MEDIA COOL

MEDIA COOL

DEPARTMENTS

This month�s Media Cool was written by J. Kordosh, Cynthia Rose, Jeffrey Morgan, and Bill Holdship.

ROCKY IV (United Artists) Surprisingly—especially for those who deride Sly Stallone�s generally entertaining films— Rocky IV is exceptionally good, easily the best of the series since the original. The pre-fight hooplah of the Apollo Creed/Ivan Drago bout (featuring no less than James Brown) is essentially too accurate a presentation of the Vegas fight scene to be satire. Creed�s brutal death in the ring—even when you know it�s coming—is shocking, but not unrealistic. And Dolph Lundgren plays Russian superman Drago to the hilt: the man seems inhumanly evil. In a fast-paced flick, some of the best scenes come when Ivan and Rocky are training for their mega-clash: the cold Drago using ultra-scientific machinery while the relentless Balboa relies upon the harsh Russian winter to hone himself into what his foe will later describe as a �man of iron.� The climactic fight is superbly filmed, with the initially-battered Rocky falling back on his great heart (as usual) to overcome the Soviet man-machine. And complaints of Stallone�s jingoism are unwarranted: by movie�s end, anyone who thinks as stellar a citizen as Rocky Balboa doesn�t deserve to be wrapped in the flag is little more than a grump. One more, please. J.K.

INVASION OF THE ELVIS ZOMBIES by Gary Panter (Raw Books)

Any punk worth his bondage trousers and Bollocks LP remembers the name of Gary Panter—and so do the hautiest cliques of artsos on both the East and West Coast. Why? He�s the cartoonist who invented Jimbo, that Joe Public existentialist Everyman who lived, loved and lauded Lou Grant in the pages of Slash magazine. What Jimbo was to real West Coast punks, Elvis was to all of America, and the aim of Invasion is nothing less than the ■I embodiment of El the EnKl during. Its �text� is stream-of-conscious I ness allusion (Elvis packs in hordes of mud-rusty call-girls; Revelations that ground him for 150 years). And The Rest is all graphic action: while the postage-stamp icon ofPresley�s visage rots away in their right-hand corners, pages boil with the most restless and explosive drawings Panter has ever had published. Boxes, mirrors, and stripinsertions house running narratives related to the King only by virtue of America�s obsession with him...and the cast of hundreds features Brahman bulls, James Dean, Mexican babysitters, vampire swampdwellers, �motel Freedom� and Mom. It�s visceral poetry of a truly stunning order—and more clear proof of Panter�s particular genius. (Avabile for $7.50 [p + p included] from RAW Books, 27 Greene St. New York, NY 10013.) C.R.

THE LIVE AID WORLD-WIDE CONCERT BOOK

(Doubleday/Unicorn) Word-wise, this is an easy read. A little too gushy in parts, but there are the occasional nicely turned phrases. Eye-wise, it�s a bonanza. Never have so many pictures of rock stars looking like complete and utter bozos,been collected under one roof. No doubt you�ve probably looked through a store copy by now, so you�ll know what I�m talking about when I say that the printing and production values are much higher than those usually found in 10 dollar jobs. The bottom line is that it�s cheap enough, the money is going to charity, and it�s as good a souvenir of the day as you�re likely to find—short of having the whole thing on tape —so, yeah, take the plunge and buy a copy. In fact, this book makes Live Aid look like so much fun that I think I�m going to make the effort to watch the bloody thing on tape one day, just to see if it lives up to its hype. J.M.

JOHN & YOKO:

A LOVE STORY (Carson Productions/NBC TV) This was awful. A decent writer could�ve made it at*least passable, especially in light of the vastly superior Birth Of The Beatles and Elvis TV movies (both produced by Dick Clark) of several years ago. Instead, writer-director Sandor Stern opted for every soap opera-ish �made-for-TV� cliche in the book, forsaking insight, depth and historical accuracy in the process. We�ll sidestep the

Yoko as enlightened saint� issue because I wasn�t there and have no way of knowing, but I do know that the production failed to convey Lennon�s charm, wit and great sense of humor, making him look more a buffoon than the symbol of a generation. To trivialize the important events of his life in this manner was a crime. And despite what other critics have written, Mark McGann�s portrayal of Lennon was weak (he looked more like Julian—I won�t even mention the portrayals of the other Beatles) when compared to the complexities other actors have brought to the role, most notably Stephen MacKenna in Birth Of The Beatles and the guy who originated the role on the London stage in John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bert (and why doesn�t someone make a movie out of that excellent show?). It�s mere speculation, but I�ll bet if John Lennon were alive, he would�ve despised John & Yoko: A Love Story. If Elvis were still alive, he might�ve shot out another TV screen on the evening of December 2, 1985. B.H.

JOB: A COMEDY OF JUSTICE by Robert A. Heinlein (Ballantine)

Now available in paperback, Job is the (initially) interesting story of Alexander Hergensheimer (a fundamendalist preacher) that quickly bores as he hops from one parallel universe to the next, awaiting the Armageddon and getting an education in happy sex at the same time. As is usual, Heinlein overextends himself—has this man written anything genuinely good since The Door Into Summer or The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress?—and the eventual resolution (although it does, in fact, deliver the promised Christian Judgement) is hokey beyond words. Heinlein seems unable to tear himself away from trying to explain everything and, in consequence, ends up explaining nothing. Far better for the mainstream sci-fi fan to follow Pohl�s Heechee series. More interesting things be happening. J.K.