THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 7, 1994 TAG: 9412070014
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: CRAIG SHAPIRO
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
GOT A Schwarzenegger fan on your gift list? Wanna know how you can put together an Ah-nuld four-pack for under $40? This weekend, reconnoitering for today's Videomatic, I saw ``Total Recall,'' ``Red Heat,'' ``The Running Man'' and ``The Terminator'' - ``The Terminator'' - going for $9.99 a pop.
Busy mall + holiday season (EQ) a nightmare Dante couldn't envision. But even the Grinch went to great lengths to bring Christmas to Whoville, so I figured, What the hey? I made a sweep through Lynnhaven Mall on your behalf.
My advice: Pick a budget. Drop $11.99 on ``Young Frankenstein,'' $12.99 on ``Taxi Driver,'' $14.95 on ``Amadeus'' or $15.99 or `Casablanca.'' Big renters like ``Cool Runnings'' and ``Tombstone'' have just been cut to $19.99. ``Gettysburg'' is $24.98. There's the Indiana Jones and Star Wars trilogies ($44.95, $49.99) and the Bruce Lee and Beatles collections ($49.95, $49.98). A collector's edition of ``Aladdin'' runs $99.99; all nine volumes of Ken Burns' ``Baseball'' go for $179.98.
But what really appealed to the videophile and, yes, Scrooge, in me, were the $9.99 and under titles. The variety is astounding:
``The Silence of the Lambs,'' ``Bull Durham,'' ``. . . And Justice for All,'' ``Mad Max,'' ``Mississippi Burning,'' ``Drugstore Cowboy,'' ``An Affair to Remember.'' Two groundbreaking silent movies, ``The Lost World'' and ``Metropolis,'' are there right now. So is one of the best war movies ever, ``Zulu.'' John Wayne buffs can find ``Wake of the Red Witch,'' ``Sands of Iwo Jima,'' ``Rio Grande,'' ``Fighting Seabees'' and ``The Fighting Kentuckian.''
Ed Wood's ``Jail Bait'' is $9.99. Speaking of camp, ``Reefer Madness,'' ``Beach Blanket Bingo'' and ``Mars Needs Women'' are, too. You can add to your Godzilla, Gamera and Dr. Who libraries.
One title especially grabbed me, ``Horrible Horror,'' scenes from more than 50 of the best and worst in horror and science fiction. The capper: It's hosted by Zacherley, TV's original cool ghoul.
And I couldn't believe this: The genuinely creepy ``Carnival of Souls'' and the first episode of ``The Fugitive'' are $6.99.
Now, you're probably thinking, Ol' Shap has made Christmas 1994 so simple. And I can't begin to put a price tag on the wear and tear that he's saved my nerves and tires. How can I ever thank him?
Since you asked, about the only title I didn't see is one that has fascinated me for years, ``Wanda, The Sadistic Hypnotist.''
The Videomatic phone lines are open.
TOP TAPES (in Billboard):
Sales: ``Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,'' ``Jurassic Park,'' ``The Nightmare Before Christmas,'' ``The Flintstones,'' ``Speed''
Rentals: ``The Flintstones,'' ``Guarding Tess,'' ``City Slickers II,'' ``The Paper,'' ``The Crow''
The Couch Report
``Maverick'' (1994, Warner). You knew Mel Gibson's take on the TV Western would have ``cute'' to spare, but all the nudge-nudge, wink-wink is so forced and calculated that even a Danny Glover cameo is no surprise. Instead, director Richard Donner simply refries his ``Lethal Weapon'' formula. The plot has Maverick beating the odds by beating it to a high-stakes poker game. The big laughs come from Graham Greene, as his droll Native American accomplice.
(CAST: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner, Graham Greene. RATED: PG for mild language and violence)
``Widow's Peak'' (1994, New Line). There is life after Woody. Mia Farrow does a fine job in this charming comedy-mystery, set in the 1920s in an idyllic Irish village run by Joan Plowright and the ``ladies of the hill.'' The arrival of a glamorous stranger sets off a scandal that will keep viewers guessing through the last reel.
(CAST: Mia Farrow, Joan Plowright, Natasha Richardson. RATED: PG for mild language)
``Fortunes of War'' (1994, Columbia TriStar). A burnt-out relief worker sees his ticket home by smuggling a truckload of medicine into Cambodia. Along the way there's intrigue, romance and talk about lost ideals. It's too much and too neat. What's missing is desperation. Rent ``Wages of Fear'' or ``Sorcerer.''
(CAST: Matt Salinger, Dr. Haing S. Ngor, Sam Jenkins, Martin Sheen. RATED: R for language, violence)
Also: James Stewart in ``Call Northside 777,'' the '48 drama about a Chicago reporter investigating a man's claim that he was framed for murder (unrated).
Next Wednesday: ``Blown Away,'' ``I Love Trouble,'' ``Baby's Day Out,'' ``Wagons East!,'' ``Belle Epoque,'' ``The Wedding Gift,'' ``Ernest Goes to School,'' ``Relentless 4,'' ``A Place for Annie,'' ``Direct Hit,'' ``Blind Justice,'' ``Cage II: The Arena of Death'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
NEW LINE HOME VIDEO
Joan Plowright, left, and Natasha Richardson co-star in ``Widow's
Peak,'' a film directed by John Irvin.
by CNB