Blu-ray/DVD Review: The Twilight People

The Twilight People is a fun, low-budget adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Island Of Dr. Moreau, starring John Ashley, Pat Woodell, Jan Merlin, Charles Macaulay and Pam Grier, and directed by Eddie Romero. It has now been released as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, with several special features.

The film has an unusual and very cool opening sequence, with two scuba divers grabbing and tying up a third. He is hoisted out of the water onto the boat like a large fish, upside down, his ankles tied together with rope. The film establishes right away that this kidnaped man, Matt Farrell (John Ashley), is a hunter, is intelligent, and is known as the last Renaissance man, so he can probably handle himself. Steinman (Jan Merlin), the villain in charge of the kidnaping operation, tells him, “I’m kind of a hunter myself.” I love the strangely playful nature of Steinman, and the not-quite-friendly relationship between him and Neva (Pat Woodell). Neva basically scolds him in this scene, “You’re talking too much.” She is intriguing and beautiful (and looks fantastic in that blue sweater in the second half of the film).

They take him to a mansion on an island, where Dr. Gordon (Charles Macauley) is conducting his own peculiar brand of scientific research. Dr. Gordon tells Matt that he was chosen because of his mental and physical capabilities. “You are to participate in the single most important scientific event in the history of life on this planet.” No ego there, eh? Dr. Gordon mentions that the world is changing, but that humans are not adapting. “The human race cannot survive unless it remakes itself.” Matt’s response is perfect: “I’m a little skeptical about building master races, maybe it’s the unsavory precedents.”

Though a fellow test subject tells Matt that escape is hopeless, Matt doesn’t buy it, and manages to get out of his locked room fairly easily. He sneaks through the rooms, finding files and weird scientific equipment and a severed head in a jar. But that’s nothing compared to the real experiment being conducted by Dr. Gordon and his daughter, with various test subjects kept in cages in the dungeon below the house.

Steinman is probably the most interesting character, the way he teases and taunts Matt, basically daring him to try to escape, wanting him to, knowing that he’s been snooping around the house already and not really caring. And it seems Neva has taken a shine to Matt, keeping his file on her bedside table. Well, she’s spent her life on an island with her father, so she must have some sexual longing and frustration, unless of course she’s into beasts. Interestingly, when one of the half-beasts gets loose, Matt rescues the daughter and forces the creature back into its cage, rather than freeing all of them. After all, he’s quite aware that the good doctor has something similar planned for him. He says as much to the daughter.

The film has some truly good moments, in part because of the capable cast. I particularly love the look that Neva gives her father when he catches her kissing Matt. It’s defiant, smug, and also childish, which is perfect because even though she has been trained as a doctor, there is something immature about her. She makes me think a bit of Miranda from The Tempest. And the scene between Neva and is Steinman is excellent. The scenes in the house are, in general, more interesting than the stuff in the forest, though at times it is interesting to see how the half-beasts relate to each other (and there is at least one big – and totally delightful – surprise with them). I like that the doctor really believes he’s doing the right thing, trying to save life, not destroy it, as he tells his daughter. And it’s difficult to argue with the doctor when he says, “The human race has always wallowed in self-destruction.”

Special Features

A commentary track is included, with David Del Valle and David Decoteau offering their thoughts on the film. They talk about seeing this movie in the drive-in theatre. They talk about John Ashley, about films being shot in the Philippines, and about other film versions of The Island Of Dr. Moreau.

The disc also contains an interview with filmmaker Eddie Romero. He tells some wonderful stories, including starting his writing career when still a child. He talks about what interests him in the films he makes, addressing some of the criticism of his work: “I don’t claim to be a master of cinema.” He jokes about how people like some of his worst films. “I get letters. So there is no accounting for people’s tastes.” He talks about working on Apocalypse Now, about meeting John Ashley, and about Pam Grier.

The film’s trailer is also included (the narration for this trailer is bloody great: “From the cave of cruelty they came, test tube terrors evolved from evil”), as are three television spots.

This special Blu-ray/DVD combo pack of The Twilight People was released on March 13, 2018 through MVD Visual.

DVD Review: The Last Straight Man

The Last Straight Man is an unusual film about two close male friends who become intimate the night before one of them is to be married. Though the groom insists it is a one-time thing, the two meet once a year to continue the relationship. The film stars Mark Cirillo as Lewis and Scott Sell as Cooper.

It opens with almost the last image I’d expect from a film about a relationship between two men – a woman’s naked breasts. And it is over that image that the film’s title appears, a delightfully humorous touch. The woman, it turns out, is doing a strip tease for a group of men gathered in a hotel room for a bachelor party. The groom, Cooper, gets special attention from the stripper, while Lewis, seated off in a corner, isn’t as excited as the other guys. Later, after the others have left, Lewis and Cooper continue drinking. It doesn’t seem that Lewis is really all that straight, as he rests his head on Cooper’s chest at one point and then asks Lewis about his wildest sexual experiences. Why would he be probing Lewis’ sexual history if he weren’t already interested? Cooper even wants to watch gay porn with him. Clearly he’s curious, and it’s not long before they’re fooling around. But when Lewis goes to kiss him, Cooper backs off. “Because it’s more intimate,” Cooper explains. The next morning Cooper says they can never repeat the previous night’s actions. What I like, however, is that he tells Lewis that he enjoyed it and that, if anything, it has brought them closer. I’m glad the film doesn’t choose the more obvious route of regret and fear.

Interestingly, we do not get the wedding scene. That’s not what the film is about. We are shown the passage of time through a brief series of stills, and then the film returns to the same hotel room four years later, with Lewis and Cooper continuing their relationship. We learn that they celebrate their anniversary by meeting in that same hotel room each year (making The Last Straight Man a relatively cheap film to produce). We also learn little bits about their lives – that Lewis is now a published writer, and Cooper is nervous because he’s about to become a father. Cooper worries, “I just don’t want to fuck him up in the head.” Lewis responds, “Then wait ‘til he’s thirty before you tell him daddy’s a cocksucker.” The film has a good sense of humor like that. The only thing that’s weird about this scene is that part of it is shown through a video camera that Cooper brought. When he puts the camera down, it is on “STANDBY,” not “REC,” and yet we still see the scene through that lens for a little while, which is an odd sensation, and momentarily pulls me out of the action. Another thing in this film that feels odd and doesn’t quite ring true is that Cooper refers to his wife as “the wife” rather than by her name. Something else that is not really addressed is that they celebrate their anniversary each year the night before Cooper’s wedding anniversary, and so it seems his wife would catch on that he keeps spending that same night away and that she might want to plan something for that night, if, say, their wedding anniversary fell on a Sunday. But these are relatively minor points.

The film keeps its focus on just these two characters, with only a few others making minor appearances – or intrusions – into the small, insulated world they’ve created in the hotel room. The story is about the way the relationship changes over the years, and how their perspectives on that change, and the way they choose to define the relationship. At various times, the film is erotic, sweet, humorous, and moving (it is particularly moving in the scene where the two finally kiss). At one point, Cooper says, “I try to do the right thing, but then I talk to you and suddenly you’re the right thing.” That’s my favorite line (though I can’t help but love the comical line, “You’ve got your Freud in my Dr. Ruth”). It’s a movie that grew on me, and I came to really like both characters, in large part because of the actors’ performances. After all, this is a movie that completely rides on its two main characters.

Special Features

The DVD contains a few special features, including interviews with actors Mark Cirillo and Scott Sell about the film. They both talk about getting their roles and about the production, and about their rapport on set. Mark talks specifically about getting the video footage from that one scene. Scott talks about his nude scene and his workout routine. Each interview is approximately eleven minutes. There are also shorter interviews with Victoria DeMare, who plays the stripper in the first scene, and David Alanson Bradberry, who plays the bellhop.

There is an audio commentary with writer/director Mark Bessenger; co-producer Benjamin Lutz; and actors Mark Cirillo, Scott Sell and David Alanson Bradberry. Hmm, it turns out the stripper’s special trick is something that was done at an actual bachelor party. They talk about the hotel where they shot the film, and about the still photographs used between sections of the film. They also talk about the way they shot the video camera footage.

The special features include one deleted scene, which was cut for time, as well as the film’s trailer.

The Last Straight Man was written and directed by Mark Bessenger (who also wrote and directed Confessions), and was released on DVD on February 24, 2015 through TLA Releasing.

Book Review: How Not To Kill Yourself: A Survival Guide For Imaginative Pessimists

Way back in high school, for a Spanish class (if I remember correctly), we were given a list of adjectives and were told to circle the ones that applied to our own personalities. I circled both “optimistic” and “pessimistic” (or, “optimista” and “pesimista”), for I think over all I’m optimistic (I’m still here, after all), though on individual issues I can become quite pessimistic (throwing in a good deal of cynicism as well). Lately, however, it seems “pessimistic” is overcoming “optimistic,” stabbing it in the gut, choking it, smacking it across the face. When the hell is someone going to get rid of Donald Trump and his drooling gang of infantile racists? Every day things get worse, and it seems damn near impossible to avoid being affected by it. I know a lot of folks are down these days, and Set Sytes’ How Not To Kill Yourself: A Survival Guide For Imaginative Pessimists may be of help. The title certainly appeals to me (though I keep thinking it should be How To Not Kill Yourself, as How Not To Kill Yourself seems to imply there are better ways to kill yourself), with its humor and especially the Imaginative Pessimists description.

The book is for people suffering from depression, people who may be contemplating suicide, and it is decidedly not one of those books urging people to cheer up. Right away, Set Sytes tells us, “I’m not here to tell you that the world is actually fabulous, and you’ll just have to damn well learn to appreciate it” (p. 10). He concedes that there is “a lot of ugliness” in the world. You’ll know straight away if the book is for you, because in the early section titled “Who The Hell Are You,” he describes the potential reader, or at least certain characteristics of the potential reader: “You prefer dreams to real, waking life” (p. 14); “You are sensitive, and easily wound up by things/people. Especially when you spend a long time overthinking things” (p. 15); “You have a strong, and yet sometimes unusual, sense of humor” (p. 15). Sounds about right, eh? And though – because of the current fascist authoritarian nationalistic bent of a large number of citizens – my thoughts these days are more homicidal than suicidal, I feel this book can still be of help to me, and to those like me (you are out there, aren’t you?). After all, Set says (to us), “Knowing you’ll never take the plunge doesn’t make it any easier – in fact, that makes it worse” (p. 20). Set writes, “Perhaps you don’t kill yourself because you’re scared of what comes next” (p. 20). Ah yes, “The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn/No traveler returns, puzzles the will/And makes us rather bear those ills we have/Than fly to others that we know not of.” (Yeah, it’s impossible for me to think on this topic without thinking of Hamlet.) But check this out: “Sometimes our fear of life is our fear of death – our fear that our lives won’t be enough, that it’ll all end no matter what we do… Ironically, our fear of death causes us to delay and put off actually living our own lives” (p. 20).

Set Sytes approaches the topic with a sense of humor, and had me chuckling at times. About living each day as if it were our last, he writes, “Think of all those funeral arrangements to make every day!” (p. 20). The sense of humor should be apparent from the book’s title, and Sytes talks about the importance of a sense of humor. I like his take on positive thinking: “The universe doesn’t give a shit about your positive thinking. It won’t respond to it. You might be lucky or you might not be. The universe is just as likely to send a meteorite your way as it is to obey your every singing, Disney-like command” (p. 25). And, regarding certain folks on Facebook, Sytes writes, “You’re better than these people – but that’s kind of a positive feeling, so you don’t dwell on it, but push it away” (p. 37). This is spot-on: “But, somehow worse than all of that put together is the infinite stupidity of ordinary people, observed so clearly in all directions, as though the internet were a window to some Victorian freak show. Humanity seeming some sad carnival act that repeats itself over and over and over until the end of time and nobody learns anything, ever” (p. 38).

Sytes does provide some advice, of course. A lot of it you might have figured out on your own, but sometimes you need to hear it or read it from someone else, someone else who is struggling and suffering. For example, he urges people to be creative. “When you have ended a day with something to show for it, however small, however silly, you will feel quite a bit less shit than if you didn’t” (p. 61). And he advises folks to take walks, even at night (which I’ve always preferred). These days, I mostly turn to music, and Set Sytes talks about which music works best for him. Interestingly, he also recommends watching horror films. And he offers this advice: “Don’t put your sights on the seemingly unattainable and think ah fuck it, I’ll never manage that. Just make a few tiny changes, starting with the easiest. It’s the same with exercise and anything else in your life that you feel you should change but it’s all just too BIG to start” (p. 68). And he reminds us, “Asking for help isn’t weak” (p. 73). This is something I need to keep in mind: “Oh, and try to avoid spending too much time being a digital masochist and engaging with hateful, obnoxious, and grossly ignorant people online. You know neither side will ever convince the other” (p. 80).

Not all of this book is quite right for me. I have never really planned out a suicide, nor do I often imagine my own death. I did, however, spend ten minutes yesterday imagining the death of Donald Trump, but it didn’t cheer me up as much as I thought it would. Anyway, like anything, you can use the parts that apply to you and not worry about the rest. I do have to point out one thing, because it drives me crazy. Set Sytes uses the word “comprise” incorrectly. He writes, “I’d hazard the world is comprised of about 99% boring, lifeless, drab, meaningless, empty whatever” (p. 11). He should, of course, use the word “composed” in place of “comprised.” It’s a common mistake, but one that shouldn’t appear in published books.

How Not To Kill Yourself: A Survival Guide For Imaginative Pessimists was published on March 13, 2018 through Microcosm Publishing.

DVD Review: Wolfy, The Incredible Secret

Wolfy, The Incredible Secret is an animated film about friendship and identity, in which two companions – a wolf named Wolfy and a rabbit named Tom – travel to Wolfenberg to find Wolfy’s mother. I don’t watch a lot of animated films because I don’t care much for computer animation and I can’t stand Disney, but this wonderful movie is drawn by hand and, as a result, has its own style and beauty which set it apart from other animated fare, and it is far from the sterile Disney output.

When the film opens, Wolfy and Tom are asleep together in a row boat, their fishing lines ignored by the fish, even laughed at. The boat drifts down river while they sleep. The colors are absolutely beautiful, particularly the sunlight hitting the grass and trees. I could happily get lost in those colors. Soon the boat reaches a bank, and Wolfy walks as if in a trance, answering a siren call which leads them both to a mysterious gypsy woman. She reads Wolfy’s future, showing him his mother in a distant land. Wolfy asks Tom to accompany him to Wolfenberg, as in the vision, and off they go on an adventure to find Wolfy’s mother and learn something about Wolfy’s identity.

Wolfenberg is located on a hilltop, shaped like a wolf’s head, and Wolfy and Tom’s approach does not go unnoticed. Their arrival happens to coincide with the beginning of the Wolfenberg carnivore festival, which includes a grand hunt and which understandably frightens Tom. The city poses a clear danger and threat to Tom, but perhaps the larger threat is against Wolfy, who, with his innocent and optimistic nature, is slow to recognize it.

The film has something of a delightful and slightly twisted sense of humor. For example, when the two go to an inn run by Rosetta, a pig, they notice the head of a boar mounted on the wall. Rosetta tells them the head is that of her late husband. She also tells them, “He loved rabbits a lot.” The way a message is passed in one scene is funny and adorable. The character of Scarlett, a singer in a club with hopeful ties to the corrupt authoritarian government, has her own unusual humor. “Everybody knows everybody else in this lovely, dirty little town,” she tells Wolfy and Tom. But can they trust her? She says, “You must trust unpredictable Scarlett,” perhaps my favorite line from the film.

At night, Scarlett sneaks them into a gallery of portraits of famous wolves, where they eventually find a portrait of Wolfy’s mother. Wolfy and Tom are caught and tossed into prison, but that’s just the beginning. This film is a delight, with its own style, its own sense of humor, and plenty of charm. Sure, the ending comes perhaps a bit too easily and conveniently, but the film is enjoyable and a welcome change of pace from the Disney films.

Wolfy, The Incredible Secret was released on March 17, 2015 through Cinedigm and Random Media. The film is presented in English. The DVD contains no special features.

DVD Review: Hidden Away

Hidden Away is a story of first love, of innocence in a setting that seems to work against innocence. It stars Germán Alcarazu and Adil Koukouh as two young men who meet one night in a club and soon develop an unlikely friendship, despite the prevailing racial discrimination and homophobic attitudes of those around them.

The film opens with the image of a road passing beneath us, the divided white line in the center of the screen. Ibra (Adil Koukouh), a young and attractive man, is hitchhiking – unsuccessfully – and it begins to rain. The camera focuses on Ibra, not on the road or what he sees. And when he enters a convenience store, the focus remains on him, with the other people out of focus in the background until a woman confronts him. It is that moment that the reality of other people becomes concrete, almost like it intrudes on the private, interior life of this man. The woman accuses him of shoplifting, but another young man in the store comes to his rescue, paying for the item and also accusing the woman of discrimination. “We’re Arabs, so we’re thieves?” he says. The tables turn, and the two women are now on the defensive. This opening scene does quite a lot. It introduces Ibra as a rather innocent and naïve man, shows there is racial tension in the area, and also establishes the tone. In this scene, other characters do most of the talking, and interestingly that will be the case for most of the film, except when Ibra and Rafa are alone together.

We next see Ibra in the bathroom of a club, the somewhat muted dance beat audible from the other room. He and another young man, Rafa (Germán Alcarazu) exchange glances, but no words. And soon both try to stop a fight on the dance floor, apparently caused by Rafa’s friends, picking fights with Arabs. Rafa is teased about his attraction to Marta, a young woman in his school. Rafa is shown as thoughtful and quiet, in contrast to his friends. We likewise see Ibra in contrast to those people he spends time with (he doesn’t consider them friends), people who may be trouble. However, Ibra and the others are genuinely at risk of being harassed, even deported by the authorities, as a raid at their youth center clearly shows. So the friendship between Ibra and Rafa is set against a background of racial injustice.

The film keeps us fairly close to the characters, without the use of establishing shots to give us a sense of place, and so we rely on the characters to guide us through their world. It forces us to pay closer attention to them. There are some strange cuts in this film, as when Rafa is suddenly shown running to catch up with Ibra, a scene that seems to come out of nowhere. This is the scene where they finally officially meet, and they talk about a game in which they were opponents, a game which we haven’t seen. But interestingly, we do see it later. The film jumps around in time a bit, and later we see the moment just before this scene, with Rafa getting out of his father’s car to run over to Ibra. It’s also interesting how scenes often seem to be cut short, right at a point when things might be escalating, like when a punch is thrown or when the police show up, almost as if to avoid external conflict and keep the focus on the main characters. But as I mentioned, the film also plays a bit with time, rearranging scenes, and so sometimes the abrupt cuts result.

What I love is that the film takes its time to let their relationship develop. The film is in no rush, which I appreciate. This is really about first love, not about first sex. The two leads turn in excellent performances, and this film has a quiet beauty. The only real distraction for me is that when Rafa gets text messages from Marta, they appear as pop-ups on screen, which is annoying. There is nothing less interesting than watching people send text messages and emails. Plus, later when Rafa gets another text message, that one doesn’t appear on screen, so it’s inconsistent. This, of course, is a minor complaint. Hidden Away is an engaging and wonderful film, and it feels important here in the U.S. now, when we have a president who hates immigrants and wants to build a wall to keep people out.

Hidden Away was directed by Mikel Rueda, and was released on DVD on July 14, 2015 through TLA Releasing. The film is presented in Spanish, with English subtitles. The DVD contains the film’s trailer, but no other special features.

Book Review: This Is Your Brain On Anxiety: What Happens And What Helps

I feel like everyone I know is suffering from a certain amount of anxiety these days. The country has turned ugly, with school shootings and Nazi rallies and those in power acting like whiny little children, and a heartless narcissist pretending to be president at the center of it. And for those who suffer from anxiety normally, this stressful time makes it almost impossible to function. Our bodies feel ready to explode at any given moment. We can all use a little relief, which I fear won’t truly come until Trump, Pence and the rest are safely six feet beneath us. But wishing for that somehow makes me even more anxious. Fortunately, there are other possibilities for providing us some help. Faith G. Harper begins her new book, This Is Your Brain On Anxiety: What Happens And What Helps, by telling us, “When you struggle with anxiety, the most empowering thing in the world is realizing that you aren’t weak, broken, or batshit crazy” (p. 4). A good start, eh?

It’s a short book, written in a very casual (almost too casual), straightforward and friendly manner. This book wants you to like it, trying to sound like a friend or chum, even using phrases like “hella fucking radical” (p. 11), which makes me think it’s aimed at teenagers and people in their very early twenties, but then also the word “grok,” a term created by novelist Robert A. Heinlein, and one with which young folks may be unfamiliar. At any rate, there is plenty of useful information contained in this thin tome. Faith G. Harper defines anxiety as “a state of full body disequilibrium at a level of intensity that demands immediate attention and corrective action on your part” (p. 14). She describes the differences between fear and anxiety: “Fear is specific… Anxiety is different. With anxiety, you don’t know what the fuck to do, because it’s all internal. There is no specific threat” (p. 13). No specific threat is it, all right. These days, are many (too many) vague threats or possible threats. Will Donald Trump ignite a world war? Will his moronic followers really try to create a civil war, as they have indicated? But most of us are not reacting to a specific threat (though, obviously, some people are). Harper also differentiates between anxiety and depression, saying that anxiety “is fundamentally different from depression, which is essentially a wired response of learned helplessness” (p. 17).

Harper provides some methods for dealing with anxiety, including the creation of so-called “coping cards.” “Coping statements are pretty much as simple as they sound: Mantras or reminders that help you manage your anxiety and stay in control of your body” (p. 29). The example she gives is “This will only last a minute,” certainly a good reminder, and something that might actually help a good deal. She also advises people to ride the wave. “Avoidance is what makes it worse. Try setting aside 5 minutes to sit with the anxiety you’re feeling instead of fighting back. It won’t last forever” (p. 30). The book includes a helpful relaxation exercise, one that we used to do in acting classes. And regarding meditation, Harper gives us this useful tip: “Treat your bodily reactions like any other random thought. Itching is common. If you catch yourself itching, label it thinking three times before succumbing to the urge to scratch” (p. 47).

It is somewhat difficult for me to take this book too seriously, however, when it uses non-words, like “interwebz” (p. 20) and “non-sketch” (p. 26) and “convos” (p. 29) and “legit” (p. 31 and p. 32) and “neg” (p. 35) and “bestie” (p. 45) and “pedi” (p. 49) and “fuckitude” (p. 51). And Harper also confuses “lay” and “lie,” writing “laying down” (p. 46) instead of the correct “lying down.” But, as I said, the book does contain useful, helpful information, and we should accept help wherever we can get it. And it’s good to know, as Harper tells us: “Your brain is busting its ass to protect you and keep you safe. It’s just gone off the rails out-of-control in trying to figure out what to protect you from” (p. 57).

This Is Your Brain On Anxiety: What Happens And What Helps was published on March 13, 2018 through Microcosm Publishing.

DVD Review: Victory At Sea

I’ve long been fascinated by World War II. And these days it seems even more important than usual to remember that time, as the past couple of years have shown us some frightening parallels, with the ugly and terrifying nationalistic rhetoric of Donald Trump and his mindless fascist followers. Donald Trump, as you’ll recall, even said that some of the Nazis who marched in Charlottesville are “very fine people.” Are we on the path to destruction? There are days when it certainly seems that way.  And so I took a look back at parts of World War II by watching Victory At Sea, a documentary that was released in 1954 (actually, it was released even earlier than that as a series in 1952, then adapted into the film). The film is essentially a compilation of war footage, set to music by Richard Rodgers (yes, the guy that co-wrote those hit shows with Lorenz Hart) and narrated by Alexander Scourby.

As the title suggests, a large portion of the footage is of sea battles, with footage of the war in both Asia and Europe. The film basically begins with the Battle of Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942 (geez, which sailor brought his dog along?), and then moves forward chronologically. And there are some incredible images. For example, in the sea battles between British and Italian ships, there is stunning footage of ships sinking and one suddenly exploding. And that shot of the lifeboat suddenly falling and the sailors tumbling into the sea is incredible. There are also shots of Japan’s imperial navy. The footage of the ships in the storm is as captivating as the battle footage. Those are some serious waves crashing over the ships. Perhaps the most astounding and engaging footage is that of the damaged planes making crash landings back on the carriers.

Not all the footage is of sea battles, however. There is footage of London being bombed and burning, and footage of U.S. factories turning out tanks and planes, as well as the training of soldiers. And yes, there is just a bit of footage of the atomic bomb, and a bit of footage of the liberation of the concentration camps. There is also footage of soldiers doing other work. The narrator tells us: “Of the thirteen million Americans in uniform, only a fraction ever fire a shot in anger. For most, the war is a weary campaign of staging and supply in a twilight zone which is neither combat nor peace. For them, World War II is dull routine monotony from morning ‘til night, day in and day out.” That’s something we don’t often think about. The film shows us the soldiers taking part in a little recreation in Hawaii, and there is also footage of the soldiers being welcomed home.

There is some interesting information on the kamikaze pilots, such as that some attended their own funerals before taking off. And there is a little information regarding strategy, about the planes accompanying the ships, looking for submarines. But, while the narrator does offer other comments on the footage, there is not much information provided on the background of the events leading to the war, or biographical information on those who took part, or even where precisely the footage came from. Who shot this stuff? We know that the U.S. Navy cooperated with the making of the film, but did the Japanese Navy? Or were they forced to hand over their footage? I’m curious about this. Sure, it’s probably outside the scope of the film, but it would make a nice special feature for the DVD.

Victory At Sea was released on DVD on March 17, 2015 through Film Chest Media Group. The DVD contains no special features.

DVD Review: Don’t Look In The Basement

Don’t Look In The Basement is a 1973 low-budget horror film about a young nurse who goes to work in a sanitarium where the methods are unusual, and soon finds herself in danger. The film has a strange, dark tone right from the beginning, and is populated by some interesting characters.

When the film opens, Sergeant and Sam, two patients, are looking out through a window, waiting for an unidentified enemy. But a nurse inside tells them things are okay. In another room, a woman named Harriet is protective of her baby, a plastic doll, freaking out when Danny tries to grab it from her. Outside, Dr. Stephens encourages another patient, Judge, to chop wood with an axe. But while he speaks to Dr. Geraldine Masters, Judge uses the axe to suddenly kill Dr. Stephens. Dr. Masters promises to take care of everyone, which is fine, as Harriet ends up killing the only other staff member, a nurse named Jane, who was packing to leave anyway. And this is all before the opening credits sequence.

Charlotte Beale (Rosie Holotik), a beautiful young woman, arrives to begin her job as nurse at the sanitarium. She was hired by Dr. Stephens, but Dr. Masters seems to know nothing about this and at first is reluctant to allow her to stay, which seems odd, as the staff has recently gone from three to one and you’d think she’d welcome the help. Another thing that’s interesting is that she doesn’t keep Dr. Stephens’ death a secret from her, something I feel a lesser movie would have done. And from Dr. Masters we learn a bit about Dr. Stephens’ methods, his idea that pushing a patient further into his or her obsessions would cause the patient to eventually use his or her own strength to destroy them. Yeah, it’s not difficult to see how that might backfire. Charlotte, whom Dr. Masters agrees to take on, also learns that the entire household functions as a sort of family, and the patients’ rooms are right next to the staff’s rooms, and there are no locks on the doors. Charlotte asks Dr. Masters if she’s ever afraid. Dr. Masters replies, “I’m always afraid.” It isn’t long before one of the patients startles Charlotte, warning her to leave.

It’s an interesting set-up, and I do like many of the characters. There is a wonderful moment later with Charlotte and that elderly patient who had startled her. The two go for a walk in the garden, and that night the woman says to Charlotte: “You liked our walk in the garden, didn’t you? Well, don’t be surprised if we never go again.” It’s creepy and slightly humorous and also rather sad. Though the tone is fairly dark and unsettling, there are a few moments to lighten the mood momentarily. There is a delightful scene when the telephone repairman arrives and encounters two patients without realizing at first that they are patients. He’s a likeable character, an outsider who is able to provide a little perspective, and one of the other patients takes a shine to him. When she gets aggressive, he tells her, “Look, sweetheart, you’re a good-looking girl and all that, but this ain’t my bag,” a line that made me smile. He then adds, “Not in a closet, it ain’t.” Of course, outsiders are not really accepted by all in this dysfunctional family, and the telephone repairman disappears from screen for a while. The film seems to ask, To whom do you turn for help when everyone is insane? And there are moments when you might even question Charlotte’s sanity.

Don’t Look In The Basement (also known as The Forgotten) was directed by S.F. Brownrigg, and was released on DVD on December 16, 2014 through Film Chest Media Group. Though it’s a digitally restored version, the picture quality still is not perfect (but then again, sometimes that helps with these 1970s horror films, adding to the uneasy atmosphere). The DVD contains no special features.

DVD Review: Salt Of The Earth

Salt Of The Earth is an important film about a miners’ strike, dealing with issues of racism and discrimination and inequality, and mixing professional actors with real miners. It was originally released in 1954, and was directed by Herbert J. Biberman, one of the Hollywood Ten who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He was blacklisted and jailed, and this film itself was basically blacklisted, with most theaters refusing to show it.

The film takes place in New Mexico, and is presented from the point of view of Esperanza (Rosaura Revueltas), the wife of a miner. Her voice is the film’s voice, with some narration at the beginning and at certain points throughout the film. At the beginning, she shows us her small town and her home. “The house is not ours, but the flowers, the flowers are ours,” she tells us. The dreary and bleak feel of the area is aided by the film being shot in black and white. Esperanza is pregnant, and in a moment of weakness wishes that her child – her third – wouldn’t be born into this world. There is some friction between her and her husband, Ramon (Juan Chacon), as well. She tells him, “I think of myself because you never think of me.”

Conditions at the mine are unsafe, and the workers warn the bosses of the potential of serious accidents, but their words fall on deaf ears. A siren indicating an accident in the mine brings the entire town rushing over, showing how their lives and livelihoods are so closely connected to the mine, to the work. Everything stops when the alarm sounds. The bosses are still unsympathetic to the workers’ plight, and one of them tells them to get back to work, saying, “Accidents are costly to everyone, and to the company most of all.” That prompts the strike.

While there is the obvious divide between the owners of the mine and the workers, there is also interestingly a divide between the men and the women. There is sexism among even those who are striking, with the men initially rejecting help from the women. There is a powerful sequence cutting back and forth between Ramon and Esperanza, both in pain, Ramon being beaten by white policemen while handcuffed, Esperanza going into labor. For though the film is about a strike and equality for workers, at the heart of it is a relationship between a husband and wife. The film does have some lighter, humorous moments, as when the men are gathered to play cards, and the women are in the other room. One woman says: “Are we going to let them play poker all night? I want to dance.” Another woman asks her, “With whose husband?” “With any of them, even my own,” she answers.

Salt Of The Earth is a film worth watching now, when we have a racist prick occupying the White House, a bastard who has said that all Mexicans are rapists and drug dealers, a mendacious bully who has bragged about sexually assaulting women. It is sad how some things just haven’t changed. Salt Of The Earth was released on DVD on September 11, 2014 through The Film Detective as part of the Restored Classics series.

DVD Review: A Fanatic Heart: Bob Geldof On W.B. Yeats

A Fanatic Heart: Bob Geldof On W.B. Yeats is a joyful and interesting look at the life and works of poet William Butler Yeats. It is a journey guided by Bob Geldof. From the very beginning of the film, Bob Geldof speaks directly to us, starting with a somewhat personal account of Ireland marking the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 uprising. He mentions how the footage on television “stirred the politics of hatred.” But in his school (Geldof was fourteen at the time), a teacher read aloud from the work of W.B. Yeats, and that is how Geldof felt connected to his country – not through angry, nationalistic rhetoric, but through the poetry of Yeats. Geldof tells us: “He was the oddest, bravest, downright weirdest of revolutionaries, and he never killed a living soul. Yet it was his revolution that won in the end – the revolution of the Irish mind.”

The film gives us a taste of Ireland’s history, as well as the history of Yeats’ family, some of which is provided by Roy Foster, a historian and Yeats biographer. We are taken to some of the important places in Yeats’ development. The history is fascinating, of course. But it is the poetry that is the heart of this film, with Yeats’ works being tied to both his personal history and the cultural and political landscape of Ireland, and the film does an excellent job of showing us those connections. The film features a lot of his poetry, read by a number of writers, actors and musicians, including Edna O’Brien, Richard E. Grant, Billy Nighy, Liam Neeson, Bono and Stephen Fry, as well as Yeats himself, in a recording from 1936. Even if you believe yourself to be unfamiliar with Yeats’ work, you will undoubtedly recognize many of the poems – or at least certain lines – delivered here.

A lot of the details about Yeats’ life are interesting, including the fact that he was a virgin until the age of thirty-one. And the elements of mysticism are strange, to say the least, and include a séance aimed at discovering whether a child could be reincarnated. There is also information on The Abbey Theatre, with Bob Geldof telling us that Yeats aspired  to help create “a national literature, in English, for the Irish – not anti-English, but pro-Irish, about what we are, not what we’re against.” Bob Geldof, of course, has his own strong perspective, and – for better or worse – it colors and drives the film. I think this strong perspective makes the film more interesting, more personal, more enjoyable. Geldof clearly has a passion for Yeats, his poetry, and Ireland itself, and that passion is behind the joy of this documentary.

Special Features

This release includes a second DVD of special features, including a collection of readings of W.B. Yeats’ poetry read by actors, writers, and musicians, including Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy and Lisa Dwan (they give some of the best readings, as they have memorized the poems and directly address us). Sting, Olivia O’Leary, Dominic West, Tom Hollander, Damian Lewis and Van Morrison are also among those who read Yeats’ poetry.

The second disc also includes a whole lot of extra footage, including an alternate opening featuring several of the readers giving some thoughts on the poet, as well as more biographical information on Yeats, including the mystical elements. There is also an interesting discussion between Bob Geldof and Liam Neeson.

The set also includes a third disc, a CD featuring seventy-three minutes of poetry readings and music. The CD begins with the poetry. There are twenty-nine poems read by folks like Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Bono, Sting and Van Morrison. Bob Geldof himself reads “When You Are Old.” Approximately a half hour of music from the soundtrack, music by Boomtown Rats member Pete Briquette, follows. The CD concludes with songs, “September 1913/Mad As The Mist And Snow” from Bono and “A Drunken Man’s Praise Of Sobriety” from Elvis Costello. Interestingly, Bono had also chosen “September 1913” to read, and he delivers it here basically as spoken word over the atmospheric music. “Mad As The Mist And Snow” was put to music by The Waterboys, and Bono delivers a passionate rendition. “A Drunken Man’s Praise Of Sobriety” was originally included on Elvis Costello’s “Sulky Girl” single.

A Fanatic Heart: Bob Geldof On W.B. Yeats was released on February 9, 2018 through MVD Visual.