DVD Review: JFK: The Private President

We as a nation continue to be fascinated with John F. Kennedy. He was assassinated nearly a decade before I was born, and yet I am still completely intrigued by the man, his presidency, his family and the mystery surrounding his murder. The new documentary JFK: The Private President focuses on John F. Kennedy’s family life, and features a lot of home footage of the Kennedys as well as a few interviews.

The film opens with some home footage of the Kennedys, and narration about the appeal of the man. The narrator then tells us, “What most people don’t know is that JFK’s health has been frail for most of his life,” and we see footage of John F. Kennedy using hand rails to get from the car to a building. Robert Dallek (Kennedy biographer) says, “If the public knew how many medical problems he had, I think it would have destroyed his presidential ambitions.”

A brief history of the Kennedy family is provided, including some information on how Joseph Kennedy made his fortune, as well as his marriage to Rose Fitzgerald and his affair with Gloria Swanson. But what we really focus on in relation to Joseph is the influence he had on his children regarding their drive and ambition to succeed.

There is some footage of John F. Kennedy and his siblings when they were young, and some information on JFK’s service during World War II. But some of the most interesting footage here is that with Jacqueline Kennedy, especially the interview she gave after their honeymoon in which, when asked if she’s in love with John, she responds, “Oh no” without realizing it. After a moment, she is asked the question again and responds, “I suppose so.” Also interesting is the footage from At Home With The Kennedys, in which Jacqueline talks of the joys of campaigning and John encourages people to phone in with questions.

Two of Robert Kennedy’s children are interviewed in the film. Matthew Maxwell Kennedy talks about the family gatherings at Hyannis Port in the summers, and there is footage of JFK playing with children there during his presidency. Robert Kennedy, Jr. talks about those atomic attack drills in the 1950s. And the film includes footage from one of those ridiculous “educational” films in which children are taught to “duck and cover” in case of an atomic bomb exploding nearby.

Also interviewed is Harry Belafonte, who says he wasn’t actually in favor of JFK at the beginning. He talks about being asked to join his presidential campaign, and says, “I discovered how little he knew about black people.” We see footage of Harry Belafonte with the Kennedys as part of the campaign. There are interviews with Ted Sorensen (JFK’s counselor and speechwriter) and Sergei Khrushchev (Nikita Khrushchev’s son), the latter of whom talks about his father’s strategy and fears. But this film doesn’t get too much into the politics of the time.

There is some information on JFK’s extramarital affairs, including that with Judith Campbell and the possible affair with Marilyn Monroe. And the narrator tells us: “According to his medical files, JFK had contracted gonorrhea, or the clap, as the sexually transmitted disease is commonly known, and had probably infected his wife with chlamydia bacteria that can bring about premature births and cause infertility.”

This film doesn’t delve into the circumstances or theories regarding his death. It’s not really an investigative piece at all. No documents are provided, for example, on Kennedy’s health issues and the medications he took for his back pains. Also, I’m not sure the promise contained in its title, The Private President, is actually met by this film. Sure, there is home footage, but not a lot of new information about his private life is revealed. But it does include the last-known private footage of John F. Kennedy alive (from November 10, 1963), which features a shot of Jacqueline teaching John-John how to salute.

JFK: The Private President was written and directed by Kathrin Seelmann-Eggebert, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on November 18, 2014 through First Run Features.

DVD Review: Rude Dude

Rude Dude is a documentary about respected but troubled comic book artist Steve Rude, co-creator of Nexus. Steve Rude, who usually refers to himself as The Dude (thus the film’s title), is allowed to introduce himself at the beginning of the film: “My name is Steve Rude…I just kind of live for the moment, and as long as the moment’s okay, I’m fine.” He pauses, then adds, “Of course, I’m filthy rich because of it.” He laughs, and says, “No, I never made a whole lot of bread. I just was very artistically and creatively satisfied.” That opening gives me the expectation of an uplifting and inspiring film for all of us who haven’t yet found financial rewards to our creative endeavors, to all of us who might be discouraged by that. And, in part, it is.

But this film very early on gets into the darker side of Steve Rude’s personality. A title card mentions that he suffers from bipolar disorder. Interestingly, the film includes interviews with his young children, who talk about their father’s violent moods, including putting holes in walls. And we see footage of broken walls in his home. His wife, Jaynelle, talks about the first time she saw him get mad. Steve himself is quite candid about his own problems, discussing his depression, saying, “The bedroom was the only place I could go to survive this problem.” And later he tells a wild anecdote about getting locked up in a nuthouse in Memphis (it’s actually kind of a frightening anecdote for those of us who often act a bit differently from the norm).

The film includes interviews with several people in the comic book industry, including Mike Baron, co-creator of Nexus. He talks about meeting Steve and teaming up with him to create the comic book. Regarding Nexus, Mike Baron says: “It can be both very serious and very light, often in the same story. Most of the seriousness is mine; most of the lightness is Dude’s.” That of course comes as a surprise after learning of Steve’s fights with depression. Also interviewed are Milton Griepp and John Davis, co-founders of Capital Comics; Mike Richardson, founder/publisher of Dark Horse Comics; and Mike Allred, creator of Madman. All of the interviews are presented in black in white, with the exception of the footage of Steve Rude himself. (At one point in an interview with Jaynelle, Steve joins her and the footage switches from black and white to color.)

And of course there is plenty of information on his comic book career, with lots of footage of his work, such as World’s Finest. And interestingly, he has switched career goals, and is now trying to begin a career in fine arts.

Even if you’re not into comic books, there is something quite compelling about this guy, about his story, about his world. A moment I love is when in the middle of a sentence, Steve gets up to yell at some dogs that are barking outside. That is the moment when I personally sort of connected to him. And later his wife mentions that he is very sensitive to noise, and talks about how the neighbor’s dogs drive him crazy. That leads to some trouble.

Special Features

The back of the DVD case doesn’t list any special features, but there are some. There is a still gallery of Steve Rude’s artwork, which will actually just start playing at the end of the film. It’s approximately eight minutes long. The drawing of the Hulk with the guitar made me laugh.

There are also two commentary tracks. The first is with director Ian Fischer and composer Ross Williams, and includes a lot more information on Steve Rude. Ian talks about being a fan of Steve Rude’s work, and talks about Steve referring to himself as The Dude. In fact, he says he never called him Steve during the making of the film. Ian does talk a bit about why all the interviews apart from Steve’s are presented in black and white. Ross did not grow up with comic books, so came at this project from a different angle, and provides a different perspective in the commentary. Interestingly, it was while in the process of making this film that Steve gave up comic books to pursue fine arts.

The second commentary track is with Mike Baron, co-creator of Nexus. It’s odd, because what we hear is one side of a conversation. But there is some interesting stuff here.

Rude Dude was directed by Ian Fischer, and was released on DVD on October 7, 2014.

DVD Review: Uranium Drive-In

Uranium Drive-In is an interesting and completely engaging documentary on the question of whether a poor town should embrace the opening of a uranium mill to help its economy. This documentary doesn’t rely on narration or too many title cards, but rather lets the area’s citizens be the voices on the issue. And because of that, we really feel for people on both sides. And we feel we get a more balanced viewpoint.

The film opens with a somewhat haunting song playing over some nice natural landscape shots, and for a moment I forget that I’m watching a documentary. Our first glimpse of the town’s people is at an outdoor community meeting at which they are addressed by a man from Energy Fuels, the company that is behind the uranium mill. The crowd applauds him. Interestingly, a quirky sense of humor is established for the area, when the towns of Naturita and Nucla are shown on the map of a T-shirt worn by one of the townspeople. This sense is also seen in the shot of the town’s sign, which reads, “Welcome to Nucla – Home of 1000 friendly people and one grouch.”

And then we get to know many of the folks who live in the area, like a married couple that’s been out of work for a while and hoping to secure jobs at the mill when it opens. We also meet members of the Sheep Mountain Alliance, an environmental group opposed to the mill. The film allows us to get quite close to these people, learning a lot about what led them to their various viewpoints on the issue. For example, Sheep Mountain Alliance member Jennifer has taken on the work of her father, who died at the age of forty-four to leukemia. And the mayor of Naturita takes the film crew on a driving tour of the town, pointing out how lots of homes and stores are now vacant because the area’s economy is failing.

The history of the area itself is also quite interesting, particularly the anecdotes regarding Uravan, the entire town of which was condemned due to the presence of radioactive materials in 1984. And yes, there was actually a drive-in theatre in the area called Uranium Drive-In.

What I love is that this is a film that is sympathetic to the human concerns on both sides. It allows, even encourages, the viewers to see the issue from several perspectives and perhaps form their own opinions. I highly recommend seeing it.

Special Features

The DVD contains five deleted scenes, each of them about specific residents of the area, including a former uranium miner and an organic farmer. These scenes total approximately nine minutes. There is also a biography of the film’s director.

Uranium Drive-In was directed by Suzan Beraza, and was released on DVD on October 21, 2014 through First Run Features.

DVD Review: The Grapes Of Death Special Edition

The 1970s were the best decade for cinema, and certainly the best decade for horror films. Jean Rollin’s The Grapes Of Death is one excellent example of what was done within the genre in that great decade. It was released in 1978, the same year as Halloween and Dawn Of The Dead. Sure, its title feels a bit like a joke, but the film is actually really good and quite frightening.

The Film

Two friends, Elizabeth and Brigitte, are traveling by train, but will be splitting up, as Elizabeth will be getting off soon at a small village, a vineyard. The train sequence is quite creepy without the use of scary music or any tricks. A man who is ill, his skin peeling, boards the train and goes right to their compartment. Elizabeth (Marie-Georges Pascal) becomes frightened and flees the room, only to be followed by the man. Does he want to hurt her, or is he seeking her help? Incredibly, it seems to be both. When she rushes off the train (without her luggage), he sits down on the rail, and though he likely killed her companion, you feel for him. What an extraordinary beginning.

And now Elizabeth is alone, without resources, in an unfamiliar territory – a perfect horror scenario. By the way, there are some gorgeous shots, including wide shots of her in this foreign land.

She enters a home, where a man immediately covers one hand with the other, apparently hiding a skin condition similar to that of the man on the train. He and his daughter stare at her, refusing her use of the phone and the car. It isn’t long before she witness the man kill his own daughter, and then she has to make the decision whether to kill someone herself. This film quickly and strongly establishes its world. Elizabeth is in an unfamiliar land, and can’t trust anyone, until she meets a blind girl who had fled some fighting in her village. And the film just gets better and better, more and more frightening, as Elizabeth becomes more immersed in this nightmare with each turn.

One thing I like is that Elizabeth is not a weak or stupid character by any means, which is refreshing. Also, this is a zombie-type film without actual zombies. These are people who are sick, who are sometimes aware of what they’re doing, the horrors they’re committing, but can’t help themselves. And that is much more frightening, and also sad, because a viewer is more able to place himself or herself in their position, something which is impossible in a straight zombie film.

The Special Features

·        Interview with Jean Rollin and Brigitte Lahaie (This feature is actually two separate interviews edited together, plus a bit of footage from a panel with both Jean Rollin and Brigitte Lahaie. There are also some brief scenes from Jean Rollin’s work. The interviews are conducted in English, and Jean Rollin talks about an early film-going experience, and also about images and imagination. This feature is approximately thirty-three minutes.)

·        Theatrical Trailers (There are two trailers.)

·        Jean Rollin biography

·        Jean Rollin filmography

·        Photo gallery

·        Insert with liner notes by Nigel J. Burrell

The Specs

·        Widescreen presentation (1.66:1 aspect ratio)

·        Original French language, with optional English subtitles

·        Time: 90 minutes

This special edition DVD of The Grapes Of Death was released in 2002 through Synapse Films.

DVD Review: My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks

Rainbow Rocks is the sequel to last year’s My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, a full-length animated feature film taking place mainly in the human world which has characters that are parallel to those familiar folks of Ponyville – Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Apple Jack, and of course Pinkie Pie. This one begins in the human world, with three teenagers arguing in a diner. They are soon revealed to be sirens who were banished from Equestria. Suddenly they see a display of Equestrian magic (from the end of the previous film), and decide to use it to gain adoration from everyone in this world.

The students of Canterlot High School are planning a musical showcase to raise money to help fund after-school programs. The girls have a band, and sing about being friends. (Of course, Pinkie Pie is on drums. Go Pinkie!) Magic happens when they play; they gain some of the properties of their parallel pony selves. Rainbow Dash of course takes credit for starting the band.

The girls are now friends with Sunset Shimmer, though when Sunset Shimmer says, “The old me really was just awful, wasn’t she,” all the girls agree. And I especially love Pinkie Pie’s joyous, “Yup!” Have I mentioned that I love Pinkie Pie?

The three sirens want their true equestrian magic back, and they change the musical showcase to a battle of the bands, turning the event into a competition and breeding animosity among classmates, which then fuels their own power. They cast a spell on all the students and even the faculty of Canterlot High – with the exceptions of our heroes, who soon realize something is wrong. They contact Princess Twilight by writing a letter to her in their magic book (something the creators admit to ripping off from a fantasy novel in the DVD commentary track). When Twilight gets the message, the book there vibrates like a cell phone, which is a cute touch.

There are some really nice moments in this film. Pinkie Pie’s antics make me laugh, like when she explains Twilight’s idea of creating another portal to the human world. The girls realize they have to combat the sirens’ spell with a musical spell of their own, leading to a great moment when Pinkie Pie tries to get Twilight to play the theremin. (Have I mentioned how much I love Pinkie Pie?)

However, this film isn’t nearly as good as the best of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes. The trap door in the stage floor is a little too convenient, and the climactic battle of the bands sequence goes on for a long time, and doesn’t have as much charm as the other scenes. (Also, it reminds of that awful battle of the bands sequence from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.)

Special Features

The DVD includes a commentary track by Michael Vogel (VP of development at Hasbro Studios), Brian Lenard (executive director at Hasbro Studios), Meghan McCarthy (screenwriter of Rainbow Rocks), Jayson Thiessen (supervising director of Rainbow Rocks) and Ishi Rudell (co-director of Rainbow Rocks). Surprisingly, one person makes a Dungeons & Dragons reference right off the bat (to the Bag of Holding, a magical item that would really help me clean my apartment). But overall this commentary track doesn’t offer a whole lot of information on the making of this film.

There are also eight shorts that act as prequels to the film. Three of them are seriously good. A Case For The Bass is a cute and funny short in which Apple Jack tries to get her bass back after Granny accidentally sells it to the owners of a second-hand shop. Hamstocalypse Now is probably my favorite. In this one, Rarity attempts to help Fluttershy with hamsters, and we all learn that hamsters like the tambourine. (Though it seems odd to give it a title that refers to a film that this DVD’s likely audience would never have heard of.) The third one that I really like is Pinkie On The One, in which Pinkie Pie helps Rainbow Dash find a drummer for the band. It’s absolutely adorable. Of the others, three are basically music videos.

The special features also include three sing-alongs, to the songs “Better Than Ever,” “Battle” and “Rainbooms Battle,” with the lyrics at the bottom of the screen.

Friendship Is Magic Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks is scheduled to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 28, 2014 through Shout! Factory.

DVD Review: Header

Header is a horror film about some hicks and the peculiar way they get their revenge on each other.

The Film

Federal agent Stewart Cummings (Jake Suffian) is dealing with increasing medical costs for his sick girlfriend by going on the take. He even says, “I’m a fed on the take.” He is supposed to be busting moonshiners (really?), but instead becomes interested in a series of murders happening in the area. The murders are committed by Travis Clyde Tuckton (Elliot V. Kotek), who just got out of jail and laments that nothing is going right for him. His grandfather teaches him the art of the header, which is drilling a hole in someone’s skull and then having one’s way with the hole. Travis quickly becomes an aficionado, and his grandfather enjoys watching and cheering him on (“Hump that head, boy, hump it!”). Supposedly, these murders are done in revenge, but the filmmakers neglected to really develop that angle.

The dialogue is awful. The acting is dubious, at best. All of the characters are despicable, and so you just don’t care what happens to any of them. Even Stewart’s sick girlfriend turns out to be a terrible person. This could have been a much creepier and scarier film. Oh well.

The Special Features

·        The Director (This is a six-minute interview with Archibald Flancranstin, conducted during production. He says his expectation for the film is “Notoriety,” but the goal is to “Wake up America.” Oh boy.)

·        The Author (This is a ten-minute interview with Edward Lee, who says the characters are just as he pictured them when writing the story. Toward the end of this feature, he rehearses the lines for his small role.)

·        The Guest (This is a twelve-minute interview with novelist Jack Ketchum, who performed a small role in the film. The guy who conducts the interviews must be in junior high, because he asks stupid questions like, “If you were a woman, would you suck your own nipples?” He asked that one to both Edward Lee and Jack Ketchum, so clearly he’s proud of that particular question.)

·        The Star (This is an eight-minute interview with Jake Suffian, which was conducted toward the end of production. He says it’s his first feature film.)

·        The Producer (This is a nine-minute interview with Michael Anthony.)

·        The Effects (This feature includes interviews with Alex Marthaller, David Plunkett, Brian Ray and Ryan Carroll, as well as some behind-the-scenes footage. It is approximately eleven minutes.)

·        Promotional Trailers (There are two trailers, each approximately a minute long.)

The Specs

·        Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1 aspect ratio)

·        Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

·        Time: 89 minutes

·        Language: English

Header was released on DVD in 2009 through Synapse Films.

DVD Review: A Haunting At Preston Castle

Halloween is nearly here, so it’s the perfect time for some ghost stories. A Haunting At Preston Castle tells the tale of three college-age friends who decide to hang out in the supposedly haunted reform school known as Preston Castle (a real place located in Ione, California).

A title card at the beginning tells us, “On April 12, 1950, a young inmate was beaten to death in a California boys’ prison…The murder was never solved…or even reported.” Then a second title card adds, “…sometimes he comes back, for revenge.” I personally would have left off the “for revenge” bit, because it comes across as silly. Just “…sometimes he comes back” is creepier. The film opens with a series of black and white photographs to give a sense of history and reality of the place, before moving into the present, where a police officer looks through a vehicle. He radios in that he’s located the missing vehicle, and as the camera pulls back to a wonderful wide shot of the area we hear him say there is no sign of the missing girl. The camera continues to pull back farther and farther, showing us more of the area. It’s a nice opening.

Two days earlier, Liz (Mackenzie Firgens) is lamenting the demise of her latest relationship, when her friend Ashley (Heather Tocquigny) calls to tell her that her previous boyfriend is looking good and is going to meet them at the river the next day. As they drive to the river, we recognize the vehicle as the one the cop finds, so we know at least one of these two girls is in trouble.

Unfortunately, Liz has a video camera, which means we have to deal with some video footage of the events throughout the film. In fact, when Danny (Jake White) shows up at the river, Liz films him, asking if he has a girlfriend and so on. She seems a bit old for that sort of thing, but whatever (I know she’s supposed to be in college, but she appears to be in her thirties). The three get in Danny’s vehicle and drive to Preston Castle. On the way, they talk about the place, as a way to set up that it’s haunted. “Hey, when was the last death that happened there anyway?” one of the girls asks Danny. Danny has all the stories about the place, and tells the girls about two teenagers who sneaked in (and yes, we get a bit of a flashback). He says: “They found her blood-soaked body. It looked like it had been violently thrown up against a wall or something. They never really did figure out what happened.” Oh boy. So one of the girls says she doesn’t think they should go in there because “something bad might happen.” Yeah, it’s terrible dialogue.

Liz is clearly over her recent breakup, because she begins flirting with Danny and then kissing him. Ashley gives them some privacy by going off by herself. The shots where she wanders through the building alone are sufficiently creepy and tense. I like that the sequence is allowed to go on long enough to really build some tension.

I’m not a big fan of the device of a character having a video camera, but this film does put it to some good effect at certain moments. For example, early on, when Liz is filming the interior of Preston Castle, we hear Danny and Ashley talking, and their voices get quieter as Liz obviously is moving away from them. It’s a nice way of establishing the separation of characters at that point. But I could really do without the blinking red light constantly reminding us we’re looking through a video camera. It removes us from what’s happening. This is not a found footage film, so this video stuff isn’t constant, but it used a bit too much, not just by Liz with her camera, but by Ashley with her phone.

Ashley has some trouble finding her way back downstairs, and for some reason keeps filming herself with her phone, saying, “I just want get out of here.” Okay, then quit fucking around on your phone and get a move on! The film gets a bit irritating at this point. Finally the other two go looking for Ashley. And the rest of the movie is them wandering around in the dark, looking for Ashley and arguing.

These are not the world’s greatest actors, but a good deal of the problem is the script (or perhaps lack of one). The dialogue is so relentlessly bad and repetitive that it leaves me wondering if a large portion of it wasn’t improvised.

But it is certainly an excellent location. And there is some creepy imagery, and there are a few tense moments. I absolutely love the moment where Liz is crouched by some metal bed frames. It’s really well done and frightening. But there just aren’t enough scenes like that. This might be one of those movies where the fun is watching it with some friends and laughing at the ineptitude of the characters.

By the way, on the DVD cover it says “Inspired by true events.” But at the end of the closing credits it says: “This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in the film are fictional.” So as far as I can discover, the bit that’s apparently true is that a housekeeper named Anna Corbin was killed there in the 1950s. (In the story of this film, the boy was killed was the one responsible for murdering the housekeeper.)

A Haunting At Preston Castle was directed by Martin Rosenberg, and was released on DVD on October 7, 2014 through Inception Media Group. The DVD contains the film’s trailer.