TAX ADVICE WITH, WITHOUT HUMOR
OK, the fun’s over. Instead of Christmas cards in the mail, there are tax forms. But this new year you have an unexpected ally to help you wrestle with them: your VCR.
“Tax Attack ‘87” and “The Touche Ross Video Tax Guide 1987” are two new videocassettes aimed at aiding the addled with income tax preparation. Which video suits your needs depends on whether you want your tax advice with or without humor.
“Tax Attack ‘87,” $19.95 from LCA/New World, features comedian Robert Klein in what a press release describes as “a humorous explanation of our new tax laws.” Made in association with the Arthur Anderson accounting firm, the tape shows struggling tax preparer Klein “transported to what appears to be a giant-sized gameboard where he is greeted by sinister organ music, ominous thunder claps and the disembodied voice of the IRS.” Did they say humor or horror?
Anyway, Klein and the viewer are guided through the maze of adjusted gross income, tax shelters and other fun things. Graphs and charts help show the way. Information: (213) 444-8187.
While making no comic claims, the Touche Ross tape (designed by the accounting company of the same name and costing $29.95 from MasterVision) attempts to clarify the new tax laws, too. It’s also a step-by-step “financial planning tool” that uses some computer animation. It’s available on laser disc, ($34.95). Information: (212) 879-0448. (Check with your local bookstores as well as video stores.)
Here’s some other non-movie programming on new videocassettes:
SEE AND SKI: Oh, the heck with taxes. Let’s go skiing. What--don’t know how? Or know how but still take too many tumbles? There’s no substitute for a good (human) ski instructor, but no fewer than three new videos also offer tips: “Warren Miller’s Learn to Ski Better” ($24.95 from Karl-Lorimar, (714) 474-0355), “Suzy Chaffee’s Ski Workout” ($29.95 from Today Home Entertainment, (213) 274-7800), and “Billy Kidd’s Ski Racing” (available Jan. 27 for $29.95 from Prism, (213) 277-3270).
TENNIS, ANYONE? Sliding down slopes isn’t your cup of snow? Then how about this approach to working off those Christmas calories: “Tennis: Workout to Win with Virginia Wade” ($29.95 from Vision Media, (212) 529-6881).
LAUGH LINE: What better way to start off 1987 than with a laugh? Paramount provides humorous videos with a vengeance. Last month the company released all of John Cleese’s “Fawlty Towers” episodes and the first in its series of Monty Python tapes. On Jan. 21 it will offer five comedy cassettes under the umbrella title of “United States of Hysteria”: “Jay Leno and the American Dream” (Leno’s Showtime special, not to be confused with his NBC special); “Howie Mandel’s North American Watusi Tour” (an HBO show); “Rich Hall’s Vanishing America,” “Garry Shandling: Alone in Las Vegas” (both Showtime specials); and “The Best of Spike Jones” (a compilation of highlights from the comic bandleader’s 1952-57 show). All are $29.95 each. Information: (213) 468-5000.
THE BOYS OF VIDEO: Baseball’s still four months away, but for those who can’t wait there’s RCA/Columbia’s “1986 World Series Highlights,” a one-hour tape that’s the official compilation of the New York Mets-Boston Red Sox seven-game battle. Commentators: Vin Scully, Joe Garagiola and Bob Costas. $19.95. Information: (818) 953-7900.
ROCKING WOMEN: As if life weren’t confusing enough, MCA is releasing a video called “Women in Rock” ($29.95) Jan. 15, while Sony is putting out a tape called “More Women in Rock” ($19.95) sometime this month. The 57-minute MCA video features concert excerpts and music videos by Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, the Pretenders, the Bangles and many others. Information: (818) 777-4315). The 52-minute Sony tape features more obscure artists, including Judy Tzuke and Amazulu. Information: (800) 847-4164.
NEW AGE VIDEO: Want to space out on video but you’re tired of watching test patterns? Meditation, inspiration, relaxation and perhaps even some exasperation can be gained from “Trio,” views of Southern California shore, mountain and forest with music by jazz-rock group Static--for $22.95 from EZTV, (213) 657-1532. Then there’s “Andromeda: Journey Through Inner Space” (using shots of light through crystals) and “Enchanted Landscapes,” $39.95 each from New Era Media, (415) 863-3555. Or if you want to triple-whammy your brain waves, there’s “Sedona: The Psychic Vortex Experience,” a look at a “primary positive center” at Sedona, Ariz., that comes in three forms: book, audiocassette and a 65-minute “video exploration” ($39.95). Information: (818) 889-1575.