It may be unfair to single out Corel: All of these digital marvels suffer from some kind of misguidance. Several profiles in VideoHound — such as Robert Downey Jr.'s, which cites rumors that he is a strong contender to star in Chaplin — are years out of date. Blockbuster's search criteria are a bit too simplistic and indiscriminate (a title search for The Thin Man invokes a list of 18 films including Yentl, whose review happens to contain the word thin). VideoHound competes with verve, enabling you to nose around such categories as Big Ideas and Canada (Canada?), but its new corporate-database-like search tool could do with a little graphic styling.

Following the trend to hitch everything reference oriented to the infobahn, Blockbuster sells monthly on-line review updates, while Corel links directly to a video warehouse, where you can purchase tapes. It's all designed to keep you in your seat. Of course, you still have to move from the chair in front of the computer to the sofa in front of the TV, but just give them a little more time ...
Corel: B- Blockbuster: C VideoHound: C+

Originally posted Sep 08, 1995 Published in issue #291 Sep 08, 1995 Order article reprints
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