KNEE}- '
Anotherbatch otVHS cassettes wings its wayto ourottices eagertobe reviewed. Roll the tapes. ..
I Little Dorrittt') (‘hristine lid/ard's tedious epic masterful eyocation of Victorian society tdependingon whose rey'iews you read) hits y Idco stores in two parts: '.\'obody”s Fault‘ and ‘l.ittle Dorrit's Story". Plertty of Dickens' writing is padding arty way. and the filiit y'erstort is a faithful reflection of‘tliat. as w ell as craritrttirtg in most of ltis complcxplot twists and turns.
Yaw risonte lngm’ury in tlte story are coritpcrisated for by the wonderful actingof British institutions like l)erek Jacobi and Alec (itiinness. btit really tltisis one to lease lying around on the coffee-table ratlter tltart ptit iii the machine and actually w atch. (Warner Home \'ideo_ U).f)‘)each).
I Erik The Viking ( 15 ) 'l‘im Robbirts plays the wiritpislt hero ofthe title irt lcrry' Jones’s faintly disappointing Dark Ages spoof. lied tip witlt iicy'er-ending raping arid pillaging. lirik leads ltis motley hand of warriors on a qtiest to enter Asgard and persuade the gods to get their act together. Sey'cral feeble jokes later. the whole film petersout into a Very weak ending. ’l‘he wltole thing hastlte feel of art oycrstretchcd Python sketch with tlte occasiortal good lirte. 'I'im ‘Blackadder' .‘yfclnnerny is hilarious as tlte warrior with the tendency to go berserk. and John (‘leesc is typecast to perfection as the complete artd utter bastard. but it‘s a shambling sort of film. going nowhere fairly slowly. ((‘BS l'ox 15.1.90)
IThe BestOt Soap t t’ti) 'l'he'lV sitcom startedotit as a parody . btit eyenttially became as addictiy c as the shows it set otit to satirise. ’lihe ludicrous sqtiabbles arid predicaments of the latcs arid the (‘ampbclls were cult yiewing. with the butler. Benson. ey en earning hiritself a spin-off series. Plotlines were along the lines of Bert ('ampbell being replaced by art alien. which tertded to work rather bettertltart w ltcti the scriptwriters tried to coyerscriotis issues. This tape scry‘es as a stiitable santpler oftlie series. although in is" minutes it can't really do iustice to the quirky genius of the plots Stars include Katherine llelritorid. Richard \fulligan arid Billy ('rystal, (( ’astle Vision 1.9.99)
56 'l‘he List 22 March w 4 April 1991
Every
Mountain
Muriel Gray's new Mann}
Show for Scottish
Television seems to have stirred tip controversy
even before it ltas been shown. She tells Philip Parr what‘s stirring in
them thar hills.
‘I want this written large. We climbed tltose mountains for real; sometimes twice. 'l'he next day when we came back with the helicopter arid they dropped me off for those dramatic. panoramic shots these bastards would say “( )h aye. that‘s ltow you do it." \Vell no. it‘s not how
Ifuckingdoit.‘
Muriel (iray seems a bit defensiye. 'lhe y'oice maybe weak front laryngitis btit the spirit is fiery iii sttpport of lter new programme. Hie Mann) Show. And it really is her programme. for she not only preseitts btit also writes arid produces it. Reyiew copies distributed to the Scottislt press haye ruffled a few featlters. with one journalistic hill—walker becoming so abusiy'e when he talked to ( iray' that he had to be escorted from the
building.
‘l‘m staggered.‘ says ( iray'. ‘I didn‘t expect people to be so offended by it. One guy said he'd neyer been so insulted by a programme iit all his life. I‘m yery proud of it actually. btit obyiously' I‘m going to ltay'e to take a lot of flak. \Vltert artt l eyer going to get a bit of peace'.’ liy'ery time 1 do sortiethingjttst a tiny bit different. people just get the pitcltforks otit.
l I'v/t’t'rsr'mtMilo .1/(1ft'll(1(()..f()/)Nl. l
TELEVISION
'>',;a . .,*
Stepping out with Muriel Gray
l'm fed tip with people takirtg the ltillssoseriously'.‘
(iray‘s iri‘ey‘ei‘ence stretches to calling the mountains ‘ltimps‘ arid haying snapshots of tiiale dancers gy'rating to rap music interspersed with the more traditional images of moody hillsides. You cart see why the man frortt the Sunday Post was offended. But dancing men or not. (iray's personal love of the twely'e mountains which she climbs iii the series shines through.
‘When you‘re on the top of a mountain. the perspectiy'e of what you're looktrtg at changes so radically. It‘s a fantastically cleansing experience. It‘s a reminder of your place iii the scheme of things
which is yery small. 'l'here‘s a yery‘ rhythmic. trance—like state you get into which really giyes you the opportunity to think arid get away front eye ryday' life .'
(hay is stepping back iitto more familiar territory with her next series for (‘hannel -1 which will look at ay ant—garde art and its place (if any) iii the l‘Ntls. I wondered why we needed another arts show to add to .Vli’ artd lfit‘t‘t’ss.
‘Well. it‘s good fora start. lfit was similar to lfit't't’siy‘ 1 think we‘d all pack tip arid go home. I‘m poking a bit of a stick at the sacred cows ofart arid asking how releyant they are these tlays. \VC‘VL‘11\L‘L1111L‘\\'t)l'l\ttl four artists who are cutting a dash iii their owrt way aitd are probably going to be toittorrow”s people.‘ Of the four featured. two are Scottish; surely a sign that Scotland is still at the forefront of ady'etttttrotts. risk—taking art work‘,’
‘Notatall. litiropeisatthe forefront aitd Britain is really laggirtg beliirtd. Scotland‘s a yery smug little country in sortie way'sa thinks it‘s great. (ilasgow is a fabulously cultured city btit 1 don‘t like its smug complacent attitude. thinking it‘s fantastic. We may be fantastic iii a l'ls' sense. btit in a worldwide sense there's a lot of tliirtgs we‘y'e got to learn abotit.‘ l‘ye a feeling that the man from the Sunday I’m! is neyer going to warnt to Ms ( iray. (Philip Parr) iii/1U.1Illl1n).hi/IUH'SIUTIS()llht'UHlN/l
" ' “A #1
I Magic RoundaboutZ lliey don't make them like this arty rttorc. w ell ttof since tltc police started crtforcingtlte Controlled Substances legislation. Whether tltiscartoort series is actually packed with drugs references. or whether that is a ntytlt created by ltippics desperate to see
suby ersion itt eyei'ything. ts irreleyant. .-\11 you rteed to know is tltat it isyery entertaining indeed l)ottgal is tltc classic grumpy old sod. l’lorence the gormless bimbo. arid /.ebcdee the irritatirtg smartass. Watch this. arid decide wlticlt character your friends most reseittble. I'm rather fond of larntirttrtide myself (BM ‘ \‘ideo £700)
I I BoughtAVampire Motorcyclet lS’fl'hisfilm bears some distant relationship to the ‘lioon‘ 'l \. series. or at least the cast does. .\ sort of "l'wilight [one' story stars Neil Morrissey as Nick ()ddie. a gtillible sor t of bloke wlto btiysa rttotorcyclc that runs on blood, 'l’lteie‘s plenty of gore. jokes that are cornier than the ayeragc ‘( ~at ry ( )n'. arid the w hole thing goes oy er tltc top more oftert than a'l'crry llurlock tackle. lt‘s y cry silly . ludicrously -scripted. more than a little grtiesoritc aitd qtiite fun to watch. although you get the irttpression that most of the entertainment w as iii the making (liraycworld Rerttal)
ITorrents Of Spring ( I’( it Nastassia Kirtskt is yariously described as ‘stiltry . headstrong. wanton‘ arid ‘despe rate. depray ed aitd self-disgustch 'l'orrerits of men would faiitt at the prospect of such a spectacle; btit this release is iii fact aimed at liottsewtyes sorry . guys apparently a rteglcctcd comportent of the ‘\'(‘R l’niycrse‘. .-\ Rtissian aristocrat falls trt line with a beautiful pastry cook. btit wanton Nastassia proy‘es equally tempting. l low to chose bctw cert them‘.’ What a dilemma. Based on the classic story by lyan 'I‘urgeney'. w itlt little of the noyeltst's delicacy oftoticli transferririgonto screen. ((lterrywood Rental)