ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 16, 1996 TAG: 9611190045
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: It came from the video store
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
Once again, the big news at the video store is one of summer's theatrical hits, the mega-smash "Independence Day." (See new releases this week.) Three new offbeat comedies are worth a look, too, and first, we've got two more sources for locating hard-to-find tapes.
Video Library is a Philadelphia rent-by-mail outfit with an impressive list of titles in four catalogs: American and International Cinema, Special Edition, Family and Alternative (i.e. non-explicit) Adult. There's no membership fee; only a credit card number for security. A single rental is $8 for one tape, $6 each for two or more plus shipping (approximately $4.50) for three nights. I recently rented the rare 1974 Richard Lester "The Three Musketeers" without a hitch. For more information contact Video Library at (800) 669-7157 (7157 Germantown Ave.; Philadelphia, Pa. 19119, or on the web at http://www.vlibrary.com).
For sales, try Thomas Video (810-280-2833; 122 S. Main St., Clawson, Mich. 48017). Manager Jim Olenski describes it as "the arty store in town" and offers a 10-percent discount on all new tape sales. The store specializes in laserdisks, foreign, underground, cult and other esoteric fare, and it has a large selection of used tapes for sale. Inquiries are welcome.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming
"Bottle Rocket" is the most enjoyable new sleeper in the video store. Given the film's loosely plotted unpredictability, comparisons to "Fargo" are inevitable, but "Bottle Rocket" is much lighter, funnier and easygoing.
As it begins, young Anthony (Luke Wilson) has just released himself from a mental institution. His friend Dignan (co-writer Owen C. Wilson), a would-be criminal mastermind, is waiting for him with big plans. Before they can become the terror of Dallas, they must invite their rich pal Bob (Robert Musgrave) to join the gang. Bob's got a car. The trio's on-again-but-mostly-off-again adventures as outlaws take a sharp turn when Anthony meets Inez (the luminous Lumi Cavazos from ``Like Water For Chocolate").
Co-writer/director Wes Anderson first told the story as a short film, which became a hit at the Sundance Film Festival. That attracted the attention of Hollywood producers, including James Brooks, and the expansion of the film to feature length. Although it didn't fare so well in a limited theatrical release, this is the kind of warm, offbeat character piece that's going to be an enduring favorite on home video. (By the way, the score is terrific.)
Don't miss it.
"Phat Beach" is a silly little black-oriented "B" bikini flick. The main attraction is an engaging performance by Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins as Benny, a shy, overweight, teen-age poet. His pal Durrell (Brian Hooks) has no trouble talking him into a road trip to Venice Beach in Benny's dad's (Eric Fleeks) vintage Mercedes convertible. The secondary attractions are Claudia Kaleem as Benny's centerfold-ready dream girl, and Jennifer Lucienne, as a fellow sensitive soul who appreciates Benny's better nature. The sketchily plotted action involves a little light hip-hop music, beach volleyball and colorful California atmosphere.
If "Head of the Family" were a little quicker out of the gate, it might have been a tongue-in-cheek horror-comedy hit. Unfortunately, it doesn't get weird enough until the second half of the film.
The title character, Myron (J.W. Perra) is literally the "head" of the Stackpool family. In fact, he's nothing but an oversized head on a tiny wizened body, and he's psychically linked with his three subnormal siblings. They live in the faux-Southern Gothic hamlet of Nob Hollow. When Lance (Blake Bailey), a local restaurateur, learns the Stackpool family secrets (there are others), he and his larcenous lover Lorretta (Jacqueline Lovell), a drug dealer's wife, decide to put the squeeze on the head, as it were.
Toward the end, producer/director Robert Talbot approaches his model - the wonderful cult favorite "Motel Hell" - but this one isn't quite as kinky. Even so, successful series have been based on less. Don't be surprised if a sequel shows up.
Got a question about home video or film? Contact your favorite video columnist at P.O. Box 2491; Roanoke, Va. 24010, or by e-mail at 75331.2603@compuserve.com.
New releases this week:
Independence Day ***
Starring Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum. Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Vivica Fox, Bill Pullman, Randy Quaid. Directed by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. 140 min. Rated PG-13 for violence, a little strong language.
This over-the-top alien-invasion blockbuster is loud, childish, old-fashioned, by turns imaginative and imitative, and huge fun as cinematic popcorn. While the special effects are impressively staged, they're nothing new. These are variations on the same space cruisers and agile aerial fighters that we saw in the "Star Wars" films. The plot structure is lifted straight from a World War II adventure with characters from different socio-economic backgrounds banding together against a common enemy.
- Mike Mayo
The Phantom **1/2
Starring Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams. Directed by Simon Wincer. Paramount Home Video. 100 min. Rated PG for violence, language.
Slam Evil! That's the catch phrase in this enjoyable (but largely overlooked) screen adaptation of the long-running comic strip. The plot is pretty thin stuff but the action is handled nicely and the atmosphere is cheerfully effective. Worth a look, especially for younger videophiles.
- MM
Kazaam **
Starring Shaquille O'Neal, Francis Capra. Directed by Paul Glaser. Buena Vista/Touchstone. 90 min. Rated PG for mild violence, a little strong language.
Mid-budget live-action kid's movie from the Disney organization is much more sloppily made than most. The engaging screen presence of star O'Neal is really all that the film has going for it. He plays the title genie who lives in a boombox and is released from it by a skeptical city kid who doesn't buy any of this three-wishes nonsense.
- MM
Striptease *1/2
Starring Demi Moore, Burt Reynolds, Ving Rhames. Directed by Andrew Bergman. Columbia TriStar. 111 min. Rated R for strong language, violence, brief nudity. (Also available in an unrated version.)
Poor adaptation of Carl Hiassen's political/crime novel provides Reynolds with some of his funniest work in years, and it establishes Ving Rhames as one of the most impressive character actors in the business. But it's really a star vehicle for Demi Moore, and her limitations have seldom been more apparent. Presumably the unrated video version will have more than the fleeting toplessness she displayed on the big screen, but that's hardly a recommendation.
- MM
The Essentials:
Bottle Rocket ***1/2 Columbia TriStar 92 min. Rated R for a little strong language, subject matter, some violence.
Phat Beach ** LIVE. 88 min. Rated R for subject matter, brief nudity, some strong language
Head of the Family **1/2 Amazing Fantasy. 82 min. Rated R for subject matter, sexual content, nudity, strong language.
LENGTH: Long : 136 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ``Independence Day'' stars Brent Spiner (left) as aby CNBscientist who's been studying alien life forms, Bill Pullman as the
President of the United States and James Rebhorn as Secretary of
Defense.