Big Warner winter fun - 12:00am

Just in from Warner Home Video is a big sleigh-full of New Year's treats, a library full of catalog favorites at long last making their DVD debuts. On January 7th comes the Katherine Hepburn classic Alice Adams, the romantic comedies A Little Romance and Breaking Up (starring a young Russell Crowe), Gladiator Days, and one of my favorite sleepers of all time, Nancy Savoca's underrated Dogfight. All are presented in anamorphic widescreen and 2.0 Dolby surround (except Alice Adams, which is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio and mono), with only trailers as extras. Retail is $19.95 each.

From the "It's about time!" department, on January 14th Warner will finally bring the 80's classic Krush Groove, Prison Song, and Talkin' Dirty After Dark to DVD. All feature anamorphic widescreen transfers and 2.0 Dolby surround tracks, plus trailers.

Up next on January 28th are a batch of family favorites. Leading the pack are the hit 1993 remake of Dennis the Menace and its direct-to-video sequel Dennis the Menace Strikes Again, plus the Free Willy sequels Free Willy 2 and Free Willy 3. (Note that the first Free Willy flick has already been released on DVD.) In a bit of a departure from many past Warner Family Entertainment titles, all will be presented in anamorphic widescreen transfers, with the Dennis the Menace flicks featuring English, French and Spanish 2.0 Dolby surround tracks, and the Free Willy flicks receiving the full 5.1 treatment. All include trailers as extras. Retail is $19.95 a pop.

Warner will also released an additional slew of family titles on the 28th: Snow Queens and the Wild Swans, Merlin and the Dragons, Noah's Ark, Pegasus and Beauty and the Beast, Real Wheels: Travel Adventures, and two Sagawa adventures, Cat Tales and Celebrations and Storybook World. All are presented in 4:3 full frame and retail for $14.95 each.

But wait, Warner has even more on the way this winter. Due February 4th are the classics Mildred Pierce, The Red Badge of Courage and the Sidney Poiter romance A Patch of Blue. Each is presented in their original 1.37:1 full screen aspect ratios (except A Patch of Blue, which is in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen) and mono. Once again, trailers are the only announced extras, and retail is $19.95.

Also in February comes the next in Warner's new line of two-disc special editions, Otto Preminger's classic The Cardinal on the 25th. This one features both 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and full screen transfers and an English 2.0 Dolby surround track on the first disc, and on disc two, the feature-length career retrospective documentary "Otto Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker," the original vintage 1963 featurette, and trailers. Retail is $26.95.

Last but not least, Warner will finally dig into the vaults and release some quality foreign film titles. On March 18th comes three true classics, Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, Francois Truffaut's Day for Night, and Claude Lelouch's A Man and a Woman. Each is presented in new anamorphic widescreen transfers in their original theatrical aspect ratios (audio formats have not yet been announced), plus plenty of extras on the latter two: Day for Night includes the featurettes "Day for Night: An Appreciation by Bob Balaban and Annette Insdorf," "Day for Night by Jacqueline Bisset and Nathalie Baye," and "Truffaut: A View from the Inside," plus interviews with Valentina Cortese and Truffaut from the 1973 Cannes Film Festival and the 1973 National Society of Film Critics Awards; while A Man and A Woman features the all-new documentary "A Man and a Woman: 37 Years Later" and the original making-of featurette. All include trailers. Retail is $19.95 each.

Slam dunk - 12:00am

Coming from New Line Home Entertainment on January 14th are two acclaimed dramas starring the late Tupac Shakur. Both Above the Rim and Bullet (not the Steve McQueen classic) are relatively bare bones, featuring only anamorphic widescreen and full screen transfers and English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby surround tracks, trailers, and ROM weblinks. Retail is $19.95 each.