DVD Review: Stoked - The Rise and Fall of Gator (B)

Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator (2002)
Directed by Helen Stickler
Starring Mark 'Gator' Rogowski, Tony Hawk, Jason Jesse, and Brandi McClain
MPAA: UR
Grade: B

Review by Bobby Nashville

I was stoked to see Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator and it definitely didn't disappoint. If you like Dogtown and Z Boys (as I did) then this is a must see. Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator tells the story of ex-skateboarder Mark Rogowski.

Mark Rogowski was one of the hottest skateboard stars of the 80's. His nickname of Gator fit his skateboard style (aggressive) and his real life personality (short tempered). He smoke, drank and boarded his way to superstardom during a time when boarders became superstars. When the sport started to lose steam, Gator lost his identity and slipped into some treacherous waters. The documentary shifts gears as the film documents Gator's personal problems, ultimately leading to murder.

This film has alot of style but refuses to turn into a music video. It moves along nicely, tells the story from multiple views (including Gator's own) and is a very good look into the rise and fall of a pop culture icon.

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DVD Review: Vagina Monologues, The (B-)

Vagina Monologues (2002)
Directed by Eve Ensler
Starring Eve Ensler
MPAA: UR
Grade: B-

Review by Scott Standish

Eve Ensler spent years talking to women all over the country. The topic: their vaginas. Old women, young women, teachers, sex workers, you name it, she talked to them. The stories that they told her (and in turn, us) are quite interesting indeed. The stories make up The Vagina Monologues.

Some women apparently avoid looking at their privates, and yes, some women are obsessed with their vagina. All viewpoints are given here and it makes for interesting 76 minutes. However, I think I was expecting this to be a little more hard hitting, in a comedic sense and definitely in a political sense.

Eve Ensler has a lot of charisma and does what she can to make this a powerful one woman show. For all of the hoopla about this there really isn't anything that controversial here.

Sometimes touching, sometimes funny, and sometimes a little boring, The Vagina Monologues is still a nice change of pace DVD. Give it a shot.

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DVD Review: Work of Director Chris Cunningham, The (B+)

Work of Director Chris Cunningham, The (2003)
Directed by Lance Bangs, Chris Cunningham
MPAA: UR
Grade: B+

Review by Scott Standish

I can't seem to get an image out of my head. It's disturbing, funny and completely unforgettable. The image is of the distorted face used through out Aphex Twins videos by Chris Cunningham. And this is exactly what the director was looking for.

Perhaps the most influential music video director in the last 20 years, Chris Cunningham has become famous for his disturbing, yet mesmerizing images. Whether it's the previously mentioned distorted face of Richard James put on the bodies of young girls or the cyber robot version of Bjork making love to her robot clone, Chris Cunningham delivers memorable images. Perhaps best known of his videos (and my least favorite) is the Madonna video for Frozen. The video shows the superstar in a gothic black costume that swirls in the wind, then transforms into animals (crows, dobermans, etc). Although this looks cool, it doesn't hold up to the disturbing power of Cunningham's video for Leftfield (showing a man's limbs falling off) or Portishead (of people seemingly drowning in air).

Dramatic. Unforgettable. The Work of Director Chris Cunningham is a wonderful DVD and a must buy for anyone who collects vanguard music video. My only beef with this collection is that it did not include Cunningham's wonderful video for Holy Barbarian's Space Junkie. I have heard that other key works from Cunningham are also missing, so could disc #2 be in the works? Let's hope so! In the meantime, do not hesitate to scoop this one up.

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DVD Review: Big Lebowski, The (A)

The Big Lebowski (1998)
Directed by Joel Coen
Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Julianne Moore
MPAA: R
Grade: A

Review by Scott Standish

The story behind The Big Lebowski is reportedly that the Coen brothers wanted to film a Maltese Falcon type mystery but with a peculiar twist: instead of a tough Humphrey Bogart type in the lead they would base the lead entirely on one of their real life pals. Apparently their pal is a pot smoking, white Russian drinking avid bowler that likes people to simply call him "Dude".

The character "Dude" as portrayed by Jeff Bridges is a laid back ex-radical that seems to have settled quite nicely into a lazy life of "bowling, driving around and the occasional acid flashback". In other words, the Dude abides. Jeff Bridges has this guy down pat and its almost amazing to see just how laid back this character really is.

Unfortunately the Dude gets mixed up in a kidnapping case when a pack of nihilist criminals mistake him for another Jeffrey Lebowski. This mistaken identity kicks off a huge chain of events for the Dude that are actually a little confusing (similar to Maltese Falcon). The confusing plot is obviously intended by the Coens, as we see Jeffrey Lebowski struggle with this insanity, all the while, just wishing he could go back to smoking joints in the bathtub listening to whale sounds on his cassette deck.

John Goodman plays Walter, the hotheaded veteran that tries to relate every single conflict in life to Vietnam. Steve Buscemi does a very nice, understated performance as the clueless Donny. Toss in some great turns by John Turturro and Sam Elliot and The Big Lebowski solidly checks in as one of the best comedies of the 1990's.

A special mention must be made about the quirky dialogue in this movie. Each character is deeply defined and their rants and raves are deftly crafted. Each person's dialogue not only propels the story forward, but also gives insight into their psyche. For example, after Walter pulls a gun on a bowler that simply stepped over the line on a roll, the Dude tries to straighten him out. Dude: Walter, you can't do that. These guys're like me, they're pacifists. Smokey was a conscientious objector.

Walter: You know Dude, I myself dabbled with pacifism at one point. Not in Nam, of course--

Dude: And you know Smokey has emotional problems!

Walter: You mean--beyond pacifism?

The Big Lebowski is one of those rare films that holds up extremely well to repeated viewings. I think that's because the characters are not shallow sitcom-like androids. These are complex people trying to solve an increasingly complex problem, while trying to hold onto their chosen philosophy on life (which is basically "fuck it, let's go bowling"). That's not an easy task with the weirdos, kidnappers, nihilists and pornographers that they run into.

The Big Lebowksi is also a reminder that being a slacker is still indeed a viable, and maybe even somewhat honorable lifestyle. The Dude certainly does abide. And as The Stranger (played to perfection by Sam Elliot) says: "I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners."

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DVD Review: Salon Kitty (D-)

Salon Kitty (1976)
Directed by Tinto Brass
Starring Helmut Berger, Ingrid Thulin, Teresa Ann Savoy, Bekim Fehmiu and Tina Aumont
MPAA: X
Grade: D-

Review by Bobby Nashville

I think the best way to describe Salon Kitty is: Springtime For Hitler, but naked. I am not joking folks, this really is a Nazi musical (minus the comedy but plus the nudity). At least in The Producers, the stage play was so bad that actually turned into a funny comedy. Unfortunately Salon Kitty isn't bad (or good) enough.

Yes, Salon Kitty from the controversial director Tinto brass (All Ladies Do It) is a bizarre musical set in Nazi Germany. The plot is insane and meandering, but basically it boils down to this: Nazi brass forces a gal named Kitty to run a brothel for them. There is a minor subplot about blackmailing Hitler, but for the most part this entire movie entails women walking around half dressed (and Nazi men dressed to the hilt).

It sounds campy but its really not, its really kind of boring after awhile, not nearly as entertaining as Tinto Brass' All The Women Do It.

Skip Salon Kitty, a movie that sounds bizarrely entertaining, but ends up disappointing.

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DVD Review: Swinging Cheerleaders, The (B)

Swinging Cheerleaders, The (1974)
Directed by Jack Hill
Starring Jo Johnston, Colleen Camp, Ron Hajek, Rosanne Katon
MPAA: R
Grade: B

Review by Bobby Nashville

Jo Johnston stars as Kate, a campus radical that is hell bent on exposing the political and social exploitation that she senses are going on at her school. She decides to infiltrate the cheerleading squad in an attempt to uncover the horrible conditions and treatment that she feels these girls are subject to. Her pot smoking left wing boyfriend pushes her along and she decides to write an expose called "The Swinging Cheerleaders". What she finds however is that all of the cheerleaders love their work and that they don't feel exploited in any way. Her transformation becomes complete as she falls for the teams starting quarterback.

The Swinging Cheerleaders is extremely dated, of course, as the attitude and dialogue seem steeped in Nixon era paranoia. The clothing (hippy wear and cheerleader garb) fill out the mise en scene nicely and you can always count on Jack Hill to keep his films moving along nicely. In other words, you won't be bored for a minute.

Exploitation king Jack Hill directed this after the Pam Grier blaxploitation classic Coffy but before his girl gang masterpiece Switchblade Sisters. Full of camp value, The Swinging Cheerleaders has a lot going for it. However, if you are looking for a racy sexploitation movie, this one will probably disappoint you a bit. Its more full of laughs than racy behavior. Rent this one if you are in the mood for a light hearted sexploitation film that is easy to digest.

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DVD Review: Adaptation (B-)

Adaptation (2002)
Directed by Spike Jonze
Starring Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Ron Livingston and Maggie Gyllenhaal
MPAA: R
Grade: B-

Review by Scott Standish

Spike Jonze follows up the incredible Being John Malkovitch with a film that through it's audacious hunger for self reflection narrowly avoids the sophomore slump. Charlie Kaufman (the writer behind Malkovitch) returns as writer and subject matter for the film, a movie that is really about the making of a follow up to Malkovitch.

Nicolas Cage plays Charlie Kaufman, the successful writer of Being John Malkovitch. His agent (Ron Livingston of Office Space fame) has him adapting the book The Orchid Thief into a movie, but Kaufman faces writer's block. Trying to turn this into an advantage, Kaufman writes himself into the story as a writer trying to adapt the book. Charlie's brother Donald (also played by Cage) only makes things harder on Charlie as he decides to become a writer too. Charlie seeks out the author of the Orchid Thief (played by Meryl Streep) and soon finds himself meeting the real orchid thief himself, played by Chris Cooper. Cooper won an Academy Award for his work here.

The clever story within a story at work here makes Adaptation a pretty fun movie to take in, but for some reason the third act seemed to jump the rails. I don't want to give away wait happens here, so let's just say that the ending just didn't work for me.

A funny follow-up to the far superior Being John Malkovitch (there are even scenes where the characters are on the set of Malkovitch), Adaptation is never the less a funny movie with some interesting ideas. Perhaps I was expecting a little too much here, and for that, I am willing to cut Jonze and Kaufman some slack.

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DVD Review: Solaris (2002) (B)

Solaris (2002)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Starring George Clooney, Natascha McElhone and Viola Davis
MPAA: R
Grade: B

Review by Scott Standish

Director Steven Soderbergh (Full Frontal, Traffic, The Limey, etc.) tackled remaking the sprawling science fiction classic Solaris by cutting it to it's core elements: longing, romance and a questioning of what is truly real. These combine quite effectively to make a fairly strong sci-fi film that is about second chances and what people will do to get them.

George Clooney stars as Kelvin, a troubled psychologist that is called upon to go into space to investigate why a ship sent to the planet Solaris is undergoing turmoil. The commander of the ship has died mysteriously and people aboard the vessel are experiencing hallucinations on a grand scale. As Kelvin soon finds, the planet Solaris may be controlling the minds of the crew by using their memories and desires for a canvas to paint their own versions of reality.

Faster paced than the original, certainly a more polished U.S. audience ready version, yet lacking all of the subtlety, this remake still works as a quality movie. According the IMDB, James Cameron considered directing the Solaris remake first, but decided to produce the film instead. Cameron would certainly have made this more of an action film and that would have been a mistake. Soderbergh deftly keeps the pacing to a slow but steady crawl as the tension builds.

Clooney is decent in the lead role and the material is fairly challenging so he deserves kudos. Daniel Day-Lewis was one of the actors first considered for the role of Kelvin and it's pretty interesting to consider what he would have brought to the table if given the shot.

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DVD Review: Flower of Evil (B)

Flower of Evil (2003)
Directed by Claude Chabrol
Starring Benoit Magimel, Nathalie Baye, Melanie Doutey, Suzanne Flon
MPAA: R
Grade: B

Review by Scott Standish

I hate to admit this, but here goes: this was my first Chabrol. Claude Chabrol is perhaps one of the most popular French directors of all time and it's a darn shame that I have missed so many of his films. Flower of Evil has peaked my interest in his other films.

Flower of Evil tells the story of Anne Charpin-Vasseur, a wife and mother that is running for Mayor. A pamphlet is released to the public from an anonymous source that details a shady past for the entire family. Her husband is against her running for office in the first place, so the entire fiasco sends the family into turmoil. Her son comes home from America and immediately immerses himself into the family's drama.

Flower of Evil has received some mixed reviews, but perhaps Chabrol is a victim of his past: critics may expect too much from him because of his past successes. Flower of Evil is an excellent drama, with fine performances.

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