FILMMAKERS FORUM: From the Warner vaults comes Directors’ Showcase: Take Three, a new amalgamation of five oft-requested films to fill movie fans’ requests. Leading off the releases is Personal Best (1982), Robert Towne’s controversial drama centering on a lesbian relationship between track stars Mariel Hemingway and real-life Olympian Patrice Donnelly; Scott Glenn co-stars as their coach. This was the first directorial effort of the legendary screenwriter of Chinatown and Shampoo, who went on to helm Tequila Sunrise and Ask The Dust.

Tell Me A Riddle (1980), from actress-director Lee Grant, is a touching drama centering on an aging couple, played by Lila Kedrova and Melvyn Douglas, who travel cross-country to San Francisco to see daughter Brooke Adams and survey their 40 years together during the journey.

The much-asked-for The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter (1968), based on the Carson McCullers book, garnered Alan Arkin an Oscar nomination for his role as a hearing-impaired man who moves to a new town in order to look after his ill friend. While renting a room, he touches a number of people’s lives, including a teenage girl (a debuting Sondra Locke), an alcoholic (Stacy Keach), and a sickly black doctor (Percy Rodriguez) and his poor daughter (Cicely Tyson). Robert Ellis Miller manned the director's chair.

Payday (1972) is an overlooked gem from Daryl Duke (The Silent Partner) with Rip Torn turning in a tour de force performance as a country and western performer who also happens to be an uncompromising booze, drug and sex magnet who will stop at nothing to get his way or weasel out of a tight situation.

Finally, The Ritz (1976), from Beatles favorite Richard Lester, is the adaptation of Terrence McNally’s hit stage farce. Here, Jack Weston plays a mobster who is made the target of a hit by brother-in-law Jerry Stiller. Weston is forced to take refuge in what he believes is a Turkish bath. Turns out it’s a gay bathhouse, and Weston pretends he’s homosexual to avoid getting rubbed out. Rita Moreno, Treat Williams, and Kaye Ballard also star.

A NEW HOPE: One of America’s leading funnymen for several decades, Bob Hope’s legacy as a great screen comedian lives on with the new Bob Hope M-G-M Movie Legends Collection, a nifty cross-section of the funnyman’s works ranging from the 1940s through the 1960s. Among the featured films are projects Bob worked on for producer Samuel Goldwyn, and some he produced himself. Included in this seven-disc set are:

They Got Me Covered (1943): Bob plays a fired war correspondent who tries to win back his job by smashing a spy ring run by the Nazis; Dorothy Lamour and Otto Preminger also star.

The Princess And The Pirate (1944): Bob is an actor and Virginia Mayo the princess in this fractured costume farce that finds them dodging pirates, searching for treasure and encountering treachery during their hilarious adventures.

Alias Jesse James (1959): Ol’ Ski Nose plays an incompetent insurance agent who sells a policy to Jesse James, then travels to the old West where the notorious outlaw has a special plan for him. Rhonda Fleming and Wendell Corey co-star with cameos from cowboy stars Ward Bond, Gail Davis and Hugh O’Brian.

The Facts Of Life (1960): Hope teams with Lucille Ball for this sophisticated comedy that finds the two comics as friends, married to others, who contemplate having an affair. Ruth Hussey and Don DeFore are their respective spouses in this film that received an Oscar nomination for writing for Melvin Frank and Norman Panama.

The Road To Hong Kong (1962): The final Road movie has Bob and Bing Crosby repeating their roles as Chester Babcock and Harry Turner, con artists working in Asia who find themselves in lots of trouble when they swipe a powerful herb from Tibet. Joan Collins and Robert Morley also star, while Peter Sellers, Dorothy Lamour, David Niven, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra turn in cameos.

I’ll Take Sweden (1965): The Generation Gap gets funny with widower Hope moving teenage daughter Tuesday Weld to Sweden in hopes of keeping her away from boyfriend Frankie Avalon. But Weld gets involved with swinging Jeremy Slate, prompting Bob to try to get Frankie back in the picture.

Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1967): A funny swinging '60s outing with Elke Sommer as a runaway Hollywood sex star who seeks refuge in the home of married real estate agent Hope. That Elke Sommer! Marjorie Lord, Phyllis Diller, and Cesare Danova co-star.

GIVIN’ YOU EL: One of the films most requested at Movies Unlimited, El Cid (1961), the epic produced by Samuel Bronston and directed by Anthony Mann, finally lands on DVD in two different versions with a spectacular new transfer. Charlton Heston plays the title role of Rodrigo Diaz, a disgraced Castilian knight who leads the Spanish people against the invading Moors from North Africa in 1060. Sophia Loren, Raf Vallone, and Herbert Lom also star in this spectacle that boasts gorgeous scenery (to go with gorgeous Sophia), thrilling battle scenes, and a sweeping historical story. There are a pair of two-disc sets on the way: El Cid (Deluxe Edition), with interviews, commentary, trailers, and more, and El Cid (Limited Collector’s Edition), with all the bells and whistles, plus a special book. Later on the horizon from the Weinsteins and Genius are the other Bronston efforts: The Rise And Fall Of The Roman Empire, 55 Days At Peking, and Circus World.

NYUKS AND YUKS: For the real Stooges fanatics out there, comes The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 1: 1934-1936, a new two-disc set encompassing the first 19 shorts the boys made in chronological order. Some of the trio’s wackiest shorts are part of this group, including the rhyming Woman Haters, Punch Drunks (featuring Pop Goes The Weasel), Men In Black (“Calling Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine”), Hoi Polloi (Can the garbagemen make it as gentlemen?), and Slippery Silks (They’re wacky carpenters who put on a fashion show!).

TIN ‘ERE: Three more great entries in the tin-encased Walt Disney Treasures series have been announced. Leading off the trio is The Adventures Of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, a compendium of Disney-produced silent shorts made from 1926-1927, before the creation of Mickey Mouse. Created in tandem with legendary animator Ub Iwerks, these shorts were made for Carl Laemmle at Universal, and were recently acquired by Disney (in a deal involving sportscaster Al Michaels!) New scores have been added to these shorts, which feature the Mickey Mouse lookalike in comic adventures.

The Chronological Donald, Vol. 3 showcases the manic mallard in solo shorts from 1947 through 1950. See why the irascible duck got to be Disney’s most prolific cartoon star.

Finally, the "Happiest Place on Earth" is spotlighted in Disneyland Secrets, Stories & Magic. Experience the rides, enjoy the tours, and learn the secrets behind the Disney theme park in this all-encompassing set.

SPEAKING OF ANIMATION…: Pixar Short Films Collection, Vol. 1 offers the earliest efforts from the company that gave us Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Cars. Included are such groundbreaking animated CGI excursions as Luxo Jr. (1986), the Oscar-winning Tin Toy (1988), Geri’s Game (1997), For The Birds (2000), Mike's New Car (2002), One Man Band (2005), and Mater And The Ghostlight (2006). It’s an hour of delightful shorts that blazed new horizons in the cinema world.

ISN’T THAT SPECIAL: Several movies have received reissued DVDs for much-in-demand special editions, showcasing featurettes, documentaries, commentaries, extra footage, etc., etc. Included are:

Zodiac: Director’s Cut: David Fincher’s brooding look at the search for the infamous Zodiac Killer in the 1970s is given a new, filmmaker-approved edition that lengthens the film to 180 min. and adds all sorts of great extras.

Species (The Collector’s Edition): A two-disc version of the 1995 shocker in which Ben Kingsley, Forest Whitaker, Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger and Alfred Molina try to halt gorgeous alien-clone monster Natasha Henstridge before it’s too late.

Emmanuelle: The movie that boasted “’X’ was never like this” gets a new pressing with all sort of great behind-the-scenes extras. The groundbreaking erotic journey from Just Jaeckin stars Sylvia Kristel, Alain Cuny and Marika Green.

Titanic (10th Anniversary Edition): Celebrate a decade of James Cameron’s epic romance with this spanking new issue of the Leonardo DiCaprio / Kate Winslet starrer that contains audio commentary by Winslet, Cameron, and Gloria Stuart; an alternate ending; and other goodies on a two-disc set.

National Treasure (2-Disc Special Edition): Just in time for the sequel comes this packed twin-disc affair of the Nicolas Cage adventure in which he tries to hunt down the secret map that’s embedded in the original Declaration of Independence.

Hudson Hawk (Special Edition): For those who just can’t get enough of the 1991 Bruce Willis adventure, comes this new DVD release jammed with cool extras. Willis is a retired master thief recruited into swiping Leonardo Da Vinci artifacts. Sandra Bernhard, Danny Aiello, and Andie MacDowell co-star.

Erik The Viking (Director’s Son's Cut): Wacky Norseman comedy spoof with Tim Robbins, John Cleese, and writer/director Terry Jones.

Hot Fuzz (Three-Disc Collector’s Edition): The hilarious cop spoof from Shaun Of The Dead collaborators Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright gets the really special treatment that offers scads of bonus material, including the short film Dead Right and an extended version of The Fuzzball Rally, a look at the trio’s promotional tour.

A CLOSER LOOK I: Before he became a genre jumper with such films as the war drama The Great Raid and the horror thriller Joy Ride, John Dahl was best known for such modern film noirs as The Last Seduction and Red Rock West, rich with atmosphere, bravura double-crosses by the characters, sexiness and dark humor. He returns to the milieu with You Kill Me, an offbeat story starring Ben Kingsley as a Buffalo-based hitman for Polish mobsters whose drinking problem gets in the way of his work. After botching a big hit on an Irish mobster, Kingsley is ordered to San Francisco to dry out. In the City by the Bay, Kingsley gets a gay addiction sponsor (Luke Wilson) and a job at a funeral parlor, falls for TV station employee Tea Leoni, and tries to learn the 12 step program in order to get back to his old job of rubbing people out.

If this all sounds off-kilter, that’s because it is, but it also brings out the best in Dahl and his performers, which include Dennis Farina, Philip Baker Hall, and Bill Pullman in support. While not one of his best films, You Kill Me is a welcome step back to the type of stuff does best. He should be commended for trying other things, but You Kill Me shows that it’s good to have the filmmaker back doing noirs, even if this is not quite a beautiful Dahl.

FROM THEATERS TO YOU…IN NO TIME FLAT: Here are the latest first-run titles that were just in theaters a second ago…

The Bourne Ultimatum: The third entry in the popular Matt Damon series find Jason Bourne playing an action-packed cat-and-mouse game with chief government operative David Strathairn. Joan Allen and Julia Stiles also star in the slam-bang proceedings from director Paul Greengrass.

Bratz: The toy phenomenon becomes a live-action feature film! With Oscar-winner Jon Voight.

Daddy Day Camp: Cuba Gooding, Jr. takes over for Eddie Murphy in this sequel as he assumes control of a crumbling day camp and, with help from his military father, leads his charges against a rival camp attended by creeps.

Hairspray: Exuberant reworking of the Broadway play drawn from the John Waters movie, with John Travolta in drag and Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad, the plump gal who desires a spot on a TV dance show and teaches early 1960s Baltimore a message about race relations, too. Michelle Pfeiffer, Amanda Bynes, Queen Latifah, James Marsden, Christopher Walken and Zac Efron co-star.

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix: The fifth go-round for Harry and company finds Hogwarts run by nasty Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) with Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) still threatening.

I Know Who Killed Me: Lindsay Lohan is the straight-A high school student who goes missing for a few weeks and re-emerges as a girl with a different personality and a penchant for stripping. But who’s the real Lindsay?

I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry: Adam Sandler and Kevin James are straight Brooklyn firemen who pose as gay lovers in order to get benefits for James’ kids in this hilarious comedy that also stars Jessica Biel, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, and Dan Aykroyd.

License To Wed: Robin Williams is the wacky reverend who gets under the skin of engaged couple Mandy Moore and John Krasinski in this zany romp.

Live Free Or Die Hard: The fourth go-round for the action franchise finds Bruce Willis’ John McClane facing off against cyber-terrorists who threaten the U.S. Justin Long and Timothy Olyphant also star in this high-flying shoot-‘em-up.

No Reservations: Remake of the popular German film Mostly Martha stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as a Type-A chef whose life changes radically when begins caring for young niece Abigail Breslin. Aaron Eckhart, Patricia Clarkson co-star.

Ratatouille: The latest Pixar deight tells of a food-savvy rat whose dream of becoming a chef at a French restaurant becomes real.

The Simpsons Movie: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and the rest of Springfield get their long-in-the-works feature film.

Superbad: Hilarious teen comedy from Knocked Up impresario Judd Apatow tells of high schoolers whose plan to score with the chicks by delivering booze to a party goes terribly awry. Michael Cera and Jonah Hill are the leads, with Christopher Mintz-Plasse as McLovin’.

Transformers: The Hasbro toy line is transformed into a smash hit sci-fi action outing courtesy of producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay. The Autobots battle the Deceptions in this thrill-packed adventure.

Underdog: A mix of live action and animals (with human voices) bring to life the classic 1960s cartoon series. Jason Lee speaks for the superhero pooch and Peter Dinklage is arch-rival Simon Barsinister.

Waitress: Charming tale of diner server Keri Russell, pregnant and married to a boorish jerk, who decides to make some changes in her life with co-workers Cheryl Hines and the late Adrienne Shelly, who also wrote and directed.

ART AND FOREIGN FARE: The foreign art and documentary scene is especially active this time out, with lots of goodies for movie fans who like their offerings thought-provoking and edgy.

This Is England: Director Shane Meadows (Once Upon A Time In The Meadowlands) goes back to his childhood for this searing coming-of-age tale set in a dreary English town in the early 1980s and focuses on a 12-year-old’s experience with local skinheads.

Deep Water: This stunning documentary centers on eight yachtsmen in a 1968 sea race and how the perilous journey affected one of them, Englishman Donald Crowhurst.

Dear Jesse: North Carolina native Tim Kirkman, filmmaker and former constituent of Senator Jesse Helms, returns home and asks many people their opinions on the controversial, homophobic politician. What he discovers is quite fascinating—and frightening.

No End In Sight is an absorbing look at the war in Iraq and the mistakes made in the conflict by the Bush administration. It’s executive produced by Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room).

Angel-A: Action expert Luc Besson gets back into the director’s chair in this change-of-pace, in which a distraught businessman in Paris is plucked out of his grief by a leggy blonde who teaches him life lessons.

Drama/Mex: This acclaimed foreign language effort follows two delicate dramas as they unfold in sunny Acapulco, where a potential suicide bonds with a teenage runaway, and a young woman has to juggle a pair of suitors.

Paris, Je T'aime: Another film based in the City of Lights, a compilation of 18 short films by such name directors as the Coen Brothers, Alexander Payne, Alfonso Cuaron, Walter Salles, and Gurinder Chadha.

Lady Chatterley: The epic, award-winning translation of the D.H. Lawrence story from France in which the literary and libido meet.

Midnight Movies: From The Margin To The Mainstream: A look at the six essential cult films of the late 1960s/early 1970s: Pink Flamingos, Eraserhead, Night Of The Living Dead, El Topo, The Harder They Come, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Monsieur Hire: Patrice Leconte’s intriguing 1990 Hitchcockian thriller with Michel Blanc as a lonely tailor who enjoys peeping on his attractive neighbor and who comes under scrutiny of the police when a murder takes place nearby.

Sicko: Michael Moore’s latest, a diatribe against American insurance companies and the state of healthcare today. Moore’s revelations will make you angry, sadden you and make you laugh at their absurdity.

La Vie En Rose: The compelling true story of French singer Edith Piaf. Look for Marion Cotillard to get an Oscar nomination for her performance in the lead.

Rocket Science: This effort from Spellbound director Jeffrey Blitz offers a quirky, coming-of-age delight, centering on a high school student with a stammer who joins the debating team.

A CLOSER LOOK II: Lars von Trier, the director of such heavy dramas as Breaking The Waves, Manderlay, and Dogville, and the creator of the back-to-cinema essential movement Dogme 95, lightens up a bit with The Boss Of It All, a satire of sorts about big business. In this Danish production, the owner of a tech company tells his employees that he’s only second in command, so he can get along with them while making unpopular moves surreptitiously. The need to find the “real owner” of the enterprise comes along when he decides to take an opportunity to sell the business. But what is he to do? He decides to hire a down-and-out actor to portray the fictional owner. Soon, the thespian has to wing it in sticky situations, and also becoming a sexual target for the women in the office who want to seduce him to get ahead.

It’s a great premise with some surprisingly funny moments, supplied by the usually brooding von Trier. There’s fine acting—especially by Peter Gantzler as the manipulative boss and Jens Albinus as the bombastic actor—and lots of funny surprises (plus plentiful Denmark verus Iceland jokes) along the way. On the minus side, von Trier employs a new process he helped invent on the proceedings: Automavision, in which the computer-operated camera chooses specific shots in a specific field of vision. This makes the film look like it was shot by Michael Bay on speed, changing angles every couple of seconds. It’s unnecessary and annoying, but one gets the sense the plucky filmmaker is having the final laugh at his audience’s expense.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Criterion has prepped a fine DVD package for Monte Hellman’s masterful road movie Two Lane Blacktop (1971). The film features music stars James Taylor and Dennis Wilson as gearheads who race their ‘55 Chevy around the U.S. When challenged by Warren Oates, an older guy in a G.T.O., they find themselves in a contest to reach Washington, D.C. in which the winner gets the other’s car. Laurie Bird plays the hitchhiker along for the ride. Hellman (The Shooting, Ride In The Whirlwind) limned a moody, philosophical tale in which the characters relate better to their machines than to each other. While widely heralded before its release, the film turned out to be a box-office dud, and was barely seen until recent years. The two-disc set includes audio commentaries, the script, featurettes, appreciations by Tom Waits and Jim Jarmusch and many other neat extras.

A CLOSER LOOK III: It looks like Déjà Vu, it feels like Déjà Vu and it sounds like Déjà Vu. But Next is not the Denzel Washington thriller from earlier this year all over again. Here, Nicolas Cage plays Cris Johnson, a Las Vegas magician who goes by the stage name of “Frank Cadillac.” He has the special power of being able to see two minutes into the future, which can be both a blessing and a curse. He uses it to get in tight with Liz (Jessica Biel), the girl he has fantasized about, but he’s also sought by a federal agent (Julianne Moore) to help stop a terrorist plot involving the detonation of a bomb in Los Angeles. “The hell with nasty terrorists and the future of L.A.,” believes Johnson. “Snagging my dream girl is more important.” So, he keeps dodging Liz and other Feds until he has no choice but to help.

Based on a story by the world’s most prolific deceased writer (Phillip K. Dick) and directed by Kiwi filmmaker Lee Tamahori (Die Another Day, XXX 2: State Of The Union), Next is an enjoyable action thriller so long as you don’t ask too many questions. Actually, throughout most of its running time, it’s quite different, as Johnson tries to convince Liz his psychic gifts are real as he dodges government agents. The villain (Thomas Kretschmann) and the plot stay mostly in the background, but that also makes them almost inconsequential when the film finally gets back to them. Cage in mid-hyper mode is always watchable, Biel looks great, Moore is sadly underused and Kretschmann has little to work with in this script credited to three writers. So, how does it compare to that Déjà Vu with Denzel Washington? Let’s just say that we have all been here before.

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