DVD Review: When Bette Met Mae

When Bette Met Mae is an unusual film about the first meeting between Bette Davis and Mae West. On November 13, 1973, director Wes Wheadon recorded the conversation they had at a dinner party, and this film uses that audio recording, with actors performing the roles, lip-synching to the real audio. The film also uses some old footage to explain and illustrate some of the things they mention, and to add more information. Also providing more information is some narration by Sally Kellerman (and at the beginning by Wes Wheadon), as well as a few short interviews (including one with Waris Hussein, who directed Bette Davis in Little Gloria…Happy At Last).  It’s such an unusual film in the way it presents the material – part documentary, part dinner theatre. But it works surprisingly well, in part because the actors do a really good job with what I imagine is a rather difficult task. Karen Teliha is particularly impressive as Bette Davis.

Wes Wheadon sets up the scene at the beginning. Bette was in town to do a film, and was staying with Wes’ neighbor, Chuck Pollock. And one night Bette asked Wes to be the bartender for a dinner party with Mae West. And yes, he did get permission to record the conversation. Because the recording has some background noise, subtitles are provided.

Bette Davis and Mae West are two fascinating women, and the conversation is not only interesting in the light it sheds on their personalities and demeanor, but also for the information they provide. For example, they talk about writing dialogue for their own films, though Bette didn’t get screen credits for that. There is also some information about the beginning of the Screen Actors Guild, and Bette, bless her, talks about how Ronald Reagan (then president of SAG) sold them out. She even says, “I almost killed him.” Oh, if only she had! Then we wouldn’t have had to deal with him as President.

A lot of this is quite funny, like when Mae West talks about wanting to be a lion tamer. She also talks about her secret marriage and public divorce, and about her plays, Sex and The Drag. She is particularly funny when talking about The Drag. Bette talks about her marriages, and tells a hilarious anecdote about trying to be a lesbian. They also discuss the drag impersonations of them, and there is a great bit which uses split screen to show us What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? next to the same scene in What Really Happened To Baby Jane, a parody which in the course of the conversation Bette became aware of.

At the end, Wes Wheadon speaks again, which is unnecessary. I think it would have been better to end the film with the tape running out and the photos from the meeting. But that’s certainly not a major issue or complaint.

When Bette Met Mae was directed by Wes Wheadon, and was released on DVD on February 23, 2016 through MVD Visual. The DVD contains no special features.

DVD Review: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Friends Across Equestria

Bronies and Pegasisters, a new collection of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes is now available for your enjoyment.  Friends Across Equestria contains five episodes, all from the series’ fifth season, including the show’s one hundredth episode (holy moly!). All of your favorite ponies are here, as well as Discord and Countess Coloratura.

“Make New Friends But Keep Discord”

Discord (John de Lancie) is hanging out with his good friend Fluttershy for their weekly tea, but is upset to learn that she has invited a new friend, Tree Hugger (Nicole Oliver), to an upcoming gala rather than extending the invitation to him. This episode shows us Discord at home, where he sulks about not being invited, and where mail is difficult to deliver (that’s probably my favorite scene). Discord eventually receives his invitation, but his choice of guests is not applauded by the ponies, though the main problem is his jealousy regarding Fluttershy’s friendship with Tree Hugger. After all, he is only beginning to learn about the magic of friendship. There is a reference to the comedian Gallagher, and a hilarious moment when Tree Hugger looks into another dimension.

“Slice Of Life”

“Slice Of Life” is the series’ one hundredth episode, and it’s an interesting episode in which a mistake on wedding invitations sets up a series of events involving some of the show’s supporting characters. “Oh, the horror! The horror!” A musical scene goes on too long, but there are lots of cute moments in this episode, like the delightful pondering of the alligator.

“Amending Fences”

Twilight Sparkle goes back to Canterlot to mend things with those she knew before she moved to Ponyville and learned about the magic of friendship. She goes to apologize to her old friends and reconnect with them, including one who has given up on the idea of friendship. Twilight rightly enlists the aid of the always-delightful Pinkie Pie. “We’ll need fifteen bags of confetti.”

“Made In Manehattan”

Rarity and Applejack are summoned by the map to go to Manehattan. Rarity is overjoyed, but Applejack is less thrilled with going to the big city, where things move rather fast. “Butter my biscuits, I can barely cross the street in this town.” They learn they must help revive the spirit of community in the city by bringing back its outdoor theatre tradition. It’s a sweet episode, and there is a cute reference to the Peanuts cartoons.

“The Mane Attraction”

Pinkie Pie has booked a big pop sensation for the town’s music festival. Applejack hasn’t heard of her, which shocks the others; more shocking is that Applejack was friends with her before she became a star. Applejack is sad to see how stardom has changed her, but it is at least partly the fault of her manager, who makes ridiculous demands on Pinkie Pie. Lena Hall provides the voice for Countess Coloratura (known to Applejack as Rara).

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Friends Across Equestria was released on March 1, 2016 through Shout! Factory. The DVD includes a bonus sing-along of “The Magic Inside,” a song from “The Mane Attraction.”

DVD Review: Nelson Algren: The End Is Nothing, The Road Is All

Nelson Algren: The End Is Nothing, The Road Is All is a documentary about writer Nelson Algren, who is probably most well-known for his novel The Man With The Golden Arm, and for writing about folks who are marginalized by mainstream society, including criminals, the poor and prostitutes. Much of his story is fascinating, as his life is closely tied to many of the social and political situations of the twentieth century, including the Great Depression and the Joseph McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950s.

The film begins with Nelson Algren himself reading a passage from one of his works. (Passages from several of his books are read by Warren Leming at other moments throughout the film.) And the film includes footage from interviews with Algren. Some of that material is actually quite funny. For example, early on he talks about looking for a job in journalism during the Depression, and of course not finding one. He says: “I never went voluntarily into the world of pimps and thieves and wandering people. I was pushed into it.” And then, when talking about his work with the Federal Writers’ Project (part of the New Deal), he says, “I don’t recall doing any real work.” He mentions being fired from it, then re-applying. It’s humorous, but the information about the Writers’ Project, as told by some of those actually involved, is also truly interesting.

There are several interviews with fellow writers, including Kurt Vonnegut, Paul Buhle and Studs Terkel. It’s interesting to hear other writers talk about his writing and about the characters he’d create. There is some great stuff with Studs Terkel talking about how A Walk On The Wild Side was picked apart by the critics. And we learn about the troubles Algren had, beginning with his books being banned from the Chicago libraries because of the portrayal of certain Polish characters. Polish politicians in Chicago actually wrote to Hoover at the FBI, asking that organization to keep an eye on Algren. And hey, the FBI was never an organization to turn down such requests.

There is also information about his relationships, including that with Simone de Beauvoir which began in the 1940s, and how existentialism crept into his work as a result. The film does include a portion of an audio interview with Simone de Beauvoir. By the way, throughout all of this, old footage is shown to give us a sense of the political and social climate. That’s particularly important when we get to the material on the House Un-American Activities Committee, with footage of Hoover testifying about communism. There is also some audio from an interview with Algren about that time, and about the fear that people had.

His story is interesting, and at times funny, at times depressing (particularly toward the end, with his financial troubles). Kurt Vonnegut calls Algren “the loneliest man I ever knew.” You certainly don’t have to be familiar with his work to appreciate and enjoy the story told here.

Special Features

The DVD includes Algren’s Last Night, a short film by Warren Leming and Carmine Cervi. It’s about Algren’s Chicago, and some portions of it are used in the feature. There is also some bonus footage, including more with Studs Terkel telling an anecdote about Algren and the police, as well as biographer Bettina Drew talking about Algren and de Beauvoir. The bonus features also include a photo gallery.

There is also a segment in which Denis Mueller and Mark Blottner talk about the documentary on The Heartland Show recorded live at the Heartland Café. They talk about how the documentary was started quite a while ago, which is how it happens to include interviews with Kurt Vonnegut and Studs Terkel, and they talk about Nelson Algren himself, and how they became interested in him. This is approximately thirteen minutes.

Nelson Algren: The End Is Nothing, The Road Is All was produced and directed by Mark Blottner, Ilko Davidov and Denis Mueller, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on March 8, 2016 through First Run Features.

DVD Review: Excess Flesh

I enjoy a good twisted film now and again. What’s great about Excess Flesh in particular is that it’s not only delightfully twisted, but it has something to say and it boasts a good, competent cast. The film stars Bethany Orr and Mary Loveless as roommates who have perhaps more than their fair share of problems, related to self-image and past abuse. When the film opens, we hear a conversation in an office dealing with fashion, in which Jennifer excitedly says she found a certain dress, and her boss, Nina, snaps at her, telling her it’s too big and that it would better fit her than the models, being insulting in addition to bitchy.

We then go to Jennifer’s apartment, where she happily models the dress for her roommate, Jill, saying: “Nina gave it to me just for being super cool. Plus, it didn’t fit any of the models.” Jennifer (Mary Loveless) is sexy, but comes across as superficial. And Jill (Bethany Orr) seems withdrawn and awkward. Their opening dialogue is presented mainly in close-ups, and from the side the two women are so close they could kiss. They both have straight reddish hair, light skin, and the similarities and closeness are very deliberate.

Early on, you’ll wonder how these two became friends and roommates. Jennifer says that Jill has been living there for nine months without working, without paying rent. And she tells her she has to get out there and get a job. But Jill doesn’t leave the apartment. And interestingly, neither do we. The film uses lots of close-ups to give us a claustrophobic feel, and we spend more time with Jill, staying with her perspective. But all questions about their friendship and relationship are answered (and hints are there all along, like when Jill makes reference to the film Last Year At Marienbad during the early party scene).

The drug of choice for these women is food. And even the models at the party at Jill’s apartment discuss food, and indulge themselves to a point. And there is a shot of Jill alone in her room eating food, then spitting some of it out in the trash next to her, clearly loving the taste but worried about her weight. The scene is allowed to go on for a while, and gets more intense as she begins slapping herself in the head. This girl is not okay. And we learn it may not be entirely her fault; when we’re introduced to her mother (through a phone conversation over her laptop), Jill seems almost fine by comparison.

And when Jill takes a bigger step into the Weird, at first you feel she’s even justified. Jennifer has promised to talk things out, but has continued to flake on her and proceed with her own self-destructive behavior. So Jill chains her to the wall. Jennifer tells her, “Don’t go any farther.” Jill simply smiles in response. This is such a great moment. And later when Jennifer is screaming, Jill whispers to her, “Just remember, everyone can hear you and, by the way, no one cares.”

Everyone is troubled in this film. Even Rob, the guy that likes Jill, seems at times awkward and unsure of himself. At one point he says he’s going back to the real world, something we the audience are never allowed to do (though we are teased with exterior establishing shots of Los Angeles). The film creates a tight and eerie atmosphere, and you feel that at any moment things could go horribly wrong. Even shots of food are made creepy. And there are plenty of shots of food, as the film shows the ecstasy of food as well as the repulsiveness of it. (I wouldn’t recommend trying to eat while watching this DVD.)

The film’s two leads (Bethany Orr and Mary Loveless) really go for it, and the film’s success relies a good deal on their performances. There is also really interesting use of sound throughout the film. And I love that this psychological horror film is about conflicting feelings about one’s self, and that it depicts a world in which people have trouble communicating, and most attempts at communication are done through food. I started watching this movie again, and I am enjoying it even more the second time through. The only thing that didn’t quite work for me is the weird fantasy sequence involving a sort of reality television program, which went on much too long.

Excess Flesh was directed by Patrick Kennelly, and is scheduled to be released on DVD and VOD on March 8, 2016 through Midnight Releasing. The DVD includes a music video for “I Don’t Race,” as well as two trailers for the film.

DVD Review: Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales

I have been a fan of Star Wars since 1977, but I have to say that the idea of Lego Star Wars cartoons struck me as rather silly. After all, the toys are representations of characters from the films. And so these animated shows are representations of representations of characters, and seem needlessly one step further removed. That being said, Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales is a completely delightful series of five episodes. I enjoyed every moment of this show. It basically recounts the events of both trilogies (as well as a bit from the Star Wars: Rebels animated series), as told by C-3PO. Though most of the characters are voiced by actors not associated with the films, Anthony Daniels does reprise his role as C-3PO, and Billy Dee Williams once again plays Lando Calrissian.

Each episode begins properly with “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….” and includes an opening crawl (which is read aloud for the very young in your family). The first episode, “Exit From Endor,” begins at the end of Return Of The Jedi, with the destruction of the second Death Star. It does poke fun at one of the horrible changes that the series has suffered in the last couple of decades: When the ghosts appear to Luke, he doesn’t recognize Anakin. Anakin tells him: “I’m Anakin Skywalker, your father.” Luke replies, “Oh, you didn’t look like that five minutes ago.” That’s making fun of the DVD release replacing Sebastian Shaw’s head with that of Hayden Christensen (a change that has kept me from ever watching the Return Of The Jedi DVD). Well, after the celebration comes the clean-up. And guess who is assigned that duty? Ah yes, poor C-3PO. Luke, Han and Leia ask 3PO to tell the story of the complete saga, and after R2-D2 gives him a computer cartridge containing his wiped memories, C-3PO begins his tale.

There is a lot of humor in this animated series. It does poke fun at Star Wars, but it’s clear that it’s done with an incredible amount of love for the films. As C-3PO begins to recount the story of The Phantom Menace – “The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems was in dispute,” he says – the others who had gathered to hear the tale are suddenly asleep. That’s hilarious, and I love that it deals humorously with one of the criticisms of that movie. Even funnier is the shot of Jar Jar Binks being shot off of Amidala’s ship, and then shot again in space, causing R2-D2 (and anyone watching) to laugh. (In a later episode we see Jar Jar Binks floating in space near the second Death Star.) And as C-3PO recounts Attack Of The Clones, the show makes fun of the CG Yoda, with C-3PO saying that Yoda “was very agile in those days. Remember, he wasn’t nine hundred years old then. He was only eight hundred seventy-four.” Padme’s list of names for their unborn son in the show’s second episode is funny. At one point, the show even makes fun of the collecting of Star Wars trading cards.

The third episode includes a bit from the Star Wars: Rebels series, with C-3PO and R2 encountering Hera, Zeb, Sabine, Ezra, Kanan and Chopper. That leads to the droids ending up on the blockade runner at the beginning of A New Hope. By the way, I love that Leia wants to do a second take of her message to Obi-Wan. And the purchase of the droids is hilarious, as is the meeting of Luke and Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan tells him: “I am Obi-Wan Kenobi. I changed my name to hide from the Empire.” Luke understandably asks, “You didn’t change your last name?” Obi-Wan blurts out, “You didn’t change your last name!” That leads Luke to utter a confused “Huh?” Great! There is also a little joke about why Chewbacca doesn’t get a medal at the end of A New Hope.

There are of course some wonderful jokes about the poor aim of Stormtroopers, even with snowballs, as in the fourth episode. Also in that episode there is a funny moment with the Wampa. And Vader suggests that if Bossk gets the reward he should use it to purchase some shoes. And in the fifth episode, there is actually a Monty Python gag, which came as some surprise.

There is a story in the present as well, in which R2-D2 is kidnaped by a mysterious figure on Endor, a figure who also steals Admiral Ackbar’s ship. And so C-3PO and Ackbar go after him, thus giving 3PO opportunities to tell his tale to various characters over the course of the five episodes. My favorite is in the fifth episode when he talks to an enthusiastic group of Stormtroopers. By the way, that episode also pokes fun at the repetition of the Death Star in Return Of The Jedi (something which shockingly is rehashed yet again in the newest movie, the utterly disappointing The Force Awakens).

The show does take advantage of its Lego-ness to add some other humor, as when Amidala disguises herself as her servant on Tatooine – a really funny moment. And the crashing of the ship after Anakin “rescues” Palpatine is great. The show even pokes a bit of fun at Legos themselves. There is a scene with two workers adding pieces to the second Death Star. One tells the other: “No, not a black one. Dark grey.” The other responds, “They both look the same in the manual.” And when Luke lifts Vader’s helmet off of Anakin, the head comes off with it. Anakin tells him, “It’s a little tricky.” Anyone who has played with Lego bricks can attest to that.

Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales is scheduled to be released on DVD on March 1, 2016. As for special features, the package includes a small exclusive trading card set. The DVD itself has no special features other than a trailer for Star Wars: Rebels.

Blu-ray Review: Braddock: Missing In Action III

Braddock: Missing In Action III is the final film in the Missing In Action series, starring Chuck Norris as Colonel James Braddock, a man who was once held as a POW, then returned to rescue other prisoners of war. This third film opens with the fall of Saigon in April of 1975. The city is in chaos, as people are looting and bombs are exploding. There is chaos in the U.S. embassy as well, where James Braddock goes looking for his wife, Lin (Miki Kim). He learns that she went home to get her papers.

Meanwhile Lin is packing for America, leaving behind most of her possessions to a friend, who apparently isn’t satisfied with the nice dresses and decides to steal Lin’s bracelet. The building is destroyed and Braddock arrives to see a charred corpse being carried out. The face is burned beyond recognition, but the bracelet he gave his wife is on the arm, so he assumes it’s his wife. Lin is on her way to the embassy, but her purse containing her papers is stolen, so she has trouble gaining access.

The scene at the embassy has some nice little details, like shots of the army blowing up its own trucks, and the flag and embassy sign being removed while the crowd surges. But then as Braddock is flown out on a helicopter, he looks up at the blades, and that shot is followed by a shot of a ceiling fan (making me think of Apocalypse Now).

The film then takes us to Washington D.C. in present day (well, present day as of the release of the film – 1988), when Reverend Polanski (Yehuda Efroni), a priest from a children’s mission in Vietnam, tells Braddock that his wife is alive and that he has a twelve-year-old son. Braddock doesn’t believe him, but a man named Littlejohn at the CIA inadvertently confirms the information. Littlejohn warns Braddock, “Don’t step on any toes.” Braddock replies: “I don’t step on toes, Littlejohn. I step on necks.” It’s such a silly line, and it’s accompanied by an imposing musical cue, which makes it all the more delightfully goofy. But that’s part of the enjoyment of watching this film now. After all, this is a 1980s action movie. Anyway, off Braddock goes to rescue his wife and son.

And we get fights and stunts and car chases. It’s not long before he finds Lin and the boy living in a shack. But things can’t be that easy for James Braddock. The boy resents him and is frightened. And soon they’re surrounded by soldiers, including General Quoc (Aki Aleong), who seems to hold a personal grudge against Braddock. And things get pretty serious pretty quickly.

There are some good moments in the film. I love the way Quoc seems to become impatient with his own torturous game. And there is a fairly intense scene later on involving one of the female children and a soldier. But of course there is some heavy-handed filmmaking as well, like when we get not one, but two shots of a child’s doll being left behind. This film was directed by Aaron Norris, a stunt coordinator whose directorial efforts have been almost entirely made up of projects starring his brother Chuck. And Chuck Norris was one of the writers on this particular film. Still, the movie is enjoyable in just the way you expect it to be. I used to own it on videocassette, and I had a good time revisiting it on Blu-ray.

By the way, the song that takes us into the closing credits is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard in my life, with lyrics like “When I look into your eyes, what do I see/It is the love of freedom staring back at me/I can almost see the eagle take the sky, see her fly/It is our love of freedom that has always kept us strong.” Yikes!

Braddock: Missing In Action III is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on March 15, 2016 through Shout! Factory. The disc contains no special features.

DVD Review: How To Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (And Enjoy It)

How To Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (And Enjoy It) is documentary about Melvin Van Peebles, probably still best known for his 1971 film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, but who in addition to being a film director and actor is a published author, musician and even trader on the stock exchange. Near the beginning of the film Melvin says: “What happened with me is: If I don’t see it then I do it myself. That’s what happened with the film, that’s what happened with the music, that’s what happened with writing. I didn’t see the types of things I wanted to see, so I did it myself.” That seems to be the key to his career, to his art.

The film provides a short biography of his early years, done in the style of an old film strip. He worked driving a cable car in San Francisco, and wrote The Big Heart based on some of his experiences. But his goal at the time was to direct films. When his short films were being shown in Paris, he moved there. And that’s where the documentary really starts to pick up and focus. There is some interesting stuff about him writing for Hara Kiri in France, and becoming a French writer. There is footage from a French television program in 1964, where he is interviewed about his autobiographical novel, A Bear For The F.B.I.  Interestingly, he wrote several novels in France with the aim of getting into film because of a rule at the time giving French writers temporary director’s cards so they could bring their own work to the screen. And that’s how Peebles came to make his first film, La Permission.

One thing about Melvin Van Peebles is that he comes across as extremely and immediately likeable. It’s a joy to watch and listen to him talk about his films, his music and his experiences. And he has a whole lot of great stories. I particularly like how he handled Watermelon Man. He talks about agreeing to shoot that film with his desired ending and with the studio’s desired ending, and then “forgetting” to shoot their ending. And of course there is plenty of material on Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, and its impact – both positive and negative – on the film industry and on his own career. Mario Van Peebles tells us: “My dad said to me later on he learned from that process of doing Sweetback that it was very important that the big boys win when you win. If they don’t win when you win, they have no interest in you winning. In fact, they have an interest in you not winning.” I also love what Melvin has to say about the MPAA (an organization that I believe is no longer needed or wanted).

The film also treats us to some tracks from his records, stuff I’d actually never heard before, as well as information about his theatrical productions. But it’s his story about becoming a trader on the stock exchange that I find particularly hilarious as well as inspiring. Also, his solution to the homeless problem is funny. But I don’t know quite what to say about seeing him sing “Achy Breaky Heart.” By the way, the documentary’s title comes from the title of an article Melvin Van Peebles wrote, but which wasn’t published.

Special Features

The DVD contains some good bonus features. Gotta Eat: Breakfast With Melvin Van Peebles is a conversation with Melvin Van Peebles, director Joe Angio and producer Michael Solomon, filmed on December 1, 2015. They talk about the documentary project, and also about the January 2015 terrorist attack in France that claimed the lives of some of Melvin’s fellow writers at Hara Kiri.

The special features also include a few of Melvin Van Peebles Channel 5 NYC TV commentaries (including the one where he talks about hookers and the homeless), and a couple of live concert performances – “You’ve Cut Up The Clothes In The Closet Of My Dreams” and “Lilly Done The Zampouchi Every Time I Pulled Her Coattail.” The film’s trailer is also included.

How To Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (And Enjoy It) was directed by Joe Angio, and was released on DVD on February 2, 2016 through Music Box Films.