ON DVD > WATCHING AT HOME.

Byline: ROB LOWMAN

>ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

>"Knocked Up"

Judd Apatow's superb "Knocked Up" is that rare comedy that is not only hilarious -- and that may be an understatement -- but one that is sweet yet never sappy, and sharply observant.

"Knocked Up" spins off from a drunken one-night stand between slacker Ben (Seth Rogen) and go-getter TV exec Alison (Emmy winner Katherine Heigl) that results in her pregnancy. It has its share of gross-out jokes, but Apatow is more interested in the messiness of life. When Alison decides to keep the baby, the story becomes a rather bizarre nine-month romance.

Ben hardly seems like a catch for the hot Alison. His ambition is to create a Web site with his slacker buddies where surfers can look up the nude scenes of their favorite stars.

In contrast to the odd couple is Alison's sister, Debbie (Apatow's wife, Leslie Mann), and her husband, Pete (Paul Rudd). They seem to have everything -- success, two lovely young daughters and a big house. But their relationship could put anyone off the institution. Debbie is constantly critical, Pete is emotionally frozen, and communication between the two is nil.

Apatow avoids the cliches, though,letting his characters stumble through their lives. At one point, Ben calls his father (Harold Ramis) for advice. "Just tell me what to do," Ben begs, but his bemused dad can only be honest. "I've been divorced three times. Why are you asking me?" he responds.

Everyone in the film is in a mixed-up state, somewhere between immaturity and adulthood. The scene where the 30-something Debbie is turned away from a hip club for being too old is heartbreakingly on target and funny.

>"Black Book"

You may have forgotten that Paul Verhoeven made his mark in the Netherlands with intriguing, entertaining films like "Soldier of Orange," before moving to Hollywood action films in 1980s like "Robocop" and "Total Recall." Then it was on to kinkier fare such as "Basic Instinct" and the so-bad-it's-perversely good "Showgirls."

"Black Book" is the first film the director has shot in his native country in more than 20 years, and it's a return to form.

Written by Verhoeven and Gerard Soeteman, the World War II tale tells the story of a young Jewish woman named Rachel Stein. In 1944 she's hiding from the Nazis with a Christian family on a farm when an American plane accidentally bombs it.

Played winningly by Dutch actress Carice van Houten, Rachel finds herself suddenly on the run from the Germans. Her strange odyssey of survival forces her to play a corpse, dye her body hair in order to sleep with the head of the Gestapo so she can spy on him, and endure the humiliation of having human feces dumped on her. All this is done in order to keep her from the even greater horrors of the concentration camps.

Verhoeven never shies away from mixing sex and violence nor the sublime with the grotesque, and "Black Book" is no exception. And no one would accuse the director of being subtle.

But Verhoeven knows how to grab you, and all the way through "Black Book," you can't help but root for the gutsy Rachel.>

opening friday>

FEAST OF LOVE: Romantic roundelay with Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Selma Blair, Radha Mitchell, Jane Alexander and a high percentage of shirtless starlets. "Kramer vs. Kramer's" venerable Robert Benton directed.

THE GAME PLAN: Pro quarterback is tackled for a loss when he learns he has a 7-year-old daughter. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars.

GREAT WORLD OF SOUND: Neat indie about a music recording scam operation.

THE KINGDOM: FBI team investigates a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia in this political thriller from Peter Berg. Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner star.

THE RAPE OF EUROPA: Joan Allen narrates this documentary about efforts to save artworks from Nazi thievery during World War II. (Menemsha)

out tuesday>

NEW FILMS

"Knocked Up -- Unrated" ($29.98 for single disc, $30.98 for the two-disc edition and $39.98 for HD)

"Black Book" ($29.95 and $38.96 for Blu-ray)

"Evening" ($29.98)

"Next" ($29.99 and $39.99 for HD)

"Bug" ($29.98)

"The TV Set" ($27.98)

"Macbeth" ($26.98)

"Tekkon Kinkreet" ($26.96)

TELEVISION

"As You Like It" ($26.98)

"The Bronx Is Burning" ($39.95)

"King of Queens -- The Complete Ninth Season " ($29.95)

"The Unit -- The Complete Second Season " ($59.98)

"Midsomer Murders Set 9" ($49.99)

"Numb3rs -- The Third Season " ($54.99)

"My Name Is Earl -- Season 2 " ($49.98)

"Count Dracula" ($14.98)

"Dora the Explorer -- Save the Mermaids " ($19.99)

"The Untouchables -- Season 1, Vol. 2 " ($38.99)

"Drawn Together -- Season 2 " ($26.99)

"Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Granada Television Series" ($229.98)

"The Streets of San Francisco -- Season 1, Vol. 2" ($38.99)

"Grounded for Life: Season Five " ($19.98)

"What About Brian -- The Complete Series " ($59.99)

"The History Channel Presents Rome -- Engineering an Empire " ($24.95)

"Seeing in the Dark" ($24.99)

OLDER FILMS

"The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection" ("Babes in Arms"/ "Babes on Broadway"/ "Girl Crazy"/ "Strike Up the Band") ($59.92)

"The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid" ($14.98)

"Cujo ($25th Anniversary Edition)" ($19.98)

"Eat My Dust -- Supercharged Edition " ($19.99)

MUSIC

"Willie Nelson -- Last of the Breed" ($24.95)

>other movies

The romantic "Evening," based on the Susan Minot novel with a screenplay by Michael Cunningham ("The Hours"), will be remembered more for its impressive casting than anything else: Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson (Redgrave's daughter), Meryl Streep, Mamie Gummer (Streep's daughter), Eileen Atkins and Glenn Close. But the story of a woman (Redgrave) remembering a few nights of passion some 50 years before seems awkward, particularly in the dialogue, and sinks eventually into soap suds.

Nic Cage plays a Las Vegas magician who can see into the future in "Next." This talent has FBI agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) pursuing him in order to stop a terrorist attack, but Cris (Cage) is more interested in a teacher (Jessica Biel), the object of his visions. A rather silly plot careens out of control, but if you're in an undemanding mood, it's diverting enough.

Jake Kasdan's "The TV Set" has David Duchovny as a writer making a pilot for semi-autobiographical sitcom. Kasdan, who has worked in television, seems acutely aware of the absurdities of the business of the medium, which comes through in this sharply observed satire.

"Bug," directed by William Friedkin (in "The Exorcist"), is creepy psychodrama with a decent performance by Ashley Judd as a barmaid with an abusive husband.

>tv

Kenneth Branagh set his HBO version of the Bard's "As You Like It" in 19th-century Japan. It wasn't the only change, as he cut some passages, including those of comely heroine Rosalind (Bryce Dallas Howard), who spends much of the play disguised as a man.

The cuts and scenery change to a romantic play -- which is one of the Bard's most convoluted and may rankle purists -- but, as I noted a few weeks ago about Branagh's "Hamlet," the actor-director is adept at making Shakespeare entertaining.

To that end, "As You Like It" employs a first-rate cast, including Brian Blessed, Kevin Kline, Adrian Lester, Janet McTeer, Alfred Molina and David Oyelow as Rosalind's love interest, Orlando. And it boasts a handsome cinematic canvas.

"All the world's a stage" is the play's most-famous line, and Branagh has given us an "As You Like It" with a global look.

ESPN's "The Bronx Is Burning" is an eight-part miniseries that tells the story of the New York Yankees' 1977 championship season. It was also the year of the Son of Sam killings and a mayoral election. John Turturro as the fiery team manager Billy Martin embodies the chaos of the time, but the series only intermittently captures the turbulence of the times.

Rob Lowman, [phone]

[e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

After one unplanned night together, Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen unexpectedly face parenthood in "Knocked Up."