Category: DVD Review

JOYEUX NOEL – The DVD Review

Review by Sam Moffitt

Christmas always brings lists. Lists of gifts to buy, cards to mail, lists of things accomplished during the year past and resolutions for the coming New Year. And, always, lists of everybody’s favorite Christmas movies. Some are so very well known; It’s a Wonderful Life, several versions of A Christmas Carol, (The version with Alistair Sim is my favorite) Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story (24 hours of it every year on TBS!) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, one of the newer ones that I enjoy, Bad Santa. Classics each and every one, and then bad one’s like Christmas with the Kranks.

But here’s a more recent film about Christmas that deserves to be more well known and ought to be revisited every year. Joyeux Noel (French for Merry Christmas) was directed by Christian Carion and released in 2005. It recieved got no theatrical release in this country that I am aware of and has very little cult following, to my knowledge. Yet it tells the incredible true story of a spontaneous truce and stand down that happened on Christmas Eve 1914 at the very beginning of World War One, also known as the War to End All Wars (Yeah! Right!)

A true ensemble Joyeux Noel tells of French (Guillaume Canet as Lt. Audebert) Scottish (Alex Ferns, Capt. Gordon) and German (Daniel Bruhl, Lt. Horstmayer) officers who come to an agreement for all men under their command to stand down, cease fire and get some small measure of relief from a miserable war on Christmas Eve, 1914.

The inspiration comes from a German soldier who left his career as an opera singer (Benno Furman as Nicholaus Sprink) who sings Oh Come All Ye Faithful, in the original German of course, from the middle of no man’s land between the two sides in that barbaric conflict. The Scottish troops give him a round of applause leading to the three commanders meeting and deciding on the truce.

A Scottish chaplain (Gary Lewis as Palmer) says Mass for all the troops assembled. The men share what little they have with each other, the Germans have chocolate (of course!) while the French have wine (naturally!) and wouldn’t you know the Scottish have bag pipes with them which they play at the slightest provocation. They argue over a stray cat as tow which side he belongs to, the French or the German. The cat shows no preference and enjoys the company of all the soldiers present.

They look at photos of each other’s wives and girl friends and joke about sex as men always do when they are far from home and in uniform. The problem is they get to know each other too well and have a very hard time picking up their weapons and going back to the war. The truce extends to Christmas day when they choose up sides and play football while the three officers get to know each other only too well.

And the truce continues the day after Christmas (Boxing Day in the UK) when the Germans come walking across no man’s land to talk to the French again, a scene that brought me to tears, and tell their sworn enemies that their position is about to be shelled by artillery fire and why don’t they and the Scots come over and sit with the Germans in their trench line until the shelling ceases?

The three armies sit together and then the Scots officer makes the suggestion that, tit for tat, the German position will now be shelled and shouldn’t they move to the other trench line?

Of course this starts all sorts of complications in the chain of command. How can you have a decent war if the two sides are getting friendly and don’t want to kill each other any more? The French officer comes from a military family and his Father gives him a lecture on Duty, Honor and Country before relieving him of his command. The Scots officer is also relieved of command and his men reassigned to other units who are more in tune with the program of killing instead of playing football. And the Germans? The entire unit is reassigned to the Eastern Front. The last words from their Division Commander: “hope you’re as friendly with the Russians as you are with the French and the God Damn Scottish”.

The Scottish Chaplain is likewise defrocked by his Monsignor and told he did a very Un-Christian thing by giving Mass to the Enemy. He tries to defend himself as doing exactly what a Christian is supposed to do, Forgive and not Judge, but of course that helps him not at all.

This movie is a heart breaker. Having served in the military, four years regular Navy (in peacetime) I can understand the reluctance of these guys to pick up a gun and shoot at people you don’t even know and who have done you no personal harm. During my time at sea we used to see the Russians every time we went to the Mediterranean . Some times their ships would get so close we could see their rank and insignia, who had a mustache and whose shirt tail was hanging out. They looked like fine fellows to me, I found out years later when I got to know some Russians, that they ARE fine fellows! I had no argument with them but the Cold War was still in full swing, I was on active duty from 1975 to 1979 and had no interest in combat what so ever.

Joyeux Noel is a fine Christmas movie, which illustrates what Christmas is supposed to be all about, Peace and Goodwill, to All Men, no exceptions! It is also one of the greatest of Anti-War movies, easily the equal of All Quiet on the Western Front, Wooden Crosses, Paths of Glory (these are all about WWI, any one see a pattern here?)

It is also wonderful to see a war movie in which the USA is not present, not even mentioned. We did not enter that war until 1917, when it was almost over. Here it is early in the war, the French and Scots do not even wear helmets yet. The French are wearing bright red and blue uniforms and everyone appears reasonably clean and healthy. All that would change, World War One took the lives of 9 million men, devolved into the dirtiest and most miserable affair and resolved nothing. It lead directly to World War Two and an even bigger misery visited on the human race.

The DVD has a making of documentary and several versions of the theatrical trailer. We learn that the French production crew wanted accurate period detail, the uniforms and weapons are genuine. Even more heart breaking, the entire movie is taken from letters and diaries written by men who served in all three Armies. And we learn that truces broke out every Christmas after that and that fraternization was considered a problem on both sides of the trenches.

Even more accurately, the officers and men are all very young. This is not like an American World War Two movie where the army appears to be made up of middle aged men. The French officer, especially well played by Guillaume Canet , looks like a little boy playing at being a soldier, his uniform and cap appear too big for him, maybe a deliberate choice by the film makers to emphasize his innocence.

And the biggest irony, here is a film made by the French, twice invaded by the Germans, which makes every effort to be fair to the Germans. I challenge anyone to watch Joyeux Noel without crying, it is that powerful and moving a statement that war fare is not a natural condition for men to be in and that given a chance to know the ‘enemy’ makes it that much harder to pull that trigger. This is a movie that should be seen by every man, woman and child on this planet, but many people will pass it by because it is partly subtitled. Still it brightened my last three Christmas, I hope it brightens yours and gives hope for the future. I’ll be watching it again on Christmas Eve, I hope you will give it a look, and I wish a very Merry Christmas to all!

PIE IN THE SKY: THE BRIGID BERLIN STORY – The DVD Review

Review by Sam Moffitt

I love anything about Andy Warhol! I must say that right out of the gate, I love Andy Warhol! I have followed Warhol since the Sixties. Growing up near St. Louis, Missouri in the Sixties my family had a subscription to Life Magazine and they seemed to always be running articles about Op Art, Pop Art, the emerging youth and drug cultures and underground films made by people like the Kuchar Brothers, Jonas Mekas, Taylor Mead and Andy Warhol. It seemed like Warhol was in the news constantly, especially the question of whether his stuff was really art or even had any real value.

I read avidly about his ‘Factory’ in New York and his crew of strange underground people who helped him turn out art works, like….well like a factory!

I have three documentaries about Warhol himself, and have read every book by and about him I could find. I saw Ciao, Manhattan! in a theatre and now own it on dvd, the strange, drug addled movie starring one of Warhol’s crew, the doomed upper class debutant and fashion model Edie Sedqewick and read the book Edie by Jean Stein (a good place to start if you want to learn about those years in the New York art scene.).

There have been several movies made in the last couple of decades with Warhol being a character. Basquiat with David Bowie, The Doors with Crispin Glover and my personal favorite, I Shot Andy Warhol with Jared Harris looking very impressive as Andy.


There have also been several books and documentaries about Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, with and without Nico. The Velvet’s were the house band at the Factory and were both inspired by and inspired Andy Warhol in turn. All this and so much more seems to only be scratching the surface about Warhol, the artist from a working class background who wanted his fame and fortune NOW, today, not after his death. As they used to say about artists, they were only famous and rich after their deaths, Warhol wanted none of that.

Now comes this fascinating documentary about one of Warhol’s more famous and visible Factory members and ‘Superstars’ of his underground films, Bridgid Berlin, also known as Bridgid Polk, her own self applied nick name due to her habit of ‘poking’ herself with syringes full of amphetamines.

Bridgid was and still is a larger than life (literally) personality who has managed to slim down and somewhat calmed down, from her glory days in the Sixties.
We learn that she came from a very upper class family. Her Father ended up running Hearst enterprises and her counterpart, Patty Hearst, yes THAT Patricia Hearst, was brought up to hate the Berlin family and name. The two former debutantes are now good friends though, thanks to John Waters who introduced them.

Always overweight the young Brigid had tremendous pressure put on her to lose weight, be pretty and be a proper Long Island debutant and make her family, especially her Mother proud. Rebellious, right up to the present day, Brigid did no such thing. She ate whatever she wanted, took massive quantities of drugs, especially amphetamines, and ran loose like some force of nature run amok.

One major paradox and contradiction, speed freaks usually never eat and get rail thin, not Brigid. And just to piss off her Mother and Father she became thick as thieves with Warhol and his Factory crew during the height of the Sixties counterculture and was, among other things, one of the famous Chelsea Girls (a Warhol movie I still have not seen, Chelsea Girls allegedly ran 24 hours long and was two images projected side by side of the Chelsea Girls women who lived at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City.) (The Hotel itself is the subject of yet another documentary). The content of Chelsea Girls? Apparently, from the clips included in this documentary it was all improvised by the girls themselves while Warhol’s camera recorded every little nuance. Brigid can be seen chattering away some speed freak nonsense. She also can be seen in Ciao, Manhattan sitting in a toilet stall raving about how good speed cooks down to a crystal clear surface like an ice rink you can skate on!

Wait, it gets better – apparently Warhol took some ideas from Bridgid. Here is a woman who apparently photographed every person she ever met with a Polaroid camera, she also photographed herself hundreds, if not thousands of times. We see stacks of file boxes full of her photographs, Warhol ended up doing exactly the same thing. Bridgid also filled up hundreds of notebooks with her record of every little thing she ever did, every conversation, every bit of house keeping, every movie seen, every event ever attended, you name it .

And like a true speed freak, Brigid has all this material cataloged, indexed and filed. Her Manhattan apartment is spotlessly clean and obsessively arranged. This is no Crazy Cat Lady living in squalor.

Even more astonishing, despite all the drugs in her past, (Brigid does not get high anymore) her memory is apparently flawless. We hear her repeat verbatim entire phone conversations she had with her Mother, and other people, decades ago. Of course it might be a big help that she also tape recorded almost all of her phone conversations, starting in the Sixties. Another type of media obsessively filed away and yet another record of her amazing life. Tape recording conversations is another idea Warhol took from Brigid and claimed as his own.

Her self image was so bad it led to her eating disorder, which she still has to deal with. We see her weigh every bit of food and stick to a strict diet heavy on lettuce and yogurt. We also see her fall off that diet, hard, and eat about a dozen key lime pies in one sitting, no I am not making this up. Having my own eating disorder I can sympathize but I never went on a binge like that! The title of the documentary is from Brigid’s obsession with key lime pie, this woman likes her pie, do NOT get between her and a good key lime pie!

No where near as heavy as in her youth Brigid is quite presentable but, as she herself admits, says whatever comes into her head. She admits she was estranged from her Mother years ago and has sisters who she hasn’t spoken too in years. Yet we see no trace of self pity or loneliness, she seems to have lots of friends, and even better, fans.

For instance John Waters admits to stalking her when he came to New York City in the Seventies. He considered her a bigger star than Lana Turner or Vivien Leigh. We also hear from some of the other Warhol survivors who turn up in these documentaries, Paul Morrisey, Billy Name, Bob Colacello.

Recent photo of Brigid Berlin with John Waters
And another contradiction, for me anyway, in her youth she was also quite attractive. I have always liked big women and we see some nude shots of Brigid from the Sixties, she looked fine in my humble opinion.
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But it’s Brigid herself who dominates her own documentary, and rightfully so, it is her show and she runs with it. One might ask, if she really is an artist what is the art? You would have to say her life is a work of art, all the photos, notebooks, tape recordings record an amazing life lived exactly the way she wanted to live it. Spending time with Brigid Berlin by watching this documentary is time well spent, in my honest opinion, this is one fascinating personality and yet another piece of the puzzle that is Andy Warhol. Brigid was an upper class debutant, very much like Edie Sedgewick, who fell in with the Warhol crew, but there any resemblance ended. Brigid was and is a survivor and a fascinating one at that.

There are out takes on this DVD which present even more of Brigid and biographies of the two directors.

3 DAYS OF NORMAL – The DVD Review

Review by Dane Marti

As a delightful, independent film, 3 DAYS OF NORMAL  is a treat. Ordinarily, a quirky love story is definitely not my favorite genre. Perhaps it reminds me too much of my own tempestuous romantic existence. I like films in which I can escape. Then again, any guy would enjoy spending a few hours fantasizing about the lead actress.

The film takes place in a small town. The cinematography is gorgeous; fall colors seem to blanket the old houses and buildings in a blaze of red and orange. Although a relatively low-budget film, careful attention was paid to all the elements – especially the color and imagery.

As written by Jared Parsons and Jace McLean this story impressed me. Skillfully directed by Ishai Setton, the story of a small town police officer who slowly becomes entangled in the world of a crazy – and undeniably attractive – actress, is fraught with clever one liners, silly but effective situations and charming chemistry from the two leads. I was especially impressed with the unforced style and confidence of the director. He has his own visual style, although he’s obviously studied the classics as well. Plus, while the dialogue is witty and corny, it never degenerates down into farce or seems to apologize for being low budget.

The incident that transforms the officer’s life occurs when he sees a fancy car on the side of the road a few miles out of town. There, he discovers a gorgeous actress, Nikki Gold, played by Mircea Monroe: She’s intoxicated and rambling. Before long, the entire town seems to realize they have a “Star” in their town and involved with the young, tall, lanky Police officer. The townspeople find the burgeoning relationship to be highly entertaining! Well, it takes our hapless hero a while to realize that Nikki is famous. The “Golden” girl starts out annoying Officer Morgan. While noticing her gorgeous blond looks, he is still put off by her; they are completely different in attitude and psychology, as one might imagine.

However, like many old-fashioned romantic comedies – for instance, the classic movies of Preston Sturgis or Howard Hawks, the man and woman start to fall in love. Obviously, for many of us, this is terribly cliche, but the actors are pretty good. The film wouldn’t work if the two leads were hammed it up unprofessionally or read their lines as if reading a teleprompter for the first time while battling a nasal infection.

While not as slick and charismatic as some well-known actors, the performers here are definitely skilled and professional in bringing across their respective characters; they never seem forced or sloppy. While not realistic, under the storyline of this genre, they (along with everyone else in the cast) pull off the miraculous: A low budget, independent film that actually is charming! While not an earth-shattering cinematic wonder, the movie is a lot of fun. I recommend it for anyone under the weather this holiday season.

DOGTOOTH – The DVD Review

Review by Cassondra Feltus

In a blend of horror and black comedy, Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’  DOGTOOTH successfully profiles the destructive consequences of authoritative control.

In this strange world of elaborate lies and delusions, a nameless family, consisting of two parents and their three children exist in complete isolation.

Never exploring outside their secluded utopia, the two daughters and a son “have been educated in the ways of the world through a truly deranged approach to homeschooling.” (Brophy) The young adults entertain themselves in the most unusual ways, from perilous games of endurance to incestuous sexual experimentation. Considering the years of false teachings and regular abuse, their twisted sense of pleasure is not unexpected, but nonetheless unsettling.

Mother and father’s methods of dehumanization, including frequent laps to the face, result in the children’s robot-like sensibilities and the impossibility to mentally mature. Rewarded with stickers and toy airplanes, of which they believe fall freely from the sky, the children are literally treated like dogs, causing one to wonder if they really are viewed as pets.
Yorgos gives no explanation as to why these parents deprive their children of a conventional and healthy upbringing. It is unclear whether the mother is willfully contributing to this sadistic experiment, or if she herself is brainwashed by the father.

What is their motivation? Are the children victims of some form of canine fetishism?

Despite their best efforts, the parents are constantly struggling to maintain a barrier between the children and the outside world. An unexpected encounter with a animal presents a “good opportunity” for the parents to impose a new fear and false truth: cats are vicious, murderess creatures.

The only outsider welcomed into their home, Christina, employed by the father for arranged conjugal visits with the son, lends the eldest daughter video tapes in exchange for a homoerotic lick session. This trade ends badly for Christina with a lethal blunt to the head with her own VCR. At this moment, father delivers one of the most confusing and chilling lines of the film: “I hope your kids have bad influences and develop bad personalities. I wish this with all my heart.”

One cannot help but laugh at the sheer absurdity of the anomalistic behavior, speech, and ideology of this family. I found myself laughing and cringing during the same scenes, like when father covers himself in fake blood, claiming the unknown brother was killed by a cat, and when the youngest daughter charges her brother with a knife, because he stole her toy. Roger Ebert feels the dialogue “sounds composed entirely of sentences memorized from tourist phrase books,” which is an accurate description of its oddness.

DOGTOOTH is dark in content, but not in light. The stark white interior of the home has the unpleasant look and feel of a hospital. Outside in their garden, it is almost as if they are in a dreamlike haze, but at the surface a painfully realistic nightmare. “The static wide-screen compositions are beautiful and strange, with the heads and limbs of the characters frequently cropped,” says New York Times critic, A. O. Scott.

DOGTOOTH is one of the most disturbing and brilliantly crafted films of independent cinema. Scott simply refers to the film as a “conversation piece,” neither praising nor dismissing Lanthimos’ work. “Though the conversation may not proceed quite into the depths of psychosexual analysis that Dogtooth seems to invite.” Roger Ebert similarly views the film as a “car crash,” at which “you cannot look away.”

What I learned from DOGTOOTH: licking someone is the best way to get presents, cats are the most dangerous creatures known to mankind, and there are many words that I thought I knew the meaning of but do not. Also, video equipment has other, violent purposes.

DOCTOR BLOOD’S COFFIN – The DVD Review

The fine folks at the MGM Limited Edition DVD-R dove deep into their vaults to present a groovy sixties ghoulfest on DVD for all you fear fans. DOCTOR BLOOD’S COFFIN was a staple of late night TV and horror hosts for several decades ( Chicago’s Svengoolie featured it 1998 ). It’s bright color photography made it a valuable asset to stations wanting a break from the black and white classics. Of course COFFIN may owe its existence to the success of Hammer Films’ color fright fests of the late 1950’s. After the box office numbers generated by these new takes on Frankenstein and Dracula, many other British studios wanted a piece of the growing thriller audience. Caralan Productions even went as far as hiring the beautiful ( and buxom ) Hazel Court ( Peter Cushing’s doomed love from Hammer’s hit THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN ) as the leading lady. Perhaps due to budgetary constraints, COFFIN is set in the modern world of 1961 and not the late 1800’s of the Baron and the Count.

The pre-title sequence is set in an operating chamber where a man ( identity hidden by surgical garb ) works feverishly on his subject. Suddenly someone barges in and berates the medical student ( turns out that this is a college ) for his unauthorized experiments. After the credits we cut to a sleepy seaside Cornish village where several local men have gone missing. The town’s physician, kindly old Doc Robert Blood ( Ian Hunter ), assists the local constable, with the help of his loyal, lovely nurse, Linda Parker ( Court ). To everyone’s surprise the old doc’s son Peter ( Kieron Moore ) returns from his medical studies ( Hmmm…. ) to help Pop with his practice ( and romance the lovely Nurse Parker ). The prodigal’s arrival adds to the mystery which involves the use of the poison curare and live organ transplants!

COFFIN has a couple interesting names behind the camera. Another Hammer regular, Phillip Martell was the musical director. Future film director Nicholas Roeg ( DON’T LOOK NOW ) gained some film credits as a camera operator. Screenwriter Nathan Juran toiled behind the scenes on several 1950’s SF epics along with penning the script to cult fantasy film fave JACK THE GIANT KILLER. The COFFIN alum with the longest lasting future film career may be director Sidney J. Furie who continues working to this day. Later in the decade he made the spy classic THE IPCRESS FILE with Michael Caine. The 70’s brought LADY SINGS THE BLUES and GABLE AND LOMBARD, while the 80’s had the IRON EAGLE films and the notorious SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE. For the last few years Furie has balanced feature films with work for the small screen ( ” VIP ” and ” Lonesome Dove: The Series” ).

The disc is bare bones without any of the bonus features bells and whistles, but it is a sharp clear picture transfer with excellent audio. The color really pops particularly the reds,  from the crimson covered scalpels to Ms. Court’s fiery locks. The film itself may seem a tad stodgy to modern horror audiences with a fairly awkward climax ( perhaps the budget had been spent by the time they shot it ). You do get a lumbering monster in gruesome make-up played by Paul Stockman ( now there’s a last name to send chills down the spine ) appearing in the final moments. So, if you’re in the mood for some old-fashioned frights whip up some popcorn, and drop in DOCTOR BLOOD’S COFFIN.  As Joe Flaherty’s immortal SCTV character Count Floyd would say, ” Ooooo scary, kids! “.

 

 

 

 

MAN ON A MISSION – The DVD Review

Review by Dane Marti

I’ve always been crazy about space, the planets, astronomy and even spaceships. I love Science Fiction. Part of it is the imaginative element inherent within the genre. However, fiction cannot compare to the incredible experience that real astronauts feel when they have seen the earth or even gone to the moon. Now, that really is a Trip. It must be almost spiritual, changing how you see your own planet, your own existence. Basically, Reality beats fantasy.

“Part of human nature is to reach out and explore”, someone comments early in the documentary MAN ON A MISSION.

As a boy, Richard Garriott was surrounded by conversations outer space. Everyone in his neighborhood worked for NASA and—-His father was an astronaut. Can you imagine going to Grade School and telling your friends, “Well, my dad is an astronaut?” Pretty cool. Like many young boys and girls, Richard also longed for space travel someday. Unfortunately, Richard was nearsighted. Luckily for the viewer, Richard has a swell way in dealing with setbacks.

So, in the early seventies, when still a young man, he became a game designer. He was at the forefront of this pioneering new visual game world played on small, portable computers that would someday be in ubiquitous in every human’s home. Richard worked on many of the first computer graphics and games. AKALABETH was his first game: Friends advised him to sell it, since it was better than most of the games they had in the store: He made 150.00 dollars. Listening to his father’s advice, Richard began investing his money wisely. He had always thought of money in a different way than most of his friends. First, he invested in Spacehab, which basically entailed research involved converting the Space Shuttle into a Space-Age bus. This was all speculation, but the goal was to someday allow private citizens to travel into space! YES!

As he continued to dream, he also designed amazing earlier computer games:
ULTIMA and ULTIMA 2 were some of the first. Richard is now known as the Father of the modern role-playing games.Of course, he was a unique young man. Of course, he also had a knack for making cash, but there were more sides to his character. For instance, he started dressing like one of the characters in his computer role-playing world – a Medieval Lord from one of his games! Besides being a genius, he was also a nerd. The costume looked very authentic and cool, though.
Richard spent his money better than most humans – he traveled down the Amazon, traveled on safaris in Africa,even went perilously deep under the ocean in a submarine to see The Titanic. Maybe some folks might consider him a dork or nerd, but let’s face it – he also had GUTS.

His most extravagant dream remained: To travel into outer space like his good old pop!Then the Internet bubble burst and he lost much of his computer game wealth.
Time passed and he slowly had enough capital to start again. After an operation to see whether his organs could handle space travel (A physical problem was taken care of), he found a group of people that ‘for the right amount of money’ would allow him to fulfill his dream. The Russians came on board. He would buy a 30 million dollar ticket on a Soyuz rocket to outer space and dock with the Space Station. Some of the most harrowing and interesting aspects to the documentary are preparations for the journey into the stars, including Virtual Reality work to simulate outer space, as well as work in a swimming pool to become acclimated in how his body would behave in Zero G.

The film travels to Mother Russia, where Richard begins training at STAR CITY – outside Moscow. Until recently, it had been a very special and mysterious place during The Cold War years. The hardest part of training, Richard and another astronaut agree, is learning the Russian language. Everything must be factored-in for the adventure. All in all, Richard and the other astronauts would spend 12 days in space, orbiting the earth. There are worse ways of spending a few days!
Interesting fact: A human’s spinal cord stretches out in outer space, so a hardened plaster cast of the astronaut is made, creating the form of the perfect space suit, one that fits and, more importantly is technically safe. Watching our hero descend into the plaster is funny; we can tell how uncomfortable that would be, but that is of little concern when the big picture is to survive in space, to deal with the physics of zero gravity.

There are a plethora of great sequences in MAN ON A MISSION. Here is just one: As borderline silly as certain issues pertaining to surviving in space might seem to the average Joe such as myself, they are all massively vital issues that a person in space must deal with or die. For instance, there is a discussion about the importance and necessity in wearing adult diapers within the space suit. It might sound humorous but when you got to go….Another interesting aspect to the film, at least to me, was the cinematography, including shots of the Russian landscape where Richard and the other astronauts prepare. And the astronauts, including Richard, work hard. This isn’t a walk in the park on a Sunday, baby! Unmentioned, but always on the minds of all the scientists, technicians and astronauts is a concern for safety, the desire to get everything right. Always in the back of every man’s mind is the fear that something was missed and this could lead to a catastrophic disaster.

Preparations are set and it is time for the moment of truth.His father, the NASA astronaut, comes to watch as his son goes into space.
For people to do more than just enjoy this film in a dull, uninvolved way, it becomes important that the viewer is engrossed in the human aspect of this true story. Luckily, this film has a great lead subject: Richard seems to be a truly intelligent and nice person.I found the music score to be a little hokey at first, but as I listened, it did take on a subtle, majestic ambiance that never bombarded the listener.The subtle, realistic suspense in watching the rocket launch was poignant, especially with shots of his older father. From the ground, friends shed tears. The rocket explodes upward.The film shifts to zero gravity. We see their food floating in front of the astronauts. Toothpaste seems to have a supernatural mind of its own. Little things like this might sound mundane, but are intriguing.

Of course, although I’ve seen it before, the images of our planet Earth are spectacular. For once, the term awesome applies.

The documentary is conventionally made, but never devolves into a banal educational film. Another high point is when Richard and his Russian astronauts rendezvous with the space station. Once the space capsule and Station dock, there are friendly greetings and conversation. The film contains many warm moments. The Doc. Also contains fantastic attention to detail. In space, Richard must learn to reorient himself. The perception of what constitutes the floor/ what constitutes the ceiling of the station, is seen to be rather unimportant in space. His Sleeping bag is tethered to the floor. Richard also works on research. Because he had laser eye surgery, he does many eye tests. Also, he works with Gyroscopes. He analyzes its spinning– keeping the same general up and down attitude as the Space Station is seen as a way to deal with living and maneuvering craft while in orbit. Wow. He even has time for Art. This was something I wasn’t expecting. Richard uses Microgravity in creating art – ala Jackson Pollock. Another cool moment occurs when he communicates with his father. As his father had done before him, he communicates via a Ham Radio. Richard mentions that, due to natural and human factors, our earth has changed during the period in which his father took shots of the earth surface and later when his son did it as well. Richard talked of the movie Metropolis, how the Space Station interior reminded him of it: The U.S. area is spacious and well lit – almost too sanitary, then passing into the Russia segment of the station, there is a dramatic shift in shadows and equipment. The corridor’s become more enclosed, with technical and practical concerns taking on more importance in this area of the station. For instance, this is the area in which the astronauts shower. Trash is dumped and burns up in the atmosphere.

A moment of humor is when Richard discusses how more research on earth needs to be accomplished in preparing one for using the bathroom in outer space! When Richard and his partners depart from the space station to return to earth, saying goodbye to the friends they have made – Richard said it was more bittersweet than he had expected. Re-entry: Split Screen helps dramatize the suspense and thrill of coming back to earth. The editing becomes more frenzied. We almost feel the abrasive crash as the craft smashes into the earth. The screen fades to black. Did something horrible, something tragic transpire? Then we see still photographs that show the astronauts back on terra firma and celebrating. Having been on many adventures, Richard was surprised how transformative and life changing the space orbit had been. As a document of behavior in outer space, MAN ON A MISSION is literally eye opening, a treat for the entire family. Actually, it is a worthwhile investment of one’s time to watch this documentary, especially if you have spent too much time watching bollocks and crap like American Idol! As for me, I definitely learned a lot. Surprisingly, it wasn’t just the amazing shots from space, but the human element as well that made this a sterling documentary.

MAN ON A MISSION is an outstanding piece of work and a testament to what a single man can do. I’d enjoy meeting Richard in person and shaking his hand. I cannot say enough positive things about this work. It might even make someone consider traveling into space some day. It is that special.

POLLY – The DVD Review

 

Review by Dane Marti

“Polly want a cracker?” This old phrase floated into my subconscious a few times while watching, ‘Polly,’ a low budget horror movie.

There are a number of elements within this film that make ‘Polly’ better than many other films of this genre. For instance, the structure is unique and laid-back. It has a detached documentary feel, especially during the first twenty minutes, which makes it seem like we’re looking at actual, true-crime images! These first images are striking and haunting. Some look very realistic.

Directed by Jason Hoover, the film makes good use of its low budget. Falling somewhere between: HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, HOSTEL, SAW and other movies which, to me, often seem as much like snuff films as anything else, the film’s main character is a psychopath.  No surprise there, right? It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure this out. One look at his dumb visage and you can figure out that something isn’t copacetic in his old’ noggin.

Played with subtle menace by Brandon Williamson, the acting works well because we don’t expect the nut to play his role in a Shakespearean mode or like Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. He isn’t a great actor, but for this film, and the horror audience, he is good enough! The crazy monster here is so blandly normal, with a beefy, flabby body (it seems so many guys start to bloat up as they enter middle age.), that even when he goes on a handyman job in his neighborhood, the woman who needs his help would never fathom in a million years that the ‘nice guy’ is a very sick pervert. This scene is one of the best in the movie. It is subtle, stark and holds the viewers’ attention; something is definitely going to happen, right? I felt it was a well-filmed and suspenseful moment.

Although the start of the film shows a montage of still images of murder and torture, the bulk of the movie’s story details one woman—Polly—who is trapped and tortured in the basement. She is roped to a chair that resembles something out of a Gothic Horror film.

The film isn’t extraordinary, but there are definitely moments of suspense, with a cinematic attention to detail on the director’s part. For instance: Polly is trapped in the psycho’s basement, but unfortunately for her, the weirdo can have ‘fun’ with her whether he’s literally near her or not: Polly has a sharp hook cutting into the back of her head. A wire runs from the hook and up through the home’s floorboards, across the living room floor, finally winding up in the psycho’s hand while sits in a lounge chair, leisurely enjoying some television. Therefore, when he gently moves the position of his hand, it causes horrible pain for poor Polly downstairs– her distant screams can be heard in the background.

I hated the metal music playing in the background. Luckily, it was often in the background and didn’t overwhelm the movie. It felt cliché to me. It was as if the writer/director, the musicians and psycho were all one and the same person. It needed music that complimented and mimicked the inner workings the madman.

To me, the climactic moments of the film are predictable and life affirming, but after such a grim, cinematic character study, there needed to be a little ‘light’ in the basement. The final moments of the movie aren’t as terrifying when compared to what had gone on before. Plus, some of the acting seems a little forced, motivation for certain behaviors do not seem right. Other viewers might disagree with me. If the director had utilized more Hitchcockian camera placement, storyboarding and editing, there might have been more dynamic tension within the final moments of the film. It’s frustrating for me to write this since much of the movie definitely has clever camera placement and an eerie sense of foreboding, with sick menace right out of camera range.

POLLY is available from JABB Pictures

Visit their website HERE

http://www.jabbpictures.com/default.html

DYSTOPIA: 2013 – The DVD Review

Review by Dane Marti

The post-apocalyptic film DYSTOPIA: 2013 is an honest, often exciting cinematic effort, with a story that takes place after a mysterious and life-changing cataclysm on earth – or at least the Midwest. Obviously an independent film, a viewer shouldn’t go into the film expecting earth-shattering visual effects or top of the line acting. To enjoy the film, one must accept it as it is. It’s low budget and fun. The viewer should use their imaginations. If you do these things, you will find the film to be a cool and entertaining trip.

The film is directed by Johnno Zee. He definitely has a vision, but due to budget restraints, much of the story must focus on the characters and not on special effects depicting a devastated world. The film is good when the characters are interacting, but less impressive when showing the horror of the world they now find themselves in.

As the film starts, a midwestern guy has a terrible day: He loses both his job and his wife. Can’t much worse than that, right? Wrong. He seems to be a stoic sort of guy, an okay kind of dude. After his depressing day comes to an end and he is going to bed, there is an off-camera explosion. He survives and the scene fades out. When we see him in the next scene, a certain amount of time has transpired since the big bang that changed the world and he is pushing a cart and looking for food and supplies. I think there should have been a larger transition between the off camera explosion and our hero pushing a cart around a landfill looking for anything to utilize in his survival. Basically, it is a subtle transition, but it also is slightly confusing. Perhaps this was part of the director’s vision.

Within a short time, he meets another guy, a kindred spirit, and another survivor hiding from mutant nomads like, presumably, our original character. This second man might have a dubious past, though. Throughout the rest of the film, these two characters will try to bond, but never completely trust each other: The tension between them brings a dynamic tension to the film, even if some of the dialogue between them seems forced and awkward.

Speaking of dialogue and acting, much of the dialogue in the entire film is hard-boiled and terse, making points in a very simplistic and blunt way – as you would expect from people who find themselves living through the aftermath of an Apocalypse. Unfortunately, the acting isn’t too professional, but don’t let that ruin the fun. As I said before, this is a B Movie, and in that spirit, the scenes in which the two new partners banter and argue in a neo- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid-type of way, are fun.

The overall direction, as well as the camera work is professional given the limitations in money and equipment. The editing could be tighter, but the films weakness is basically due to the screenplay and acting. The director and the cameraman have obviously seen a lot of these types of films. The scenes that show the passage of time are effective, and in keeping with the overall post apocalyptic storyline as seen in countless films. Although the film has moments of cliche, it also has enjoyable and fun scenes, including an elderly character that is always offering verbal commentary about their predicaments: Whether he quotes a famous author or a film quote, it is fun and/or poignant. I enjoyed this.

The story is nicely paced, although the end of the film (once the characters are taken prisoner by some masked freaks) seems to plod a little – it also shows the films low budget. There needed to be a more palpable threat to the characters. Semi-punk, semi-Road Warrior evil, mysterious characters appear on motorcycles and haunt our good guys. The editing, camera angles and pacing could have added more kinetic menace to these scenes. Filming the action in long shots, the viewer can tell that the cars and bikes are simply not driving very fast or very maliciously. It doesn’t scare or thrill.

I would have had the main characters walk through more unique and visually interesting landscapes. After awhile, they all tend to look very similar. And the visual effects that show the St. Louis Gateway Arch are okay, but the film could have benefited, given its subject and genre, with a few more establishing shots of a world that has been completely decimated and changed by the Apocalypse.

Some of the film reminded me of ROAD WARRIOR and LOGAN’S RUN.

Within the constraints of the budget, the climactic, “nightmarish” scenes within a factory are effective. We’ve seen scenes like this before, but it works within this movie, because, we still care about the main protagonists! Damn it, we want them to survive and not to end up strangled or tortured! Since the acting is serviceable, but not amazing or riveting throughout the film, this is quite an accomplishment: As an audience, we have looked past the things in the film that didn’t completely work and still care about the well being of the characters. To that extent, the film works and is an enjoyable little adventure.

Visit the DYSTOPIA: 2013 website HERE

http://countzeecom.ipage.com/2013.html

FANCYPANTS – The VOD Review

Review by Dane Marti

FANCYPANTS is a film that parents should watch with their kids. It would definitely open up new and beneficial conversations.

In the film, The Blue Lion, an over the hill wrestler, is about to be ‘put out to pasture’; times have changed. His name is Leo. He’s a good guy. He likes what he does, but outside the ring, he doesn’t like confrontation. Now, in order to enjoy this film, a viewer must accept that good will triumph over evil in life and that most people, flaws accepted, are okay as well.

As the film opens, the character is realizing, whether he likes it or not, that New Management would love for him to start losing games–intentionally. As film viewers, we’ve seen this situation throughout the history of cinema. Still, if it is used as a jumping-off point for the story, this can reap creative and original benefits. In this film, the promoters (and possibly the Mob behind them) have a new crop of young, mean, tall and lean performers ready to capture and throttle a new generation, performers such as ‘The Darkness.’ They do not screw around. The tough guys in the film are intentionally humorous.

For the good old Leo, time is running out literally and figuratively. His once-great years are now completely behind him and he most deal with one disappointment after another. Then, something miraculous happens: a little kid and his mother enter his life. The boy’s got a serious heart condition and his mom’s pretty – It all seems a little too cliche. Luckily the screenwriter and director, Joshua Russell has changed this typical formula and made it more original.

In doing this, the filmmakers have uncovered themes that any mother and father (possibly exasperated with their child’s interest in TV Wrestling) would find worthwhile: They might find common ground with their children, opening doors to more serious subjects that most parents would love to teach their children. It’s a good message.

I found the kid’s hero worship for the obese Lion to be both funny and touching. The kid is fine in his role. The actor portraying the old wrestler, Patrick Gleason, has modulated his performance nicely: Frankly, his performance could have ruined the entire film if he’d tried to go “crazy” obnoxious silly – the flick would have been un-watchable. Thank God, he held back, making his portrayal less zany, but a little more human and real. As the mother of the sick boy, actress Amy Hendricks is also quite good.

In many respects, the movie is satirical and broad, switching from out-and-out buffoonery to scenes of dead-serious drama. For me, this didn’t always work, but by the end of the film, everything ties together. Luckily for adults, there are humorous moments along the way. The films overall pacing would have been helped with some judicious film editing. This isn’t as terrible a criticism as many might think; even great films have been improved after much-needed editing!

Through the Blue Lion’s relationship with the ten year old and his mom, he recalls important values, values that were always within him, but were simply dormant and asleep, at least until the kid gave him the right push: The Lion realizes that there are things in life a little more important than show business and fans. There are more important things that just focusing on his own problems. He realizes that love, that much maligned word, can actually help inspire people to fight and survive.

Dealing with themes such as aging, violence, health insurance, and health, the film poignantly touches on subjects hard for some parents to discuss with their kids. In that respect, the fun silliness of FANCYPANTS hits the spot! Within the crazy satire and odd sequences, the film has a heart that beats passionately.

FANCYPANTS premieres February 10th on Comcast Nationwide and March 13th on Time Warner and all other cable and satellite providers.


THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN – PART 1 On DVD & Blu-ray February 11

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN – PART 1 will be released on DVD & Blu-ray February 11th.

The first of a two-part adaptation, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN – PART 1 is directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner star.

Summit Entertainment’s THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN-PART 2 will be in theaters November 16, 2012.

Visit the film’s official website: http://www.breakingdawn-themovie.com/

Follow the film on Twitter: @Twilight #BreakingDawn

“Like” it on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/twilight