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by Ivana Redwine

Here's a selection of new movies on DVD for September, 2004.

September 7, 2004

"Jersey Girl"

Written and directed by Kevin Smith, this comedy stars Ben Affleck as Ollie, a widower who gets into a romantic relationship with a video-store clerk (Liv Tyler). Ollie is raising a young daughter (Raquel Castro), and he lives with his father (George Carlin) in New Jersey. Ollie is employed by the public works department, but he longs to return to being a music publicist in Manhattan. Also in the movie are Jason Biggs and Jennifer Lopez.

"The Ladykillers"

Tom Hanks stars in this Coen brothers heist comedy, a remake of a 1955 classic starring Alec Guinness. The Coens have transplanted the old British comedy to the American South, where "Professor" Dorr (Hanks) rents a room from a little old African-American lady (Irma P. Hall). Dorr and four other crooks pretend to practice music in her cellar as a cover for their real activity, which is constructing a tunnel to a vault where casino money is kept.

"The Punisher"

Based on a comic book, this grim action movie with a revenge plot stars Tom Jane and John Travolta. As an F.B.I. agent, Frank Castle (Jane) causes the accidental death of the son of crime boss Howard Saint (Travolta). Saint retaliates by massacring Castle's entire family and almost killing Castle himself. But Castle recovers from his injuries, and he sets out to get revenge on Saint and everyone else who played a role in slaughtering his family.

"Soul Plane"

This highly politically incorrect, silly, raunchy spoof of airplane disaster movies stars Kevin Hart and Tom Arnold. After Nashawn (Hart) wins $100 million in a lawsuit, he starts an airline catering to African Americans. The airline's only plane is purple, the pilot (Snoop Dogg) is fresh out of prison, and the passengers have fried chicken and Colt 45. The movie chronicles the hectic inaugural flight, and Tom Arnold plays a white passenger named Hunkee.

"Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter … and Spring"

A big hit with critics during its theatrical release, this is a lyrical Korean-language drama. The setting is a beautiful remote mountain lake during modern times, and the story spans decades. The main characters are two Buddhist monks, the younger of whom ages from boyhood to maturity during the course of the movie. Divided into five vignettes corresponding to the seasons in the title, this low-keyed film is poetic and philosophical.

September 14, 2004

"Home on the Range"

This Disney animated comedy is set in the Old West. Three cows (voices of Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench, and Jennifer Tilly) live on the Patch of Heaven farm, which is threatened with foreclosure. They set out to capture a rustler (voice of Randy Quaid) so they can collect the reward and save their farm. Other characters are voiced by Cuba Gooding Jr., Steve Buscemi, and Estelle Harris. Songs are performed by Bonnie Raitt, Tim McGraw, and k.d. lang.

"Man on Fire"

Denzel Washington stars in this action thriller. Washington plays John Creasy, a down-on-his-luck former covert operative who travels to Mexico City. There he takes a job guarding a young girl (Dakota Fanning) whose parents are wealthy. Creasy gradually bonds with the girl, but then she is kidnapped. That's when he goes on a rampage, encountering a web of corruption as he tries to rid the city of the kidnapping ring that has been terrorizing it.

"Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed"

Aimed at kids, this comedy is the sequel to "Scooby-Doo" (2002) and brings back the title character (a talking, computer-generated dog) and the actors Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, and Linda Cardellini. In "Scooby-Doo 2" the gang must deal with the same bunch of seemingly supernatural creatures that have once again been unleashed. Seth Green, Peter Boyle, Tim Blake Nelson, and Alicia Silverstone also appear in the movie.

September 21, 2004

"Coffee and Cigarettes"

Over a period of several years, Jim Jarmusch put together this offbeat little film, which consists of 11 vignettes. Each vignette typically involves two or three actors performing a short skit while meeting over coffee and cigarettes. For example, in one vignette Alfred Molina tries to convince Steve Coogan they are related. Other actors appearing include Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Roberto Benigni, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, and Iggy Pop.

"Mean Girls"

Adapted from Rosalind Wiseman's book "Queen Bees and Wannabes," this comedy observes high school social life. Cady (Lindsay Lohan) had been home-schooled in the African boondocks until she moved to an American suburb and enrolled in public school as a junior. She first befriends two misfits, but soon joins the three most popular girls in a group called the Plastics. It's up to Cady to figure out what's best for her in her new life.

September 28, 2004

"The Alamo"

This is a dramatization of the 1836 events that took place in San Antonio during the Texas Revolution. Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), Jim Bowie (Jason Patric), William Barrett Travis (Patrick Wilson), and about 185 Texans tried to hold a fort against a siege by thousands of Mexicans led by Santa Anna (Emilio Echevarría). The defenders died, but their resistance became a rallying cry for the Texas army, led by Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid).

"Envy"

Ben Stiller and Jack Black star in this comedy directed by Barry Levinson. Tim (Stiller) and Nick (Black) are family men and pals who both work in a factory. But when Nick comes up with an idea for Vapoorizer, a spray that vaporizes dog poo, Tim refuses to invest $2000 in it. Then the product makes Nick fabulously wealthy, and Tim is consumed by envy. When Tim's wife leaves him and he loses his job, his life threatens to spin out of control.

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet star in this unconventional love story that has a maze-like narrative structure. Joel (Carrey) and Clementine (Winslet) had a romantic relationship that ended badly, and she had a medical procedure performed that erased her memories of him. To get even, Joel has the procedure done on him so he can rid himself of all memories of her. But midway through, he wants to stop the process, and the movie takes us inside his mind.

"Super Size Me"

In this entertaining documentary, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock recorded what happened when he ate nothing but food from McDonald's for 30 consecutive days. Spurlock explores various aspects of fast-food culture while he has three fairly typical meals a day at Mickey D outlets. During his experiment, his weight balloons, his blood pressure and cholesterol go up, his sex drive goes down, and his physicians worry about damage to his liver.

"Walking Tall"

The Rock stars in this action movie, which is a remake of a 1973 film of the same name that starred Joe Don Baker as Buford Pusser. The 2004 movie transplants the setting from Tennessee to the Pacific Northwest and changes the name of the main character to Chris Vaughn (The Rock). The storyline remains the same: the hero returns to his hometown after a long absence to find it filled with corruption and takes it upon himself to clean things up.

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