Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 53

Spotlight Santa Cruz Sentinel Friday, Dec. 27, 19859 Hot videos ON VIDEO "fHE EMERALD FOREST" -Adventure and anthropology meet in the Amazon rain forest in this John Boorman-directed tale starring Boorman's son Charlie. This story" concerns the efforts of American engineer (Powers Boo the) to find his young son, kidnapped by a tribe calling themselves the "Invisible People." When he finds the boy after a decade of searching, the engineer realizes the Indians' way of life is better than the one he's trying to bring the boy back to. Some "Rambo-ish" action is misplaced, but the poetry, mysticism and beauty of life in the jungle make up for it. By The Associated Press THE following are the most popular videocassettes as they appear in next week's issue of Billboard magazine.

1985, Billboard Publications, Inc. Reprinted with permission. VIDEOCASSETTE SALES 1. "Beverly Hills Cop" (Paramount) 2. "Jane Fonda's New Workout" (Karl-Lorimar) 3.

"Pinocchio" (Disney) 4. "White Christmas" (Paramount) 5. "The Best of John Belushi" (Warner) 6. "Ghostbusters" (RCA-Columbia) 7. "Jane Fonda's Workout" (Karl-Lorimar) J.

"Gremlins" (Warner) 9. "Dumbo" (Disney) 10. "Mary Poppins" (Disney) 11. "Gotcha!" (MCA) 12. "The Killing Fields" (Warner) 13.

"Missing Action 2: The Beginning" (MGM-UA) 14. "Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend" (Touchstone) 15. "Desperately Seeking Susan" (Thorn-EMI) VIDEOCASSETTE RENTALS 1. "Beverly Hills Cop" (Paramount) 2. "Ghostbusters" (RCA-Columbia) 3.

"Gremlins" (Warner) 4. "The Emerald Forest" (Embassy) 5. "Brewster's Millions" (MCA) 6. "Ladyhawke" (Warner) 7. "The Breakfast Club" (MCA) I.

"Vision Quest" (Warner) 9. "Amadeus" (Thorn-EMI) 10. "Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment" (Warner) 11. "The Virgin Tour-Madonna Live" 12. "The Wuard of Ol" (MGM-UA) 13.

"Amadeus" (Thorn-EMI) 14. "Prime Time" (Karl-Lorimar) I Is. "Gone With the Wind" (MGM-UA) Meryl Streep and Robert Redford star in Sydney Pollack's "Out of Africa." 6 Africa' will take your breath away By RICK CHATENEVER Sentinel Staff Writer PS 1 Luedtke's laconic one-liners crackle with flinty-eyed, deadpan humor Redford's Denys is one of those last-of-a-good-breed types, definitely a great white hunter at odds with the forces intruding upon the rich majestic landscape. In fact, it is hard to separate him or several of the other characters from the land itself, so gorgec and expansive. One of "Out of Africa's" many achievements is this merging of person and place, not only showing the landscape but reaching into invisible realms to illuminate its meaning to its early white settlers.

Director Pollack balances the superb performances not to mention the chemistry, between Streep, Redford and Brandauer with lots of spectacular aerial footage. The pacing also balances the social concerns strange In fashioning a biography of Danish author Isak Dinesen for the screen, producerdirector Sydney Pollack has created a cinematic spectacle in the grand tradition. CRUISE INTO 19S6 ABOARD THE S.S. COCOANUT GROVE! The Cocoanut Grove, a cruise ship? This New Year's Eve, it will be. And you'll be treated just as royally as if we were sailing for Puerto Vallarta.

There'll be stage shows, a magnificent buffet, champagne fountain and dancing to the music of the popular Bill Hopkins Big Band. An affair to remembers New Year's Eve 1986 aboard the S.S. Cocoanut Grove. Don't miss the boatl IT'S GOT exotic animals, breathtaking landscapes, big stars and lots of romance. It's got old trains, old planes, the grooviest wardrobes this side of a Banana Republic cataloggue, and acres of pink flamingos.

It's got Streep and Redford, acting more adventurous and romantic than you can believe. In short, "Out of Africa" now showing at the Playhouse Capitola has got the kind of sweeping greatness that we haven't seen at the movies for quite a while. In fashioning a biography of Danish author Isak Dinesen for the screen, producerdirector Sydney Pollack has created a cinematic spectacle in the grand tradition but different. For Dinesen whose real name was Karen Blixen is anything but a Hollywood heroine or stereotype. For openers, this "Isak" was a woman.

Now that's not so strange, but a woman largely alone in Kenya running a coffee farm in the early part of this century? A woman who was sent to Africa to marry her cousin Baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandeuer) and thereby avoid a scandal at home. A woman who would have preferred to have children but instead got syphilis from her wayward husband. A woman who wound up running the farm by herself while having a hardly-hidden affair with ivory trader-bush pilot Denys Finch Hatton (Redford). Clearly, we're not talking Scarlet O'Hara here, especially in a time and place where women weren't allowed to have a drink with the boys, er men, at the club and racism wasn't racism, but the unquestioned way of life in the English empire. "Out of Africa" pulses with themes that could be construed as feminist andor political but Kurt Luedtke's screenplay wisely avoids preaching.

Instead Luedtke devotes his energies to creating characters both believable and wonderful. Streep more than makes up for the misguided "Plenty," donning a Danish accent this time around as she creates Karen Blixen from equal parts of heroism, curiosity, compassion, wit, insight and vulnerability. The voice-over excerpts that creep into the script illuminate the poetry of Dinescn's vision of this land she loved so deeply, but it is Streep's work before the camera that encompasses the complexity of her character so well. Streep is clearly the film's star even if Redford gets top billing. (Why, some of the forces that made Karen Blixen write under a man's pseudonym might still be alive, eh?) Whether or not his name belongs on top, Redford delivers his best performance in years, making $55.00 per person.

Reservations Only. 400 Beach Street. Santa Cruz. CA 95060 (408)423-2053 4 I Accepted by phone native customs, strange British customs with just the right amount of action, as when Denys and Karen go hunting for lions and get everyone in the theater's adrenaline rushing before they're through. A sense of excitement permeates "Out of Africa" from the grand adventure shared by all the characters to the sparks flying between Streep and Redford.

You get the feeling that Redford's character may have been glamorized a bit, thanks to an infatuated Dinesen and all that old Hollywood star machinery, but still, it works in the context of the film. Actually, everything works in this film shots of a pet owl get "ooohs" and "ahhhs" from the audience; the more serious goings-on between the two-legged animals register accordingly, getting everyone to reach for their handkerchiefs before things come to an end. Along with the stars who do just what stars should, veteran director Pollack deserves a good part of the praise for this superb project. From seeing the potential in Dinesen's story in the first place, to bringing it to the screen in such a rich, balanced and engaging way, he deserves thanks along with the accolades. Sailta dnxi Srntmcl CLASSIFIED ADS 426-8000.