VIDEOSCAN

A selection of new releases for sale or rental THE CONFESSIONS OF BERNHARD GOETZ (1987. Presented by MPI Video News Magazine. MPI Home Video) - A documentary look at the ``subway gunman'' who sparked a huge controversy in New York City by shooting down four young men he feared were about to rob him. Portions of Goetz's confession, videotaped in a New Hampshire police station, alternate with comments from concerned individuals on both sides of the case; interested outsiders also have their say. To its credit, the study offers no easy answers to issues raised by Goetz's actions, or to the troubling fact that Goetz became an instant hero to many people. Of particular interest is the question of how his videotaped confession affected his success in the courtroom, especially since his own attorney questioned the truthfulness of one important section. By reproducing these moments from the original tape, this cassette allows us to weigh the matter for ourselves. CASTAWAY (Directed by Nicolas Roeg. 1986. Warner Home Video) - Craving adventure, a middle-aged man decides to chuck away his conventional life and have a fling on a tropical island. He finds a female companion through a ``personal ad,'' and soon the two are having a sparsely clad love-hate relationship on a chunk of lush but deserted land in the middle of nowhere. The woman is based on real-life author Lucy Irvine, who lived through an episode like this and wrote a book about it. Roeg is a visually inventive director who knows how to draw full value from unusual settings, as he proved with Venice in ``Don't Look Now'' and the Australian outback in ``Walkabout.'' Here he seems less interested in the landscape than in the repetitious sexual sparring of his characters. The action grows murkier as it goes along, and eventually becomes tedious. SIGNALS THROUGH THE FLAMES (Directed by Sheldon Rochlin and Maxine Harris. 1983. Mystic Fire Video, PO Box 30969, New York, NY 10011) - This documentary on the Living Theatre doesn't capture the full passion and inspiration of Julian Beck and Judith Malina, the troupe's founders. But it does a good job of summing up the ideals and intentions that motivated them to spend their careers in a fierce struggle on behalf of politically committed theater. Also present are enough stuck-in-a-groove ideas to indicate why ``the Living'' failed to recapture past glories when it returned to New York City after years of exile in Europe and Latin America. Most compelling are excerpts from ``Frankenstein,'' one of the troupe's masterpieces, and ``The Connection'' and ``The Brig.'' Note: The cassette includes some nudity and rough language. THE HONEYMOONERS: LOST EPISODES, VOL. XIX (1954-56. Directed by Frank Satenstein. MPI Home Video) - Two more ``hidden'' episodes of the great sitcom, misplaced and forgotten until Jackie Gleason's associates rediscovered them four years ago. ``Two Men on a Horse'' has some very bright moments as Ralph loses a pile of money belonging to the Raccoon Lodge and heads for the race track to recoup it. Art Carney is in top form here, and the producers make good use of settings away from the familiar Kramden apartment. ``The Check-Up'' is a dud, though, earning few laughs as Ralph deliberately flunks a physical exam to thwart Alice, only to learn that he's thwarted himself, as usual.