MIXED MEDIA : *** 1/2 “25 X 5: THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF THE ROLLING STONES” Produced by Andrew Solt, directed by Nigel Finch <i> CMV Enterprises videocassette ($19.98)</i>

This beggar’s banquet of performances, new and old interviews, newsreels, home movies et al certainly spans the ages. When it starts, Keith looks like Alfalfa, and, at the end (last year), Charlie looks like his own grandfather. In addition to the aging-before-your-eyes act, this 130-minute document is rich in analysis (Mick on the Stones’ calculated role as the bad-boy antithesis of the Beatles: “A lot of PR went into it”), excitement (audiences rioting, Mick wiggling), history (Hyde Park, Altamont), business (how the Stones and the Beatles conspired to keep their record releases from conflicting), context (colleague Tony King on the band as an element of the London renaissance, a jam with Muddy Waters) and detail (how much they made at the Richmond Jazz Festival, exactly when and where Brian Jones’ girlfriend became Keith Richards’ girlfriend). Plus drug busts, death and dressing in drag, weddings and fun with the families. “25 X 5” aspires to be the definitive document on the Stones, but it’s tainted by the very band cooperation that enriches it--there’s no voice around to challenge their perspective or to extract revelations. It also loses steam in a second half that treats the last 15 years as if they’re as interesting as the first 10 (not close). And it only skims the surface of the Stones’ art, covering career and personalities at the expense of enlightening musical analysis. Still, fascinating and essential.