VideoView -- UPI Arts & Entertainment

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MOVIES

"The Crime of Padre Amaro" -- This controversial but compelling Mexican import tells of a young, ambitious priest whose noble intentions sink in the quicksand of compromises and human frailties. Father Amaro (Gael Garcia Bernal), a well-connected priest on the rise, is sent to a rural parish to work under the tutelage of the aging local priest, Father Benito (Sancho Garcia), determined to root out any corruption he might find. But he turns a blind eye to Benito's money-laundering involvement with drug lords, especially since the money is helping build a much-needed hospital. With some difficulty, he also overlooks his mentor's affair with a parishioner (Angelica Aragon) whose teenage daughter Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancon) is becoming a problem. Amelia develops an immediate crush on the young priest, her desire sharpened by his unavailability, and Amaro, taken by the lovely lass, finds it quite easy after a while to become available. As would be expected, their sexual alliance takes a tragic turn. The church campaigned strenuously against this movie but it became the No. 1 film of all time in Mexico anyway. It is not so much an indictment of the church as it is a melodrama about priests who are human and therefore some are good, some are bad. 2002. 120 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. Rated R (sexuality, language, some disturbing images).

"The Transporter" -- An explosive wall-to-wall action romp about a man who transports anything -- or anyone -- for a price, no questions asked, never mind the danger or legality. Blending Bondian intrigue with Hong Kong mayhem, the film opens with a rush, an inventive breakneck police chase through narrow, crowded streets, a pace it almost manages to maintain. Frank Martin (Jason Statham), a former British military agent now living quietly on the French Rivera between jobs, imposes strict guidelines on himself and his employers and when he breaks one of those rules (he looks inside the package when he notices it wiggling), he brings on a world of trouble. His cargo turns out to be a pretty young woman (Taiwanese actress Shu Qi), being held captive by international slave traders until he uncharacteristically frees her and whisks her off to his villa. Soon the bad guys, armed with everything from rocket launchers on down, show up to do some serious landscape changes -- and maybe transport the transporter to another world. Logically flawed, not a lot of plot and minimal dialogue but if virtually non-stop action is your dish, this is a feast. 2002. 92 minutes. Fox Home Entertainment. Rated PG-13 (violent sequences and some sensuality).

"Bloody Sunday" -- Just over 31 years ago, on Jan. 30, 1972, a massive civil rights march began quietly in Derry, Northern Ireland. It ended abruptly in tragedy and is still under investigation to this day, another open wound in the long, contested history of the British in Northern Ireland. Writer-director Paul Greengrass, telling his harrowing story in the form of a documentary, vividly chronicles the confrontation that followed when British soldiers opened fire on the unarmed marchers, hitting 27 people, at least five shot in the back, killing 14. The army claimed it was returning fire. "We only want a peaceful march," the throng of mostly Catholic marchers were told by Ivan Cooper (James Nesbitt), their leader and Protestant man in parliament. "This is our day." Not so, said the army, personified by Maj. Gen. Robert Ford (Tim Piggott-Smith), reiterating that marches are banned and "Any responsibility for violence must rests on their shoulders." Greengrass' approach is to center on a quartet of protagonists, cutting back and forth, as though he had reporters imbedded on either side, telling his story from opposing viewpoints but never wavering, never losing his focus on a terrible event. 2002. 110 minutes. Paramount Home Entertainment. Rated R violence and language).

"Standing in the Shadows of Motown" -- They were great. Maybe beyond great. They created a distinctive sound and had more musical hits than all the famous pop singers of their day combined. They also were virtually anonymous. The praise went to Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Smoky Robinson and so on. But behind them were Motown's house musicians who gave them their solid backing on all Motown hits recorded in Detroit. Paul Justman's entertaining and informative documentary gives belated praise to them, an indispensable group known simply as The Funk Brothers. This was a talented group of jazz and R&B musicians who got together in the late 1950s to play backup for the Motown studio and performed in the shadows on literally hundreds of hits over the next decade or so. As to their value, arranger Steve Jordan puts it in the sentiment of someone who was there, "You could have had Deputy Dawg singing some of the stuff." 2003. 108 minutes. Artisan Home Entertainment. Rated PG.(language and thematic elements).

VIDBITS

Coming up: the Sandra Bullock-Hugh Grant romantic comedy "Two Weeks Notice," Disney's "Treasure Planet" and the horror flick "Darkwolf"... Billboard says "Maid in Manhattan" remains No. 1 on the video rental charts this week...

The latest Bruce Willis war movie, Columbia's "Tears of the Sun," will be deployed on video June 10 and Fox's action thriller "Daredevil" starring Ben Affleck is due July 29. Warner is returning "The Mission" as a two-disc DVD edition on May 13. The 1986 epic features Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons...

"Family Guy," seasons 1 and 2 of the TV cult favorite featuring the Griffin family of Quahog, R.I. That would include Peter, the obese, heavy-drinking, fun-loving father, his cool, calm and collected wife Lois, their two teenage children, a baby bent on world domination and a talking, martini-drinking dog named Brian, easily the smartest member of brood. From Fox, runs about 10 hours...

U.S. consumers spent $2.34 billion on VHS and DVD rentals during the first quarter of 2003, breaking the all-time 2001 record by about $8 million, according to the Video Software Dealers Association. Meanwhile, Variety says wholesalers have told studios at the National Association of Video Distributors that the DVD format could represent as much as 75 per cent of industry revenue by the end of the year.