Fernando's View
By Fernando F. Croce

Theaters offer audiences the chance to revisit old great movies ("Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2") and discover a new one ("The Headless Woman"), while DVD releases are available for serious ("Adoration"), scary ("Drag Me to Hell") and musical ("Every Little Step") moods.

In Theaters:

Toy Story & Toy Story 2 (Pixar): Back in 1995, John Lasseter and Pixar revolutionized screen animation with the first fully computer-generated movie, setting dizzying new standards for family entertainment. Since today's children, the film's main intended audience, have known "Toy Story" and its top-notch 1999 sequel mostly through DVD viewings, the chance for them to catch both movies on the big screen is a rare privilege. Presenting both movies on a double-bill and in 3-D, Pixar offers audiences the chance to relive the awe and fun of catching up with such classic characters as Woody (superbly voiced by Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles) and the other toys. It's a re-release treat that puts most new releases in theaters right now to shame.

The Headless Woman (Focus): The title suggests a horror movie, but this is actually a stylish, tantalizingly enigmatic drama from the Argentine director Lucrecia Martel, one of today's most interesting filmmakers. Veronica (Maria Onetto), a wealthy dentist, is driving home from a picnic one day when, distracted by her cell phone, she runs over something. Is it a dog, or could it be a boy? Too dazed to check, Veronica forges ahead with her normal life, but the world around her seems odd since the accident. People she should know become virtual strangers, and everywhere she looks she seems something that reminds her of what she may have done. Martel's unique visuals and refusal to give easy answers may make her an acquired taste, but it's not adventurous audiences should consider. With subtitles.

New on DVD:

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Adoration (Sony): Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan ("The Sweet Hereafter") directed this moody study of intolerance and communication among a group of characters. At the center is a young student (Devon Bostick) who uses a class assignment from a French professor (Arsinee Khanjian) to write a controversial essay that he passes off as real, in the process setting off many of the people in their community. Among them is the student's troubled uncle (Scott Speedman), family members with connections to a shocking past incident, and victims trying to nurse their wounds. Moving fluidly from character to character, Egoyan creates a strong, provocative atmosphere of slow-burning intensity and buried emotion. It may be tough going at times, but the excellent cast makes it a ride worth taking.

Drag Me to Hell (Universal): Best known today for his "Spider-Man" movies, director Sam Raimi actually got his start as a maker of gruesome and clever horror movies. Consider this chilling, giddily over-the-top supernatural thriller a return to his original roots. Christine (Alison Lohman) is an ambitious loan officer who seems ready for a promotion when a mysterious old woman enters her bank to ask for an extension for her home loan. Christine's decision unleashes her client's terrifying true personality, and suddenly she finds herself dealing with a curse that makes her life a literal hell. Can she break the spell, or will she succumb to the sinister forces plaguing her? Mixing shocks and social criticism, this is a bloody good time at the movies.

Every Little Step (Sony): In the old studio days a source of irrepressible exuberance, good musicals are these days few and far between. This scarcity makes this fascinating documentary all the more special, as it takes the viewer behind the scenes of the tuneful Broadway hit "A Chorus Line" as it experiences its recent revival. Over the course of the film, you get to know the aspiring dancers as they rehearse and hone their dance routines and realize how their own personalities often merge with those of the characters they are playing. Using interviews and rare footage to compare the show's new and old versions, the film gives audiences the exhilaration of the musical together with the emotion of human drama.