THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 17, 1994 TAG: 9408170025
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Craig Shapiro
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
SOME VIDEOS are a given. They're the ones that come so firmly fixed in the public eye that reviewing them is unnecessary.
Like ``Schindler's List.''
So I'll be brief. Steven Spielberg's Holocaust drama, arriving today, is epic filmmaking in the grandest tradition. Like ``Lawrence of Arabia,'' it is bold and intimate, as much a sweeping technical marvel as it is a restrained and finely wrought character study.
It won seven Oscars last March, including best picture and director, and deserved two more: for Liam Neeson as the German profiteer whose change of heart saved the lives of 1,100 Jews; and for Ralph Fiennes, who humanized the brutal Nazi commandant, Amon Goeth.
Most of all, it silenced Spielberg's green-eyed critics, who for years grudgingly acknowledged his popularity, but chided him for catering to mass appeal. The argument was never valid; still, ``Schindler's List'' (1993, MCA/Universal; RATED: R for language, nudity, atrocities) is a work of genuine commitment and great empathy.
And because of that, copies may be scarce. How to fill in? Two films about history's darkest chapter, and as memorable as Spielberg's for the same reasons, come to mind:
``Sophie's Choice'' (1982, CBS/Fox). Meryl Streep is the tortured heroine, an Auschwitz survivor, in director Alan J. Pakula's haunting adaptation of the autobiographical novel by William Styron.
``Au Revoir Les Enfants'' (1987, Ingram International). Two boys, one Catholic, the other Jewish, become friends while the latter is hiding at a French boarding school. The conclusion is absolutely wrenching. Director Louis Malle drew on his own experience.
MUSIC MEN: Mums and peonies aren't the only perennials. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein wrote musicals that last, which makes FoxVideo's brand-new ``Rodgers & Hammerstein Golden Anniversary Collection'' timeless.
It includes ``Oklahoma!'' ``The Sound of Music,'' ``South Pacific,'' ``The King and I,'' ``Carousel'' and ``State Fair,'' plus the remastered soundtracks. Right, in 1945, ``State Fair'' didn't have a soundtrack. Fox recorded one - and added new material not in the original ``Sound of Music'' soundtrack.
Each title lists for $19.98, except for ``The Sound of Music.'' It's on two tapes and goes for $24.98.
GOOD GRIEF: Paramount becomes the ``Peanuts'' capital today with ``It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,'' two from ``The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show,'' ``Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown,'' a ``Snoopy Double Feature'' and ``The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad,'' off ``This Is America, Charlie Brown.'' All have been remastered. The price? Peanuts: $9.95 to $14.95. TOP TAPES (in this week's Billboard):
Sales: ``Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,'' ``The Return of Jafar,'' ``Mrs. Doubtfire,'' ``Yanni: Live at the Acropolis,'' ``Thumbelina''
Rentals: ``Philadelphia,'' ``The Pelican Brief,'' ``Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,'' ``Grumpy Old Men,'' ``Tombstone'' THE COUCH REPORT
``Hard Boiled'' (1993, Fox Lorber). Last year's ``Hard Target'' was John Woo's U.S. debut, but the director is at the top of his game with this one, shot in his native China. His allegiances are clear: Sam Peckinpah and '50s cops-and-robbers movies. Here, rogue cops take on rival gun-smuggling gangs. When Woo turns it up, hold on. The action sequences, a mind-blowing array of gunfire and explosions leading to a hospital shootout, are balletic in their sweep. Woo simply doesn't let up. Neither does this thrill ride.
(CAST: Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung. UNRATED, ultra-violence, language)
``I'll Do Anything'' (1994, Columbia TriStar). James Brooks' comedy, shot as a musical then re-edited, cries for a director's cut to fill in the gaps in the narrative. Still, that doesn't detract from good performances by Nick Nolte, a struggling actor raising a young daughter, and Albert Brooks and Julie Kavner, whose odd-couple romance is funny and painful. There's lots of dirt on how Hollywood operates, too.
(CAST: Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks, Julie Kavner, Whittni Wright. RATED: PG-13 for language, situations)
``Cyber Ninja'' (1994, Mondo Pop). Take the ``Star Wars'' plot, borrow from ``Terminator,'' ``RoboCop'' and ``Predator,'' toss in some kabuki theater, then set it against the basic Japanese samurai saga. What've you got? A comic book sprung to life. It's a trip.
(CAST: Hanbei Kawai, Hiroki Ida, Eri Horishita. UNRATED, samurai violence, mild language)
Also: Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons in ``The House of the Spirits'' (R); ``The Stand,'' the Stephen King mega-series; ``Ghoulies IV'' (R); ``A Life in the Theatre,'' the Jack Lemmon-Matthew Broderick TNT project; ``Seduce Me,'' a fantasy about eroticism and marriage (R); Noah Hathaway and Ami Dolenz in ``Mortal Danger'' (PG-13), and ``Bash at the Beach,'' pitting Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair in pro wrasslin's ``match of the century.''
Next Wednesday: ``Blue Chips,'' ``Four Weddings and a Funeral,'' ``Like Water for Chocolate,'' ``Blue,'' ``A Man Escaped,'' ``Cheyenne Warrior,'' ``Night of the Demons 2,'' ``Raw Justice,'' ``Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone,'' ``Animal Instincts 2''
Aug. 26: ``D2: The Mighty Ducks'' ILLUSTRATION: ORION PICTURES photo
Director Louis Malle drew on his own experience in 1987's `` Au
Revoir Les Enfants.''
by CNB