thePULSEShout at the DVDevil
6.66 Great Rock DVDs
June 2004 – You may think that you need to sell your soul for rock-n-roll, but there’s no reason to barter that life everlasting for these most excellent silver platters, available at finer video boutiques everywhere:
#6.66: American Grafitti
This nostalgic, 1973 ode to rock’s early days, directed by George Lucas and starring Ron Howard and Cindy Williams, inspired the hit TV series, “Happy Days” and its spinoff, “Laverne & Shirley.” Available bundled with the little-seen 1979 sequel, More American Grafitti. See also John Landis’ party classic Animal House (1978), which was re-released as a super, one-disc “Super Secret Probation” edition last year.
#6: Rock ‘n’ Roll High School
Ramones’ Joey and Dee Dee might be gone, but this 1979 schlocktacular, in which they both starred, remains. Features their classics “Pinhead,” “Teenage Lobotomy,” and “Blitzkrieg Bop,” not to mention movie industry linchpin Clint Howard, ever-present younger brother of American Grafitti star Ron Howard. Produced by notorious economeister Roger Corman.
#5: Bubba Ho-Tep
This dark “what if” suggests that The King’s overindulgent double was the one who bought the farm on August 16, 1977, and Elvis, now nearly 70, infirm and suffering from erectile dysfunction is a resident of an East Texas rest home and is best friends with JFK, who not only survived Dallas in 1963, but was dyed to resemble the great black actor Ossie Davis. As if all that doesn’t seem hard enough to swallow, the two of them must thwart a vengeful ancient Egyptian mummy from claiming the lives of their fellow rest home dwellers. As way-out as all of this may sound, B-movie king Campbell, Phantastm director Don Coscarelli and Davis pull off this high-weirdness flawlessly. Make sure to check out the priceless commentary track by Campbell in character, as well as the gobs of extras.
#4: Hedwig And The Angry Inch
The flick is like The Rocky Horror Picture Show (which didn’t make this list because it is inherently a theatrical experience) but with twice as much heart. John Cameron Mitchell’s amazing off-Broadway hit about a botched-transsexual wannabe rock star (Mitchell) is given appropriately loving treatment on its trip to the screen. See also gender-bender Prince’s quasi-ography, Purple Rain (1984), rumored to be getting the anniversary special edition treatment later this year.
#3: Led Zeppelin [2-Disc Set]
It may not be the semi-coherent documentary that 1976’s The Song Remains The Same was, but this double disc live set featuring incredible concert appearances spanning most of the legendary cockrockers’ 12-year career, contains far superior sets, most of which were thought to have been lost.
#2: This Is Spinal Tap
Having introduced the all-purpose expressions, “Hello Cleveland!” and “These go to 11!” into the pop culture lexicon, Rob Reiner’s 1982 mockumentary about a marginally talented heavy metal band is truer-to-form than most legitimate rock docs, even if musicians are reluctant to admit it. Comic improv masters Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer teamed up again for the forgotten sequel, The Return Of Spinal Tap (1992). Guest went on to write and direct the modern classics Waiting For Guffman (1996), Best In Show (2000) and the folkin’ excellent A Mighty Wind (2003).
#1: The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Night
This is the film that sent The Fab Four hurtling into fame, fortune and everything that goes with it, and is one of the funniest, liveliest pieces of work to this day, capturing a moment in time better than any reality TV show could. Kudos to Miramax for restoring and presenting this 1964 masterpiece in a fantastic, extras-rich 2-disc set. See also: the 1995 documentary, You Can’t Do That!, about the making of the film, the marvelous psychedelic treat Yellow Submarine (1968), and if you don’t mind keeping the bootleggers in business, the unreleased Let It Be (1970). The Beatles Anthology, the 8-part 1995 documentary series which aired on ABC is now on DVD, as is the Monty Python alum Eric Idle’s inspired Beatles mockumentary, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978).
