Empire Records

This alleged comedy populated with obnoxious, needlessly anti-authoritarian alternative types is a throwback to those wretched movies Hollywood churned out in the 60's to capitalize on Easy Rider's counterculture audience (remember R.P.M. with Anthony Quinn and Ann-Margret?). In the opening minutes, some punk discovers his boss (Anthony LaPaglia) is considering selling his legendary record store off to a major chain, takes the office safe's receipts to Vegas and gambles them away. I didn't care what happened next. One of those films that seems to exist more as a vehicle to sell the hit-studded soundtrack album. Not recommended. (D. Liebenson)[DVD Review--July 15, 2003--Warner, 107 min., not rated, $24.98--Reminding us that more sometimes is truly less, Empire Records: Remix! Special Fan Edition adds 16 minutes of extra footage to a film that wore out its welcome long before the original 91 minutes were up (and then has the chutzpah to add four more deleted scenes). On the technical side, the disc sports pristine image and audio qualities, allowing fans to moon over the film's two biggest assets--the on-the-cusp of stardom young cast that included Renee Zellweger and Liv Tyler, and the admittedly rocking soundtrack featuring tunes by, among others, sadly defunct bands such as Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket (there are also three music vids, but two are--unfortunately--by GWAR). Bottom line: for a DVD release with an exclamation mark in its title, this is a fairly skimpy extras package (not that I'm personally complaining) that is likely to appeal to fans only.]