THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 26, 1995 TAG: 9512230053
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: CRAIG SHAPIRO
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
YOUR DICTIONARY might say something different, but the dusty, dog-eared copy we use around here defines ``good'' as:
a) enjoyable
b) dependable
c) thorough
d) morally sound
Videomatic would like to answer those charges. Our moms like reading it, so that must mean it's enjoyable, because our moms - who worked long hours at great sacrifice to make us what we are - don't lie. Dependable? The column's here nearly every Tuesday, isn't it? And we spend too much time in dark rooms reviewing the week's gems and dreck. Brother, that's thorough.
As for morally sound, we'll save that for another time.
So, if your friends at Videomatic have been good this year, and, by definition, we have, what gives? Yesterday, flush with the holiday spirit, we get up early, hustle downstairs and eagerly open a bag of . . . Beta tapes! Previously viewed Beta tapes at that.
Santa could have at least left a few lumps of coal. We could have used them to heat this dungeon.
That's all we have to say. After all, we're big boys and girls. But you needed to know why the column is being cut short this week. We wanted to be first in the return line.
ODDS & ENDS: What makes The Great One great? In ``Wayne Gretzky's All-Star Hockey,'' he offers tips on the game and in-line skating. So do other NHL stars, among them Luc Robitaille and Marty McSorley. (Buena Vista, $12.99)
``Cinderella . . . Frozen in Time'' is not about cryogenics. It's an Ice Capades production starring Dorothy Hamill. Maybe you saw it on TV last year. Now
you can watch it anytime. (Sony Wonder, $12.98)
Priced to go: ``No Way Out,'' ``Harry & Son,'' ``The Mean Season,'' ``The Believers,'' ``Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins,'' ``Making Mr. Right.'' (Orion, $14.98 each)
The Couch Report
``Burnt by the Sun'' (Columbia TriStar, 1994). Writer/director Nikita Mikhalkov also stars in this masterful foreign-film Oscar winner. He plays Kotov, a hero of the Bolshevik revolution enjoying the country life with his young wife and daughter - until his wife's ex-lover, a charming musician who left to join Stalin's secret police, shatters the harmony. Mikhalkov's scenes with his own daughter, Nadya, are not only priceless but they also lend the story a rare poignancy. Funny, profoundly moving and truly terrifying, it will not leave you untouched. (Subtitled) Videomatic says: A+
(CAST: Nikita Mikhalkov, Oleg Menchikov, Nadya Mikhalkov, Ingeborga Dapkunaite. RATED: R for language, violence, situations; 134 mins.)
``Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde'' (HBO, 1995). Robert Louis Stevenson must be doing 360s. Doc's great-grandson concocts a formula, becomes - yikes! - Sean Young, and then it's winner-takes-all in a dud devoid of scares or laughs. Harvey Fierstein, playing a swishy perfumer (there's a stretch), gets the best line: ``Twenty years in therapy and I start liking girls? That's malpractice.'' The campy ``Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde'' is lots more fun. Videomatic says: D-
(CAST: Sean Young, Tim Daly, Lysette Anthony, Harvey Fierstein. RATED: PG-13 for language, brief nudity; 92 mins.)
``Born Wild'' (Columbia TriStar, 1995). No-talent Brooke Shields has top billing as a documentary film maker, but the efforts of conservationist John Varty are the point. He spent 12 years filming a female leopard; after she was killed, he dodged red tape and corrupt game wardens to find a home for her cubs. Getting Varty in front of the camera was smart. He's no actor, which makes his message authentic. Videomatic says: C+
(CAST: Brooke Shields, John Varty, Elmon Mhlongo, Martin Sheen, David Keith. RATED: PG for mild language, animals in distress; 98 mins.)
``Mortal Kombat - The Movie'' (New Line, 1995). Can't say how it stacks up against the video game, but for martial-arts choreography and FX, it kicks butt. Three fighters are summoned to a dark island, with the fate of the world at stake. You want a plot? Sorry. Maybe Christopher Lambert will suffice. He's a panic as the good guys' spiritual mentor. Videomatic says: C+
(CAST: Christopher Lambert, Talisa Soto, Linden Ashby, Bridgette Wilson. RATED: R for violence, language; 101 mins.)
Also: ``An Awfully Big Adventure,'' the comedy starring Hugh Grant as a priggish, tyrannical theater director (R)
Next week: ``Showgirls,'' ``Priest,'' ``The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love,'' ``Safe,'' ``The Glass Shield,'' ``Amanda and the Alien,'' ``The Stranger,'' ``Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
``Burnt by the Sun'' won an Oscar for best foreign film for director
and star Nikita Mikhalkov.
by CNB