What’s Hot

* Last week’s Top 5 VHS rentals:

1. “The Green Mile” (1999). Though its Stephen King story is a good one, this Frank Darabont-written and -directed version is hampered by excessive length, the suffocating deliberateness of its pace and some truly stomach-turning moments. Even Tom Hanks’ compelling performance as the head guard on death row in a 1935 Louisiana prison can’t overcome that. (Kenneth Turan, Dec. 10) R for violence, language and some sex-related material.

2. “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo” (1999). Rob Schneider is the latest “Saturday Night Live” veteran to get a “doofus feature” of his very own. He plays a softhearted, softheaded fish-tank cleaner forced to become what some would call a “professional escort” and others--well, anyway, the movie is about what you’d expect. With Eddie Griffin and William Forsythe. (Gene Seymour, Dec. 10) (1:25) R for sexual content, language and crude humor.

3. “Girl, Interrupted” (1999). Susanna Kaysen’s exceptional memoir of two years spent in a mental institution is graced by exceptional leading performances by Winona Ryder and Academy Award-winner Angelina Jolie but held back by a plot that verges on the manufactured. (Turan, Dec. 21) R for strong language and content relating to drugs, sexuality and suicide.

4. “Bicentennial Man” (1999). Robin Williams gives a touching performance as a robot who gradually transforms into a human being in this romantic but overly glossy sci-fi fable. Directed by Chris Columbus. With Sam Neill, Oliver Platt and the exquisite Embeth Davidz. (Kevin Thomas, Dec. 17) PG for language and some sexual content.

5. “Next Friday” (2000). Sequel to the 1995 hit comedy takes Ice Cube’s slacker hero from South-Central L.A. to a multicultural suburban enclave. Much raunchier and far less funny than the last “Friday.” Tommy (Tiny) Lister Jr., John Witherspoon and Mike Epps co-star. Written and produced by Cube. (Seymour, reviewed Jan. 12) R for strong language, drug use and sexual content.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD rentals:

1. “Green Mile”

2. “Bicentennial Man”

3. “Girl, Interrupted”

4. “Sleepy Hollow” (1999). An exquisitely mounted (if ghoulish) retelling of the Washington Irving short story (with Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane and Christina Ricci as Katrina Van Tassel) created to the exact specifications of bizarre-meister Tim Burton. (Turan, Nov. 19) R for graphic horror violence and gore, and for a scene of sexuality.

5. “Play It to the Bone” (1999). Director Ron Shelton vividly captures the raw excitement of the world of boxing with this story of sparring partners (Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson)--middleweights whose shots at the big time backfired--who are suddenly asked to be last-minute replacements for the under-card event p (Thomas, Dec. 24) (2:02) R for brutal ring violence, strong sexuality including dialogue, nudity, pervasive language and some drug content.

* Last week’s Top 5 VHS sellers

1. “American Pie” (special edition) (1999). An unexpected hybrid of “South Park” and Andy Hardy that uses its surface crudeness as sucker bait to entice teenagers into the tent to see a high school movie that is sweet and sincere at heart. With a cast of likable young people. (Turan, July 9) R for strong sexuality, crude sexual dialogue, language and drinking, all involving teens.

2. “Stuart Little” (1999). The shy and pleasant mouse of E.B. White’s famous children’s book, has been turned into a rodent whose ready line of patter would make him at home on “The Tonight Show.” The computer animation is excellent. (Turan, Dec. 17) PG for brief language.

3. “The World Is Not Enough” (1999). James Bond is back for the 19th time, with Pierce Brosnan effortlessly reprising his splendid take on Agent 007. Not so effortless for the viewer is trying to keep track of a murky plot. (Thomas, Nov. 19) PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, some sexuality and innuendo.

4. “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace” (1999). Though this prequel to the original “Star Wars” trilogy is certainly serviceable, it’s noticeably lacking in warmth and humor. Its visual strengths are considerable, but from a dramatic point of view it’s ponderous and plodding. (Turan, May 18, 1999) PG for sci-fi action/violence.

5. “The Matrix” (1999). A wildly cinematic futuristic thriller that stars Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne as battlers against a computer-controlled world that treats people like Eveready batteries. The writing and directing Wachowski brothers combine rip-roaring visual feats with traditional sci-fi premises in a way that always dazzles the eye. (Turan, March 31, 1999) R for sci-fi violence and brief language.

* Last week’s Top 5 DVD sellers

1. “Green Mile”

2. “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo”

3. “Fight Club” (1999). A witless mishmash of whiny, infantile philosophizing and bone-crunching violence that posits that what all men secretly want to do is bash each other into bloody pulps. So vacuous it’s more depressing than provocative. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton star. (Turan, Oct. 15) R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent antisocial behavior, sexuality and language.

4. “Next Friday”

5. “Bicentennial Man”

What’s New

In stores this week:

“Santitos” (2000). An irresistible, gentle comedy from Mexico about a devout young widow (Dolores Heredia) whose vision from St. Jude that her dead teenage daughter is still alive but sold into slavery sends her on a colorful odyssey that unexpectedly leads to her reawakening as a woman. With a nod to magic realism and telenovela melodrama, “Santitos” is An irresistible celebration of the ultimate unity of the spirit and the flesh. Directed by Alejandro Spingall. In Spanish with English subtitles. (Thomas, Jan. 31) Columbia TriStar: no list price; (CC); R for sexual content and language.

“Scream 3” (2000). Director Wes Craven and writer Ehren Kruger bring the smart, darkly amusing--though very bloody--horror trilogy to a bravura finish, as that elusive serial killer terrorizes the set of “Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro.” Neve Campbell is back to face down evil once again, and so are that seemingly mismatched couple Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette as a ruthlessly ambitious TV newscaster and a small-town cop. The veterans are joined by Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey and Jenny McCarthy. (Thomas, Feb. 4) Miramax/Buena Vista: no list price; DVD, $29.99; (CC). R, for strong horror violence and language.

“Women (Elles)” (1999). This elegant French-language film is set in Lisbon and reveals how five middle-aged women sustain one another through life’s crises. In-depth characterization and fine performances from Carmen Maura, Miou-Miou, Marisa Berenson, Marthe Keller and Guesch Patti.(Thomas, Sept. 17) Fox Lorber: no list price; DVD $29.98; (CC); Unrated: Adult themes, sequence dealing with drug-taking and addiction.

What’s Coming

Tuesday: “All About My Mother,” “The Hurricane,” “Mansfield Park,” “My Dog Skip,” “Onegin,” “Boiler Room” and “Down to You.”

July 18: “The Whole Nine Yards,” “Angela’s Ashes,” “Map of the World,” “What Planet Are You From?” “Isn’t She Great,” “The Ninth Gate,” “Rosetta,” “Ride With the Devil,” “The Big Tease,” “Diamonds” and “The War Zone.”

July 25: “Magnolia,” “The Beach” and “Drowning Mona.”

Aug. 1: “Romeo Must Die” and “Whatever It Takes.”

Aug. 8: “Reindeer Games,” “Holy Smoke” and “The Grandfather.”

Aug. 15: “Erin Brockovich,” “The Cider House Rules,” “Ghost Dog” and “Here on Earth.”

Commentary by Times critics.

Rental video charts provided by VSDA

VidTrac, sales charts by VideoScan Inc.