DVD REVIEWS OF NEW RELEASES.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

Tommy Lee Jones plays a modern-day cowboy with some old-fashion notions in his film ``The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.'' Living in a Texas border town, Jones' Pete is upset when his friend, a Mexican ranch hand named Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cesar Cedillo), is shot dead near the border and hastily buried.

When a coyote digs up the grave, local law officers, in the person of Sheriff Belmont (Dwight Yoakam), give it another quick burial after a we-don't-care investigation.

Pete keeps wondering what happened, however, which eventually leads him to Mike Norton (Barry Pepper), who has recently arrived to work for the Border Patrol and fired the shot that killed Melquiades. Pete then digs up his friend again, kidnaps Mike, and the three of them (Pete, Mike and the body) head across the border on horseback to Mexico to rebury Melquiades in his hometown, although Pete isn't clear where that is.

Written by Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (``Amores Perros'' and ``21 Grams''), ``Three Burials'' is similar to those films in its nonsequential, episodic structure. And Jones proves a steady hand in the director's chair, with an eye for wide-open spaces, small eccentricities and the complex politics of border life. ``Three Burials'' is a small film that's a big picture.

Kate Beckinsale returns as the leather-clad vampire Selene in ``Underworld -- Evolution.'' Like the first film, it's mostly grisly action in a story about a war between vamps and werewolves directed by Len Wiseman, to whom Beckinsale is married. Scott Speedman is back as Selene's werewolf ally, Michael.

The two are on the run from both camps. The plot's too silly and convoluted to care about, but if you're in an undemanding mood, and like vampire flicks and Beckinsale in leather, and don't mind stylized amped-up violence, ``Evolution'' is for you.

I guess I don't get it, which may explain why I didn't laugh much during ``Sarah Silverman -- Jesus Is Magic.'' Oh, I get Silverman's shtick -- a disarming, almost innocent, cute smile as she delivers outrageous and crude zingers. She comes across as that girl in your class who wants to prove, with her potty mouth, that she's not that innocent. Silverman plays a self-absorbed Valley girl type in order to deliver her lines. There is her own personal vagina monologue and other sexual references that can't be repeated here. She also has no problem with sacred cows, tossing out cracks on 9/11, Martin Luther King and Jesus.

Silverman has developed nearly flawless timing, but the jokes (and setups) become obvious after a while, with the comedian's anything-for-a-laugh tack tiresome. It's a small and often not very interesting world she mines.

Richard Loncraine must have used an action-film manual to make ``Firewall.'' He even got Harrison Ford, an action-film king, to star in it. It seems Loncraine must have skimmed a couple of chapters, though, because ``Firewall'' doesn't stand up to much scrutiny, and Ford seems tired of playing the same tired role.

Ford is Jack, a computer security expert for a bank. Paul Bettany plays the younger -- more vigorous -- bad guy, who, along with his crew, has taken Jack's family hostage in order to gain access to the bank's accounts. Ford's over 60 and showing his age, although he's playing somebody who you expect to be at least a decade younger. It's a stretch -- and a stretch, too, when he has to handle the bad guys. Maybe, if ``Firewall'' didn't have so many gaps in logic and had more forward motion, you'd have less time to ponder Ford's craggy face.

``Glory Road'' is not entirely true; hey, it's a movie. It's the story of coach Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) and his players on the 1965-66 basketball team from Texas Western University who went on to win the NCAA title starting an all-black lineup. Like other Disney films of its type -- ``Miracle,'' ``Remember the Titans'' -- ``Glory Road'' is told in an uplifting fashion under James Gartner's direction. With a mostly '60s Motown soundtrack and a solid cast including Lucas, who has the fire needed for the role, and Derek Luke (``Antwone Fisher'') as one of the star players, ``Glory Road'' is likable enough, if not really inspiring. By the way, former Laker player and coach Pat Riley (now the Miami Heat coach) was on the vaunted Kentucky team that lost to Texas Western. He offers some memories.

``Underworld -- Evolution'' (Columbia; $28.95)

``Firewall'' (Warner; $28.98)

``Sarah Silverman -- Jesus Is Magic'' (Interscope; $26.99)

``The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada'' (Columbia; $26.98)

``Glory Road'' (Disney; $29.99)

Seek out Wayne, `Searchers'

John Wayne standing framed in the doorway at the end of John Ford's classic Western ``The Searchers'' before turning and striding off, listing to the right, is one of the most memorable shots in film.

Ford was a tough-minded American Irishman with a sentimental middle and a master's eye. ``(Ford) stages a tableau, a long shot, and gets into your mind, and then cuts in for a close-up,'' another legendary director,Howard Hawks, once told Peter Bogdanovich.

Somehow, despite the razzle-dazzle of modern cinema, more Ford shots stay with me than special-effects ones. And many of them can be found in the ``John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection.'' Besides the ``The Searchers Ultimate Edition,'' the collection includes ``Stagecoach Two-Disc Special Edition,'' ``Fort Apache,'' ``The Long Voyage Home,'' ``The Wings of Eagles,'' ``She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,'' ``They Were Expendable'' and ``3 Godfathers.''

As you'd expect, most are Westerns. Though Wayne had been in Hollywood for a number of years before making oaters, it was his role as the Ringo Kid in ``Stagecoach'' that made him a star. The extras include the ``American Masters'' profile: ``John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker & the Legend,'' the new documentary ``Stagecoach: A Story of Redemption'' and commentary by Scott Eyman, author of ``Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford,'' all of which should give you an appreciation of the great filmmaker.

Criterion is releasing a special edition of Richard Linklater's 1993 slacker film, ``Dazed & Confused.'' Linklater resisted studio pressure to make the story of a bunch of kids during the last day of school at a Texas high school into something too sweet and nostalgic.

``If I ever start referring to these as the best years of my life, remind me to kill myself,'' says one of the kids. ``I'm just trying to be honest about being a misanthrope,'' says another.

The new edition of what has become a cult film includes 18 deleted scenes, a newly remastered picture, a documentary about the film, which included some footage of the 10th anniversary cast party (Ben Affleck and Matthew McConaughey were in the film) and commentary by Linklater.

Other new discs of older films are listed below.

``John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection'' (Warner; $79.98)

``Dumbo -- The Big Top Edition'' (Disney; $29.99)

``Dazed & Confused -- Criterion Collection (Criterion; $39.95)

``Mr. & Mrs. Smith -- Unrated Two-Disc Collector's Edition'' (Fox; $26.98)

``Mommie Dearest -- Hollywood Royalty Edition'' (Paramount; $14.98)

``Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid -- Two-Disc Collector's Edition'' (Fox; $26.98)

``The Fast and the Furious Franchise Collection'' (Universal; $22.98)

``Fried Green Tomatoes -- Extended Anniversary Edition'' (Universal; $19.98)

``House of Strangers'' (Fox; $14.98)

``I Wake Up Screaming'' (Fox; $14.98)

``The Quick and the Dead''/``Bite the Bullet'' (Columbia; $19.94)

Salute to oddball `NCIS'

When ``NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service'' came on the air in 2003, I didn't expect much. From Donald P. Bellisario, the executive producer of ``JAG,'' I expected a a ``CSI''-type crime procedural with a military twist. But ``NCIS'' proved to be surprisingly fun. Mark Harmon as Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs leads an eclectic cast of characters who investigate crimes. Though part of the military, the ``NCIS'' team are members of an independent civilian unit -- so there's not much saluting.

Michael Weatherly plays Anthony DiNozzo, a former homicide detective with a goofy streak, who often butted heads with Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander), a former Secret Service agent. (Alexander left the series after the second season). Adding to an oddball quality is Abby (Pauley Perrette), a scientist with tattoos and goth-style clothes, and medical examiner Dr. Donald ``Ducky'' Mallard (David McCallum), who loves to tell stories.

What sets the show apart is that while it is serviceable as a crime drama, it excels in its characters.

Hollywood stories are often too inside to be interesting.

``Entourage'' -- the HBO series starring Jeremy Piven and Adrian Grenier -- manages often enough to avoid the trap and pump some genuine emotion into the story. ``Entourage'' is also often funny and silly enough to make it worth watching for that. But the second season has given it some heft.

Other TV-related discs are listed below.

``NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service -- The Complete First Season'' (Paramount; $64.99)

``Charmed -- The Complete Fifth Season'' (Paramount; $49.99)

``Entourage -- The Complete Second Season'' (HBO; $39.98)

``The Wild Wild West -- The Complete First Season'' (Paramount; $49.99)

``F Troop -- The Complete First Season'' (Warner; $39.98)

``Doctor Who -- Genesis of the Daleks'' (BBC Warner; $34.98)

``Cheyenne -- The Complete First Season'' (Warner; $39.98)

``Home Improvement -- The Complete Fourth Season'' (Disney; $39.99)

Rob Lowman, [phone]

robert.lowman(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1) TOMMY LEE JONES in ``THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA''

(2 -- 5) no caption (DVD covers)