It's enough to wreck a ''video date'' — you're in the mood for a musical, but your renting companion wants a Western, or maybe you want a comedy and your partner wants a romance. How to avoid breaking up before checking out? Try EW's movie genre-mixing guide, and leave the compromising to us.
ROMANCE
Western
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
Robert Altman's melancholy poem
tells of a gambler (Warren Beatty) and a madame (Julie Christie) in a
new gold-mining town.
Musical
My Sister Eileen (1955)
The snappy tale of two sisters (Janet
Leigh and Betty Garrett) who rent a Green- wich Village basement
looking for fame, fortune, and fellas.
Comedy
Love With the Proper Stranger (1963)
Natalie Wood plays a Macy's
salesgirl who gets pregnant by a part-time heel (Steve McQueen) in
this lovely courtship.
Sci-Fi
Starman (1984)
An advanced intelligence (Jeff Bridges) takes on
the human form of a woman's (Karen Allen) dead hubby and learns about
love, sex, and credit cards.
Horror
The Fly (1986)
Given a terrifying AIDS subtext, this remake
emphasizes the metamorphosing scientist (Jeff Goldblum) and the woman
(Geena Davis) who loves him
HORROR
Western
Near Dark (1987)
Them varmints are now vampires in this
unrelenting chiller: Adrian Pasdar and his posse from hell take a van
on a different kind of blood drive.
Musical
Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
In this rock Phantom of the Opera,
a disfigured composer is done wrong by the head of Death Records (a
creepy Paul Williams).
Comedy
Martin (1978)
Martin is a teen vampire living in a Transylvania of
tedium who slashes women's wrists and drinks their blood in George A.
Romero's hilariously sicko satire.
Sci-fi
Bug (1975)
A scientist (Bradford Dillman) learns he can
communicate with mutant 10-inch cockroaches that like to munch on
girls and will have viewers brushing their laps.
SCI-FI
Western
Outland (1981)
Without much help from anyone, the marshal (Sean Connery) of Jupiter's innermost moon meets hired guns at high noon to
do what a spaceman's gotta do.
Musical
Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
Three furry aliens land in Valley Girl
Geena Davis' swimming pool, giving rise to song and dance in the
silliest example of the genre.
Comedy
Android (1982)
Max (Don Opper) is an endearingly clumsy android who just wants to have human fun in
what can only be termed sweet sci-fi.
COMEDY
Western
Rustler's Rhapsody (1985)
Tom Berenger is an adorably goofy cowpoke in this gentle, funny, and affectionate parody of those old
Roy Rogers horse operas.
Musical
Can't Stop the Music (1980)
Perhaps the most riotous musical
comedy — for all the wrong reasons — starring Olympian Bruce Jenner and
disco divos the Village People.
MUSICAL
Western
Paint Your Wagon (1969)
Yes, it's nearly three hours long and there are sappy songs like ''I Talk to the Trees,'' but how many films
have Lee Marvin singing in them?
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.