More of this Feature New Video/DVD Releases • Part 1: September Week One • Part 2: September Week Two • Part 3: September Week Three • Part 4: September Week Four

Related Resources • Movies on Video/DVD - January, 2002 to the Present • More Movies on Video and DVD in the Upcoming Months • Recommended September Releases on Video and DVD

by Ivana Redwine

There are some exciting movies on DVD and video this month! Some of the new movie releases on video and DVD slated for September, 2002, include "Monsters Inc.," "Changing Lanes," "Panic Room," and "Monsoon Wedding." Let's take a look at a selection of releases on video/DVD for week three of this month.

"40 Days and 40 Nights" (2002)

Josh Hartnett and Shannyn Sossamon are paired in this romantic comedy about abstaining from sex. After Matt (Hartnett) is dumped by his great-looking girlfriend (Vinessa Shaw), he goes through several months of being unable to relate properly to women. He decides he will avoid all forms of sexual behavior for the 40 days of Lent in the hope that this will help him come to terms with his problems. During Lent, Matt meets the good-looking Erica (Sossamon), and they become attracted to each other. However, Matt doesn't tell Erica about his self-imposed abstention, leading to a very strange romance. Meanwhile, a pool is started on the Internet where people bet on how long Matt can hold out. Will Matt be able to reach his goal, and even if he does, will Erica still be around?

• Widescreen Anamorphic Format

Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.

"Death to Smoochy" (2002)

Robin Williams, Danny DeVito, and Edward Norton star in this unpleasant comedy that satirizes the behind-the-scenes world of kids' TV. Rainbow Randolph (Williams) is the biggest star on a children's television network, but he gets fired when he is caught taking bribes to put kids on his show. Scrambling to find a replacement, network executives settle on Sheldon Mopes (Norton), who plays drug rehab clinics dressed in a rhino outfit and calling himself Smoochy. Soon Smoochy is a big hit on TV, and Mopes is thrown into a totally corrupt environment, where he gets a conniving agent (DeVito) to represent him. Meanwhile, Rainbow Randolph is doing everything he can to ruin Mopes and Smoochy. While there are some laughs in "Death to Smoochy," many found it to be too irritating.

Selected Special DVD Features:

• DVD Available in Widescreen Anamorphic and Full Screen Formats

Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.

"Frailty" (2002)

This thriller is about a religious fanatic who kills in the name of God and involves his young sons in the murders. The central character is a Texas man known simply as Dad (Bill Paxton), a widower who is raising a 12-year-old son Fenton and a 9-year-old son Adam. Dad is a loving, caring father, and the boys are relatively happy until he has a vision where an angel tells him that the three of them have been chosen by God to kill demons posing as humans. As Dad carries out a series of murders in which Adam and Fenton participate, the boys are emotionally scarred for life. But all of this is told years later by a grown-up Fenton (Matthew McConaughey) to an F.B.I. agent (Powers Boothe) investigating the "God's Hand" serial murders. "Frailty" goes through many twists and turns as its story unreels.

Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.

"Hollywood Ending" (2002)

Woody Allen wrote, directed, and stars in this comedy, which also features Tea Leoni and Debra Messing. Val Waxman (Allen) was once an Oscar-winning director, but he hasn't directed a successful movie in years and has wound up shooting commercials in Canada. Then Waxman's ex-wife (Leoni) manages to convince her fiancé (Treat Williams), the head of Galaxie Studios, to choose Waxman to direct a big-budget film titled "The City That Never Sleeps." After casting his current lover (Messing) in the movie, Waxman is preparing to start shooting when he suddenly goes blind. Nevertheless, Waxman begins the shoot, concealing his blindness from everyone except the cinematographer's Chinese translator, who gives the director muddled verbal descriptions of what's going on.

Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.

"Kissing Jessica Stein" (2001)

Open-minded audiences have been charmed by this girl-meets-girl romantic comedy, and 85 percent of the Rotten Tomatoes critics liked it. Jessica Stein (Jennifer Westfeldt) is a neurotic Manhattan copy editor who despairs of ever finding the right man. She answers a personal ad placed by Helen Cooper (Heather Juergensen), a SoHo art gallery employee who has much more sex with men than she has with women. As the attraction between the two women grows, Helen is very patient with the skittish Jessica during a prolonged courtship. There are lots of big laughs as the uneasy relationship develops, and the movie seems to be at least partly about the difficulty in separating the erotic from the platonic. The two lead actresses wrote the screenplay, which they adapted from their own Off Broadway play.

Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.

"Monsters, Inc." (2001)

This animated comedy is aimed at kids, but most adults find it reasonably entertaining. Voices heard include those of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, James Coburn, and Jennifer Tilly. "Monsters, Inc." confirms a belief held by many children: Sometimes there really are monsters in their bedroom closets. But those monsters are just doing their job. They work for a company called Monsters, Inc., which is responsible for the energy supply in Monstropolis, the place where monsters live. Monstropolis is powered by screams, and the monsters come to the closets to collect kids' screams to use as a power source. But Monsters, Inc. has a big problem: Kids are getting harder to scare, and Monstropolis is facing an energy shortage. Ninety-five percent of the Rotten Tomatoes critics liked "Monsters, Inc."

"Panic Room" (2002) Superbit Deluxe Collection

This thriller stars Jodie Foster and Forest Whitaker. After a divorce, Meg Altman (Foster) moves with her teenage daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) into a large Manhattan brownstone. The house includes a "panic room," a special room that is very hard to break into and has its own supplies of air, water, and electricity. On their first night in the house, Meg and Sarah lock themselves in the panic room when they become aware there are intruders, who have come to take something they believe the previous occupant left behind. There are three burglars, including Burnham (Whitaker), who has been building panic rooms for the last several years. Soon a tense standoff develops, with Burnham trying to get into the panic room while Meg attempts to summon help and/or get the housebreakers to leave.

Formats Available: The above information on special features refers to the DVD; this film is also available on VHS.

More New Video/DVD Releases for September, 2002

New Video/DVD Releases - September Week One

New Video/DVD Releases - September Week Two

New Video/DVD Releases - September Week Three

New Video/DVD Releases - September Week Four

More Video and DVD Releases

Movies on Video/DVD - January, 2002 to the Present

Video and DVD releases from the beginning of this year to the present month.

More Video and DVD Releases Upcoming Movies on Video and DVD

Selected movies on video and DVD that will be released in the coming months.

More Video and DVD Releases Recommended September Releases on Video and DVD

Wondering what movies on video/DVD are worth watching? Here are a few recommendations.

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