European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 30, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Jul id. Iii.  i r am . Worth 6ro. Steve Martin plays mob informant Vinnie Antonelli in a my Blue heaven.�?�. A a Mir 0ro�. The a brain gremlins stars in a gremlins 2 the new Batch a the listings of top 10 videocassettes sales and rentals in the slates Iasi week were not available Al press time. Gremlitz 2 the new Batch rated pg-13. A successful sequel usually requires Strong and interesting characters or unique and compelling situations. Or the sequel simply has to be better than the original with gremlins 2 the new Batch the most exciting characters Arentt human and the situation would be compelling and scary if it weren to so silly. This time around the mutant Monwai trash a computerized office building in new York gulp Down vials of experimental genetic drugs and leave a Trail of Green slime garbage and confusion. Its big on frenzy and mess. Its also Good for a sincere laugh or two. But the uniqueness of the creatures is gone. Even Gizmo is no longer pc Cious but simply Ordinary. On the other hand if it s a Rainy saturday get this one for the kids a  love it. On Warner Home video. Dolores Barclay a associated press Rob Ocop 2 rated r. As pictured Here Detroit of the near future has become a dark Mold ering mess transfixed by anarchy and rampant virtually unchallenged crime where the cops arc too Busy picketing to police and a giant corporate octopus tightens its tentacles on a dying bankrupt City. Sounds like a Job for Rob Ocop Peter Weller and so it is As the at mor Clad super cyborg strides staunchly into Hail after Hail of bullets to blast away at the villains finally nailing the top dog a a Assanie psychopath called Cain who a spreading promises of Paradise with the highly addictive drug nuke. Unfortunately robots creators Omni consumer products like things As they Are while preparing a hostile takeover of the City so they Spring a trap in which he a savagely dismembered reassembled and reprogrammed into a Kinder Gen tier soul our hero gets his senses Back in time to take on of cps a new monstrous killing machine. Like the original the films a violent brutal noisy satire though not As Well done. Also too bad so Little is made of the intriguing human feelings within the memory Bank of a machine that once was a Man on Orion Home video Jack a Wilkinson. A United press International longtime companion rated a a moving portrait of Friendship among a group of homosexual men in the midst of the aids epidemic Hiroshima rated a Max von Sydow stars in this look at the devastation of a people on Vid Mark. My Blue heaven rated pc-13. Despite the occasionally disjointed plot stye Martin fans will fall prey to fits of gut Busi ing laughter in this comedic look Ai the Federal witness Protection program. A. A a Martin takes in a Brooklyn accent a Brush Cut and a swagger for his role As mobster Vinnie an Tonelli who has Tum cd informant for two big mob trials. The Fri has planted him in its witness Protection program in san Diogo with a new identity and a House in the suburbs and assigned mild mannered agent Barney Coopersmith Rick Moronis As his , the two make an Odd pair Vinnie is not a bad Guy at heart but he a a pathological liar with a is re am of co Csc to u so e is p a t the r of pure b Sloney. Barney is As Boring As Vinnie is Brash a he spends his spare time developing a Way to ensure that pancakes on the Bottom of the stack get As much syrup As those on the top for example. But then Vinnie enters his life. Things Start out quietly enough but Vinnie Stowey begins to go nuts from the sterile suburban lifestyle where the High Point of the week is a visit to the local mall. Soon he a giving Barney the slip so he can run a few scams to keep himself occupied. This Hobby picks up considerable steam r when he discovers a dozen old mob buddies All in the witness Protection program Hoied up in the neighbourhood. Martin is coming into his own on the big screen these Days and this film Only enhances this Stock he a a Flat out riot in this three Star film on Warner Home video Chuck Vinch a staff writer the Best of the old among the most heartening byproducts of the cassette revolution has been the Way it has caused  vaults in search of something a anything a that might Seli 5,000 or 10,000 copies. There slots on video that a never on the tube and much of it a even the esoteric stuff a is priced right Here a a selection that a almost guaranteed to please the palate of somebody who might need something for a weekend video Binge other than total recall and pretty woman. A Turner Home entertainment has released the entire series of Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers musicals including top hat flying Down to Rio and swi Jig time in videos that positively Glisten. Also offered in the series arc some lesser titles from the�?T40s such As four jills in a jeep and playmates starring worthies such As Ray Boiger de is Arnaz an d Odd Persona i ties o f the period such As Kay Kyser. They re harmless and very redolent of world War ii when the phrase Quot mindless escapism must have been invented. A serials if this end of filmmaking is often Sublime then certainly serials Are on the ridiculous other end. But at the height of their popularity roughly from 1920 to world War ii serials were Staples of every theater a saturday matinees until rising costs and television put them out of business by the mid�?~50s. The Best serials were made by Republic Stu. Dibs and the company has made a wide selection of the m Ava Ilab be View i n g a com p Lete 414-hour serial will provoke boredom but also admiration for the stunt work and special effect the Best Republic serials aval table Are probably the adventures of Captain Marvel Drums of fun Manchu and spy smasher the latter being a a particularly obvious precursor of the Indiana Jones movies a the response to their serials on videotape has be e n by j so e enough to convince Reyuh i that there a Gold in them that vaults. At the recent National association of tej vision programming executives convention j Republic did a brisk business in a package of serials edited for two hour time slots and colonized and if All that Isnit sufficient reason to take 8 look at the older sections of the video Racks there arc movies that were thought too god awful to e Ven release. For instance me and him Oil Ria Columbi wherein Griffin Dunne plays a Man whose Penis talks to him. Scorr Eyman a Cox news service Page 10 to plus sunday december 30,1990 \