Video. . .What’s New : Movies

The selection has never been better--in 1989, anyway--at the video store than it is this week. There’s a little bit of everything. . . .

Humor:

The funniest film of 1988? Many would nominate “A Fish Called Wanda” (CBS/Fox, $89.98, R). Starring Monty Python’s John Cleese and Michael Palin, plus Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline, this irreverent British comedy (directed by Oscar nominee Charles Crichton) about double-crossing jewel thieves and much else was a surprise hit with American audiences. A commercial has been tacked onto the video--but this ad may actually boost rentals and sales: It features Cleese giving a mock-lecture on subliminal advertising while the name of the sponsor, a soft-drink company, appears all over the place.

The funniest film of 1932? Quite possibly “Horse Feathers” (MCA, $19.95), the Marx Brothers film where Groucho is the unlikely president of a college, woos the beautiful Thelma Todd in a canoe and gets down to the real business of a university--building a good football team. Like the Marxes’ other Paramount films (“Duck Soup,” et al.), “Horse Feathers” is undiluted by the musical numbers, romance and sub-plots that marred their MGM pictures.

Drama:

Each of the following films from MGM/UA Home Video won the Academy Award for Best Picture: “Marty” (1955, formerly available from CBS/Fox) is a superb film adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky’s TV play. Directed by Delbert Mann, the black-and-white movie stars Ernest Borgnine as the man who’s just about given up finding love, and Betsy Blair as the woman who changes his mind. “Mrs. Miniver” (1942) is the ultra-classy (if somewhat artificial) spirit-rouser that depicted middle/upper-class Britons for Americans during World War II. Greer Garson starred in the title role, supported by Walter Pidgeon and Teresa Wright. “Cimarron” (1931) is based on an Edna Ferber novel about a pioneer family and stars Richard Dix and a young Irene Dunne. “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936) is a lavish biography of Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld (William Powell). Since it runs 177 minutes, it’s on two cassettes. “The Life of Emile Zola” (1937, previously available from Key) stars Paul Muni as the French author, with an emphasis on his involvement in the Dreyfus trial. Each of these videos is $29.95.

Also available from MGM/UA is the first musical ever to win the Oscar for Best Picture, “Broadway Melody” (1929, $29.95), now a rather creaky curio (its chief charm being a Freed-Brown score that includes “You Were Meant for Me”), and the newly colorized version of “Casablanca” (1942, $79.95).

Laughs and thrills:

The two 1988 films that offer both also share “the mob” in their plot lines. “Married to the Mob” (Orion, $89.98, R) is another delightful film from director Jonathan Demme. A hit man’s widow (Michelle Pfeiffer) gets caught between the Mafia and the FBI. Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin have their own problems with the mob in “Midnight Run” (MCA, $89.95, R).

Music:

“U2: Rattle and Hum” (Paramount, $24.95, PG-13) is a documentary about the Irish band that went from being a critical favorite to one of the most popular rock groups of the ‘80s. U2 was filmed by Phil Janou on its 1987 U.S. tour. Heavy-metal rock is the focus of Penelope Spheeris’ “The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years” (RCA/Columbia, $89.95, R), as well as the funny/sad/goofy/obnoxious attitudes of the people who play it.

Richard Wagner’s final opera, “Parsifal” (Kultur, $59.95), was his interpretation of the Grail legend. The iconoclastic German director Hans-Jurgen Syberberg turned it into one of his fascinating-for-some, trying-for-others films in 1982. This double-cassette video runs 255 minutes. Information: (800) 458-5887.

And more:

Other notable movies released on videocassette this week include “The Passion of Beatrice” (Virgin Portfolio, $79.95, R), a historical drama set during the Hundred Years War and directed by Bertrand Tavernier; “The Big Blue” (RCA/Columbia, $89.95, PG), a romantic comedy/drama about “free divers” starring Rosanna Arquette; “A Handful of Dust” (RCA/Columbia, $89.95, PG), an adaptation of the satirical Evelyn Waugh novel; and the failed comedy “Feds” (Warner, $89.95, PG-13), in which two women (Rebecca DeMornay, Mary Gross) become FBI recruits.

Other Videos

The highly praised “Dear America: Letters From Vietnam” (HBO, $89.99) details American soldiers’ experiences, told in their own words--read by such stars as Robert DeNiro, Michael J. Fox, Kathleen Turner and Martin Sheen. “Bette Midler’s Mondo Beyondo” (HBO, $39.99) was a very disappointing, hour-long HBO cable special featuring not nearly enough of Midler, who hosts several boring weird-comedy/performance-art acts.