DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

Woman plays a man trying to become a woman

A woman playing a man taking female hormones who is about to get a sex-change operation was the challenge faced by ``Desperate Housewives'' Emmy winner Felicity Huffman in ``Transamerica.''

And she succeeds elegantly, making her Bree a complicated and fully realized human being in a role that could have easily come across as a drag impersonation, especially as she plays a man learning how to be a woman.

The crisis confronting Bree is not her upcoming gender change, but the sudden revelation that her former self, Stanley, fathered a son, now a 17-year-

old street hustler named Toby (Kevin Zegers). When her therapist (Elizabeth Pena) forces her to confront her past, Bree flies to New York and bails Toby out of jail and then reluctantly decides to drive him to L.A., hoping to leave him with his stepfather in Kentucky.

That isn't going to happen, of course, and Bree and Toby continue building an uneasy relationship, with him still not knowing that Bree is his father. ``I'm not his mother,'' she insists to strangers, with only she knowing the irony.

The debut feature by Duncan Tucker is about mixed signals and mixed emotions. While you root for Toby and Bree, Tucker doesn't let it fall into sentimentality, offering some wry understated humor and giving the film enough humanity and emotion that, when events come to a head during Bree's visit with her parents in Arizona, the dramatic elements don't come undone. ``Transamerica'' is a modest success with a major asset in a performance from Huffman that should have been more than Oscar nominated.

The only other recent features of note being released this week are ``Cheaper by the Dozen 2'' and ``Bloodrayne.'' Steve Martin is back again as the dad to a small army of kids in ``Cheaper 2,'' a dull sequel to a remake that seems to have been made with an eye toward family entertainment. As usual in these cases, the entertaining aspects were quickly forgotten in lieu of cheap, mostly unamusing jokes.

``BloodRayne'' is based on a video game, and the good news for fans is a that a video-game disc is included with the DVD. Otherwise there's violence and blood and nudity and everything else you'd expect from a vampire film. Somehow, Oscar w inner Ben Kingsley wandered into the movie.

``Transamerica'' (Weinstein Co.; $38.95)

``Cheaper by the Dozen 2'' (Fox; $29.99)

``BloodRayne -- Unrated Director's Cut'' (Visual Entertainment; $26.98)

A bigger, better `Kingdom of Heaven'

When ``Kingdom of Heaven'' came out last year to disappointing reviews, many said to wait for the DVD. Director Ridley Scott had trimmed the film for theaters, and even at 2 hours and 24 minutes, many found it incomplete. (I did appreciate the theatrical version on many levels, however, while recognizing, well, it wasn't all there.) When the first version of the DVD came out, it was the theatrical release, but Scott has rectified that with a new cut of the film that's 50 minutes longer.

And it's worth every minute.

This ``Kingdom of Heaven'' ranks along with his other great spectacle, ``Gladiator.'' ``Kingdom'' is the story of the young French blacksmith Balian (Orlando Bloom), who recently lost his wife at the time of the Crusades in 1184. Unexpectedly, he finds out he is the illegitimate son of Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), a baron who is returning to the Crusade in the holy lands. Godfrey is killed along the way, and Balian inherits his title and responsibilities.

In Jerusalem, the young man finds a complex, politically charged situation, with good and evil on both sides. Leading the Muslins is the legendary Saladin (Ghassan Massoud), while Jerusalem, a city holy to both Christians and Muslims, is ruled by King Baldwin (Ed Norton), a leper who hides his grotesqueness behind a mask. The leaders have an uneasy truce, but there are those who crave war, which eventually comes.

``Kingdom of Heaven'' is not historically accurate, but Scott has given us a rousing epic with a story that resonates today.

``By the word religion, I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God,'' says one character. It sounds all too familiar.

`The Da Vinci Code'' may be upsetting Catholics today, but in 1961, Luis Bunuel's ``Viridiana'' drew the ire of the Catholic Church in its story of a nun confronted with a corrupt world.

The acerbic Spanish director, who always had the power to disturb audiences, even has a parody of ``The Last Supper.''

``Viridiana,'' the winner of the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, was an attack against the repressive Franco dictatorship in Spain and the Church. But the shocks in the film carry as much truth today.

Cecil B. DeMille was known for his epics and being the punch line in ``Sunset Boulevard.'' (``I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille,'' said Gloria Swanson, one of the director's discoveries, as Norma Desmond to DeMille, who was playing himself in a cameo.) The five films from the '30s in ``The Cecil B. DeMille Collection'' -- ``Cleopatra,'' ``The Crusades,'' ``Four Frightened People,'' ``Sign of the Cross'' and ``Union Pacific'' -- represent the bigger-than-life approach to moviemaking.

DeMille was far from a great director, but he always tried to be entertaining, and these are among his Hollywood best.

``Kingdom of Heaven'' (4-Disc Director's Cut) (Fox; $34.98)

``Viridiana'' (Criterion; $29.95)

``The Cecil B. DeMille Collection'' (Universal; $59.95)

Plenty of life in `Deadwood'

HBO's ``Deadwood'' managed to keep up the profanity and quality in its second season. Ian McShane as Al Swearengen, the owner of the Gem Saloon and community force in the rough-hewn town, is fascinating every time he's on screen. The series is an acquired taste. Sometimes the profanity can be off-putting; other times it's an interesting combination of gruffness and formality. Life was hard in the real town of Deadwood in the 1870s, and the series doesn't pull any punches and is quite watchable.

Kyra Sedgwick plays Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson in ``The Closer.'' Johnson is known for her ability to close a case -- she's a former CIA interrogator -- and alienating co-workers with her less-than-sensitive personality. ``The Closer'' is a solid police procedural with a solid cast, including J.K. Simmons as Johnson's boss. Segwick, though, with her Southern drawl and odd countenance, makes Johnson a memorable TV figure.

Other television-related discs are listed below.

``Deadwood -- The Complete Second Season'' (HBO; $99.98)

``The Closer -- The Complete First Season'' (Warner; $38.98)

``High School Musical'' (Disney; $26.99)

``Boston Legal -- Season 1'' (Fox; $49.98)

``Wings -- The Complete First and Second Seasons'' (Paramount; $38.99)

``Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan -- The Complete First Season'' (Universal; $69.98)

``Little Britain -- The Complete Second Series'' (BBC Warner; $29.98)

``M*A*S*H -- Season Ten'' (Collector's Edition) (Fox; $9.98)

``The 4400 -- The Complete Second Season'' (Paramount; $38.99)

``Samurai Jack -- Season 3'' (Turner; $29.98)

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) KEVIN ZEGERS and FELICITY HUFFMAN in `TRANSAMERICA'

(2) ORLANDO BLOOM in `KINGDOM OF HEAVEN'