A few small gems can be found on DVD shelf

If you can get past the hype for all the big new releases on DVD (there are things other than "Lord of the Rings"), you might discover a few small gems on the shelves of your friendly neighborhood video store:

— "Where the Rivers Flow North" (Artdustry, 1994, PG-13, $9.98). Rip Torn is terrific as a cantankerous old goat — an aging, one-handed logger in the 1920s — who tries to manipulate the system to his advantage when a hydroelectric plant needs his land in Vermont. And Tantoo Cardinal holds her own as his equally stubborn companion, talking to him in the third person, and with her own ideas about what they should do.

These two great character actors have a real showcase here, and it's a pleasure to watch them both. The atmosphere and period setting are also captured well, and there's a generous amount of wry humor in this low-key, low-budget drama.

Look for a couple of bigger stars to show up along the way — Michael J. Fox and Treat Williams — both of whom do much with their smaller roles.

Extras: Full frame, etc.

— "The Cat's Meow" (Lion's Gate, 2001, PG-13, $14.99). Director Peter Bogdanovich is in rare form with this period drama/mystery, which speculates about a true story — the death in 1924 of a movie producer aboard the yacht of William Randolph Hearst (Edward Herrmann). Also on board are his paramour, actress Marion Davies (Kirstin Dunst), and superstar Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard).

The cast is great — even Izzard, who doesn't particularly resemble Chaplin but manages to invoke the character in spirit. And Bogdanovich guides them with a sure hand, primarily within the cramped confines of the ship.

The film is enjoyable on its own but film buffs will find some things of particular interest, including the extras, from Bogdanovich's scene-specific audio commentary to a Charlie Chaplin short to home movies and silent clips of celebrities of the era.

Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary, making-of documentaries, restored Chaplin short "Behind the Screen" (1916), home movies/newsreel footage/clips, etc.

— "Holes" (Disney, 2003, PG, $29.99). Based on the best-selling youth novel, this comic mystery/fantasy is an enjoyable little film about a boy who is mistakenly convicted of theft and sent to a desert detention center. The facility is run by a trio of misfits — played in high-camp mode by Jon Voight, Sigourney Weaver and Tim Blake Nelson.

They're amusing, but the kids are best, led by the talented Shia LaBeouf.