VIDEO; BRING HOME BOYS, DINOS, MICE.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

Despite the spaciousness of the Midwest landscape, there is something suffocating and threatening about the small Nebraska town portrayed in Kimberly's Peirce's film ``Boys Don't Cry.''

It's the same suffocation and fear that Brandon Teena (played by Oscar- winning actress Hilary Swank) must have felt. The teen-ager - the subject of the film - was raped and murdered in that town in 1993, ostensively because of a secret.

Having been born a woman - a role that apparently had never felt right - Teena Brandon had become Brandon Teena, dressing like a man, developing male mannerisms and pursuing women. When the secret was discovered by two males, Teena was rape and eventually killed.

Despite knowing the eventual tragic outcome, watching ``Boys Don't Cry'' is provocative storytelling on two levels. First, Peirce's direction is moody and highly charged, and the performances by Swank and Chloe Sevigny are first rate.

The second level is a bit more obscure. Though Peirce's film is sympathetic to the teen, it's also complicated. And in essence, the story is asking viewers to examine their attitudes. While the plight of a sexually confused teen might be understandable for many, Teena's actions might not. His/her decision involved a deception that was hurtful to many; Teena was also a petty thief. While some may applaud Teena's actions to try to live life ``his'' way, there is a question of its cost.

Blame Teena's situation on society, on bigots, or whatever, but most of us will ultimately be thinking about our own attitudes when watching ``Boys Don't Cry,'' and that's good art.

Big 'Little' film: ``I can't believe I'm arguing with lunch,'' exclaims Snowbell the cat (voiced by Nathan Lane) in Rob Minkoff's charming retelling of E.B. White's classic ``Stuart Little.'' We can't believe how terrific this film looks.

The tale of the mouse adopted by a family (Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie and Jonathan Lipnicki) from a script by Gregory Brooker and M. Night Shyamalan (writer and director of ``The Sixth Sense'') has enough bite and is not too overly sentimental for adults, but is clearly aimed at the under-10 crowd. And for them, Stuart (voiced by Michael J. Fox) should be a delight as he makes one narrow escape from trouble (like being lunch) after another. And even adults can't help but get into the story, watching how the special-effects Stuart is integrated into the live action is a trip. For kids, though, it's just fun. And the new DVD is filled with lots of fun extras.

Prehistoric stroll: If you missed the new cable ratings champ ``Walking With Dinosaurs'' on the Discovery Channel last Sunday, you can pick it up in the video stores. The three-hour show had an average viewership of 10.7 million, and for good reason. The computer-generated monsters were unreal in how real they looked. Not only that, the show narrated by Kenneth Branagh was educational to boot.

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Photo: (1 -- 3) Hilary Swank, left, won an Oscar for her role in ``Boys Don't Cry.'' DVDs are available for those who missed Discovery Channel's ``Walking With Dinosaurs,'' while ``Stuart Little'' comes to video with extra scenes.