ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 7, 1996 TAG: 9612090082
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: It came from the video store
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
This week's subject is sex, the mainstay of home video and most other forms of American popular entertainment. Five new releases manage to be about as controversial, enlightening and enjoyable as the subject itself.
Despite its propagandistic overtones, "The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love" manages to deal fairly with its title characters. Those are Randy (Laurel Holloman), a confirmed lesbian at 17, and Evie (Nicole Parker), who's uncertain about many things but is still attracted to Randy. Further complicating the situation, Randy is poor and white, while Evie is well-heeled and black. Their road to romance is rocky, indeed.
Writer-director Maria Maggenti allows the story to veer between absolutely accurate depictions of mercurial adolescent emotion and ridiculous overacting in contrived scenes that wouldn't be out of place in a bad soap opera.
She uses simple, effective filmmaking techniques to move the low-budget action along, and she gets complex, believable performances from her two young stars. On the other hand, her obvious sexual politics, never far from the surface, aren't likely to win over any converts.
Though it's billed as a conventional "erotic thriller," "Suite 16" is actually an effective character study, a Pinteresque psychodrama that could be equally at home on the stage. The key players are Chris (Antoine Kamerling), an amoral young hustler who finds himself trapped in a luxurious Monte Carlo hotel with Glover (Pete Postlewaithe), a wheelchair-bound millionaire. They're a kinky odd couple whose proclivities and cravings come to feed off of each other. Belgian director Dominique Deruddere creates a grainy sordid atmosphere, and succeeds in deglamorizing the sexual aspects of his story. In fact, that side is downright banal, but the last third of the film becomes increasingly twisted as the mind games intensify.
Postlewaithe, nominated for an Oscar for his work in "In the Name of the Father" is just as believable - if not as sympathetic - here.
"Almost Hollywood" is the low-budget video answer to "Swimming With Sharks," an acidly affectionate parody of the movie business.
Tony (Don Stuart) is an unashamedly sleazy producer of video originals. His company is suffering assorted accidents and setbacks, and the bread-and-butter product (sequels) seems doomed until Playboy Playmate India Allen (a co-producer of this film who plays herself) is brought in by Tony's investors. She'll star in his next epic, and even agrees to fill in when the current leading lady is mysteriously murdered. But she'll have nothing to do with Tony's ersatz Indian director Abdu (Scott Apel).
Writer/director Mike Weaver maintains a good sense of humor throughout. His portrait of the movie business as a world of sexist, treacherous slime isn't new, but then, some things don't change, no matter how large or small the budget.
"The Affair" is a low-budget variation on "Indecent Proposal" about a couple (Raelynn Saalman and Will Potter) who repair jukeboxes and are tempted by an offer from the evil Alexis (Jenna Bodnar). The cast is attractive, but there's nothing really special about this one. It's standard stuff for the tired genre.
"The Glass Cage" is lively B-movie fare about spies, crooked cops and drug smugglers with a nice New Orleans setting and first-rate production values. Yeager (Richard Tyson) is a burnt-out ex-CIA agent who knows he's home when he wanders into a French Quarter strip joint and sees his old flame, Jackie (Charlotte Lewis), now the paramour of the vicious club owner. Eric Roberts strolls through another of his patented likable bad-guy roles as detective Montrechet. Director Michael Schroeder makes full use of his setting and he keeps things moving briskly.
Next week: Holiday video gifts
Got a question about home video or film? Contact your favorite video columnist at P.O. Box 2491; Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491, or by e-mail at 75331.2603@compuserve.com.
New releases this week:
The Cable Guy *1/2
Starring Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick. Directed by Ben Stiller. Columbia TriStar. 91 min. Rated PG-13 for subject matter, violence, strong language.
About half of this unfunny comedy is a stinging attack on TV and our national preoccupation with it. Another half is based on star Jim Carrey's physical and verbal humor, but tinged with violence. When the two halves overlap, the film is sporadically funny with dark, unpleasant undercurrents. Is the story a strange romance about friendship? Or is it a horror tale? - Mike Mayo
The Crow: City of Angels * 1/2
Starring Vincent Perez, Mia Kirschner. Directed by Tim Pope. Buena Vista/Miramax. 80 min. Rated R for violence, incessant strong language, brief nudity, sexual material.
Like most sequels, this one slavishly rehashes the most popular elements of the original. That means lots of inky dark atmosphere, violent special effects and pop nihilism. The rest is nothing more than a second-rate revenge flick with a plot that lacks any complexity and characters who have no personalities.
- MM
The Rock **
Starring Nicholas Cage, Sean Connery, Ed Harris. Directed by Michael Bay. Buena Vista/Hollywood. 129 min. Rated R for strong language, violence.
The capsule review is "Die Hard on Alcatraz," and it also points out this thriller's derivative flaws. It's formula stuff; expensive, handsomely made formula stuff, to be sure, but still nothing new. Cage and Connery must save San Francisco when rogue general Harris takes hostages on Alcatraz Island and threatens the city with nerve gas.
- MM
The Essentials:
The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love. ** 1/2 New Line Home Video 94 min. Rated R for subject matter, sexual content, nudity, strong language.
Suite 16 ** 1/2 A-Pix. 93 min. Rated R for subject matter, strong language, violence, brief nudity.
Almost Hollywood *** York Home Video. 100 min. Unrated, contains comic nudity, sexual material, strong language, violence.
The Affair * 1/2 Orion. 80 min. Unrated, contains nudity, sexual scenes, strong language.
The Glass Cage ** 1/2 Orion Home Video. 96 min. Rated R for violence, mutilation, drug use, brief nudity, sexual material, strong language.
LENGTH: Long : 118 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick star in "The Cableby CNBGuy."