
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 18, 1993                   TAG: 9312210098
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: C12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE A VIDEO CHRISTMAS

This Christmas, the home video business is trying to be all things to all gift-givers. It has something for every pocketbook - from "impulse buy" stocking stuffers to gaudy, overpackaged, overpriced gift sets.

Here's a quick overview of some of the tapes and discs that are available now, arranged by approximate price as noted in retail stores, catalogs and press releases.

LESS THAN $10:

Though you'll find that the bargain shelves in department and video stores are filled with cheap copies of movies that are so bad they're not even reviewed in this column (we're talking beneath the bottom of the barrel), there are some real treasures to be found, too. How about "Citizen Kane"? Turner Video has an edition on sale for $10. The same is true for that sharp black comedy "Heathers" (Starmakers, $10) with Christian Slater and Winona Ryder. FoxVideo has put the seasonal favorite "Miracle on 34th St." on sale for $8.

(By the way, many lower-priced films are recorded in "EP," the slower extended play mode. Some VCRs handle it well; others don't. Any EP image won't be as sharply defined as an "SP," standard play image. You'll be able to feel the difference when you hold the tape in your hand - EP cassettes are noticeably lighter - and there will probably be a mention of the recording speed in the fine print on the back of the box.)

$10-$15

Though Steven Spielberg's "Hook" (Columbia TriStar. $15) didn't fare too well with critics, kids loved it and it's on sale in many stores. Virtually all of the great Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons are available on one-hour tapes (MGM/UA. $15). The various packages contain four to six cartoons and are arranged by character, director and theme.

"Bringing Up Baby" (Turner. $14), one of the great screwball comedies with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, also is available at a good price, and so is "Bang the Drum Slowly" (Paramount. $14), one of Hollywood's best baseball movies with Robert DeNiro and Michael Moriarty. The combination of Rudyard Kipling, John Ford, Sean Connery and Michael Caine is hard to beat, particularly when the price tag on "The Man Who Would Be King" (FoxVideo) has been knocked down to $15.

Gary Sinese directed and starred in one of last year's sleepers. At $15, "Of Mice and Men" (MGM/UA) is a real bargain. John Malcovich is a memorable Lenny.

$15-$30

Moving up another notch on the scale, we find that the films are a bit more lavish. Hollywood's most successful epic, "Ben Hur" (MGM/UA), on two tapes, has been reduced to $25 in some stores. If your taste runs toward modern musicals, try Bob Fosse's ambitious "All That Jazz" (FoxVideo. $19). For more recent hits, how about the lively Kenneth Branagh/Emma Thompson mystery "Dead Again" (Paramount. $18), or the comedy that made Jack Palance a hot star, "City Slickers" (New Line. $19), or the two-tape extended, "director's cut" of Oliver Stone's unified conspiracy theory, "J.F.K." (Warner. $25)?

For incurable romantics there's Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in "An Affair to Remember" (FoxVideo, $15 cassette; $25 laserdisc). For something more serious, there's Milos Foreman's adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's "Ragtime" (Paramount. $30).

Fans of vintage TV comedy should consider new releases of the 1960s' hit, "Bewitched." Four-episode tapes are available, mail-order only (800-638-2922), for about $20 from the Columbia House Video Library.

$30 AND MORE

If there's someone special on your list who appreciates the outrageous, then the "John Water Archives" boxed set (New Line. $55) containing "Hairspray," "Desperate Living" and "Polyester" might be just the ticket. Fifty-five dollars will also get you the "Fawlty Towers Complete Set" (CBSFox), featuring the incomparable John Cleese. Those Warner Bros. cartoons mentioned earlier also come in a five-tape boxed set "The Golden Age of Looney Tunes" ($80. MGM/UA).

Taking another step up, the fancier special packages all feature extra material - books, theatrical previews, outtakes, commentary and the like. Among those receiving prominent shelf space this year are "The Ultimate Oz" (MGM/UA. $70), "It's a Wonderful Life" (Republic. $70), "Beauty and the Beast" (Buena Vista. $100), "Pinnochio" (Buena Vista. $100) and "Fantasia" (Buena Vista. $100).

But, dollar for dollar, the best buy in the video store just might be the 10-volume "Chaplin Collection" with virtually all of his best short silent films, from Madacy Music Group for $40.

Next week: Videos for folks spending Christmas by themselves.

New release this week:

DAVE: ***

Starring Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Ben Kingsley. Directed by Ivan Reitman. Warner Bros. 100 min. Rated PG-13 for some strong language, sexual material.

This good-natured story is cut from the same cloth as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," but with obvious references to today's political questions. The parallels between the cinematic fiction and last year's election (and what has happened since) are eerie. Kevin Kline, in a dual role worthy of Oscar recognition, manages to bring to mind both George Bush and Bill Clinton. If you missed this one in theaters, be sure to see it on tape. "Dave" is one of the year's funniest and most intelligent comedies.

by CNB