Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786301552479
Format: Color
ISBN: 6301552474
Label: Rhino / Wea
Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Rhino / Wea
Release Date: 1996-06-21
Running Time: 30
Studio: Rhino / Wea

Customer Rating:
Summary: Burning Love?
Comment: The comic creations of Ben Stiller fall into one of two categories: strangely amusing and just stange. Stiller made his debut as a director with the 1988 video "Elvis Stories," which appears to have been inspired by David Byrne's quirky 1986 comedy, "True Stories." Byrne has said his movie was inspired by tabloid aricles, and perhaps Stiller was, too. "Elvis Stories," unfortunately, lacks narrative cohesion. It appears that Stiller was attempting to link his tales, but he abandoned that strategy, and he created a series of vignettes that are sad, but scarcely funny. For the most part, Stiller and writing partner Jeff Kahn present a collection of people who are as sad as their stories.

The skits begin with "Corkey's Elvis Patties," Lenny (Jeremy Piven) tells the story of Corkey (John Cusack), a burger chef who makes hamburgers in the shape of Elvis Presely. People who have purchased Corkey's creations contend that the food is a channel for the voice of The King. Next comes "The Melvis Footage," where a grocery store cashier (Amy Stiller) claims her nephew (Granville Thompson) shot footage of Elvis shopping at her store. The third sequence is "Paxton Busby: The Elvisman," where the title character (Paul Greco) is a folk singer who has to perform songs about Elvis, as a court has enjoined him from looking like the singer or singing his songs. In "Elvis Lennon," a writer named Hal Moldman (Dave Pasquesi) shares his theories of how Elvis and John Lennon are the same person. "Possessed" tells the tale of a hairdresser named Bruce (Ben Stiller) who gives his companion Allen (Andy Dick) fits when Bruce suffers blackouts and believes himself to be Presley. Allen is further appalled when he meets Dr. Lundy (Bill Cusack), the therapist Bruce sees to help him with the blackouts. The final skit, "The King Of Lunken," tells the tale of two Cincinnati area golfers (Joel Murray, Ron Dean) who claim they were a part of a hole-in-one aided by Elvis (Rick "Elvis" Saucedo).

These skits share a common trait - all are funnier in print than they are on film. In "True Stories," Byrne breathed humanity and humor his characters. Stiller and Kahn wrote their characters as if they only existed in a tabloid universe. Their world is not one of curiosity as much as it is of pity. They live with their obsessions of Elvis, and seem to have no other raison d'etre. The one funny moment comes when a grocery store manager (billed only as Ed) orders Amy Stiller to go back to work and to quit making her Elvis claims. Stiller seems to have made attempts to incorporate commentary by Ed, Amy Stiller, and a British tourist (Mike Myers) throughout his sketches, but these actors are nowhere to be seen after the third skit. Saucedo introduces and concludes Ben Stiller's film, but it's not humorous, and adds little narrative cohesion.

Ben Stiller's biggest sin, though, is that he gave more speaking lines to Bill Cusack than he did to his sibling, John, who only makes loud noises as Corkey. The cast is talented, but their talents can't save this piece. Stiller's style eventually served him better in other projects, including his FOX-TV series.

"Elvis Stories" was eventually released by Rhino Home Video, who added two segments to the beginning of the presentation. The first is of a lady holding a photo of a cloud that seems to look like Elvis. The other is the "Elvis Is Everywhere" music video by Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper. Nixon and Roper capture the fun in the Elvis obsession, showing shots of The King and odd Elvis memorabilia. They jokingly proclaim Elvis is found in all people and creations, except for Michael J. Fox, who's the anti-Elvis. "Elvis Stories" is a rough directorial debut for Ben Stiller - especially when the video that includes his work proves the adage, "Truth is stranger than fiction."
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Elvis is alive and well and living in Ben Stiller
Comment: I first came across this video at the tail end of high school, and I loved it then, starting with Mojo Nixon's low-budget video work of genius and going straight through each fantastic elvoid appearance in the movie. Then the movie, like Elvis himself, dropped out of sight for many years, and resurfaced in my lap as a recent birthday gift. As I shooed the King away from my lap and carried the video home in its tabloid sheath, I was worried that "Elvis Stories" wouldn't age well -- that, like the _Scooby Doo_ oeuvre, what had been fresh and original to me when I first saw it would seem hackneyed and formulaic now. I worried that I would sit there and not laugh at any of the things I thought were so funny years ago.

Those fears vanished as soon as Mojo's rugged and familiar face greeted me again. "Elvis Stories" is in fact better than I remembered it. The writing and acting is all really good and really funny, and it's great to recognize so many people in the video, especially because I had no idea who any of them were when I first saw it. But the lasting appeal of "Elvis Stories" comes from the way it is presented, as a documentary in which an interviewer and cameraman we never see roam America to preserve these stories like Smithsonian people travel to the backwoods of Appalachia to preserve songs and folktales. This totally deadpan style of delivery lets the lunacy of the characters really come through, and Stiller works it really well. Sometimes I laughed harder at the way the camera went from character to character than I did at what they were saying. John Cusack's performance is absolutely brilliant and shouldn't be missed by any fan; Jeremy Piven shows why he's graduated from stand-up to full-time employment; Mike Myers shows up in one of his funniest bits ever; and Stiller's and Dick's skit is absolutely fabulous, and features a wonderful psychiatrist who, if I remember the credits correctly, may be John Cusack's brother. But as we scoot from story to story and watch a protean Elvis change from supermarket shopper to semi-gaseous state, in this shlockumentary we also see the quirkier and funnier side of American culture that strengthens the comedy and my conviction that belief in Elvis-after-death is a phenomenon worthy of celebration, and I'm ecstatic that Stiller decided to preserve it when and how he did.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Life after Elvis?
Comment: If you have just stumbled across this because you never even heard of it, you have no idea how funny this can be until you've seen it! Yes, this is the first officially released of Ben Stiller's short films he made during a brief stay on Saturday Night Live and before getting another (ill-fated)shot at sketch comedy with his own show on Mtv and Fox. I think people 10 years ago just were not ready for comedy so hyperactive, so ready and willing (& brilliantly able as well)to ape TV junk culture and use it to mirror a tabloid world gone mad with its own irreverence. Getting to the tape itself, a loosley based not-documentary about people having different kinds of paranormal experiences involving "the king" loaded with cameos by friends of Stillers like Jeremy Piven, John Cusack, Mike Meyers, Andy Dick and Stiller himself in what has to be one of the funniest pieces-EVER!-"Hairdresser posessed by Elvis" where throughout the course of an interview, Stiller and Dick argue like a married couple about exactly what happens when Stiller turns into Elvis unexpectadly spouting abuse like "hey sissy boy, put on a dress and do a lil' dance!" If you thought the "Cable Guy" was a dark, overlooked comedy-come on in and check out this early work by one of the funniest talents of this age finally getting his due in Hollywood, Ben Stiller. Now if only someone would hook him up with Albert Brooks...

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