THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 23, 1995 TAG: 9505240045
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: CRAIG SHAPIRO
LENGTH: Long : 142 lines
DOROTHY PARKER originally wanted her epitaph to say, ``If you can read this, you've come to[o] close.'' She settled on, ``Excuse my dust.''
The same qualities that made ``Plan 9 From Outer Space'' a colossal critical failure ensure that Ed Wood's ``pride and joy'' will never be forgotten.
As ``A Hard Day's Night'' was wrapping, there was still no title track. When producer Walter Shenson asked for ``a nice, fast song to start the picture,'' John Lennon and Paul McCartney obliged, coming up with one the following morning. The lyrics were jotted down on a matchbook.
Does it happen with you? See a good video and come away so inspired that you just have to know more. Way back when, people turned to books - Parker's doo-dads, Wood's biography or any number of books on the Fab Four.
That's still a novel idea; meanwhile, in the time-starved '90s, three new documentaries do the job nicely.
``The Infamous Dorothy Parker'' (New Line) includes comments from Jennifer Jason Leigh about playing the caustic wit, the Guenevere of the literary Camelot that was the Algonquin Round Table. But it's the insight of writers and associates that define the tragic accuracy of Leigh's memorable performance in ``Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.''
Biographer Marion Meade points to the deaths of Parker's mother and stepmother, both before the girl turned 9. Her father died 11 years later, leaving her, at age 20, virtually alone. ``People aren't born self-destructive,'' Meade says, ``they're made self-destructive by something.''
Also interviewed are Brendan Gill, a colleague of Parker's dearest friend, Robert Benchley, at The New Yorker, and Gloria Steinem, who recalls a story she wrote for Ladies Home Journal. Even though Parker was not a lady, was rarely home and surely had no use for the magazine, Steinem talked her editors into letting her write a profile just so she could meet Parker.
Dottie, Steinem adds, was swimming against the tide of what ladies should do, defying a masculine culture with wit and pen. The vulnerability that exists in her work is authentic.
The intent of ``The Ed Wood Story: The Plan 9 Companion'' (MPI) is made clear from the start - to document and celebrate the sci-fi dud. In much the way Rhino did with ``Look Back in Angora,'' it does just that.
Viewers get it all: interviews with the cast (Vampira, Gregory Walcott), historians and directors (Forrest J. Ackerman, Sam Raimi) and the author of ``Nightmare of Ecstasy,'' the biography that became the foundation of Tim Burton's movie.
Most telling is rare footage of Wood at work. Taken from a second camera used on his abandoned Western, ``Streets of Laredo,'' it skips and is scratchy, but it captures the charisma that was Wood's chief attribute. It also shows the exuberance of a man who believed he was living his dream, one that left him broken and abandoned at the time of his death in 1978.
Although the Beatles made their movie debut nearly 31 years ago, ``The Making of A Hard Day's Night'' (MPI) sheds new light on the old fave. Roger Ebert, for one, says he would not hesitate to rank it among the five best musicals ever, right up there with ``Singin' in the Rain.''
Did you know the dialogue only comes off as ad-libbed? Actually, it's the careful work of Alun Owen, who hung out with ``the boys'' in Dublin to see what a day with The Beatles was like. In the process, his Oscar-nominated screenplay defined the personalities of John, Paul, George and Ringo forever.
There's a serious side, too, that was gleaned from Owen's observations. To show The Beatles as prisoners of their success, director Richard Lester used confining scenes - on the train, in the limo, in the hotel - for the first half of the movie.
This feel-good documentary unearths all kinds of choice nuggets, plus the band's performance of ``You Can't Do That,'' which was cut from the film. FLASHBACK
In ``Braveheart,'' his sprawling new film opening Wednesday, Mel Gibson plays a 13th century Scottish warrior who takes on England's King Edward I.
He was caught up in another conflict in ``The Year of Living Dangerously'' (1982), the political thriller written and directed by countryman Peter Weir. Gibson plays an Australian journalist in Indonesia in the mid-60s, covering the coup against President Sukarno. Sigourney Weaver co-stars as a British attache with whom he becomes involved; Linda Hunt won a most-deserved Oscar as the doomed photographer Billy Kwan.
Weir is superb at creating a sense of place, and even better at building tension. Jakarta is a steamy, claustrophobic tinderbox waiting to blow. As the man trying to stay outside the maelstrom, only to be swept right in, Gibson gives one of the best performances of his career.
ODDS & ENDS: The American Red Cross Tidewater Chapter and Video Hut in Virginia Beach are offering free rentals - does that make sense? - of three useful videos: ``Hurriance Information Guide for Coastal Residents,'' ``Home Preparedness for Hurricanes'' and ``Your Guide to Home Chemical Safety.''
Bang for your buck? FoxVideo has reduced ``True Lies,'' the Arnold Schwarzenegger action hit, to $19.98.
TOP TAPES (in Billboard):
Sales: ``Forrest Gump,'' ``The Lion King,'' ``The Pagemaster,'' ``Angels in the Outfield,'' ``Jurassic Park''
Rentals: ``Forrest Gump,'' ``The Shawshank Redemption,'' ``Quiz Show,'' ``Terminal Velocity,'' ``Stargate''
The Couch Report
``Heavenly Creatures'' (Miramax, 1994). Peter Jackson's lauded drama, based on a murder in New Zealand in the early '50s, is an absolute stunner, as haunting as it is intoxicating. Much like Juliet and Pauline, whose friendship became an obsession, he blurs the line between fantasy and reality. The brutal conclusion is inevitable, but you won't turn away. Jackson has style to spare; his coup, though, is the chilling performance he gets from young Melanie Lynskey - more remarkable given it's her first acting assignment. Don't miss this one. Videomatic rating: A+
(CAST: Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse, Clive Merrison. RATED: R for themes, language, violence; 110 mins.)
``A Low Down Dirty Shame'' (Hollywood, 1994). Keenen Ivory Wayans parodied the blaxploitation films of the '70s with ``I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.'' ``Shame'' seems to rework that idea, but there's a diff: He plays it (almost) straight and gives it a '90s spin. In that context, the framed cop, crooked fed and score-to-settle storyline work. It may be even a more affectionate tribute. A few lines from the ``In Living Color'' glory days don't hurt. Videomatic rating: B-
(CAST: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Jada Pinkett, Salli Richardson, Charles S. Dutton. RATED: R for language, violence, brief nudity; 100 mins.)
``Richie Rich'' (Warner, 1994). Forget the typecasting jokes, Mac's wooden acting and the see-through story. Only producer Joel Silver (``Lethal Weapon,'' ``Die Hard'') could take the harmless Harvey comic and offend everyone, including fans of Hitchcock. A kid gets shot in the chest in a PG film? Early on, Richie realizes something simple is missing from his life, something that money can't buy. Silver must have skipped that page. Videomatic rating: F
(CAST; Macaulay Culkin, John Larroquette, Edward Herrmann, Christine Ebersole. RATED: PG for mild violence, language and its mean spirit; 94 mins.)
Also: Rutger Hauer in ``Fatherland,'' which asks, ``What if Germany had won World War II?'' (not rated); Chuck Norris in ``Walker Texas Ranger: Deadly Reunion,'' a feature based on the CBS series (not rated); and two Turner productions: David Mamet's ``The Water Engine'' (not rated) and Horton Foote's ``The Habitation of Dragons'' (not rated)
NEXT TUESDAY: ``Raining Stones,'' ``Divertimento,'' ``Up to a Certain Point,'' ``In a Year of 13 Moons, ``Embrace of the Vampire''
May 31: ``Legends of the Fall'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
PIERRE VINET/Miramax Films
Melanie Lynskey, left, and Kate Winslet star in the newly released
``Heavenly Creatures.''
by CNB