THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 1, 1995 TAG: 9508010024
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Craig Shapiro
LENGTH: Long : 125 lines
STUDENTS OF Videomatic learned last week that no pun is too bad for their favorite column. Today's lesson: We recycle. Give us your tired, your lame, your weakest cliches yearning to see print.
Like the Dog Days, the really sticky and oppressive part of summer that arrives every Aug. 1, which is today.
Anyone see where this is going?
What would follow is a list of cool videos to beat the heat. We've put one together, only they aren't cool in the climatic sense. They're cool because we say so and because we're the ones who've gotta come up with some darned thing to fill this space and it's tough-stuff if you don't like it.
Sorry. Must be the heat.
Doggone: In ``All Dogs Go to Heaven,'' Don Bluth touches on mortality in a gentle way youngsters can grasp. Parents, sit in for this one. Runners-up: ``Old Yeller'' because it's so great and ``Cujo'' because it's so stupid.
Comedy: ``The Tall Guy'' is a little-seen scream about an American (Jeff Goldblum) trying to make it in London's West End. Runners-up: ``House Party'' and ``After Hours.'' Wickedly funny slices of life.
Animation: ``Who Framed Roger Rabbit?'' is not only in a league of its own, it made animation cool again. Runners-up: ``The Great Mouse Detective'' and ``The Night mare Before Christmas.'' What's not to like?
Action: Kevin Costner is no Robert Stack, but ``The Untouchables'' lost nothing in the transition. Runners-up: ``Jaws,'' ``The Road Warrior.'' Both are perfect, movies you're compelled to watch from any point in the story.
Horror: Talk about staying power. At 62, ``King Kong'' rules. Runners-up: ``Halloween'' and ``The Hitcher'' are scary without being gross.
Sci-Fi: ``The Quiet Earth'' is serious stuff. Bruno Lawrence wakes up to find that he may be the last man on earth. Runners-up: ``Aliens'' for its punch, ``The Day the Earth Stood Still'' for its timeless message.
Family: ``The Swiss Family Robinson'' still makes being a castaway look cool. Runners-up: ``Monkey Trouble,'' thanks to Harvey Keitel, is surprising fun. ``Rudyard Kipling's the Jungle Book'' is Tarzan for the '90s.
Drama: Set in 1940s L.A., a cool time, the gritty ``True Confessions'' does as much with dialogue as it does with silence. Runners-up: ``Glengarry Glen Ross'' and ``The Joy Luck Club.'' Tremendous ensemble acting.
Romance: Gerard Depardieu's resume is full of fine performances, but he's at his best in ``Cyrano de Bergerac.'' Runners-up: ``The Wedding Banquet'' and ``Manhattan'' dare to be unconventional.
Musicals: Unconventional? Steve Martin is not the wild and crazy guy in the very dark ``Pennies from Heaven.'' Runners-up: ``Singin' in the Rain'' and ``An American in Paris'' because there's no such thing as too much Gene Kelly.
Westerns: Someday, ``Wyatt Earp'' will get the recognition it deserves. Runners-up: ``The Ox-Bow Incident'' and ``The Searchers'' because there's no such thing as too many classics.
Mystery: William Petersen brings a manic edginess to ``Manhunter,'' playing an ex-FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer. Runners-up: ``Blow Out'' is truly frightening, ``F/X'' is clever fun.
ODDS & ENDS: Listen up, Beastie boys and girls. Republic has four new-to-video episodes of ``Beauty and the Beast.'' ``China Moon,'' ``The Alchemist,'' ``Temptation'' and ``Promises of Someday'' go for $14.95 each.
From the ``Peanuts'' vault: ``You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown,'' ``Why, Charlie Brown, Why?'' plus two titles each from ``The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show'' and ``This Is America, Charlie Brown.'' (Paramount, $9.95)
And the Shirley Temple vault: ``Young People.'' She's the singing, dancing daughter of ex-vaudevillians. (FoxVideo, $14.98; due Wednesday)
TOP TAPES (in Billboard):
Sales: ``Playboy: The Best of Pamela Anderson,'' ``Forrest Gump,'' ``The Lion King,'' ``Pink Floyd: Pulse,'' ``The Crow''
Rentals: ``Dumb and Dumber,'' ``Disclosure,'' ``Interview With the Vampire,'' ``Murder in the First,'' ``Legends of the Fall''
The Couch Report
``Just Cause'' (Warner, 1995). If not for its ``In the Heat of the Night'' twist and marquee leads, this would be a pretty routine thriller. Sean Connery is a Harvard law professor investigating a murder in backwoods Florida; Laurence Fishburne is the cop on the case. They pump up their stereotypes and give the red-herring ending an edge. Blair Underwood shows considerable range as the inmate who insists he's innocent, and Ed Harris' psycho is the best looney this side of Hannibal Lector. Videomatic says: B-
(CAST: Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburne, Blair Underwood, Ed Harris, Kate Capshaw. RATED: R for language, violence, brief nudity; 102 mins.)
``Higher Learning'' (Columbia TriStar, 1995). John Singleton uses broad strokes and bold colors to make his point, but at least he has one - and is willing to go out on a thematic limb for it. Here, the stories of three college freshmen create a mosaic that is topical and touching, tragic and thought-provoking. The performances are focused; Singleton's technique is daring and assured. As for his point - make that points - who can dispute self-respect, individuality and responsibility? Videomatic says: A
(CAST: Omar Epps, Kristy Swanson, Michael Rapaport, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne. RATED: R for language, situations, violence; 127 mins.)
``Bye Bye, Love'' (FoxVideo, 1995). This comedy-drama about three single dads coping with divorce looked to have ``schmaltz'' stamped all over it. Surprise. Like ``Parenthood'' a few years ago, it's touching, funny and rings of real life. Paul Reiser, Matthew Modine and Randy Quaid play well off each other. If it get a tad tear-jerky, the low-key style of director Sam Weisman makes it go down easy. Videomatic says: B
(CAST: Paul Reiser, Matthew Modine, Randy Quaid, Janeane Garofalo. RATED: PG-13 for language, situations; 107 mins.)
``The Swan Princess'' (Turner, 1995). Computers are fine, but there's a lot to be said for animation the old-fashioned way. While not in the Disney league, this colorful adaptation of ``Swan Lake'' looks better than most of what passes out there. It also has something for all viewers: action, love, cutesy characters and a simple good vs. evil storyline. Videomatic says: C+
(VOICES of Jack Palance, John Cleese, Steven Wright, Sandy Duncan. RATED: G for the whole family; 90 mins.)
Also: ``In Pursuit of Honor,'' an HBO military drama with Don Johnson and Craig Sheffer (PG-13); Swoosie Kurtz and William McNamara in ``Storybook,'' a family entry that includes the first Casper cartoon (G), and ``Weekend Pass: Red Shoe Diaries 5,'' another collection of Zalman King's steamy shorts (R)
NEXT TUESDAY: ``Nobody's Fool,'' ``Outbreak,'' ``Billy Madison,'' ``Man of the House,'' ``Leprechauns,'' ``Never Say Die'' ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo
"House Party"
COLUMBIA photo
Laurence Fishburne, left, consoles Omar Epps after a campus tragedy
in ``Higher Learning.''
PARAMOUNT photo
Want compelling action? ``The Untouchables'' stars, from left, Andy
Garcia, Sean Connery, Kevin Costner and Charles Martin Smith.
by CNB