LASERDISC Do The Right Thing Spike Lee's superbly photographed and disturbingly prophetic vision of racial tension in American metropolises makes its glorious debut on laserdisc.
Lee's tale of an Italian pizza parlour being squeezed out of a neighbourhood by intolerance on everybody's behalf is absolutely beautiful to look at and really deserves to be watched on laser's high-quality format.
As a bonus on this deluxe three-disc set, you also get audio recollections from the film's creative team, including illuminating observations from the man who helped make it look so good, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson.
There's also the making of a documentary, a home video Lee made on the set and running commentaries by Public Enemy's Chuck D. All in all, a treat for lovers of film-making.
VIDEO Johnny Mnemonic Johnny Mnemonic (or Moronic as it was named by certain wags) is a real showcase for Keanu Reeve's lack of ability. Pretty boy Keanu struts awkwardly across the screen, wrecking lines and even single-word responses like only Keanu knows how. Sharing in his embarrassment is Dolph Lundgren, whose Christ-like bounty hunter serves only to remind us that the big Scandinavian's worst career move was to begin accepting lines (he had just about none in his big pic debut Rocky IV).
The story? Data courier Johnny (Reeves) has a special chip inserted into his head which allows him to store gigabites of information (without the implant, of course, Reeve's brain would be able to accept only enough information to allow him to tie his own shoelaces). The chip goes bonkers and Johnny is left with only a few hours to download before his head blows up. Unfortunately, he beats the deadline.
MUSIC No Resemblance Whatsoever. Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg (Giant Records).
