More New Releases : Movies

Jack Nicholson fans should be pleased to find “Five Easy Pieces” (RCA/Columbia, $19.95, R) also arriving at video stores this weekend. This 1970 portrait of a troubled pianist was one of the two films that catapulted Nicholson from B-film obscurity to stardom. RCA/Columbia is also re-releasing that other career-making movie, “Easy Rider,” plus another notable Nicholson film, “The Last Detail,” at $19.95 each.

Other films new to videocassette: “Aria” (Academy, $89.95) applies the rock-video format to several operatic excerpts, filmed by several top directors. “Mondo New York” (MPI, $79.95) examines some of the worms in the Big Apple, documentary-style, focusing on bizarre and revolting artists and entertainers. “Dracula’s Widow” (HBO, $79.99, R) is a stylized horror/sex flick starring Sylvia Kristel. Paramount is bringing out four 1988 films, “Plain Clothes,” “Night Train to Kathmandu,” “Permanent Record” and “The Blue Iguana” at $89.95 each.

Other Videos

Now you can see the Seoul Olympics without commercials--well, 90 minutes of the most memorable events, anyway--as Wood Knapp releases “Highlights of the 1988 Summer Olympics--Seoul” ($29.95). Other Olympics tapes will follow in future weeks, as will (take note, Dodgers fans) a rush-release highlights tape of the 1988 World Series.

Or you can look ahead to sports/celebration events with Rhino’s “Rose Bowl Highlights: Through the Years” and “The Rose Parade: Through the Years,” 60 minutes and $19.95 each--VHS only.

Other new videos: “Rodney Dangerfield: Nothin’ Goes Right” and “Rich Little: One’s a Crowd” (Orion, $59.98 each) offer laughs, while “Fleetwood Mac: Tango in the Night” (Warner Reprise, $24.98) offers an hour of in-concert music.

Compiled by Terry Atkinson