DVD & BLU RAY REVIEWS
Reviews by JAIME PINA
Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story
MVD Visual
Being a long-haired punk rocker, in my youth, Redd Kross (originally Red Cross), meant a lot to me. Me and my Cholos in Los Cremators were totally related to them as they liked to smoke pot and take psychedelics, watch cool TV shows and movies, and were just general juvenile delinquents, goofing off, having fun, and not adhering to anyone’s rules. As they progressed, they started to gain a loyal following and over the years, they changed their sound going from a trashy garage punk band to a slick pop band with sharp melodies. This documentary tells the RK story, covering their start to their current status.
Revolving around interviews with Steve and Jeff McDonald, founders of RK and the only original members, other people from their orbit add their voices to the story including past members from all eras of the band, the We Got Power players and other various music celebs who saw them play and then went on to form their own bands. Since the band has been around for so many years it is a long story to tell. The interviews are fun and informative while trying not to spill too much tea. There is a disturbing story involving a young Steve that I won’t get into and the brothers sometimes seem to really bug each other when certain topics are raised. It’s a fun Rock N’ Roll story about a band who started young in the early LA punk scene and became the rockstars they always envisioned themselves to be.
This is a two-disc set with disc one featuring the documentary with the option of commentary from Steve and Jeff. Disc two is loaded with fantastic extras and outtakes but the real goodies are the rehearsal at the Nazpad during the post-Neurotica phase and the reunion of the band’s first line-up, originally called The Tourists, at Café Nela. Another extra special addition are the postcards. Four different postcards were made, and each disc case includes two random cards. Collect all 4!
Elvis ‘56
Lightyear Entertainment/MVD
This excellent documentary follows Elvis Presley as he goes from a gifted singer with a release on Sun Records and a killer backing band playing local shows and building a following to a worldwide phenomenon in a very short period of time. He was making some headway on stages throughout the South when a guy named Colonel Tom Parker saw the reaction Elvis was getting from the young girls in the audience and figured him to be the Frank Sinatra of his generation. He offers Elvis a lopsided management deal and soon Elvis has gone national, is selling a lot of records, and has Hollywood knocking at his door. Produced and directed by Alex and Susan Raymond, this documentary gets a lot of things right. Narrated by Levon Helm of The Band, he adds a welcome down-home vibe with his Arkansas accent. While narrating, Helm chronicles important events in Elvis’ ascent, and a lot of these events revolve around television appearances that the Colonel was booking for him. These TV spots are included in their entirety, with the producers being careful not to have Helm talking over the footage. One of my pet peeves as far as music documentaries is when they show footage of a band performing, and the talking heads tell us what we are seeing and hearing instead of letting us see and hear it. They let the music do the talking here, and I am grateful for that.
These performances are wild. Elvis’ band at the time, a little combo featuring Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on doghouse bass, and D.J. Fontana on drums is on fire. Elvis may have been dubbed “The King of Rock N’ Roll”, but these guys were the muscle behind the making of the king. Had Elvis put together three other guys who lacked the punch, maybe we wouldn’t be talking about him. Included are the appearances from The Dorsey Brothers Show, The Milton Berle Show, and the disastrous Steve Allen Show, where Steve thought it would be funny to have Elvis sing “Hound Dog” in a tuxedo to an actual hound dog also wearing a tuxedo. An important addition is Elvis appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, shot from the waist up so as not to offend any viewers who might be outraged by his gyrating. All of this footage is essential for Elvis fans, and to have them all collected in one place is a true gift. As the year ends, Elvis is a movie star and so famous that he cannot perform live anymore due to the utter chaos at his shows. The band breaks up, Elvis dyes his hair black, and the Colonel makes a lot of money. When you think about how it all went down in about 365 days, it is mind-boggling.
Something important about this Blu-ray release is the fact that they left the full-screen ratio alone. Fans of Black Sabbath like me were stunned when upgrading our The Black Sabbath Story discs to Blu-ray from DVD, only to find that the manufacturers decided to change the screen ratio to fill the new HD screens while cutting off part of the interviewees’ heads. As
far as the quality, I see no real differences as far as DVD to Blu-ray, so fans already in possession of the original DVD release may question whether to upgrade or not. There are no bonus features. If you do not own this title and are a fan of Elvis, this is more important to have than any of his Hollywood features. It is that damn good.
Desperate Teenage Lovedolls & Lovedolls Superstar
MVD Visual
I remember going to see this film on a double bill with The Right Side Of My Brain starring Lydia Lunch at EZTV on Santa Monica Boulevard shortly after I moved to West Hollywood. “That screening of Right Side Of My Brain was the first time Richard Kern exhibited any of his films outside of New York City by the way,” says director Dave Markey. “Jordan (Schwartz, We Got Power co-founder and DTLD co-producer) used to promote those EZTV shows.”
Being a big fan of Redd Kross, having a few issues of the We Got Power ‘zine and being a huge film fan I was looking forward to the movie and I immediately made the connection. An easy way to describe the film is it’s like if Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert’s Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls was directed by John Waters during his Pink Flamingos phase. There are also hints of those 70’s TV movies about young girls who have run away from home. Shot on Super 8mm, the film has a lot of grit and griminess to it like a true low budget film should. Markey understood that having a low budget meant overcoming the financial obstacles by finding ingenuity where you can. There are a lot of scenes shot in broad daylight and some of the indoor shots are lit by table lamps with the lamp shades removed. The acting is fun and not to be taken seriously as this is a comedy for the most part. There is one disturbingly heavy moment in the film with actress Kim Pilkington shooting heroin for real. “For years that shooting up scene bothered me,” states Markey. “For some reason now I can take it for what it is. (Distributor) MVD never said one word about any of the content.” The music is completely awesome featuring tracks by Redd Kross, Nip Drivers and many others. Seeing the original cut of the film I was able to enjoy it with all of Markey’s original musical picks intact. Over the years the music licensing rights have become complicated with some songs removed or replaced. Most of the bands involved were friends of Markey’s and allowed him to use their songs. Over the years as Markey refined and improved the film from its humble beginnings to bigtime distribution there were a lot of changes made. “The VHS versions (there were many btw) have varying degrees of replaced music. The very first version had Runaways, Led Zep, Hendrix and Cramps songs that were yanked right after the July ’84 premier,” Markey explains. “A small handful of those got out. Keep waiting for that version to show up on youtube.” As far as this Blu-ray release, much like Markey’s The Slog Movie, one band refused to let their music remain in the film. “The only music removed was ‘Life Of Pain’ by Black Flag. No other issues with any of the music.”
This disc is a welcome double feature as it also includes Markey’s sequel Lovedolls Superstar. “That was what the distributor wanted. I didn’t really have any problems with it,” he says. “I think the end result is great and it’s kind of nice that they are paired together. It’s
a good deal in these difficult economic times.” While the first film was a love letter to BVD and Pink Flamingos, the sequel draws from Billy Jack and the TV film about the Manson Family called Helter Skelter with a little Guyana: Cult Of The Damned and Dennis Durston’s I Drink Your Blood thrown in. The first film featured Steve McDonald in a big role as the sleazy manager but this time Jeff McDonald has a much larger role as the assassin. Technically, this film is much more accomplished than the first and also has another fantastic music soundtrack. Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys and Sky Saxon of The Seeds have minor roles.
Considering the source material both films looks excellent with the new 4K restorations. You can even see things that you could not before. Like the dog in the wine spiking scene. “That dog belonged to Hilary Rubens,” says Markey. “You couldn’t really see it until this new scan of the film which has more of the image.” The single disc contains the two feature films and is packed with extras including commentary with stars Jennifer Schwartz and Steve and Jeff McDonald, commentary with Markey and Jordan Schwartz, outtakes and alternate takes, trailers, a making of featurette, the music video for “Ballad Of A Teenage Lovedoll” by Redd Kross and much more.
Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations Vol. 2
MVD Visual
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are among the giants of early comedy. Starting in the silent era at Hal Roach Studios, they easily made the transition to “talkies” while many of their contemporaries did not. Their expert timing and broad personalities were still intact as they added verbal jokes to their arsenal and a couple of the films in this collection illustrate their talents as both silent and sound comedians.
There are nine films included in this set. Two of the shorts, Brats and Blotto are included in silent versions. The restorations look fantastic and with some minor hiss in a couple of the films but the black and white photography looks crisp. There are tons of extras included like alternate versions, an MGM promotional film, their This Is Your Life episode and much more. Also included is a thick booklet with production information on the films and background on the extras.