5 Things You Should Know About
By RICHARD CORLISS, James Poniewozik
MOVIES Death Race Written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson; rated R; out now Cars, cons, guns and girls: that's how to write finis to an action-movie summer. In this more violent, less anarchic remake of the 1975 Death Race 2000, Jason Statham is the star driver for evil warden Joan Allen. We like the industrial-brutalist look of the film and its flair for gaudy car-nage. But in one way, this is like Hamlet 2: the original was better. B
Hamlet 2 Directed by Andrew Fleming; rated R; out now A failed actor (Steve Coogan, in a turn that's both precise and grotesque) tries to mount a sci-fi musical sequel to Hamlet. Ostensibly satirizing high school inspirational movies, this ragged comedy lines up all the objects of scorn, then cops out with a rousing finish. It's typical of showbiz parodies that Hamlet 2 finally becomes what it purports to mock. C+
DVDS Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini; unrated; out Aug. 26 At the end of Mussolini's reign, four Fascists take pleasure in subjecting young villagers to the worst sexual degradation. Criterion has reissued this grim, notorious film--the last work of the gay Marxist poet and director--in a classy two-disc set, a death skull grinning from the box. A-
Entourage The Complete Fourth Season; out Aug. 26 Movie idol Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) hits a career speed bump, and so does this HBO comedy. While Vince and his bros await the editing of his epic flick Medellin, the show dithers and seems bored with itself. Here's hoping the upcoming season gives them better material. C+
TELEVISION The Black List HBO; Aug. 25; 9 p.m. E.T. This spare film collects 22 black celebrities' insights as told to critic Elvis Mitchell--from Toni Morrison (left) on how her race liberated her as a writer to Chris Rock on his dad's theory about competing with white people: "If you have six and the white guy has five, he wins." B+