The Video Vamps
by Richard Delozier & Bob Angilly
There is a certain theatrical arrogance, a grave sneer which crosses some faces when I blurt out my endless vidophilia -- they say the screen's too small, that the communal effort of film-making should translate into communal film-watching, that the magic of the event is lost, that they are movie-goers not couch potatoes, that video is the symbol of an alienated, frightful being. I tell them active magic is both inside and outside, that I can have a conversation with the miniature as well as the big, that being alone with the blue TV screen, the video, Stop and Rewind is just as valid a stance against boredom as the 13 year old boy who spills Coke in your lap at the Brattle when the train comes into Now Voyager's Back Bay Station, that I flutter off the couch without my feet sticking to the floor, that the video stores are crowded, there are lines. SRO.
Putting that away, and with Bob only a few inches away, here's my list of some videos that lingered as I go through my last 6 months of Videopro's rental slips:
Alive -- just for the "What Would I Do?" feeling.
Groundhog Day -- the blackest of the recent comedies, hilarious and painful.
Sniper -- a team effort that sets you up and keeps you guessing, then disappears.
This Boy's Life -- a boy-boy kiss on a piano amid a tale of rural terror that took this reviewer home. DeNiro's best acting job since Raging Bull.
True Love -- heartfelt, love at your local deli, slice of Italian life. The cast is sexy and charming for ringing true.
The Adjuster -- a critique of an Armenian-Canadian bisexual insurance man: ponderous, hypnotic, anti-something, maybe life.
Midnight Clear -- see it for its crop of fine young actors, for its examination of snow and blood.
Singles -- Love never dies. See what grunge is. Fun! in Seattle.
Rich In Love -- People will tell me I'm dumb, but Finney and Clayburgh alone are worth the price of this rental. From the people who gave you Driving Miss Daisy.
Until the End of the World -- very long, playful, very French: full of dreams, actions and despairs. Subtitled. Haunting. With William Hurt, Max Von Sydow and Jeanne Moreau.
Cavalcade -- lifted from the stage and filmed like it: the head-on camera narrates like a familiar friend. 1933 Academy Award winner for Best Picture -- hokey but moving anti-war film with that peculiarly English class twist. Hear "20th Century Blues." See montage.
Love Field -- Michelle Pfeiffer just keeps getting better -- watch the birth of a 60's activist.
Enchanted April -- A Miranda Richardson unlike the Richardson of The Crying Game (blah!) and Joan Plowright, appropriately loony and transforming, but Josie Lawrence and Polly Walker are new and amazing discoveries for this viewer. Better than Howard's End.
Somehow, I am reminded of a late night commercial that frequently screams at me "Nobody wants to follow Foster Brooks!" Well here goes --
I have also become disenchanted with the movie theater experience. The seats are too small, the theaters either too crowded or too cold--no one seems to have caught on that people no longer come for the air-conditioning, three dollars a box is a bit too much for the world's cheapest snack food. The truly big screens are a thing of the past, unlike the golden days of Cinerama, when actors were the size of elephants. Except for the occasional movie that is unavailable on home video, or a new film so compelling that the two to three month wait would be unbearable (and there's not many of those these days), I am usually content with AMC or Bravo, or a trip to Hollywood Express. It's remarkable how well the films of the 30's and 40's have stood up over time--or how badly those of the 60's have. Occasionally you can find a film that has escaped the Hollywood assembly line with its integrity intact. Here are some of my favorites:
Hear My Song (1991) is a bit of Irish whimsy about a fast talking London theatrical promoter, (Adrian Dunbar) who books legendary Irish tenor Joseph Locke When the tenor is revealed as an impostor, and Dunbar loses both his theater and his fiancee (Tara Fitzgerald), he is off on an odyssey to Ireland to find the real Joseph Locke (Ned Beatty--yes, that Ned Beatty!!), bring him back to London, save the theater, and win back the girl. The cast is amazing, especially David McCallum as a police inspector obsessed with capturing Locke, the Irish countryside is breathtaking, and the story is great fun in the tradition of Local Hero and Eat the Peach.
Love Among the Ruins (1975) is a classic British comedy. Katherine Hepburn is paired for the first time with Laurence Olivier and for the last time with George Cukor. Hepburn is an aging actress, sued by a young gigolo for breach of promise, and defended by Olivier who has been madly in love with her since a brief youthful romance (which Hepburn had long since forgotten). Hepburn has never been more radiant. Olivier has never been more eloquent (maybe they have, but it's amazing to see they still can be).
Before Bevis and Butthead there were The Young Ones (1970's) a British comedy/music series that aired in the U.S. on MTV. Four college roommates destroy their apartment and each other weekly, with guest appearances by many of the alternative British bands of the period, who perform live in the apartment. It is loud, funny, positively surreal at times, and partly responsible for a Cliff Richard revival in England. Rik Mayall & Nigel Planner star, along with anarchic comedian Alexi Sayle as their landlord. Several of the better episodes are now available on home video. Mayall and Planner also appear in several episodes of Rowan Atkinson's The Black Adder, which also features Miranda Richardson (before she became a serious actress) as Elizabeth I, a highwayman obsessed with squirrels, and an Army nurse secretly working for the Germans. Also featured are Steven Fry and Hugh Laurie who are currently appearing as Jeeves and Wooster (on PBS and Home Video) and A Bit of Fry and Laurie (on Bravo).
For those who like their comedy a bit more relaxed The Darling Buds of May, based on the novels of H.E. Bates, is currently airing on New Hampshire's Channel 11, and also available on home video). It offers a slice of country life in 1950's Britain, and stars David Jason, as Pa Larken the enterprising head of a very large family in Kent, and Philip Franks as a British tax agent who comes to investigate the Larkin's finances and stays to marry the Larken's daughter (Catherine Zeta Jones). This is one of the best dramatic comedies since All Creatures Great and Small and also excellent family entertainment. Unfortunately it airs 10:00 p.m. on Thursdays, so tape it and watch it with the kids. David Jason can also be seen as a sad faced British police inspector in A Touch of Frost currently airing every third week on A&E.
For animation fans, two Japanese films have recently been released on home video: Lensman is a sci-fi epic based on the novels of E.E. "Doc" Smith, in which a young farmer, accidentally becomes involved in a galactic war (sounds familiar don't it). Akira is a visually staggering story of street gangs and a strange race of mutants in post-apocalypse Japan (or at least I think it is, my copy is in Japanese with no subtitles, unlike the home video). Comic book addicts and video game freaks will love these.
For younger kids there's The Brave Little Toaster where talking kitchen appliances replace talking fur. The BLT and his friends cross the Canadian countryside in search of a small boy (who has since grown up, found a girlfriend, and an apartment of his own that needs furnishings). It will give your suspension of disbelief a workout but is great fun.