DVD Review: The Last Match

The Last Match is an excellent film about two young, poor men in Havana who are friends and become closer. It opens with two men in a car. One is talking, but the camera remains on the other, who is looking out the window, clearly not listening, and not even responding when the first asks if he’s listening. This is our introduction to Yosvani (Milton Garcia). He shows his first bit of genuine interest when upon arriving home his girlfriend Gema gives him a pair of sneakers, telling him, "Happy birthday." Soon he joins some friends for a neighborhood soccer game. They immediately notice his new shoes. That night he’s jumped, and his shoes are stolen. It shows how tenuous is his hold on anything good or valuable in this world of heat and poverty.

Yosvani’s closest friend and teammate is Reinier (Reinier Diaz), whose poverty is immediately apparent as he looks for food in his apartment, and a woman’s demands of “Where is my radio” go unanswered. It’s clear he’s had to sell it. (Later we see him purchase the radio back, getting it out of hock, showing he had to sell it out of necessity and not out of any sort of selfishness or unkindness.) He has a wife and child to support, and does so by meeting men at a pick-up spot.

Interestingly, the first time we see him at that spot, he meets a man from Barcelona and they talk a bit about soccer, which immediately has Reinier opening up to him. It’s not the typical pick-up scene. But later when Juan, the man from Barcelona, attempts to take things to their logical conclusion, Reinier stops him, saying, “I’m not a fag.” What is also interesting is that his wife and Teresa (his wife’s grandmother) are well aware of how Reinier makes money, and Teresa is even encouraging.

I love the realistic feel of this film, the way the camera follows its subjects, almost as if letting their movements determine the shots. It gives a small sense of freedom to the characters, while at the same time they feel quite contained within this world.  This film creates a very believable environment. You can almost feel the heat of the place. Part of that is due to the excellent performances of the entire cast.

Reinier and Yosvani meet at a club, and Yosvani neglects to introduce Gema, so she’s forced to do it herself. It’s quick and subtle, but telling. The courtship between Reinier and Yosvani begins awkwardly, as alcohol and pills strip away inhibitions (pills supplied by Gema), but it’s not long before drugs are not needed. And I love the scene where Reinier and Yosvani first become intimate. The camera stays close on Yosvani, on his face, but from just over his shoulder, and we see Reinier’s hand touching the back of his head. It’s so intimate and honest, and immediate. And the smile Yosvani finally gives is beautiful.

What I love is that after that, we see them with their women, and it’s clear they love them. That scene isn’t really awkward, but is sweet and loving, with the four of them together at the beach, and at an amusement park. This isn’t one of those films where there’s some sudden realization and then everything changes. It’s more like this added element is incorporated into the whole.

Things also feel like they move at the right pace. There is nothing rushed here, but there is most certainly an increasing tension and the feeling that something is going to go wrong. This film creates very interesting and well fleshed out relationships, including that between Reinier and Juan. And it is within these relationships that the film is often surprising. I really wasn’t sure how things would turn out for anyone.

By the way, there is one weird shot where someone outside is sneaking around with a camera. It’s brief, but unmistakable. Is it paparazzi? I’m curious.

The Last Match was directed by Antonio Hens, and was released on DVD on July 7, 2014 through Canteen Outlaws and TLA Releasing. The DVD includes the film’s trailer.

DVD Review: Dream Deceivers

Dream Deceivers is a truly interesting and at times unsettling documentary about the two young men who entered a suicide pact, and the resulting lawsuit against the rock band Judas Priest. It was released in 1992, but is now finally getting a DVD release, thanks to First Run Features.

The film opens with the 9-1-1 call about the shooting and footage of the scene. A title card gives us a bit of information on the images: “Just before Christmas 1985 James Vance and Ray Belknap shot themselves with a 12-gauge shotgun. Their families blamed heavy-metal band Judas Priest, claiming a recorded subliminal command – “Do it” – had mesmerized their sons.” The documentary focuses on the trial which took place in 1990, and on the families of the two men (Ray Belknap died, while James Vance survived the suicide attempt). There are interviews with members of both families, as well as interviews with members of Judas Priest. And what comes across is a really sad story, a depressing environment and quite a lot of denial.

Through this film, we especially get to know the Vance family. We’re introduced to Phyllis Vance in church, with the congregation singing a lively Jesus song. It’s an interesting introduction, because right away we get a sense of the religious perspective from which she is coming to this case. But it's also interesting because of the music, the fact that she clearly enjoys music as well as her, though a different type of music. Phyllis says of her son James, “I don’t know when I lost him.” And that’s when we’re introduced to James himself, whose face was left seriously disfigured by the attempted suicide. The footage of him is unsettling. Perhaps even more unsettling is the footage of him at home, where his mother talks about how there are lots of things he can no longer eat because he doesn’t have enough teeth.

At the beginning of the court case, the judge says: “Just to make sure that we’re together, there is nothing in the music, in the sound effects, or the lyrics that is actionable…What is on trial is whether there are subliminal messages present, and if so if they have an effect upon the listener.” It’s obviously an important trial regarding freedom of expression, but through this trial, we also really a get a disturbing look at the troubles that many teens suffer.

One of the most interesting moments from the trial footage is when the song “Better By You Better Than Me” is played slowly. It does actually sound like it might possibly say “Do it.” What’s great is the band’s reaction – clearly they hadn’t heard it before. Rob Halford actually sings the song on the stand. There are interviews with Judas Priest members Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and K.K. Downing. Halford talks about how the band tackles subjects other than love in their music, and relates some childhood memories of walking by an iron works factory.

There are also interviews with several fans of the band, who talk rather candidly as a group about their own lives. And it seems to me that when James Vance talks about the music, he is still very much a fan.

What I find most interesting is the perspectives and reactions of the families. Mrs. Vance excuses her husband’s drinking problem, his gambling problem, and his earlier abuse toward her, and somehow fixes on Judas Priest as being the reason for her son’s attempted suicide. The footage of Mr. and Mrs. Vance ag home arguing is incredible. Mrs. Vance gets upset because she feels everyone blames her for everything. And in court both mothers are forced to talk about the trouble their sons got into early on in their lives. But perhaps the moment that hits hardest is when Rita Skulason, Ray’s sister, takes the stand, and is asked if she listened to heavy metal music on either of the two occasions when she herself attempted suicide. She admits, “No.”

It’s a really good documentary, though I would have liked more on just what the prosecution hoped to prove. Perhaps a little more trial footage, and some interviews with the prosecuting attorneys would have added greatly to this film. By the way, the title of the documentary comes from the title of  a Judas Priest song.

Special Features

The DVD contains approximately twenty-five minutes of footage from two interviews with director David Van Taylor – one conducted in 1992, the other in 2011. He talks about meeting the families and his approach to dealing with them. In the 1992 interview, he talks about his changing feelings on the issues, and why it was important to include footage of James. He also mentions screening the film for the Vance family. In the 2011 interview he talks about the powerlessness of the people in the film, both the kids and their parents, and about his own reactions upon seeing the movie now. In both interviews he talks about the band.

Dream Deceivers was directed by David Van Taylor, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on August 5, 2014 through First Run Features.

DVD Review: Eroddity(s)

Eroddity(s) is an anthology of gay-themed short films written and directed by Steven Vasquez. It opens with a fake dictionary entry for the word eroddity, and there are already a few problems. It is identified as a noun, but the first definition is “of, tending to arouse sexual desire.” That’s the definition of an adjective, not a noun. And then the third definition is “(s) plural, consisting of, containing more then one.” I’m sure the filmmaker meant “more than one,” and I have to wonder why no one proofread the opening of the film. Also, that definition doesn’t really apply. Basically, he’s defining the word plural there, not the word errodity (or erroditys – and wouldn’t it be errodities anyway?) Not an auspicious beginning.

The first story, “Forever Mine,” opens with a gay couple watching a porn. “I put in your favorite movie for you,” one of them says, and it’s said without humor. “Let’s just get this over with,” the second guy says, leaning in to kiss the first. The film then goes back to an earlier moment in their relationship, with the two walking through a park, and one of them peeing. Then they’re back in bed, and the peeing one says, “You’re all I have.” He repeats it, and then the camera pans over to reveal that the other guy is now a skeleton. We go back to the peeing shot because certainly that’s a shot worth showing twice. And since they’re showing it a second time, let me mention this: The guy has pulled his pants halfway down his thighs. Does any guy do that to pee? The non-peeing guy then says, “Dude, I’m your brother.” Dramatic music plays, and we’re back in their house and the peeing guy pulls a gun out of a drawer and shoots the other one. And that’s that. It’s kind of hilarious, in an unintended and sad way.

The dead one then addresses the camera directly: “I have a bone to pick with my little brother.” This is the first line that seems intended to be funny, but of course is not. He continues: “Hi, I’m Corey Tyndall. And welcome to Eroddity(s).” In voice over, he continues: “You have entered a realm where teenage boys make new discoveries behind locked bedroom doors. We take you behind these doors and offer you a voyeuristic window into the world of the young and the inexperienced.” And for those who are curious, yes, there is a lot of male nudity in the film. The film is just this side of porn, but the performances and the music aren’t quite up to that level.

When the next story, “A Mind Of Their Own,” begins, it has its own opening credits sequence, which seems unnecessary. Aaron is an annoying guy who narrates this story. “I decided to do a little investigation,” he says as we see him doing a little investigation on screen. Note to filmmakers: Don’t have a narrator tell us what we’re already seeing. He finds a cassette tape and a note. So he goes to Orange County and meets some other guy who can’t act. It’s painful listening to them talk, partly because this is the worst dialogue in the history of film (and yes, I’m including porn) and partly because these two have no acting talent whatsoever. We then have a flashback to Aaron with a girl who has slightly less talent than the others. Shocking. Anyway, there is some silliness about a magic tape recorder that creates male lovers. The truly magical thing here is that someone was able to find a tape recorder.

Clearly, writer/director Steven Vasquez loves to see his own name on screen, because at the beginning of the next story, “Unsolved Christmas,” he has once again given himself writing and directing credits. Since he wrote and directed the entire film, it seems one credit at the beginning would have sufficed. Anyway, this one too features narration, and the narration is done as a Christmas poem. Zach’s parents overhear a phone conversation, thus learning of his sexual orientation. They want to make him straight, and so they buy him a camera. There are actually some really cute moments when the narrator makes suggestions for use of the camera. And of course he uses the camera to photograph a boy he has a crush on.

“The Way To A Man’s Heart” (and hey, look, more credits for Steven Vasquez!) opens with a guy going to another guy’s grave, saying he’s sorry and that he misses him. At a bar, he then meets Kevin, and the two talk about how Thomas died a year ago. At home, the guy’s girlfriend shows up with a bottle of wine to celebrate the anniversary. The guy asks, “Is it really something we should be celebrating?” And the girl says, “Us being together for a year and a half.” Okay, someone needs to tell this girl the definition of anniversary. Apparently they buried Thomas in a cardboard box in someone else’s grave, as we learn through some dialogue in between sex scenes. Thomas returns from his grave (well, someone else’s grave) to seek revenge, his plan including a lot of cooking.

At the end of the film, the host threatens us, “Until next time.” No!

Eroddity(s) was written and directed by Steven Vasquez (I figured he’d want me to mention that one more time), and was released on DVD on July 15, 2014 through TLA Releasing. The DVD includes the film’s trailer.

DVD Review: What’s In A Name?

What’s In A Name? is a wonderful and surprising film about several friends who get together for dinner, and end up learning a lot about each other and themselves after one of them reveals the name he and his wife have chosen for their son.

The film begins, however, with a man named Jean-Jacques on a motorcycle. The opening narration tells us that “Jean-Jacques is lucky. He isn’t superstitious.” The narrator tells us of the deaths of the French writers for whom are named the streets by which Jean-Jacques must travel. It’s hilarious, intercut with illustrations of those people. It’s delightful in sort of the same way much of Wes Anderson’s work is delightful. I was reminded of The Royal Tenenbaums, particularly.

Jean-Jacques is delivering some pizzas, but knocks on the wrong door. And that’s how we’re introduced to Pierre and Elisabeth. The narrator tells us that Elisabeth Garaud-Larchet (Valerie Benguigui) is a middle school French teacher who directs the school plays. Her husband, Pierre (Charles Berling), is a literature professor. “Corduroy is like his second skin.” When Elisabeth’s mother, Francoise, calls, the voice over tells us a bit about her also: “She has a beautiful alto voice, but she’s a bit talkative.” Claude (Guillaume De Tonquedec) arrives, and we’re told that he is a Libra, and also Libra rising, and that he and Elisabeth have been friends since childhood. And when Vincent (Patrick Bruel) arrives, we learn that he’s Elisabeth’s brother, Pierre’s best friend, and Claude’s childhood friend. A real estate agent, he’s “Merciless but extremely courteous.” He met Anna when they almost collided in their cars. “And soon Anna will be expecting Vincent’s child.”

I know that many people are of the opinion that voice over should not be used in films. And while there is a lot of awful and pointless voice over in movies, it also can be used extremely well. It might seem like an easy way to get across a lot of information about characters, but in this film it’s done in such a creative and humorous way that it’s totally enjoyable. And so when the film gets underway, we do already have a good idea about who these people are. We already like them.

The odd thing, however, is that the first ten or fifteen minutes end up feeling like a different film. All the narration, the quick pace, and the many shots and cutaways in those opening minutes are fun, but once the film gets going, all of that is dispensed with. The film becomes more of a comedic drama, taking place in a single location. So while I enjoy tremendously both the beginning and the bulk of this film, I’m not sure the two quite work together.

The relationships, however, are all quite clear, with conversation flowing naturally and lightly until Elisabeth asks Vincent about Anna’s ultrasound. Vincent looks glum and says, “The good news is it’s a boy, the bad news is he’s dead.” They recoil in shock, and he admits: “I’m putting you on. He’s fine.” I appreciate Vincent’s screwed up sense of humor, and it’s great that it’s established right away.

A little later, the others take turns guessing the name Vincent and Anna have chosen for their child. Vincent gives the hint that it starts with “A,” which immediately has me guessing. Turns out I guessed correctly, sort of.  Vincent says they’re naming their child after the title character in Benjamin Constant’s novel, and this leads to a heated discussion, with all making good points. And when Anna (Judith El Zein) arrives, the conversation regarding the name resumes, much to Vincent’s surprise and delight. But soon other personal issues are brought to the surface. It’s great that the film first took the time to establish that these are people who love each other, for otherwise we might not care as much.

The ending is a little weak, but otherwise this is a completely enjoyable film.

What’s In A Name? was directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patelliere, and was released on DVD on June 3, 2014 through First Run Features. The DVD contains no special features. The original French title, by the way, is Le Prénom.

DVD Review: The Perfect House

The Perfect House is a horror anthology, with several stories that all take place at various times in one house. It opens with a close-up shot of a closed door. The door opens, and a family comes out, the father telling the daughter, “Get off the phone.” They walk next door to Mr. Sullivan’s house for dinner, and it’s a quiet, creepy scene. Mr. Sullivan is hung up on getting his weed whacker back. When the father admits he tossed it, the screen goes black. It’s a good, sufficiently unsettling opening, which also has just the right amount of humor (and the right kind of humor).

We then go to a young married couple, Marisol and Mike, who are looking to buy their first house. It’s a sunny day on a suburban street, in contrast to dark events of the film, and Marisol is determined to get this house. It’s revealed in the dialogue that the price has dropped enough that it’s come into their price range. And when they arrive at the house, Mike comments that the house next door is for sale too.

The real estate agent (Monique Parent) is delightfully quirky. She says, “You two are just the cutest couple,” which you might expect any real estate agent to say. But she follows it with “I just want to jump right in the sack with the both of you,” which you probably wouldn’t expect a real estate agent to say. (She’s a hot redhead, so I wouldn’t be opposed were I in Mike’s position.) When she indicates that all the furniture is include, Marisol whispers to Mike, “If we buy this place, all this stuff goes.” It’s interesting that Marisol has already gone from definitely wanting the house, to using the word “if.” It’s subtle, but shows that she already, perhaps subconsciously, knows that something is wrong. Mike immediately finds a red stain on a chair, which stretches believability a bit. The real estate agent flirts some more in the bedroom. Mike’s reactions and facial expressions are a bit much; there is nothing subtle about his performance here.

As they go into the basement, we have a flashback to earlier tenants down there during a big storm, and this is essentially the first of three short stories that all take place in the house, and particularly in the basement. (And there are flashbacks within the flashback.) We return to Marisol and Mike briefly before going into the next story.

The second story is about a man who keeps a woman in a cage in the basement. She acts as his muse, his audience (he calls her his partner), as he tortures and murders people. There’s a nice moment where the psycho has set up a television so the new torture victim can watch some of his earlier work. What I love is the shot of the girl (Holly Greene) looking over at the screen. She’s eating, and she looks over at the television like she’s watching some regular program during dinner. It’s a wonderfully casual, slightly interested look. She then comments on it, which takes away a bit from the moment, but is still interesting. I also like that we don’t see what’s on the screen, only the guy’s reaction. And while we don’t see the horror on the screen, there are certainly some gruesome shots in this story.

The third story is the family from the opening scene. And there are some more gruesome shots and some screwed up scenes that should appeal to horror fans.

This is a good independent, low-budget horror film. Sure, there is some uneven acting throughout the film, especially in the final scene. And I have to wonder why all the opening credits are replayed at the end of the film (perhaps simply to extend the length of the movie). But there is plenty of good stuff to appeal to horror fans. It’s interesting, because it doesn’t seem like the house turns good people bad. It’s that awful people are attracted to this house. The house wants a certain type of person to inhabit it. And that makes me wonder what the real estate agent’s connection is to it. I wanted a little more with her, something revealing her relation to it, besides that simply of her job. They’ve created an interesting character here whose tie to the house is different from that of other characters, so it seems she could have been used to better effect.

Special Features

The DVD has a lot of bonus material. Unfortunately, much of it is pointless and poorly shot.

Q&A Highlight Reel is footage from Q&A sessions after screenings of the film. This feature is approximately 103 minutes. The first Q&A is from Denver, and the sound isn’t that good, and because the panel was in the dark, we see other footage during it, which is really odd. The second, in Aurora, has a bit more light, but we still are shown other footage. They talk about two sequels they want to do. The third is from Elmira, New York. The fourth is in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The fifth is in Philadelphia, and suddenly the sound is much better for this Q&A. They talk about reshooting the ending of the film. The next is in Orlando, Florida, and this one is well lit. That one is really short. From there, they go to Buffalo, New York.

The bonus material includes the original ending, which is without a final audio mix. There is also some behind-the-scenes footage, with brief interviews with crew members and with cast members Monique Parent, Chris Raab and John Philbin.

Creation Of The Perfect House RV is four minutes of footage of an RV that they bought and fixed for their promotional tour. This and On The Road, which is footage of a meeting regarding promotion of the film and footage of guys on their laptops, are pointless and not at all interesting.

Buffalo: Countdown To Facebook Premiere is footage of the cast and crew gathering to watch the film in celebration of its premiere on Facebook, applauding each other, and then someone asking the actors if they liked the film. It’s basically a lot of jerking off, which is only interesting to those involved and possibly their closest family members. Buffalo: TV Press begins with video of crew members talking about getting sleep and doing laundry and catching up on emails and so on (who cares?), but then it becomes interesting when it turns to footage from a local television program where Andrea Vahl and Kris Hulbert appeared as guests.

Basement Walkthrough is pre-production video footage of the basement location.

There are four trailers for the film. In addition to the regular film trailer, there is a one-minute teaser trailer, an “audience trailer” (which includes feedback from audience members and quotes from reviews), and the original spec trailer. It’s interesting to see from the spec trailer which things they changed when they shot the film, and which they kept the same.

The Perfect House was directed by Kris Hulbert and Randy Kent, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on July 22, 2014 through Wild Eye Releasing.

DVD Review: Le Week-End

Le Week-End is an absolutely wonderful film starring Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan as Nick and Meg, a married couple spending a weekend in Paris on their thirtieth anniversary. The film opens on a train. We move down the aisle and settle on the couple. They’re clearly not the happiest folks, and he is looking through his pockets for their euros. Nick says, “You never lose anything.” And Meg responds, “I’ll lose you in a minute.” It’s a cute moment, but works on a much deeper level as well, setting up their perspectives and perhaps their desires. Nick then gets up and goes to another car for a cup of coffee. And there he sits by himself, and it is over that image of him alone, looking out the window, that the film’s title appears. Perfect.

Their room in Paris leaves a bit to be desired. “It’s beige,” Meg points out. And so she leaves, and he follows her to an expensive hotel. These two actors are so good, that their relationship – their history and current state – is almost immediately understood. When Meg goes to the hotel min-bar, Nick tries to stop her, saying “So far this city is a brilliantly designed machine for extracting all our money.”

There is something sweet and loving about their relationship, but also something sad, something lost. As when Nick asks, “Can I touch you,” and Meg responds, “What for?” Yes, it's delightfully funny but also quite sad too. As they’re leaving the hotel Meg says, “I might do it for you later.” Nick asks, “Really?” She says, “If you stay awake.” That line is inherently funny, but not played up or stressed at all, which is great.

There is a wonderful scene where they visit a famous cemetery. Nick says, “I have to say I am amazed by how mediocre I’ve turned out to be.” He reveals he’s been forced into early retirement. Meg says, “It’s not too late for you to find another direction.” And it feels that that is in some ways at the heart of the film. Is it too late? Can people change? What direction will their lives take? Nick says, “People don’t change.” Meg responds: “They do. They get worse.” And at a restaurant, Meg talks about starting again. She later tells Nick, “The other day, I’ll have you know, a young man, not entirely retarded, tried to pick me up.”

The film also stars Jeff Goldblum as Morgan, a man who knew Nick at school, and who suddenly runs into Nick and Meg on the street and invites them to a small party at his place. Jeff Goldblum is always interesting. He has these magnificent moments in every performance, where something is revealed. Here it comes when telling Nick about his life and his new wife in Paris. He says: “And she adores me. Can’t see through me, yet, but we know she will. I mean, she will.” It’s his delivery of “I mean, she will” that hits me hard. Up until then he’s been playing the host. He’s been talking at one level. And in this brief moment, in one sad line, spoken simply, his whole life is exposed. Jeff Goldblum is so adept at doing that, at picking just the right moment to reveal something more.

At one point, Band Of Outsiders is playing on the television – that famous and wonderful dance scene. Nick and Meg dance along to the image on screen. And later the scene is recreated. It’s totally delightful. I ended up just absolutely loving this film.

Le Week-End was directed by Roger Michell, who also directed Notting Hill and Venus.

Special Features

The DVD includes an audio commentary track by director Roger Michell and producer Kevin Loader. They mention that the first shot on the train was in fact the first shot done in production. The other folks on the train are all crew members, including Kevin Loader. It is interesting to learn where certain elements of the story came from. For example, Kevin had moved into a new house with rats. There are nice tidbits, like how the props person created white wine (water, with just drops of cola). They talk a bit about the Godard influence on the film. There is also interesting stuff about the scene where Jeff Goldblum meets the couple on the street, done with somewhat hidden cameras with long lenses, similar to the way parts of They All Laughed was shot.

A Weekend In Paris: The Making Of Le Week-End features interviews with cast and crew members, including writer Hanif Kureishi, director Roger Michell, producer Kevin Loader, and cast members Jim Broadbent, Lindsay Duncan and Jeff Goldblum. Lindsay Duncan gives some interesting thoughts on the differences in her approach to a role when the writing is good versus when the writing isn’t so good. There is a bit of behind-the-scenes footage as well. This feature is approximately sixteen minutes.

The special features also include a gallery of nineteen illustrations done by Jane Webster, as well as the film's trailer, and a short bit on how to dance "The Madison." (I tried to follow along with the dance, but I'm hopeless at it.)

Le Week-End was released on DVD on July 8, 2014.

DVD Review: Peter Brook: The Tightrope

If you’re someone who is at all interested in theater, then you’re well aware of Peter Brook. He has an impressive list of accomplishments, including directing productions of Measure For Measure, King Lear, Marat/Sade and the incredibly influential 1970 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Royal Shakespeare Company (the last two of which earned him Tony Awards for directing).  And he’s had a career in film too, directing the excellent 1963 film version of Lord Of The Flies, as well as the film version of Marat/Sade. He’s the kind of person you want to learn from. And you can learn a certain amount by studying footage of his productions. And now, with the release of Peter Brook: The Tightrope, you can almost sit in on a class that he teaches.

The film, which was directed by his son Simon Brook, is mostly footage of the class, but it opens with a bit from an interview. Peter Brook says: “There’s always this terrible moment at the beginning of everything when people come together and all of them are saying, ‘What the hell is it about? What are we doing here? Why are we here?’ And here it’s to explore something that very few people really see…making theatre that is real, that is alive, that is alive at every moment, that touches one, and in which once held doesn’t let one go.” It’s a perfect opening, and it shows the joy and focus and determination with which he works.

He also talks a bit about receiving requests to sit in on rehearsals and requests to demonstrate his exercises. This film then can function in part as a fulfillment of some of those requests, focusing on the tightrope exercise.  And it really is like sitting in on the class. The film is not rushed, but allows itself the natural pauses and reactions of both teacher and students.

It’s interesting that there is musical accompaniment to the exercises. I’ve never experienced anything like that in any of my acting classes. And the music is used to help explain how pauses affect the honesty of sound. Peter Brooks says, “There is an ever-changing tempo, rhythm, in which life itself flows. And that’s what we’re always looking for.”

I became thoroughly engrossed in the process, and thus in the film. It’s interesting how almost immediately the imaginary tightrope becomes real. Peter Brook says the difference between an actor and a non-actor lies in that the “gift of an actor is a certain link between the pure imagination and the body itself.”

By the way, some of these actors had worked with Peter Brook before. Both Shantala Shivalingappa and Yoshi Oida acted in Brook’s 2002 television version of The Tragedy Of Hamlet.

Special Features

The DVD includes a couple of special features. A Balancing Act is approximately thirty minutes of interviews with some of those involved in this project, including musicians Toshi Tsuchitori and Franck Krawczyk, and actors Yoshi Oida, Micha Lescot, Shantala Shivalingappa and Lydia Wilson. The DVD also includes a photo gallery.

Peter Brook: The Tightrope was released on June 3, 2014 through First Run Features.

DVD Review: Gangster

Gangster is based on the true story of Paul Ferris, a famous criminal in Glasgow. Also known as The Wee Man, this film stars Martin Compston (Piggy) as Paul Ferris, John Hannah as Tam McGraw, Patrick Bergin as Arthur Thompson, and Denis Lawson as Willie Ferris. The bulk of this film takes place in the 1980s, but it also uses flashbacks to the 1970s to show key moments from his youth that might account for the course his life took.

It opens with Paul Ferris in jail. We hear the sounds of someone being beaten. The film then cuts to Paul as a child, hearing similar sounds coming from a van outside his window. His father, Willie (Denis Lawson), agrees that the sounds are from monsters, and he gives Paul three rules to surviving in the harsh world outside their home: beware of strangers, be loyal, and be a lion. Young Paul then sees that it was in fact the police doing the beating.

Life is tough for young Paul, as he is bullied by some older boys, the Banks brothers, who early on are shown smacking him and kicking his dog. Six years later, Paul is going a date, but is still harassed by the Banks brothers. There is a nice moment where his father walks out with him, and tells him he knows he’s carrying a knife. He tells him to give it to him because if Paul has it he’ll end up using it and regretting it. But when the Banks brothers show up at the party, Paul goes back to retrieve the knife and ends up stabbing two guys. Because one of them was in the process of raping a woman, we figure, screw it, those guys deserve what they got. But so we don’t align ourselves too strongly with Paul Ferris, that scene is followed by a good, intense, quiet scene in which he reveals that he enjoyed stabbing those men.

Paul Ferris is invited to work for crime boss Arthur Thompson, known as The Godfather (and yes, in real life he was known by that name; and yes, the film does make a reference to the film The Godfather, as a couple of the men laugh at Junior Thompson for watching it repeatedly). In a flashback, we see Paul’s father warning him to stay away from Arthur Thompson, and in another flashback we see a good reason for his father’s warning.

John Hannah (one of my favorite actors) plays Tam McGraw, a businessman and criminal whose nickname “The Licensee” is said to come from the fact that he is an informant for the police and in return has license to do as he pleases.

While the story is interesting, it’s difficult to really like any of these people, even when Paul swears he’s going to lead a straight life. He realizes he’s becoming the very thing he hated (it sure takes him a while), and swears that he’s going to give up crime after his wife becomes pregnant. But there are good performances by Martin Compston, John Hannah, Patrick Bergin, Denis Lawson and especially by Stephen McCole as Junior Thompson.

The film seems to skip some important scenes, for there are times when it takes a moment to figure out just where we are, and just what the current status of the various relationships is. I wish the film would actually take more time. And I would have liked more scenes with Paul’s parents after Paul set out on the path of crime, especially as we get flashbacks of his father warning him to stay away from the very people he now aligns himself with. How did his father take it? How did their relationship change? There are little hints, but Paul’s relationship to his parents is interesting enough to warrant more scenes. Plus, it would just be nice to have more of his father because he’s played by Denis Lawson, whom many know as Wedge Antilles from the original Star Wars trilogy. (Lawson apparently turned down a role in the new Star Wars film – good for him.)

Sadly, at the end there is suddenly some terrible voice over narration by Paul Ferris: “Some people believe that destiny is preordained. I’m not sure. I like to think we each choose our own path. I chose to be a gangster.” Well, destiny, by definition, is preordained. The screenwriter should not use a word if he’s unsure of its definition.

The DVD includes the film’s trailer, which shockingly also uses that awful line of narration. Again, destiny is preordained.

Gangster is scheduled to be released on DVD on July 22, 2014 through Inception Media Group.

DVD Review: Aloha, Bobby And Rose

The best decade for film was the 1970s. No question about it. And yes, that’s even with taking into consideration such awful films as The Duchess And The Dirtwater Fox, Harper Valley PTA and The Bad News Bears Go To Japan. A really good film from that decade that I had somehow missed until now is Aloha, Bobby And Rose, starring Paul Le Mat and Dianne Hull. It is being issued on DVD through Timeless Media Group and Shout! Factory.

It opens with a woman reminiscing about the 1940s. She tells her daughter: “Oh, honey, you should have seen Hollywood in the forties. Things were more romantic then.” She talks to her daughter about how she quit her job, and about a good-looking man that she met. “The good ones don’t come along every day, but when they do…” And you might expect that the film would then go back to the 1940s. But Elton John’s “Bennie And The Jets” plays during the opening credits. This is no flashback film.

We’re introduced to Bobby (Paul Le Mat), who is losing money in a pool hall, money he doesn’t have. After promising to deliver the money the next night, Bobby goes cruising while an Emerson, Lake And Palmer song plays. (There is a lot of great music in this film, including several songs from Elton John.) Seeing Paul Le Mat cruising of course makes me think of American Graffiti, which had come out only two years earlier. And as in that film, Paul Le Mat is pulled over by the cops. And as in that movie, Paul Le Mat does a little road racing. And that’s all in the first ten minutes of the film. (And like that film, this one takes place over a short period of time.)

Bobby works as a mechanic in a garage, along with his friend Moxey (played by a young Robert Carradine – this was nearly a decade before Revenge Of The Nerds), who is applying to go to transmission school so that he can make more money. While working, Bobby meets Rose, and the two are almost immediately attracted to one another. Perhaps part of Rose’s willingness to follow her heart is due to the speech her mother gave her at the beginning of the film.

The film takes place in Los Angeles, and on their first date, they drive around the city (visiting Pink’s, driving by Tower Records and Rainbow Bar And Grill on Sunset, and seeing large billboards for records such as The Rolling Stones’ Goats Head Soup). All of this footage is wonderful. And they joke around, getting to know each other. When Rose shows Bobby some photos, Bobby asks, “Is that your father?” “That’s my dog!” Rose exclaims (her delivery is adorable). Bobby responds, “Oh, I thought it was a guy with a mustache on his hands and knees.” They talk about going to Hawaii, though it’s obvious they can’t possibly afford it. Rose says, “Every time I plan something, it just never works out.”

Later in the date, a little, seemingly harmless prank at a convenience store leads to serious trouble.

This entire movie is excellent, but the scene where they crash their car (to “The Loco-motion”) is fantastic. I’ve never seen it done quite like that before. It’s intense, believable, and almost beautiful. The scene where the police help Bobby is also really good. The film has a very honest, real feel to it, and great performances by the two leads. I also love the way this film was shot. Things are allowed to be in shadow when they should be.

Aloha, Bobby And Rose was written and directed by Floyd Mutrux, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on July 29, 2014 through Timeless Media Group and Shout! Factory. The DVD includes the film’s trailer.

DVD Review: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “Keys Of Friendship”

Keys Of Friendship, the new My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic DVD is a collection of five episodes from the fourth season of the show. It features what for me is one of the best episodes of the entire series, “Pinkie Apple Pie.”

“Rarity Takes Manehattan”

In the first episode, “Rarity Takes Manehattan,” Rarity goes to Manehattan for fashion week, and all the ponies are excited to join her, especially as she bought them tickets to a big musical. Pinkie Pie, of course, is especially excited. “I love jumping up and down,” she exclaims. And there’s a nice moment when Rainbow Dash pokes fun at the idea of musicals, leading of course directly into a song about generosity sung by Rarity. But when she helps out an old acquaintance, that pony rips off her designs, and the city’s harsh side affects Rarity. Rarity sings a second song later. This episode features some sweet messages, including being able to see your friends at their worst without letting that affect your friendship. There is also a funny play on the title of the series.

“Pinkie Apple Pie”

Pinkie Pie is my favorite character. She is the best, no matter what my eight-year-old niece says. The opening moment of “Pinkie Apple Pie” is so funny with Pinkie Pie imitating Twilight Sparkle’s startled scream. And then her delighted and excited reaction to learning about genealogy is absolutely wonderful. She reads she’s related to Applejack. To find out if it’s true, Applejack and her family visit a distant relative. Pinkie Pie joins them on their road trip, leading to a musical number about family. This episode is a total joy, with lots of funny moments, especially related to Pinkie Pie’s scrapbook. The cave scene is particularly hilarious (“Best scary unidentifiable creature ever!”). This is one of my personal favorite episodes of the entire series.

“It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies”

Fluttershy is making things perfect for the Breezies’ journey through town. And when things go wrong, due to a minor problem caused by Spike, Fluttershy leaps to the rescue. But then it’s difficult to let the Breezies go. Some of them are reluctant to leave Fluttershy’s side. Pinkie Pie still has the episode’s best moment. Twilight Sparkle says she’s going to try a spell that might feel funny at first, but the others will just have to trust her. Pinkie Pie shouts out gleefully, “I love new ideas that make me feel funny at first!” And at one point a pony goes by wearing an old pair of 3D glasses – an odd little detail.

“Twilight’s Kingdom, Part 1”

Twilight Sparkle is unsure what her new role as a princess really means. She was hoping for more responsibilities, and sings a song about it. A dark figure, Lord Tirek, enters the kingdom to steal magic, and Discord (voiced by John de Lancie, who is wonderful as always) is brought in to help combat him. But Lord Tirek appeals to Discord’s earlier evil nature and gets him to join him. Objects from earlier episodes play an important part here.

“Twilight’s Kingdom, Part 2”

Princess Celestia’s solution is to remove their magic before Tirek can steal it. They transfer it to Twilight to keep it safe, since Tirek probably is unaware that Twilight is now a princess. Meanwhile Tirek is growing with power, even turning on Discord. Twilight eventually learns her role as a princess, and sings a song at the end.

Bonus Feature

The DVD includes one bonus feature – a sing-along of the song “Generosity,” from the episode “Rarity Takes Manehattan.”

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: “Keys Of Friendship” is scheduled to be released on DVD on July 29, 2014 through Shout! Factory.

DVD Review: Lose Your Head

Lose Your Head is an unusual and engaging thriller about a man named Luis who travels to Berlin, looking for a little excitement, which he certainly finds. It stars Fernando Tielve, Marko Mandic, Sesede Terziyan and Samia Chancrin, and was directed by Stefan Westerwelle and Patrick Schuckmann.

The film opens with shots of Luis (Fernando Tielve) traveling by train to Berlin, cut with shots of people at a club, while a strange, slow song repeats, “And I won’t disappoint you again.” Luis wears headphones, so the song could be there, or at the club, or both. All of this works to set the tone and the story of a young man who is somewhat outside of his element, but who wants to immerse himself – however briefly – in the action of Berlin.

While waiting in line to get into a club, Luis runs into some people he knows. But when they’re turned away by a doorman with some sort of God complex, Luis says he’s with a sexy blonde and is allowed in. That’s his first step away from what is familiar. It might seem insignificant, but what’s wonderful is that he doesn’t see those friends again. It’s like that first step away from what is familiar is irreversible. This girl, Grit (Samia Chancrin), invites him to do cocaine with her in a back room, and he is suddenly part of her world, her group. And the next day he is still with her and her friends. When in their car, he is suddenly alarmed because he realizes he’s lost his hat. No one reacts in the slightest, no one (not even Grit) bothering to even feign interest or concern. It’s a nice early moment, giving a taste of this world’s attitude. And what’s telling is Luis’ reaction to this: rather than expressing any desire to get out and look for his hat, he settles back in the seat. It’s the first bit of his identity that he allows to be changed without a fuss, but not the last.

I love how this film uses seemingly small moments like this to set things into motion, and to set tone. Later while Grit and Luis talk, we catch bits of other conversations, including one in which a woman talks about a submissive man she made crawl around on the floor, eating cornflakes. It creates this delightfully odd atmosphere – odd in as much as the odd seems commonplace. The tale is not told with excitement, but with a detachment, almost like recounting a dream that no longer holds interest.

After seemingly being abandoned by Grit and her gang, Luis meets Viktor (Marko Mandic), a strange man who gives him drugs and pushes him into the river. Luis allows himself to be carried into the lives of people he’s just met – first the woman, now this man, who seems a bit dangerous (Mandic delivers a very strong performance here). The man cuts Luis’ hair, then hands him a shirt from a locked cabinet. Anyone else might be creeped out by this – but Luis seems to crave it, to be drawn to it.

Meanwhile a man and woman are searching for Dimitri, a relative who has been missing. When they see Luis from behind, they at first mistake him for Dimitri, as the resemblance is now quite strong.

We get immersed in this unusual world fairly quickly. This film is at times tense and surprising, without straying from the world it’s created.  The film keeps us unsettled for a while, not knowing what to think about certain characters, which is how Luis must feel as well. “I want you to trust me,” Viktor tells Luis. But can he? Should he? The film takes some surprising turns, and its mood stays with you.

Lose Your Head was released on DVD on June 17, 2014 through Canteen Outlaws and TLA Releasing. The DVD includes the film’s trailer.

DVD Review: The Beat Hotel

The Beat Hotel documents the cheap hotel in Paris where from 1958 to 1963 most of the key people from the Beat generation would get together. At the beginning of the film, photographer and former Beat Hotel resident Harold Chapman says, “It was an entire community of complete odd balls – bizarre, strange people, poets, writers, artists, musicians, pimps, prostitutes, policemen even who had a secret mistress there.” Those folks included two of the three most famous members of the Beat Generation – Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs (Jack Kerouac didn’t live there).

Though the world has lost William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso, several of the residents of this hotel survive and are interviewed in this film. Folks like Harold Chapman, Elliot Rudie, Peter Golding, “Cyclops” Lester share their memories and impressions of this unique hotel and living situation.

Photographer Harold Chapman recalls his time there as the “happiest times of my life.” He tells of how he ended up there, how he’d originally gone to Paris with the aim of writing a very different type of book. The film treats us to many of his excellent photographs of the folks living in the hotel.

The film provides a bit of background on the beats in New York and in San Francisco, focusing on Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, the resulting obscenity trials being what led Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky to go to Europe. There is also some material on William S. Burroughs and his novel The Naked Lunch.

Beat scholar Barry Miles says, “The nice thing about the Beat Hotel was that once you got a room in there, you could stay there for a long period, and it was very, very inexpensive, and it gave people the time and space to explore their ideas and not be pressured by money worries all the time.”  Sounds perfect.

There is some interesting information on Madame Rachou, who ran the place and was quite particular about who stayed there. Basically, she let in only the eccentrics. And there is a great and detailed description of the state of the rooms and the bathrooms. Particularly interesting is that she kept track of exactly how much electricity each room was using, and that residents were generally allowed only 40 watts. We also get a tour of the current hotel, which has changed greatly. Madame Rachou retired in 1963, and that was the end of the Beat Hotel. The new owners redid the place, which forced out all the writers and artists.

The film also gets a bit into Shakespeare And Company, including an interview with store owner George Whitman. There is some good information about this book store, and about Ginsberg doing readings there.

Throughout the documentary there are lots of great anecdotes, like about the beginning of the cut-up method which Burroughs employed so well. The film also brings Harold Chapman and Elliot Rudie together again, and there is footage of them reminiscing, as well as footage of Chapman and “Cyclops” Lester getting together again.

The Beat Hotel is a completely enjoyable film about a kind of glorious moment in time. I wish I could travel back there and experience just a bit of what is talked about and shown in this film.

Special Features

The DVD includes some bonus material, including a ten-minute section in which Harold Chapman discusses his photography. He talks about the Zen approach to photography, and about photographing William S. Burroughs. While he talks, his photographs are shown on screen. There is a short deleted scene about William S. Burroughs and Ian Sommerville, which includes more from the interview with George Whitman.

There is also a short film by director Alan Govenar titled The Dream Machine. It’s kind of a beautiful demonstration of the dream machine. The bonus features include an art gallery of drawings by Elliot Rudie and a short written biography of Alan Govenar.

The Beat Hotel was directed by Alan Govenar, and is available on DVD through First Run Features.

DVD Review: Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXX

I am always happy when a new volume of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is released. This show is so much fun to watch. If you are unfamiliar with the series, the premise is simple: a man and some robots are stuck in space and forced by a mad scientist to watch bad movies. To make it through their ordeal, the man and two of the robots poke fun at the films. That’s basically it. It’s like watching people watch Rocky Horror. It sounds like it should be terrible, but it’s totally wonderful. Volume XXX contains four episodes, each on its own disc, as well as bonus material. While previous volumes have included two Joel episodes and two Mike episodes, this one includes only one Joel episode and three Mike episodes. Does that mean we’re running out of Joel episodes?

Disc 1: The Black Scorpion

The Black Scorpion is an early Joel episode (with even just a little bit of an explanation of what’s going on at the beginning of the show). This is when Josh Weinstein was doing the voice of Tom Servo. The Black Scorpion begins with shots of volcanoes and lots of narration, leading the guys to joke: “And then tragedy struck. We ran out of stock footage.” When two characters find a damaged car, one asks, “What could do this to a car out here?” Crow responds, “Well, I’m no insurance adjuster, but a big truck or the neighborhood kids could have.”

The gang applauds every time the two men introduce themselves, and they do it often. When a woman asks the two men how things are in town, Crow answers: “Well, the milling festival is over, ended in a weird steak fight. Found a baby, though. Gave it to a priest. And that pretty much sums up where we are in the movie.” That part cracked me up so much that I had to watch it three or four times. It’s Crow’s delivery of “Found a baby, though. Gave it to a priest” that is so bloody funny.

During one of the breaks, the gang goofs around with subtitles while trying out their Spanish. This episode has a few references to M.A.S.H. and references to Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb.

This DVD includes Stinger Of Death: Making “The Black Scorpion,” which provides some information on some of the creative team behind The Black Scorpion, including Jack Dietz, the producer, and Edward Ludwig, the director. The DVD also includes the film’s theatrical trailer.

Disc 2: Outlaw

Outlaw is one of the first Mike Nelson episodes. Outlaw (also known as Outlaw Of Gor and Gor II) is a terrible science fiction film that stars a very bored Jack Palance. The gang of course does Jack Palance impressions throughout the film, and all of that stuff is great. This is a seriously funny episode (often the worst films make the best episodes). At the beginning of the film, someone says, “Gor is a harsh world, and she breeds harsh people.” Tom Servo adds, “But the rents are reasonable.” Crow says, “Sorry, folks, we simply could not afford to have special effects.” There is a seriously annoying character in the film, and it’s not long before the gang starts chanting, “Kill him.” When a woman kisses this character, the gang jokes, “Mmm, you smell like comic books.”

After the cheapest sword prop is stuck into a bad guy, the guys joke, “A sword, a gel pack, and a stunt man all for a dollar twenty-five.” Not only are the props cheap, but they’re handled poorly. At one point the hero throws a sword at a villain, and it clearly hits him hilt first. So the villain turns the sword around to correct for the mistake, leading Mike to say, “Oh, thank you, I’ll just stab myself here.” And about one of the sets, they joke, “The world’s first successful paper mache village.”

This episode has one of the best break segments of the series. The gang sings a delicious song about breasts that even includes a reference to an old television commercial for Slinky. And there are plenty of pop culture references in the episode, including references to Jesus Christ Superstar, Monty Python And The Holy Grail, Happy Days, Star Trek, They Live, The Who, Supertramp, It’s A Beautiful Day (the gang sings, “White slave in a golden cage”) and Emerson, Lake And Palmer.

This DVD includes three special features. The first, Writer Of Gore: The Novels Of John Norman, is an interview with Richard Curtis, John Norman’s agent/publisher. John Norman is also a teacher, and under his real name has written two works of philosophy. It’s interesting that the rising tide of feminism was to blame for the fall in popularity of the books. The second special feature, Director Of Gor: On Set With John “Bud” Cardos, is an interview with director John “Bud” Cardos. He’s not on a set, as the title seems to suggest. This is a new interview, in which he talks about the sets and the actors and so on. The third special feature, Producer Of Gor: Adventures With Harry Alan Towers, is an interview with Danny Lerner, who was the production manager on Outlaw. He talks about Harry Alan Towers, who also produced Fu Manchu movies, plus Jess Franco’s films. Lerner also talks a bit about certain cast members.

Disc 3: The Projected Man

The Projected Man is a later Mike Nelson episode, featuring Pearl, and with Bill Corbett doing the voice of Crow. The Projected Man is a British film, leading to lots of delightfully bad accents from the gang as well as their repeated use of the word “knickers.” At the beginning when a woman parks her car, Crow jokes, “Ah, parking – what a way to establish character and create tension.” When the woman’s watch spins backward, the gang jokes, “Kcot kcit, kcot kcit.” There’s a character named Mitchell, which allows for references to the film of that name, which MST3K tore apart in an earlier episode. And when one characters says, “Mitchell, I want you to regard what I’m about to say as highly confidential,” the guys quip, “I’m a shemale.”

The Projected Man is a rather dull film, and the gang constantly rips on it for that. When one character gets a bit upset while on the phone, they remark, “The bickering explodes across the screen.” And when scientists demonstrate their work by trying to project a rat from one cage to another, Crow says, “Yes, no more tedious carrying rats across the room.” When Mitchell says, “He was obviously trying to project himself,” Mike adds, “Into a different movie.” There is a little bit of excitement, however, when a cute blonde slips out of her clothes, leading Crow to exclaim, “I declare this movie suddenly great.”

There are pop culture references to Duran Duran, The Beatles, Petula Clark, Charlie Parker, Pete Townshend, and This Is Spinal Tap.

The DVD includes Shock To The System: Creating The Projected Man, a short featurette in which film historian Tom Weaver talks about the film, including how the director was fired and replaced. The theatrical trailer is also included, but it’s full screen so the edges are cut off.

Disc 4: It Lives By Night

It Lives By Night is one of the final episodes of the series, and is a film about a man who begins turning into a bat after being bitten by one. At the beginning, when a woman is shown in bed next to a man who is tossing and turning, Crow quips, “Alanis Morissette – no wonder he’s having a nightmare.” (I appreciate that, because I cannot think of a more irritating singer than Alanis Morissette.) When the man chooses work over pleasure with his wife, Mike responds for the woman, “I’ll hit the snooze button on my biological clock.” When this couple strays from a cave tour and immediately gets into trouble, Mike says, “Finally an excuse to drink my urine.” Later, when a doctor hands a nurse a used needle, the gang jokes, “Here, dump that in the ocean.” When the woman stops the man from leaving the hotel room, she says, “No, the police may be watching,” and Crow adds, “I told them they could.” When the man begins acting like a bat, Crow says, “It’d be a better movie if he had gotten bitten by a cow.” Indeed.

There are lots of Mary Tyler Moore references in this episode, due to the female lead’s resemblance to her. There are also references to Eyes Of Laura Mars, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Joe Cocker, Olivia Newton-John, Ozzy Osbourne (when a bat is on screen, the gang jokes, “Please, just hide me from Ozzy Osbourne”) and Wings (the gang sings, “Bat on the run”).

This disc includes a trailer for “The Frank,” which has a funny Star Wars reference.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXX is scheduled to be released on July 29, 2014 through Shout! Factory.

DVD Review: Shark Collection

Since I was a child I’ve been fascinated with sharks. And judging by the number of films and documentaries about sharks, I know I’m far from alone in this interest. Shark Collection contains three shark documentaries: Shark Girl, Death Beach and Great White Code Red. Each is forty-six minutes long.

Shark Girl

The first of the three documentaries, Shark Girl, is my favorite. It follows Madison Stewart, a young woman in Australia whose passion for sharks has led to activism and her mission to protect them. She herself narrates the opening of the film: “I love sharks. I have never felt fear of them. I would risk life for them.” She talks about her obsession with the Great Barrier Reef, an area she started diving at the age of twelve. She then left school at the age of fourteen with the mission of saving sharks.

The documentary is narrated, and gives us some information on the danger to the Great Barrier Reef: “During little more than Madison’s lifetime, the reef has lost nearly half its coral. And now the very creature that keeps the reef healthy is threatened too.” The narrator is, obviously, referring to the shark, which as an apex predator, helps keep other species in check. The threat to sharks poses, by extension, a threat to the entire marine ecosystem.

There is quite a bit of interesting information and some staggering statistics. “An estimated ninety percent of the world’s sharks have already disappeared.” That’s incredible. I had no idea the problem was that extreme. I also had no idea that people eat shark meat. The information on sharks as food is some of the most interesting material in this film, particularly the study on the mercury content of shark meat. There is some interesting and horrifying footage from China.

There is also a lot of great and beautiful underwater footage. Sharks are fully protected in the Bahamas, and the footage there of Madison feeding the sharks is incredible. The documentary also includes interviews with marine biologists.

Shark Girl was written and directed by Gisela Kaufmann.

Death Beach

Death Beach, the second documentary, is quite a bit different. While the first shows how safe people can be while swimming with sharks, the second opens with this bit of narration: “It’s one of the most dangerous beaches on Earth. Six deaths in five years, and an untold number of sharks. Something has changed here, driving sharks into frenzy.”

This documentary focuses on Second Beach, on the east coast of South Africa. It begins with the story of a sixteen-year-old boy attacked and killed by a shark, with interviews with family members. Fatal attacks are very rare, but all six attacks at this beach were fatal. The documentary follows a shark expert trying to find out what type of shark was behind the attacks and why the sharks are now feeding at this beach.

I could do without the recreations of the attacks. I almost never like recreations in documentaries. I also wish the film didn’t rely so heavily on narration, and instead did more interviews. Still, it’s fairly interesting, particularly the scenes where they learn about the different types of sharks that are in the area, sharks they never expected to find there.  There is also some information on how sharks smell and hear prey.

Great White Code Red

The third documentary, Great White Code Red, focuses on the great white shark and the physical attributes that make it such an interesting fish. A shark expert and a biologist dissect a great white shark, and that is the centerpiece of the film.

They talk about how it’s able to move so quickly. The narrator says: “The great white does not have a single real bone in its entire body. Its rubbery skeleton is formed from a lightweight flexible cartilage which provides the strength of bone without the weight, and allows for extreme agility.” A great white is able to swim up to thirty-five miles per hour.

There is some excellent information, particularly on how the shark senses prey. Because of its lateral line, a great white can hear all along its body. The lateral line is “a small hollow tube which acts like an extension of the ear.” A great white shark’s sensitivity to smell is “ten thousand times greater than a human’s.” They talk about just how a shark’s sense of smell works.

As they discuss each part of the shark, they show it on the specimen that they’re dissecting. The information on the shark’s brain is fascinating, as is the fact that the shark’s giant liver gives the fish buoyancy. There is also some interesting information on seals, mostly in relation to what attracts sharks to them.

While the information is excellent, the style of the film is rather annoying. There is some nonsense at the beginning, as four men with flashlights enter a lab, shining their lights on information on the great white shark. Are we supposed to believe that these men are breaking into the lab to steal something? Then it shows the men donning lab coats in slow motion. The film should dispense with all of that nonsense, and just present the information.

Great White Code Red was written and directed by Benjamin G. Hewitt.

Shark Collection is scheduled to be released on DVD on July 22, 2014 through Inception Media Group. All three films are on a single disc. There are no special features.

Blu-ray/DVD Review: Ginger Snaps (Collector’s Edition)

Ginger Snaps is a truly excellent horror film starring Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle as two sisters who are social misfits and best friends. They are going through the normal changes of becoming adults, and the older of the two is going through some more extreme changes as well after being attacked by a werewolf.

Ginger Snaps was originally released in 2000, and now a Collector’s Edition packed with lots of special features is being released through Scream Factory (a division of Shout! Factory). The film opens with a delightfully creepy scene involving a child in a sandbox. The reaction of the other neighborhood children to the mother’s screams is great – they continue with their game of street hockey.

Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins) are somewhat obsessed with death, and at the age of eight they had entered a pact to commit suicide together. Now Brigitte is beginning to rethink this: “It’s the idea of everyone staring at me just lying there. I mean, what if they just laugh?” We’re introduced to them through a series of staged suicides, a sequence which ends with the slides being shown in a classroom, to the teacher’s surprise and disgust. The teacher, by the way, is played by the wonderful Peter Keleghan, who played Jim Walcott in the incredible Canadian series The Newsroom (one of the best television series ever made). This film has a really good cast, including Mimi Rogers as the slightly misguided mother to the two girls.

Ginger and Brigitte are late bloomers, and the very moment that Ginger (at almost sixteen) finally begins menstruating (and says, “I just got the curse”), she is attacked by a werewolf. The attack scene is intense and done quite well, and afterwards Ginger begins noticing her body changing. But of course she is confused, because some of the changes might be the normal things that all girls go through. And that leads to a humorous scene with the nurse in which she tells Ginger that the heavy blood flow is normal. Brigitte asks, “What about hair that wasn’t there before, and pain?” The nurse responds, “Comes with the territory.” It’s funny, but oddly sad at the same time, which is something I love about this film.

Ginger and Brigitte kept to themselves, and now that Ginger is changing and becoming interested in boys, Brigitte is even more alone. After Ginger’s first date, she tells Brigitte, “I get this ache, and I thought it was for sex, but it’s to tear everything into fucking pieces.” There is humor to this film, but it’s never silly. It never pokes fun at the world it’s created, and thus it avoids a mistake genre films often make.

Ginger Snaps has everything you could possibly want from a film: a good story, interesting and believable characters, and some really good performances. It just happens that it’s a horror film. But it’s really about the characters and the changes that people go through as they grow up. These are characters that you care about (even Trina, the bully character, is well rounded as we learn a bit more about her). It also has an original and interesting take on the werewolf story.

Special Features

As you might expect, this Collector’s Edition has plenty of bonus material. There are two separate commentary tracks, one by director John Fawcett, the other by writer Karen Walton. John Fawcett talks about the casting, and how the two leads actually already knew each other. He mentions that he was attracted to goth girls when he was in high school. There is some interesting information on how the attack scene was shot, and about what Mimi Rogers brought to the project. He provides good tidbits about the film, like how Lucy Lawless does all the announcements in the high school scenes. Karen Walton talks about the influences on the script and her goals for the film.

Ginger Snaps: Blood, Teeth And Fur is over an hour of interviews with key crew members, such as director John Fawcett, writer Karen Walton, producer Steven Hoban, composer Mike Shields, editor Brett Sullivan and SFX artist Paul Jones. There are also interviews with cast members Emily Perkins (who talks about her character and the similarities to her own feelings while growing up) and Jesse Moss.

Growing Pains: Puberty In Horror Films is a panel discussion about how the female puberty experience is portrayed in horror movies. The panel includes Kristy Jett, Axelle Carolyn, Heidi Honeycutt and Rebekah McKendry. This feature is approximately twenty-seven minutes.

There are twenty-five minutes of deleted scenes, including more stuff with Peter Keleghan, Mimi Rogers and Kris Lemche. You can watch the deleted scenes with commentary by director John Fawcett. He talks about why each scene was cut, but also what he likes about these scenes. You can also watch these scenes with audio commentary by writer Karen Walton. It’s interesting that she felt she had to write a particular scene with Brigitte and Sam because Sam needed more of a story, and Brigitte needed to connect with him, and she tells her feelings about the scene.

Featurette is a five-minute promo reel of behind-the-scenes footage and short interviews with John Fawcett, Katharine Isabelle, Emily Perkins, Kris Lemche, Mimi Rogers, Karen Lee Hall, Karen Walton and Steven Hoban.

There is footage from the auditions of Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins (Emily has short hair, which is mentioned in the commentary), as well as footage of rehearsals, most of which is with the two leads. There is also a five-minute feature on The Creation Of The Beast, with behind-the-scenes footage of the werewolf creature. Being John Fawcett is a two-minute bit featuring footage of Katharine and Emily talking about how they auditioned together.

The special features also include two trailers, two television spots, and a photo gallery of production design artwork.

Ginger Snaps was directed by John Fawcett. The Collector’s Edition is scheduled to be released as a Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack on July 22, 2014 through Scream Factory (a division of Shout! Factory).