Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410220008
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"Ed Wood: Look Back in Angora" is a perfect example. Of course, the producers are hoping to ride the coattails of the upcoming Tim Burton-Johnny Depp film "Ed Wood," but this little "mock documentary" stands on its own just fine.
It's an examination of the man who is generally considered to be the worst filmmaker ever to work in Hollywood. That's an ambitious claim, but Wood has the films to back it up. From "Plan 9 From Outer Space," Bela Lugosi's last effort, to the semi-autobiographical transvestite drama "Glen or Glenda," Wood's work has stood the test of time and derisive critics.
For those who may be unfamiliar with Ed Wood, his troubled childhood gave him a peculiar affection for women's clothes, an affection that he kept hidden from the Marines in World War II. He claimed that he was wearing women's underwear beneath his fatigues when he fought on Tarawa, but that sounds apocryphal.
In any case, he came to Hollywood after World War II with a deep, genuine passion for filmmaking and absolutely no ability.
His films, as this documentary points out, are not just bad in the ways that low-budget films are so often bad; they're wonderfully bad in unexpected ways. The plots make no sense; the obvious camera tricks don't work and, best of all, there is the infamous Ed Wood dialogue. At random moments, his characters tend to launch into flights of convoluted philosophical fantasy that leave the viewer in speechless amazement.
Several of his friends and co-workers are interviewed here, and they all agree that his lack of talent was matched by a completely engaging personality. Everybody liked Ed Wood and felt sorry about the sad end that he met.
The film strikes just the right tone, a mixture of wonder, admiration and humor with appropriate tongue-in-cheek narration by "Laugh-In's" Gary Owens.
Narration is the main attraction of "The Greatest Adventure." This 1979 film is an "official" version of the beginnings of NASA and Project Apollo. That's to be expected; it was made with the full cooperation of the agency. Still, it's a fine introduction to the first days of the space program, with some rarely seen footage and wonderful narration by Orson Welles. That grand, expressive voice could make a reading of a grocery list sound wonderful. With such a big story to tell (and with unmentioned memories of his own outer-space hoax broadcast, "War of the Worlds"), he was able to wring every ounce of emotion from the text.
"Subway: The Empire Beneath New York's Streets" deals with a more mundane subject, but it's a fascinating story. The filmmakers are less interested in the day-to-day running of one of the world's most complicated transportation systems than in the political wheeling and dealing that went into its construction. The use of archival footage and photographs may not be the equal of Ken Burns' best work, but producer-director Carl Schultz is seldom boring. Recommended, even to those who think they might not be interested in the subject.
For those who feel that they're suffering from a lack of John Wayne Bobbitt jokes recently, the cable comedy special "Comic Relief VI" has just been released on tape. Almost every hot comedian in the business shows up, along with veterans Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Alan King and Howard Morris. For my money, the best moment in the show is host Robin Williams' crazed version of the Bobbitt business. It's one of those fast-paced comic routines that combines Williams' wild imagination with physical humor. Its like hasn't been seen since Williams' famous live concerts of the early 1980s.
Finally, for sports fans, two new basketball tapes are worth a look.
"NBA Rewind" is a comedy tape. No, it's not about Dennis Rodman's blond hair. Instead, it catches some of the world's most graceful athletes when they stumble, slip, fall and make mistakes like the rest of us. At one point, the producers actually capture Patrick Ewing laughing; something not many people have seen.
"Clutch City" follows the championship season of the Houston Rockets. As such, it's not much different from all the other videos that celebrate successful professional sports teams. But the NBA has learned its lessons well from the National Football League. NFL Films set the standard for top quality self-promotion. This tape features superb production values with crisp editing, judicious use of slow-motion and other special effects, and inventive camera angles that capture key moments in the important games.
If the players don't have anything new to say, well, they're not paid to talk.
Next week: The long-awaited return of guilty pleasures!
New releases
Jurassic Park: ***1/2
Starring T-Rex, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Samuel L. Jackson, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello. Directed by Stephen Spielberg. MCA/Universal. 120 min. Rated PG-13 for graphic special effects, violence and several intense scenes.
Once again, Steven Spielberg delivers the goods. This is the most spectacular dinosaur adventure anyone has ever made. Parents who found it too intense and violent for younger viewers last summer should give it another try now. Seen in the familiar home setting, with the images shrunk down to the size of a TV screen, the film isn't going to be as terrifying for kids. Let's face it, though; that's part of the point. Who wants to see a monster movie if it's not scary? This one is. It's also American commercial moviemaking at its best. Polished and just a little cynical but still involving on a visceral, pulse-quickening level.
Above the Rim *
Starring Leon, Tupak Shakur, Duane Martin. Directed by Jeff Pollack. Columbia TriStar. 94 min. Rated R for language, violence.
This is the cinematic equivalent of a pick-up basketball game - fast, sloppy, more energetic than skillful. The timely story concerns a young Harlem man's (Martin) desire to use basketball to escape the mean streets, but director Pollack's background in television shows through. Important details and key plot ingredients ring totally false. Essentially, this one's an afterschool special with lots of foul language and a little violence.
THE ESSENTIALS:
Ed Wood: Look Back in Angora *** Rhino Video. 50 min. Unrated, contains brief nudity, sexual content.
The Greatest Adventure ** Fox Lorber. 54 min. Unrated, contains no objectionable material.
Subway: The Empire Beneath New York's Streets **1/2 50 min. A&E Home Video. Unrated, contains no objectionable material.
Comic Relief VI *** 120 min. A+Vision. Unrated, contains just about every objectionable word, phrase, gesture and topic you can imagine, and then some.
NBA Rewind **1/2 45 min. CBS/Fox. Unrated, contains no objectionable material.
Clutch City ** time not listed, approximately 50 min. CBS/Fox. Unrated, contains no objectionable material.
by CNB