LETHAL COLLECTION

Much is suggested by the video library at our New Hampshire vacation chalet — no kidding, it’s really called a chalet, and it’s in Eidelweiss Village above a Bavarian-style “Eidelweiss” sign. I thought I’d share the list of videos as a peek into another’s life, similar to eyeing the purchases of the person ahead of you at the grocery store checkout.

The DVDs are for the kids, mainly, with “Monsters, Inc.,” “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” “The Bear,” “Elmo in Grouchland” and “Kermit’s Swamp Years,” but take a turn into the bizarre with “The Best of Benny Hill,” “Into Thin Air” and a Three Stooges collection.

The movies on videocassette mature: “A Christmas Story,” “Chicken Run,” “The Princess Bride” and, in a quantum leap, “Risky Business,” right into the mainstream: “Forrest Gump,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “The Green Mile,” “Seabiscuit,” “Austin Powers in Goldmember” and “Casablanca.”

It’s unclear where to put the “Moulin Rouge” director’s cut, Whoopi Goldberg in “Burglar” and the tape of Eurythmics music videos, but somewhere between the mainstream and the remainder lie “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl” and “Gladiator.”

The meat of the collection, then, is action movies. Ken Follett’s “Lie Down with Lions,” Kevin Costner’s “Robin Hood,” “Silverado,” “X-Men,” “Aliens,” the Bond movies “On His Majesty’s Secret Service” and “The Living Daylights,” “The Crow,” “Tequila Sunrise,” “Die Hard,” “Spider-Man,” “Batman,” “Batman Forever,” “Ladyhawke,” “Masque of the Red Death” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

And, finally, “Lethal Weapon” and “Lethal Weapon 2.” And “Lethal Weapon 3.”

And, oh yes, the “Lethal Weapon” director’s cut.

There are all of two books in the house. One is about local hiking. The other is “The Doctors [sic] Book of Home Remedies.”