THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 14, 1996 TAG: 9605140036
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Videomatic
SOURCE: Craig Shapiro
LENGTH: Long : 127 lines
REMEMBER A FEW weeks ago, when we dusted off ``The French Connection'' and watched it again because that great crime drama was released 25 years ago?
And how excited we got once we realized we could milk the very same idea - movies celebrating a special anniversary - the entire year?
Well, forget it.
That's not the style here at Team Videomatic. It's the whole nine yards. The whole shooting match. The whole (fill in cliche here). Besides, a quick thumb through our reference books convinced us it wasn't such a hot idea after all. We'd never have room to write about anything else.
So, here it is: The List, the movies we would've written about if we weren't so wishy-washy, uh, principled. They're all available on video and they all come with the Videomatic seal of approval.
And you know what that's worth.
1931: ``Frankenstein,'' ``Dracula''
1936: ``Modern Times,'' ``Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''
1941: ``Citizen Kane,'' ``The Maltese Falcon,'' ``The Wolf Man''
1946: ``The Big Sleep,'' ``Notortious''
1951: ``An American in Paris,'' ``The African Queen,'' ``A Streetcar Named Desire''
1956: ``Forbidden Planet,'' ``Invasion of the Body Snatchers''
1961: ``The Absent-Minded Professor,'' ``Breakfast at Tiffany's,'' ``Judgment at Nuremberg,'' ``West Side Story''
1966: ``Fantastic Voyage,'' ``A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,'' ``The Sand Pebbles''
1971: ``Play Misty for Me,'' ``Straw Dogs,'' ``Dirty Harry,'' ``Bananas,'' ``The Last Picture Show,'' ``McCabe and Mrs. Miller,'' ``The Hospital''
1976: ``Taxi Driver,'' ``Marathon Man,'' ``The Outlaw Josey Wales''
1981: ``Cutter's Way,'' ``Blow Out,'' ``Das Boot,'' ``True Confessions,'' ``The Howling,'' ``Mephisto,'' ``Body Heat,'' ``Dragonslayer,'' ``Eye of the Needle,'' ``Prince of the City,'' ``Raiders of the Lost Ark,'' ``Pennies From Heaven''
1986: ``Stand by Me,'' ``Manhunter,'' ``Mona Lisa,'' ``Sid and Nancy,'' ``Aliens,'' ``Blue Velvet,'' ``Clockwise,'' ``Manon of the Spring'' and ``Jean de Florette,'' ``Platoon''
1991: ``Boyz N the Hood,'' ``The Fisher King,'' ``The Silence of the Lambs,'' ``Cape Fear,'' ``Thelma & Louise''
TOP TAPES (in Billboard):
Sales: ``Babe,'' ``Waiting to Exhale,'' ``Pulp Fiction,'' ``The Aristocats,'' ``Pocahontas''
Rentals: ``Seven,'' ``Braveheart,'' ``Babe,'' ``To Die For,'' ``Waiting to Exhale''
Robin Redux
Lest you think Jonathan Pryce's credits - prior to his marvelous performance as acerbic social commentator Lytton Strachey in ``Carrington'' - consist solely of those snobby car commercials, check out 1985's dazzling ``Brazil.''
He gives a wonderful, touching performance as a beleaguered clerk in director Terry Gilliam's eye-popping, futuristic black comedy. (Robert DeNiro makes a hysterical cameo as a heating engineer.)
As is his M.O., Gilliam creates an entirely unique, surreal universe, as bleak as it is hilariously frightening. Pryce escapes the techno-driven nightmare via wildly romantic daydreams - he imagines himself as a winged hero saving the fair maiden. His reverie makes ``Brazil'' a sheer visual pleasure; in addition, you'll catch a glimpse of Pryce's versatility.
``The American President'' (Columbia TriStar, 1995). If Rob Reiner wasn't so klutzy with his political agenda, he would've nailed the Capraesque romantic-comedy he had in mind. Michael Douglas and Annette Bening are a splendid match as the widowed prez and dedicated lobbyist. The off-tour workings of the White House are interesting, too. But Richard Dreyfuss' GOP bad guy is a flat cut-out, and Douglas' big speech is pure jingoism. Videomatic says: B
(CAST: Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Samantha Mathis, Richard Dreyfuss. RATED: PG-13 for language, themes; 114 mins.)
``Powder'' (Hollywood, 1995). More questions are raised than answered - Does the gentle, psychic Powder represent man in his purest, highest form? Is he an alien or a Messiah? And what's with the electricity? But there's nothing vague about the film's message: tolerance. Sean Patrick Flanery is good in the title role, an albino living sheltered from the world in his grandfather's cellar. Videomatic says: C+
(CAST: Sean Patrick Flanery, Mary Steenburgen, Lance Henriksen, Jeff Goldblum. RATED: PG-13 for mild language, themes; 112 mins.)
``A Month by the Lake'' (Miramax, 1995). One of those tidy, British comedy of manners. Vanessa Redgrave just gets better with age. She plays a free spirit who falls for a retired major - stiff upper lip and all - during a holiday at Italy's lush Lake Como. It's 1937, and the times being what they are, it's not love at first sight. But getting there is half the fun. Videomatic says: B
(CAST: Vanessa Redgrave, Edward Fox, Uma Thurman. RATED: PG, but it's harmless; 92 mins.)
Carrington'' (PolyGram, 1995). Even if you're not interested in the life of artist Dora Carrington and her relationship with the acerbic, homosexual writer Lytton Strachey, there are still two reasons to see this fine, sublimely paced drama: the luminous Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce. She simply cannot give a bad performance. He is a marvel as Strachey; his slightest gesture speaks volumes. Videomatic says: A
(CAST: Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce, Rufus Sewell, Steven Waddington. RATED: R for language, situations, themes, brief nudity; 122 mins.)
Dead Presidents'' (Hollywood, 1995). Allen and Albert Hughes follow ``Menace II Society'' with another look at the urban nightmare. Anthony is a good kid who wants to do something different: He joins the Marines and serves proudly in Vietnam. But the Bronx of 1973 isn't the place he left. Scorned and rejected, he turns to crime to support his young family. Nothing subtle, but sometimes that's what it takes. Videomatic says: B
(CAST: Larenz Tate, Chris Tucker, Keith David, N'Bushe Wright. RATED: R for language, violence, situations; 120 mins.)
Also, Embeth Davidtz and Ben Chaplin in ``Feast of July,'' a Merchant Ivory production about passion and betrayal (R).
Vids for kids
``Jumanji'' (Columbia TriStar, 1995). Robin Williams is rather restrained for a guy who's spent 26 years trapped in a board game. When he's freed, the idea is to finish play before things get crazy. It's only a hook for the computer-generated rhinos, elephants and monkeys, which are trotted out like clockwork. Thing is, they aren't that hot. Videomatic says: C
(CAST: Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt, Bradley Pierce, David Alan Grier. RATED: PG for tense moments, a bloody lip; 104 mins. $15.95.)
Next Tuesday: ``Casino,'' ``GoldenEye,'' ``Nick of Time,'' ``Frankie Starlight,'' ``Total Eclipse,'' ``Les Miserables,'' ``Portraits of a Killer,'' ``Streets of Laredo,'' ``Woman Undone'' by CNB