THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 31, 1995 TAG: 9510310036
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, VIDEO CRITIC
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
LET'S HAVE a show of hands, and be honest. Who out there has already had it up to here with all the hype about ``The Beatles Anthology''?
Shame on you! Because this is one time that it's justified.
It started just over a year ago when word leaked that Paul, George and Ringo were returning to the studio to work on a ``new'' song - a tape John Lennon made shortly before he was gunned down outside his New York apartment Dec. 8, 1980.
The video from that recording session will be shown during a six-hour documentary airing on ABC-TV on Nov. 19, 22 and 23. There's more. On Nov. 21, a double-CD of outtakes, ``Beatles Anthology Volume One,'' is being released.
One of the gray-hairs on our staff got so excited that, the other night, he turned off the VCR, found a stick of incense and spent valuable viewing time listening to ``Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' and the white album.
Fab, but what does any of this have to do with video?
This: Beatlemania II begins today when MPI Home Video releases special editions of ``A Hard Day's Night'' and ``Help!'' - special meaning they've been digitally remastered to look and sound better than ever. They do, too. The imagery is crisp and the sound, now in digital stereo, demands that the volume be given a good twist.
But here's the kicker. Both include rare bonus footage, 26 minutes in all of trailers, interviews, behind-the-scenes shots and director Richard Lester's ``The Running, Jumping & Standing Still,'' the experimental film that first caught the boys' fancy.
``A Hard Day's Night'' is still the better of the two. The band was on the verge of breaking big, and Lester and producer Walter Shenson wanted to catch a day in the life, so to speak. The script by Alun Owen defined the personalities of the Fab Four forever. Lester, an on-the-spot innovator, played to the Beatles' comic skills. Wilfrid Brambell was a hoot as Paul's ``very clean'' grandfather.
``We did it in a light way,'' Lester says, ``but it still had a serious purpose.'' And that was to show the confining demands of superstardom. ``The Running, Jumping & Standing Still,'' 11 minutes of silliness shot in 1959 with Peter Sellers, clearly shows why the Beatles and Lester were a perfect fit.
Some of the novelty had worn off by the time the cameras rolled for ``Help!'' But if it's a little more structured, it's no less fun. The bad guys - Leo McKern and Victor Spinetti in hilarious supporting roles - chase the boys from London to the Alps to the Bahamas to get one of Ringo's rings. Along the way, the film lands a few well-placed barbs at politics and the church.
The bonus footage is a must: candid shots taken on the Salisbury Plain battlefield and the July 29, 1965, world premiere with Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon. A montage of production photos, as well as the trailer, includes scenes that were cut from the final print. Did you know the movie's original title was ``Eight Arms to Hold You''?
There's also an open-end radio interview where the band pre-recorded answers to a set of questions that deejays asked later. The idea was to make it sound live.
``A Hard Day's Night'' now clocks in at 108 minutes, ``Help!'' at 98. Neither is rated; both list for $19.98.
TOP VIDEOS (in Billboard):
Sales: ``Cinderella,'' ``Casper,'' ``Legends of the Fall,'' ``Star Wars Trilogy,'' ``Playboy: The Best of Pamela Anderson''
Rentals: ``Pulp Fiction,'' ``French Kiss,'' ``Don Juan DeMarco,'' ``Outbreak,'' ``Casper'' THE COUCH REPORT
``Batman Forever'' (Warner, 1995). Joel Schumacher gives the saga just what it needs: razzle-dazzle. Tim Burton's films were too somber. This time, the Caped Crusader faces a double whammy from the Riddler and Two-Face. Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones are at their scenery-chewing best, but Val Kilmer is the big surprise. His Batman is a three-dimensional hero who easily holds his own. Chris O'Donnell, as Robin, livens things up, too. OK, the story's thin and the pace a bit frenzied. So what? It's fun. Videomatic says: B
(CAST: Val Kilmer, Jim Carrey, Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman, Chris O'Donnell. RATED: PG-13 for cartoonish violence; 120 mins.)
``Rain Without Thunder'' (Orion, 1995). In 2042, a wealthy mother and daughter are imprisoned under the Unborn Child Kidnapping Act - designed to eliminate discrimination in enforcing federal anti-abortion laws. The intriguing, ``what-if'' premise and quasi-documentary style work, letting writer/director Gary Bennett push social, political and religious buttons. Some of his characters, though, border on caricatures. Videomatic says: B-
(CAST: Jeff Daniels, Ali Thomas, Betty Buckley, Carolyn McCormick, Frederic Forrest, Graham Greene. RATED: PG-13 for language, themes; 86 mins.)
``Bar Girls'' (Orion, 1995). Speaking of caricatures, that's only part of the problem with what's billed as a ``romantic comedy without men.'' Fine. The ups and downs of the regulars at a lesbian bar is a rich topic. But cardboard characters and woefully unconvincing acting encourage little empathy. The lesson is bad romantic comedy can be gender-specific. Videomatic says: D
(CAST: Nancy Allison Wolfe, Liza D'Agostino, Camila Griggs, Michael Harris. RATED: R for language, nudity, situations; 95 mins.)
``A Night of Love'' (Fox Lorber, 1995). The pieces are here for a nice little farce, but because of schizoid shifts in tone and tin-eared dialogue coaching, they don't quite fit. The plot involves a king's visit to a village in Central Europe just after World War I. Love and revolution are afoot; in this case, they mix like oil and water. Videomatic says: C
(CAST: Alfred Molina, Camilla Soeberg, Eric Stoltz, Gabrielle Anwar. RATED: R for nudity, language, violence; 97 mins.)
Also: Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley in ``Swimming With Sharks,'' the highly praised Hollywood satire (R)
Next Tuesday: ``Bad Boys,'' ``Miracle on 34th Street, ``My Family,'' ``A Great Day in Harlem,'' ``Mad Love,'' ``Gordy,'' ``The Set Up,'' ``Nina Takes a Lover,'' ``Natural Causes'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Special video editions of The Beatles' ``A Hard Day's Night'' and
``Help!'' have been digitally remastered to look and sound better.
by CNB