St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 58

4F ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 19fl8 VIDEO AND MORE JONATHAN TAKIFF SOUND SIGHT VIDEO REVIEWS 'PETULIA" Better Camcorders Due, But Is Wait Worth It? Warner, $59.95 lent end of the 1960s. On the small, home screen in the 1 980s, the movie holds up just fine. Dolores Barclay, Associated Press "THE ROSARY MURDERS" Virgin Vision, $89.95 Donald Sutherland Is a questioning priest who hears a confession from a murderer, and he must find some way to stop the man from killing again without violating the sanctity of the confessional. Beneath Its ecclesiastical garb, this is a well-made old-fashioned murder mystery, with Sutherland giving his usual strong performance and good support from Charles Durnlng as a priest less given to questions.

The small amount of violence is underplayed. Harper Barnes What Is Dr. Archie Bollen doing In a high-tech motel with the rich, lovely and utterly weird Pe-tulla? Darned If he knows. "We're about to become lovers," she Informs him as he tries to unhook the feathery jacket to her sparkling gown. They don't Not then, anyway.

The scene In the first 30 minutes of Richard Lester's 1968 film "Petulia" introduces us to the title character, played by Julie Christie, who has just picked up the recently divorced Bollen (George C. Scott) at a San Francisco charity ball while her husband (Richard Chamberlain) looks on. Bollen declares Petulia a "kook," but she haunts him in more ways than one, ultimately showing up at his apartment with a stolen tuba and broken ribs and crawling into his life. But even Bollen's love can't save Petulia from herself and a violent marriage. Using flashbacks and flashforwards, Lester and cinematographer Nicolas Roeg present a stark, sometimes funny, sometimes frightening portrait of love among the spoiled rich during the turbu Reviews of recently released videocassettes: "INNERSPACE" Warner, $89.95 "Innerspace" is last summer's fantasy adventure offering from the Steven Spielberg factory.

Its one claim to distinction Is the spirited comic presence of Martin Short The movie, directed by Joe Dante, takes off trom the notion first explored in "The Fantastic Voyage" 20 years ago that a man can be "miniaturized" and injected Into the bloodstream of another. In this case, the shrinking man is a daring but drunken test pilot played by Dennis Quald and the unwitting recipient Is a Walter Mltty-llke supermarket clerk played by Short The overly complicated plot Involves rival scientists and enemy agents trying to steal the computer chips that make the "miniaturization" possible. Because Quald's air supply is limited, Short aided by a newspaper reporter played by Meg Ryan must race the clock to retrieve one of the chips needed for "re-enlargement" Some of the hijlnks are Clever, but the frenzied car chases grow tiresome. Short makes a believable and likable character out of Jack Putter, who starts the movie on the brink of a nervous breakdown but ends up a self-assured hero. "Innerspace" is harmless enough for helping kids 8 and over while away a rainy afternoon.

Mike Silverman, Associated Press THE BIG TOWN" Vestron, $89.98 THE HIT LIST Matt Dillon leaves downstate Illinois in the 1950s to shoot craps In Chicago in a mostly unsuccessful attempt to recreate the feel of "The Hustler" or "The Cincinnati Kid." One problem Is that craps lacks both the romance and the skill ret quirements of poker or pool, so it is hard to get very involved with the games the hero plays. A good supporting cast, Including Bruce Dern, Tommy Lee Jones and Lee Grant as gambling bigshots, is pretty much wasted. Nice recreation of mid-1950s Chicago, though. Harper Barnes The week's most popular videocassettes in St. Louis area stores.

Figures provided by Sight and Sound Distributors. "MAURICE" Lorimar, $79.95 A THEORETICALLY better video format for camcorders, Hi-Band 8mm, has just been announced by 10 hardware and software manufacturers Aiwa, Canon, Fuji, Hitachi, Konica, Matsushita, Maxell, Sanyo, Sony and TDK. i hesitate to get too excited, though, because the product is a year away from being Introduced, still in need of some fine tuning. Also, there's an axiom in the consumer electronics business that if a person waits to buy an improved version of a product, he or she will never buy anything at all, inasmuch as refinements are always In the works. With camcorders, a wait for the very best carries short-term negative implications, too.

It means putting off the chance to video-tape family and friends none of whom are getting any younger and special events that never will be repeated. Like the other, newly unsealed video technologies, Super VHS and ED Beta, Hi-Band 8mm improves the picture sharpness (to better than 400 lines of horizontal resolution) by widening and heightening the video frequency band used for recording. You'll need a good quality monitorreceiver to appreciate the difference over conventional camcorders, which reveal only 240-250 lines of resolution. Also following the Super VHSED Beta pattern, Hi-Band 8mm requires a new, finer formulation of tape to store its denser signals. According to an engineer from Hitchi's Maxell tape division, the "Metal Evaporated" tape used in Hi-Band 8mm Is still short of being perfected, however.

The tape's pure metal layer Is subject to rusting if not properly coated. The manufacturing process to protect the material is still being ironed out, so to speak. Theoretically, a Hi-Band 8mm camcorder will produce more satisfactory results than a Super VHS or Super VHS-C camcorder might. Picture quality should be similar. However the 8mm format boasts superior high fidelity sound, flying erase heads for glitch-free edits be- tween recorded segments, and a reasonably long (two-hour) record play capacity on a tape that's small-: er than an audio cassette.

Also in the fashion of Super VHS, Hi-Band 8mm tape recordings will not play back on conventional 8mm equipment. However, Hi-Band camcorders and decks will play conventional 8mm recordings. New product designs don't come any more fanciful than the Anlman Robotic Televison. The ultimate in portable TV, Animan walks on Its own two legs from room to room without human assistance. Animan also likes to get into the act swinging and swaying to MTV, leaning into curves during the chase scenes on adventure shows, getting down on its knees to pray when the televangelists command the screen.

Moreover, a top-mounted camera allows Animan to serve as a security device that can patrol the house and sound a warning alarm when a prowler is detected. Animan was built by Brian Elliot, a third-year student at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. It was the first-place winner In the home entertainment category of the Sony Deslgn-A-Vision competition. A company spokesman says that "elements" of Anl-man's design (and that of other contest entries) may show up In Sony television products in the future. Fascinating technology was unveiled recently in New York at Canon Expo '88, a new product fair staged by Canon to celebrate its 50 years of operations.

How will the company top its unique EOS auto focus lens, which features an ultrasonic focusing motor mounted in each lens element? How about with a lens that can correct for camera shake caused by hand movement effectively eliminating blurred shots. Canon's prototype image-stabilization lens with built-in motion sensor engages a corrective optical system when movement is sensed. Ideal for use with a hefty telephoto lens, the Canon corrective system eliminates the effects of shakes with lenses up to 300mm at a shutter speed of 1 60th of a second. Artificial intelligence is beginning to reach the consumer product level. A prime example is Canon's Al Calculator, which has no keys for symbols and figures.

Rather, users write calculations with a special pen on a liquid crystal display. The calculator reads the numbers, performs the required tasks and produces the answer. A memory function stores formulas and a memo board function stores important dates, calculations and even pictures. It's fun to fantasize about handwriting analysis being adapted for VCR and microwave oven programming applications. "Please cook till perfect, then call me to dinner and turn on the news." RENTALS SALES 1.

Beverly Hills 1. Jane Fonda's Cop 2 Start Up 2. Living Daylights 2. Dorf and the First Games 3. Dirty Dancing 3.

Martha Rounds Total Body Fitneaa 4. Stakeout 4. St. Louis Blues: True Blues 5. Surrender S.

Lee Trevino's QolfTlps 6. Slam Dance 6. Bowling With Bo Burton Jr. 7. Star Trek 4 7.

Oxiie: The Movie 8. Hellralser 8. Star Trek 4 9. Matewan 9. Bobby Riggs: Ageless Tennis 10.

The Squeeze 10. St. Louis Cardinals: The Movie "I'VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING" Charter, $79.98 This is the first commercial feature for young Canadian director Patricia Rozema, and it Is a delight to a great extent because of the charming lead performance by Sheila McCarthy as a naive young photographer who finds herself working in a chic contemporary art gallery in Toronto. The story may be a bit sentimental, but McCarthy, who looks and acts like a cross between Lucille Ball and Audrey Hepburn, makes it work even a seem, in a Japanese restaurant where she ends up with octopus. The satire of the art world is light but telling.

The whimsical dream and fantasy sequences actually benefit from the low budget for special effects. Harper Barnes James Wilby plays the title role in a very well-made adaptation (by the people who made "Room With a of E. M. Forster's semi-'autobiographical novel about a young man fighting the knowledge that he Is a homosexual. The early 20th century British settings, in both London and the countryside, are beautifully done, the acting is first-rate, and Rupert Graves is quite convincing as one of those gameskeepers the British upper classes seem to need to break down their sexual inhibitions.

The movie does go on a little too long. Harper Barnes Count on Target to have the newest toys kids want most New from Fisher-Price COMING ATTRACTIONS Each 'i Fisher-Price Purr-tenders are new soft plush cats that pretend to be other animals. There's Scamp-purr with white fur, pretending to be a mouse with pink fur who plays at being a colorful Romp-purr with yellow fur, looking at life from a dog's or cat's point of and Hop-purr with lavender fur and floppy ears (but only when Hop-purr's a When pretending is over, each returns to life as a cat: just squeeze their tummies or hug them and they respond with a cat's purr you can hear and feel. kl 4 Each comes with 2-piece costume, personality profile booklet and size AA battery tucked inside for lots of purring. (Battery is removable.) Ages 3 and up.

No commerical sales. Among videocassettes scheduled for release next week in St Louis area stores are the following. Release dates, which are subject to change, are provided by Sight and Sound Distributors. Aprils i "Flowers in the Dreams of an inherltence turn into a nightmare for four children locked in a deserted wing of the family mansion. Based on the V.C.

Andrews best seller. Victoria Tennant, Kristy Swanson, Jeb Adams, Louise Fletcher. New World, $89.95. "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Violent film made by Sam Peckinpah in 1974. A piano player in Mexico becomes involved in vengeful situations with seedy characters.

Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Gig Young, Robert Webber, Kris Kristof-ferson. MGM, $59.95. "Electra Glide in A 1 973 action-drama about a motorcycle cop who patrols the Arizona highway. Robert Blake, Billy Bush. MGM, $59 95.

"Pork Chop A 1959 Korean War film about a' group of soldiers who take the top of Pork Chop Hill, where they find themselves surround- ed by the enemy. Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard, Robert Blake. MGM, $59.95. "Report to the A rookie policeman accidentally kills an undercover cop and becomes em-' broiled in a department-wide cover-; up. A 1975 film.

Michael Moriarty, Kotto, Susan Blakely, Hector Elizondo, Tony King, Richard Gere, William Devane, Vic Tayback. MGM, $59.95. Wilby A 1974 film. In South Africa, a black revolutionary leader and a visiting Englishman suddenly find themselves running for their lives from a racist cop. Sidney Poitier, Michael Caine, Nicol Williamson, Prunella Gee, Persis Khambatta.

MGM, $59.95. T- April 6 Mikhail Baryshnikov and members of the American Ballet Theatre star in a dramatization of the backstage romances and on-stage triumphs of a ballet company in Italy filming a performance of "Giselle." Warner, $89.95. "Death Wish 4: The A revenge-driven architect sets out to rid L.A. of two rival drug rings following the death of his girlfriend's daughter. Charles Bronson, John P.

Ryan, Kay Lenz. Media, $89.95. ard Tyson, Jeffrey Tamb'or. MCA, $79.95. "Colossus: The Forbin A 1970 film based on D.F.

Jones' novel "Colossus," about a supercomputer that is independently capable of controlling the national defense of the United States. Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent. MCA, $59.95. "Silent Night, Lonely A 1969 TV drama. Two lonely people facing personal crises are drawn to each other for comfort at Christmas.

Lloyd Bridges, Shirley Jones, Carrie Snodgress, Robert Lipton. MCA, $39.95. "Criss Film noir thriller from 1948. Unable to keep his double-crossing ex-wife out of his mind, an armored car driver arranges a heist for her new husband, a notorious hood. Burt Lancaster, Yvonne DeCarlo, Dan Duryea.

MCA, $59.95. "Beau The 1939 remake of the 1926 silent classic about three brothers who join the Foreign Legion to "disappear" after their involvement with the theft of a stolen gem. Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston. MCA $29 95 "The Great In this 1940 film, the crony of a political boss is advanced through the machine from bum to governor, but his decision to come clean becomes his undoing. Brian Donlevy, Muriel Angelus, Akim Tamiroff.

Directed by Preston Sturges. MCA, $29.95. "Sorrowful The 1949 remake of the 1934 classic "Little Miss Marker," in which a bookie inadvertently adopts a little girl when her father puts her up for collateral on a bet and never returns. Bob Hope, Lucille Ball. MCA, $29.95.

"Ruggles of Red Classic film from 1935. When he's lost in a poker game to an American rancher, a British butler quickly acclimates to his new employer and the budding West of the late 19th century. Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, Charlie Ruggles, Zasu Pitts. MCA, $29.95. Members of a scientific expedition succumb to various "accidents" aboard a space freighter.

Catherine May Stewart, Michael Praed, Michael Des Barres. IVE, $79.95. "Remote Audiences of a video movie become possessed until a young video store clerk discovers the secret behind the mind-controlling tape. Kevin Dillon, Deborah Goodrich. IVE, $79.95.

"Women at Large Fitness video for big women, focusing on toning. With hosts Sharlyne Powell and Sharon McConnell. IVE, $29.95. "The Jetsons Meet the Full-iength, animated Han-na-Barbera adventure originally made for TV. The space-age family and the stone-age family meet when Elroy Jetson's time machine malfunctions.

World Vision, $29.95. "The Puppetoon Collection of the work of animator George Pal, with host Gumby. Includes shorts "Tubby the Tuba," "John Henry and the Inky Poo" and "Sleeping Beauty." IVE, $59.95. 1 mw "Vw Hours University City-8020 Olive Street Road pm April 7 Weekdays 9:30 am to 10 Saturday 9 am to 10 pm Sunday 10 am to 7 pm WS4 St. Louis Ballwin-15025 Manchester Road Bridgetoh-St.

Charles Rock Road at McKelvey Street Hampton Village-4255 Hampton Avenue Kirkwood-140 South Kirkwood Road (Lindbergh Boulevard) North County-Old Halls Ferry Road at Highway 270 South County-South Lindbergh Boulevard at Baptist Church Road St. Charles Interstate 70 and Cave Springs Exit Illinois Alton-East of Alton Square Shopping Center on the Beltline (Highway 111) Fairview Heights-Highway 50 and Ruby Lane "Haiti Hail! Rock 'n' Biographical concert movie (filmed in St. Louis) about Chuck Berry, one of the kings of rock 'n' roll. Berry, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Etta James. MCA, $79.95.

"Three O'Clock Teen comedy: A bright high school student encounters the new class bully, who challenges him to a fight aftor school. Casey Siemaszko, Anne Ryan, Rich Mir.