Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 3, 1994 TAG: 9409080015
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
My own favorite in this group is ``Discretion Assured.'' It's a thriller from Brazil with a good cast and an overly complicated story that simply doesn't know when to stop.
Trevor McCabe (Michael York) is a businessman who's having an affair with Paige (Jennifer O'Neill), his partner's wife. His own wife (Dee Wallace Stone) has realized that something's wrong, and Paige's jealous behavior is becoming deranged and possessive.
She's got reason. McCabe has just fallen for Miranda (Elizabeth Gracen), a real knockout who may be setting him up for someone. At the same time, someone is embezzling money from the company. Toss in a murder or two, and a world-weary detective, and you've got everything you need for a decent mystery.
The best part of the film is Jennifer O'Neill's gleefully maniacal performance. She really cuts loose and has a grand time. The rest of the actors seem to have realized the true nature of the script by Julia Jones and director Odorico Mendes. The big emotional scenes could have come straight from a steamy afternoon soap.
The film looks great, with exotic locations and a well-realized sense of place. It also has a strong sense of humor - always a welcome addition - and a twist ending. Recommended for those in the mood for something a little different.
``Cyber Ninja'' is a completely gonzo science-fiction action flick from Japan. It recycles elements of a samurai movie with inventive s-f hardware (including swords with bullets and a flying house) and the outrageous style of ``Godzilla.'' They're all wrapped up in a plot that makes no sense at all.
The key here is pace, a relentless rat-a-tat-tat that seldom slows. The original film was directed by Keita Amemiya. The English language adaptation is credited to Carl Macek. One or both of them did good work. The story involves rival warlords, mercenaries, a captive princess, a guy whose brother was killed in an early battle and, of course, the title character. He's a mysterious man-machine of ambiguous loyalties. But then it's pointless to apply too much logic to this one. Enjoy the special effects, the stuntwork and the carefully choreographed fight scenes. They are fairly graphic but the context is so far removed from reality that kids and teens will probably enjoy the film more than older videophiles will.
``Treacherous'' is a similarly overwrought tale set south of the border, in this case, Mexico. (The film was made at the Las Rosas Hotel in Ensenada. It gets full marks as a flattering travelogue.)
That's the setting for writer-director Kevin Brodie's tale of interlocking double-crosses. Our heroes are Mickey (C. Thomas Howell) and Tommy (Adam Baldwin) who got out of the auto racing business when Tommy was paralyzed from the waist down. Now they own a luxurious resort, and they're in hock up to their earlobes.
That's how the situation stands when Mickey's girlfriend, Jessica (Tia Carrere), comes for a visit, and finds that one of Mickey's old girlfriends, Lisa (Randi Ingerman), has shown up too. The other key elements are a bad guy who wants Mickey to race cars for him, an evil industrialist (there aren't any other kinds of industrialists in this kind of movie) and a suitcase with $2 million in cash.
From that basis, the plot flips itself into all sorts of contortions that make about as much sense as they have to. In the end, it's fun if you're in the mood. The oddest thing about ``Treacherous'' is the way Randi Ingerman is made up to look like a combination of Loni Anderson and Lani Guinier.
Turning now to the video bookshelf, we find the 25th anniversary edition of ``Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 1995'' (Signet. $7.99, paper).
Though there are dozens of competitors out there, this book remains the single best and most economical source of information about popular film. Maltin and his contributors provide brief plot synopses, cast, credits, MPAA rating (if any), quality rating on a four-star scale, and availability on tape and disc. They also make an effort to note different versions and running times for key films. The list of mail-order sources for tapes is useful for collectors.
For the first time, this edition contains a glossary of widescreen terminology; that is the ratio of width to height of a screen image. It lists more than 50 formats from Agascope (Swedish and Hungarian CinemaScope) to Warwickscope (English). That's the kind of information that may be of interest to only the most serious videophile, but it's indicative of the seriousness that the editors bring to the book. Over the years, Maltin's guidebooks have stayed ahead of the curve in the expanding world of home video. The new edition will take the place of last year's beside the VCR.
``VideoHound's Pocket Movie Guide'' (Visible Ink. $4.95, paper) goes in the opposite direction. It doesn't pretend to be inclusive. Instead, it's an eclectic collection of micro-reviews arranged in quirky categories with such headings as ``Spy vs. Spy,'' ``An Evening with Harrison Ford,'' ``Nifty Fifties,'' ``Not-So-Nifty Fifties,'' ``Post-Pubescent Stew'' and ``Under the Influence of Shakespeare.''
At first, this one seemed too gimmicky to be useful, but I've revised that opinion. Strict logic doesn't have that much to do with the choices you make when you go to the video store. Let's face it: The movie you want to rent is never there. But since you're in the store anyway, you might as well get something. That's where this small (51/2 inches by 31/2 inches) pocket-sized listing of a thousand or so titles might be just the thing to jog a memory or suggest that lesser-known title you've always meant to see.
Editors Martin Connors, Julie Furtaw and Christine Tomassini have balanced new movies with old. The layout and selection of photographs make the book easy to skim through. All in all, this one's well worth a look, particularly for the casual videophile.
(Two other pocket guides for romance and horror - ``That's Amore'' and ``Worst Nightmares'' - are to be published soon.)
THE ESSENTIALS:
Discretion Assured *** Monarch. 97 min. Rated R for subject matter, strong language, violence, brief nudity.
Cyber Ninja ** 1/2 Orion Home Video. 80 min. Unrated, contains wild comic book violence.
Treacherous ** 1/2 FoxVideo. 96 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, brief nudity.
by CNB