"The Musketeer" -- Virtually non-stop action and another slimy characterization by Tim Roth are the main features of this latest rendition of Alexander Dumas' "The Three Musketeers," a version Al himself probably wouldn't recognize. Justin Chambers plays D'Artagnan, the young would-be 17th century cavalier who teams with the Musketeers to protect France's King Louis XIII from treacherous Cardinal Richelieu (Stephen Rea) and his evil hired sword Febre (Roth), with whom D'Artagnan has a personal score to settle. The fast-paced, often gravity-defying fight scenes, of which there are many, are well choreographed in true martial arts style. 2001. 105 minutes. Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Rated PG-13 (intense action violence and some sexual material.)


"Haiku Tunnel" -- Josh Kornbluth, who made this so-so office comedy with brother Jacob, plays a neurotic secretary named, fittingly, Josh Kornbluth, who lands a job with a San Francisco lawyer. Overweight and overwrought but affable, Josh seems to fit in well -- he can be as incompetent as the next guy -- but his carefully unstructured lifestyle begins to unravel, starting with his new boss' 17 "very important letters" that just never seem to get mailed. 2000. 88 minutes. Columbia TriStar Home Video. Rated R (language and some sexuality).

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VIDBITS

Coming up next: "The Last Castle" starring Robert Redford and Steven Spielberg's "A.I. Artificial Intelligence"... "Rat Race" is still out front in the video rental derby...


For kids, the continuation of a classic: Disney's "Cinderella II: Dreams Come True," or what follows "happily ever after." In this full-length animated musical comedy, Cinderella and the prince are married, she's busily bringing her own style to the palace and, with the help of her fairy godmother, helping the frisky mouse Jaq become a man and frumpy stepsister Anastasia land a beau (Rated G, runs 73 minutes)...


Also for kids, a new generation: The No. 1 box office draw in the mid '30s wasn't even 10 years old yet. Marking the 70th show business debut of Shirley Temple, Fox has released on DVD "Heidi," "Dimples" and "Bright Eyes," in which the marvelous moppet sang "On The Good Ship Lollipop"...


New on the video shelves: "The Baby Whisperer, Volume 1," based on the best-seller "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer," in which author Tracy Hogg offers advice to parents about calming, connecting and communicating with their newborn offspring...


The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in a case challenging a 1998 law to extend the term of copyright protection by 20 years and Hollywood is watching closely. Moviemakers fear that without the extension many early films would fall into the public domain...

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