MEDIA
v voeos
And now. . . the regular fortnightly round-up of available vldoos.
I CDLD FEET Keith Carradinc tries to change his life and ditches both his murderous partner. Tom Waits, and his fiance Sally Kirkland. However. losing the two ofthcm ain't so easy and the pair swear revenge on him. This delightfully oddball contemporary western/ road movie manages to parody both and still provide a coherent backdrop to the cccentrically painted characters and dialogue of Robert Dornhelm‘s film. (Virgin. rental)
I TRIPLE SCOTCH AND WRY Often the only part ofthe New Year festivities worth remembering. The finer polished wit of Rikki Fulton topped the UK Video charts when the first compilation was released three years ago and the third helping still bears repeated watching. even without the customary Alka-Seltzer and water of New Year‘s Day. Also available from the Beeb are a compilation of Naked Video sketches. the bald man. Siadwell eraland City Lights which no less an organ than The Sunday Post. described as ‘A sit-com that‘s genuinely funny‘. (BBC Video. £9.99)
I DIBDMEN AND BIRDSDNG Not to be confused with an anthology ofornithology this two-volume video tribute to Charlie Parker was recorded live in Cannesthis summer and features some of America's finest exponents ofjazz. The second half ofthe set concentrates on the vocal side ofthe great Bird's work using the voice of Jon Hendricks. (Virgin. £9.99)
I THIS IS SPINAL TAP The original jokers who try as they might can never quite match the unwitting self-parody of real rock videos. A training film for aspiring heavy metal bands. (Channel 5. £9.99)
_ Sofa strife
On Monday 5 Novemberthe succinctly-titled Jonathan Ross Show takes to the airwaves three times a week in the latest addition to the time-honoured (ie cheap to make) format of the chat show. Our Jonathan is the sort of wise-cracking South London boy who can usually be relied on to handle himself In a spot of verbal sparring, but in the happy-go-Iucky world of the chat show, anything goes, as a brief glimpse into the archives shows . . .
1)Aspel: Not so long ago, the smooth Michael made the serious error of attempting to ask a few questions of Oliver Reed. ‘Where’s that tattoo of yours then Ollie’, he asked disingenuously. ‘On me cock’ was the no-nonsense reply, from the man who once started to strip off on Saturday NightAt Tile Mill (now there was a show . . .)
2) Des O'Connor: Magic moments with the smooth crooner cringeing as dire Scouse comedian Stan Boardman reminisced about the Battle of Britain: ‘This huge Fokker came out of the clouds with two other dirty great
Fokkers behind him’ . . . Switchboards were jammed with callers ignorant about German biplanes.
3) Russell Harty: The late lamented wise old man of the dales and close friend of Mavis from Coronation Street suffered cuts and bruises in a clash with Grace Jones. Apparently Russell asked if Pull Up To The Bumper was about traffic jams.
4) Parkinson: Even the suave old Barnsley chauvinist’s cool cracked when Emu (and I suppose his multi-talented mate Rod Hull) wrestled with Mike’s personal appendages on live TV. General acrimony and muffled threats shattered the usual chat-show bonhomie.
Woss versus Wogan - cockney chatter against lrish patter— who will have the last word?
5) TVAM: Ann Diamond for once dropped her ingratiating interview mode and decided to go for Denis Healey in a pre-election chat, with the politically highly significant and tasteful question of why his wife had had a hip operation privately rather than on the NHS. Denis dramatically stormed off, taking half the sound
equipmentwith him.
6) Wogan: Bestie’s outbursts were all the more to be treasured, because of their rarity value on the bland lrishman’s personal ego vehicle. ‘I like screwing, Terry’ should be a mantra chanted by every future guest to keep alive the memory of a great night for British broadcasting.
7) The Last Resort: Yes, young Rossie is no strangerto the occasional embarrassing moment, and shameless displays of tastelessness. Particularly memorable are the guy sticking needles through his face, and Rowland Rivron tipping out a sack of assorted livers, hearts and kidneys dripping blood all overthe table. Riveting stuff. Let’s hope the new show doesn’t pull any punches. (Tom Lappin)
The Jonathan Ross Show starts on Channel 4 on 5 November at 6.30pm.
:— leaving the
lights on
City Lights, on BBC Scotland, is already well on the way to becoming an institution. Though the tale of Willie’s frustrated attempts to appear in print is about to enter its sixth series, the director, Ron Bain, is adamant that there is no danger of it slipping into the soapy waters that sink many a sit-com. ‘We only produce six episodes 3 year. It's not like we're churning them out, there's no danger of us doing an ’Allo, ’Allo.’
The sharply-written comedy (gentle rather than side-splitting) has won a variety of plaudits from the popular press (The Sunday Post hailed it as ‘A genuinely funny sit-com') and it must be hard for the beeb to resist capitalising further on the high
affection in which the show is obviously
held. At one stage the viewing figure was fast approaching the two million mark, a remarkable achievement for a series broadcast solely in Scotland.
City Lights embarks on yet another new series- is it becoming soapy?
For that reason, not much will change in this next series. Elaine C. Smith will be less apparent than before due to her comitment to The Steamie — which she has been appearing in recently. Other than that, the successful format will be adhered to, by and large. The director has a simple answer for the success of the series, ‘I put it down to it being a very, very good show. I could be wrong, maybe there’s nothing else on at that time, but I preferto think that such a big
audience reflects the anticipation that
at 8.30dm on a Monday night they’ll
switch on and get a damn good laugh.‘
j (Ross Parsons)
T City Lights, BBC Scotland, 8.30pm, Monday.
V VIDEOS
I PINKY AND PERKY Channel 5 are either determined to promote our porcine friends to the status of cult figures or they are at the bottom ofa very shallow barrel of material. The original Polish inventors of the chirpy piglets. the Dallibors. have come out of retirement to boost the publicity for the pigs on vid and. most bizarrely of all. the video itselfcomes in a pink plastic musical box which plays ‘l‘ve (‘iot a lovely Bunch of (‘oconuts' when opened. One for nostalgia buffs and hallucinogenic drug users only. (Channel 5. £9.99) I LAST TANGD IN PARIS Middle-aged Iothario Marlon Brando establishes an anonymous but highly physical relationship with the young Maria Schneider after the sudden death of his wife. Bernardo Bertolucci‘s masterpiece shocked many on its initial release though mainly the film is memorable for Marlon's performance. It marked his comeback after a string ofbad movies had soured his reputation. (Warner. £9.99)
I BLIND FURY Rutger llauer is ‘Strong as anox. quick as a hawk and blind as a bat'. He's alsoa returning Vietnam vet with a mission - his best buddy‘s son is in danger from drug-pushers and only he can save him. using a few tricks he picked up in the Orient. A clever reversal of the usual hard-man theme is packed with sufficent non-sight gags to allow onc's beliefto be suspended. (RCA/Columbia. rental)
I LUCIA DI LAMMERMDDR Joan Sutherland's performance in l)oni1.etti‘s highland tragedy is perhaps her most memorable. Here she performs with the Australian ()pera at the Sydney Opera I Iouseand gets to show off the full range of her vocal ability. Also on offer for Opera buffs is Die I’ledermuw. in which the doyenne plays Rosalinde and l’rokofiev's I. 'A mour Des 'l'roLs Oranges performed by the Lyons ()pera. (Virgin. £14.99)
The List 20 ()etobe r — 8 November 1990 77