MGM is rereleasing This Is Spinal Tap on video and DVD this Sept. 12. Rob Reiner's film stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer as a hapless washed-up British rock group. Though Reiner's faux-doc success has been imitated far too frequently, this spoof really was astute and stands the test of time extremely well. Much of the humour around this film comes from its afterlife, what with Spinal Tap, the fictional band, actually touring and drawing many of the heavy metal fans one might have thought would be offended by the whole exercise.

The Next Best Thing, due out this week, marked a new low for a whole bunch of people involved in the project. Madonna had tons of critics saying she really should just give up on the big-screen career goals. She also never should have done that dreadful cover of that "American Pie" song--phew, what a stinker. Rupert Everett didn't fare too well either, but he managed what were perhaps the film's only redeeming moments, when he was hurting over losing custody of his child. But I really feel for out director John Schlesinger, whose heyday appears to be quite over.

Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday arrives this week on video. The cast, which includes Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz and Matthew Modine, do their best, but Stone's trademarked paranoia worked so much better in 'Nam than on the field.

--Matthew Hays