THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140039
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: CRAIG SHAPIRO
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
THESE ARE the good things about a .357:
Dirty Harry Callahan's day wouldn't have been made without one.
Baseball players hitting at that pace might win a batting title.
This is the bad thing:
Going 10-for-28 isn't too swift when you're looking for hard-to-find videos.
I wanted to do better, too, because you guys have been patient while your requests collected serious dust in the Infoline mailbox. Yeah, yeah. The Postal Service is faster. Charlie Hough is quicker to the plate. Deduct points for punctuality; you can't fault the Videomatic M.O.
First stop is ``VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever.'' The Godzilla of reference books, it runs 1,532 pages, lists 22,000 titles and includes cast and director indexes. No soap? Out comes the catalog from Movies Unlimited, a mail-order house in Philadelphia that stocks 30,000 titles. Checkpoint 3 is a fistful of specialty catalogs.
None of that guarantees a thing, so I asked Larry Guthrie at the Suncoast store at Lynnhaven Mall what he does for customers with special requests.
If a movie has EVER been on video, they've got a book listing the company that last held the rights. You can get the name and phone number. Otherwise, Guthrie has some good advice.
``They're always releasing new titles. Every week we get something new, especially older movies. The best thing to do is check back periodically.''
Ditto. The Videomatic Infoline Mailbox is 640-5555, category 2827.
Meantime, here's what I found. Order at any video store. (Note: Disney re-releases its titles every few years - the exception is ``Song of the South,'' which may stay in the vaults for good - but an odd copy or two still turn up.)
Becky, Virginia Beach. ``Cactus Flower,'' Columbia TriStar, $14.95
Andrew, Virginia Beach. ``Destroy All Monsters,'' Fright Video, $18
Paul, Chesapeake. ``A Night to Remember,'' Paramount, $19.95
Bill, Virginia Beach. ``Secrets,'' Prism Entertainment, $59.95
Charlotte, Virginia Beach. ``Green Ice,'' J2 Communications, $19.95
Cheryl, Chesapeake. ``Putney Swope,'' Columbia TriStar, $14.95; ``Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song,'' Sun Video, $59.98
Elliot, Virginia Beach. ``Lonely Are the Brave,'' MCA/Universal, $19.95
Anita, Norfolk. ``The Long, Hot Summer,'' CBS/Fox, $59.98
Joann, Virginia Beach. ``Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter,'' Time-Life Video and Television, $69.95
Amy, Virginia Beach. ``The Land Before Time'' is on hold right now, but it will be offered at McDonald's around Christmas for under $10.
TOP TAPES (in this week's Billboard):
Sales: ``Beethoven's 2nd,'' ``Thumbelina,'' ``Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,'' ``Yanni: Live at the Acropolis,'' ``Woodstock: Three Days of Peace & Music''
Rentals: ``Philadelphia,'' ``Schindler's List,'' ``Grumpy Old Men,'' ``On Deadly Ground,'' ``The Pelican Brief'' THE COUCH REPORT
``The Crow'' (1994, Miramax). Would Brandon Lee's last film have been as big a hit if he hadn't died so tragically as it was wrapping? Yes. Based on the underground comic, the storyline is no great shakes - a rock star returns from the dead as an avenging angel. Lee, though, is gripping in his portrayal, a tragic hero haunted by rage and sadness. Director Alex Proyas' dark tableau makes ``Blade Runner'' look like a stroll in the park. It's a visual feast. The soundtrack is killer, too.
(CAST: Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott. RATED: R for language, violence)
``Mother's Boys'' (1994, Miramax). Hunted in ``Halloween,'' Jamie Lee Curtis switches hats to play a nut case who abandoned her family and now wants back. The thriller plays by the books - you can spot the red herrings a mile off - but it's fun watching Curtis. She's plain scary. Young Luke Edwards is good in the difficult role of the emotionally troubled oldest son.
(CAST: Jamie Lee Curtis, Peter Gallagher, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, Luke Edwards. RATED: R for language, violence, brief nudity)
``Threesome'' (1994, Columbia TriStar). Sometimes, you wonder what the critics had for lunch. ``Daringly explorative''? ``Provocative''? This comedy-drama about three students (two guys and girl) who share a dorm room and then each other, raises interesting conflicts that are ditched for a lot of inane talk - the main point being, Hey, it's college. Anything goes.
(CAST: Lara Flynn Boyle, Stephen Baldwin, Josh Charles. RATED: R for coarse language, nudity, situations)
``Fly By Night'' (1994, Columbia TriStar). This drama gets points for having its heart in the right place. A pair of hardcore rappers go for the brass ring, then are torn by questions of social responsibility. Problem is the sermons weigh down the story. The film does, however, present positive role models, and you can't have too much of that.
(CAST: Jeffrey D. Sams, Ron Brice. RATED: PG-13 for language, violence, brief nudity)
``Reckless Kelly'' (1994, Warner). Yahoo Serious, Australia's boy wonder, updates the legend of Ned Kelly, the Robin Hood of Oz. Serious produced, directed and wrote this broad comedy, and tries to accomplish too much. But he's likable in the lead, the film has a frat-house appeal, and, occasionally, its not-too-subtle barbs land right on target.
(CAST: Yahoo Serious, Melora Hardin, Hugo Weaving. RATED: PG for mild language and violence)
Also: ``Bitter Moon,'' the wild, sexy comedy from Roman Polanski (R); ``The Day My Parents Ran Away,'' a comedy about going it alone (PG); Diane Keaton in the TNT production ``Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight'' (unrated), and ``Against the Wall,'' the HBO drama about the Attica riot (R).
Next Wednesday: ``Farewell My Concubine,'' ``Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult,'' ``3 Ninjas Kick Back,'' ``The Snapper,'' ``Midnight Cowboy'' (25th anniversary edition), ``Fatal Past,'' ``Sleeping With Strangers,'' ``Lush Life,'' ``Cover Story,'' ``The Evil Within,'' ``Orson Welles' Ghost Story'' by CNB