Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 28, 1993 TAG: 9308280048
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Barbara Kopple's "American Dream" won an Academy Award for best documentary a few years ago, and despite some intentional lapses, it's still a fascinating story.
Initially, it appears that the film will follow a conventional union-management conflict at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minn., in the mid-1980s. But the management side is never explored. Instead, Kopple focuses on an increasingly bitter internecine struggle within the union itself, and that's a sad, sad story.
Not surprisingly, this examination of the 1984 strike is suffused with a strong anti-Reagan bias. But when he was president, Reagan never made any bones about his pro-business attitudes, so he's an insubstantial villain here. By extension, the executives of the Hormel company aren't such bad guys, either. They're simply using new labor laws to cut the best deal they can.
The losers, of course, are the workers, their families and their town. Most of the film is focused on them and their immediate problems. There it becomes a genuine tragedy where good people follow their best instincts to a disastrous conclusion. Barbara Kopple is such a skilled storyteller that this version of the "truth" is as compelling as the best fiction.
If "American Dream" lacks the strong visual action and suspense of her earlier and similar work, "Harlan County, U.S.A.," it's just as involving on a more personal, psychological level. Highly recommended.
"Tina Turner: The Girl From Nutbush," is a combination tribute to the singer and companion piece to the current theatrical release, "What's Love Got To Do With It." Overall, it's a praiseful video biography that doesn't over-glamorize its subject. At the same time, it neither probes too deep nor shows Tina Turner in anything but a favorable light. All of the controversies and troubles in her life are presented as things that happened to her, not things she was responsible for.
By now, everyone who's interested in her music must know the bare facts of her life: how she came from a small town, met band leader Ike Turner in St. Louis, became a singer and then the star of the show and then his wife. From there, the story gets ugly, but this examination of the singer's life gives the bad years only an indirect glance. (For a better look at that, see the big-screen version.)
It's more focused on Tina Turner's second musical career after she met Roger Davies, who returned her to stardom. Her pals Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Mark Knopfler show up to say even more nice things about her, and all that's just fine. This tape is an appreciation, not an expose. There's no reason to be too critical.
All in all, it's a well-made, fast-moving look at a fascinating woman. Worth a look even for the most casual fan.
Also recently submitted, but only scanned briefly are two volumes of "Steppin' Country." These are instructional tapes for various styles of country dancing, but most of the running time is taken up by music videos from the likes of Mary-Chapin Carpenter and Patty Loveless. That's about all there is to say. They've got a good beat, you can dance to them, and that's the point.
Turning to the video bookshelf we find "Bad Movies We Love" (Dutton/Plume. $12, trade paper) by Edward Margulies and Stephen Rebello. This is a collection of short and generally bitchy reviews that first appeared in Movieline magazine. For the most part, the book succeeds at its dubious goal, but it's inconsistent, too.
Its definition of "bad," for example, is broad, perhaps too broad. After all, with Hollywood, there are bad movies that were meant to be good ("Airport"); bad movies that were never supposed to be anything else ("Bolero"); and movies that are so bad they transcend the category ("Zandalee"). All of them are included here, along with a few that are actually good, "The Thomas Crown Affair" and "Play Misty For Me."
That's the problem with "Bad Movies We Love." A lot of the entries are bad movies we hate, and never want to see again. Then when the authors have the effrontery to attack our cherished favorites, well . . . how dare they!
The book is good for a short browse, and the authors have parlayed it into a movies series on Ted Turner's TNT network. As a guide for videophiles, it worth a look the next time you're going to check out the old movies section of your local videostore.
Of more use is the 10th edition of "Halliwell's Filmgoers' and Video Viewer's Companion" (HarperPerennial. $23, trade paper) edited by John Walker. When it originally appeared in 1965, it was one of the first single-volume film reference books meant for a popular audience. Since then, dozens more have appeared, most aimed at specific parts of the business. But this is still one of the most useful for looking up the names of the people and organizations who have made the movies what they are.
The illustrations have been lost to make room for more entries but, in a narrow three-colume format, the text is easy to read, and the information is about as comprehensive as you're going to find without spending a small fortune.
THE ESSENTIALS:
American Dream: HHH HBO Video. 100 min. Unrated, contains some strong language.
Tina Turner: The Girl From Nutbush: HH.5 Strand Home Video. 103 min. Unrated, contains no objectionable material.
Stepping Country: HH Epic Music Video. 25 and 30 min. Unrated, contains no objectionable material.
by CNB