Ever since they were first spotted before harvest, crop circles have remained largely mysterious. With over 9000 documented happenings, this enigmatic pattern has the scientific world worried?

In Cross of Iron Sam Peckinpah weighs in on World War II from the German point of view. The result is as bleak, if not quite as bloody, as one expects from the director of The Wild Bunch, in part because this 1977 film was cut to ribbons by nervous studio executives. The assorted excerpts that remain don't constitute an exhilarating or even an especially thrilling battle epic. The war is grinding to a close, and veterans like James Coburn's Steiner are grimly aware that it's a lost cause. The battlefield is a death trap of sucking mud and barbed wire, and the German generals (viz., the martinet played by James Mason) seem to pose a bigger threat to the life and limbs of Steiner's men than the inexorable enemy. Not even Peckinpah's famous sensuous exuberance when shooting violence is much in evidence; the picture is a depressive, claustrophobically overcast experience. The bloody high (or low) point isn't a shooting; it's a wince-inducing de-penis-tration during oral sex. For a fun time with the men in (Nazi) uniform, try Das Boot instead. --David Chute, Amazon.com

When a pop singer at the height of her career appears in a film there's never going to be any doubt who the star is, and Crossroads makes sure the audience doesn't forget it. Britney Spears is Lucy, who, along with her friends Kit (Zoe Saldana) and Mimi (Taryn Manning), buries a time capsule to be opened upon their high-school graduation. They all grow apart because of their different backgrounds, but reunite after the prom and bizarrely decide to embark on a road trip to Los Angeles for various reasons. Enter Enrique Iglesias look-alike, the lovable rogue Ben (Anson Mount), who kindly drives them all the way cross country. Throw in car trouble, singing for money and Britney falling in love and that's the journey over with. By the time they get to LA it gets even more predictable and ends with Britney singing "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" at the audition for Slide Records, winning the respect of her father (played by Dan Aykroyd) and gaining the love of Ben.

Spears performance and that of her costars is perfect for the nature of the film--an homage to 80s flicks about teen angst--which even begins with Lucy dancing round her 80s-themed bedroom singing along to an old Madonna record. Spears' Lucy is a resourceful gal who saves the day every time, whether they need a mechanic, an accountant, a driver, a lead singer, or just a shoulder to cry on. She writes poetry, too. Is there anything Britney Spears can't do?

On the DVD: Crossroads the DVD comes with an impressive list of interactive features, including a "Pop-Up Britney" where her head bursts through the screen and describes how she felt filming the current scene. There are TV adverts; a cinematic trailer and a teaser trailer (overkill); deleted scenes and outtakes; plus two music videos ("I'm Not a Girl" and an alternate Darkchild mix and video for "Overprotected"). Things to watch in awe and bewilderment are "How to make a T-shirt like Britney", which means cutting the sleeves and bottom half off, and "Edit your own music video", where you get a choice of three scenes from "Not a Girl" to put in any order you want. --David Trueman