Finally, an Informational Resource for Parents

A common complaint from parents in the market for children’s videos is that there’s no guide to answer all their questions--such as, is a certain video high quality, or violent, or suitable for a child of a certain age?

Most parents rely on information on the video box, word of mouth or the reputation of a video company, such as Disney. There are a few books and magazines that offer guides to children’s videos, but another option is a new quarterly, the Parents’ Guide to Children’s Video, published in Santa Monica. Selling for $3, it includes reviews of programs and articles about the field.

“Our mission is to give parents an informational resource that changes every quarter and will guide them when they have to choose videos,” explained associate publisher Alan Schwartz, who founded the magazine with publisher-editor Jeffrey Stern. They started developing the magazine about a year ago, and put out the first issue at the beginning of the year. The next one is due in late April or May.

The heart of the 62-page guide is its informative reviews, which are particularly helpful with programs from lesser-known labels.

“One thing this guide does is steer parents to all the good videos out there that they don’t know about,” Schwartz explained. “They may see something in a store from some company they don’t know and won’t trust what they read on the video box. With our guide, parents might try some of the videos.”

Schwartz said that 100,000 copies have been printed. As with any new journal, the road has been rocky, with assorted distribution and advertising problems that Schwartz predicted would be under control soon.

The Parents’ Guide is available at Music Plus, or by calling (800) 966-5209.

Swimsuit Issue: Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue, which delights girl-watchers and infuriates feminists, reached newsstands this week. SI’s prediction: 5 million copies will be sold. The magazine may whet some appetites for the companion video, “Behind the Scenes: the Official Swimsuit Video,” out on HBO for $20.

The first video, “The Sports Illustrated 25th Anniversary Swimsuit Video,” came out in 1989 and was a smash hit. HBO shipped about 500,000 copies, according to Dick Koffe, HBO’s marketing manager, making it one of the best-selling non-theatrical videos in history.

The new hourlong video shows how the layouts were shot and interviews the models, leading to a segment featuring this year’s cover girl, Kathy Ireland. Though the models and crew try to make it all as innocent and business-like as possible, the program does qualify as soft-core porn.

Anticipating protests, Koffe said, “Every year SI gets some complaints, and every year SI brings out the information which shows that female readership triples for this issue. So it’s not offensive to all women. Some of them see it just as a preview of the season’s new swimsuits. Those readers speak a lot louder than a handful of protesters.”

People who subscribe to HBO’s pay-TV service could have seen the program Wednesday night. But that showing doesn’t really dent the market for the video because many prospective buyers don’t get the cable channel.

The video features three 30-second commercials for Dodge, two at the beginning and one at the end.

What’s New on Video: Here are some recent releases:

“Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare” (Columbia TriStar, $93). Supposedly the end of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series, with dream monster Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) being wiped out by his daughter. For those with a sick sense of humor and a fondness for gross-out gore.

“Barton Fink” (FoxVideo, $95). In the Coen brothers’ dark, surreal satire on ‘30s Hollywood, a writer (John Turturro) struggles with writer’s block in a movie that was hailed by some critics as inventive and condemned by others as a long, uppity in-joke for film buffs. Featuring John Goodman and the acclaimed performance of best-supporting actor nominee Michael Lerner.

“Night Eyes 2” (Prism, $90). Though tagged with a silly ending, this B-movie, available in both R and unrated versions, is an effective, steamy thriller most of the time, with Andrew Stevens playing a surveillance specialist who gets involved with a woman (Shannon Tweed) whom he’s hiding from terrorists.

“Saturday Night Live-Wayne’s World Special Edition” (Starmaker, $15). Scattered among some so-so “Saturday Night Live” segments from the last few years are a few “Wayne’s World” skits, shrewdly capitalizing on the success of the “Wayne’s World” movie. But it’s the best of Wayne and Garth, with the metal-heads hosting Aerosmith, Wayne Gretsky and Madonna.

“Rover Dangerfield” (Warner, $93). This animated movie, featuring the voice of Rodney Dangerfield as a roguish basset hound who gets no respect, got limited theatrical release because it was too risque for the kiddies but not risque enough to appeal to an older audience. Dangerfield wrote the script and co-wrote the clever songs.

Just Out on Laser Warner’s “Woodstock: The Lost Performances” ($35), featuring artists who weren’t included in the original movie; “Carmen Jones” (Image, $60), a wide-screen edition of the 1954, black version of the opera “Carmen,” with Dorothy Dandridge (Oscar nomination for best actress) and Harry Belafonte.