IN/FLUX: Mediatrips from the African World
The first in a projected three DVD series, IN/FLUX is a collection of ten short films and videos from Africa.
DVD Review: The Who, The Mods and the Quadrophenia Connection (MVD)
Finally, an unauthorized peek at a crucial period of a classic band that doesn’t suck! You’ve surely seen the recent Dylan and Beatles videos that feature still photos, lame background music in keys that suggest the artists’ music but can’t use it because of copyright. The Who, The Mods and the Quadrophenia Connection is actually …
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DVD Review: Know Your Mushrooms (2009 Sphynx Productions)
Those expecting this documentary to be about the mind-expanding, space-travel inducing, true sacred portal to the gods types of mushrooms, you have to wait until the latter half of the film. The first part is about plain old yummy wild mushrooms, and the people who love them, hunt for them, and hold festivals in honor …
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Book Review: The American International Pictures Video Guide by Gary A. Smith
Shame on any film fan who doesn’t have a warm spot in their soul for AIP. American International Pictures was, if not consistently good, at least consistently inventive. From 1954 through the late 70s, the studio cranked out eccentric and sometimes brilliant B-movies, employing the likes of Roger Corman, Vincent Price, and Michael Landon, as …
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DVD review: One Love: Words Sounds & Powah (1988/2009; MVD)
In the late 1980s, documentary filmmaker Howard Johnson was given unprecedented access to the Rastafarian community in Britain, resulting in a 10 part series, Rockers Roadshow. Some of his wealth of material, shot in London and Nottingham, also was also collected in the One Love series, three short films that even today are riveting in …
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DVD Review: Black Hollywood: Blaxploitation and Advancing an Independent Black Cinema
This 1984 documentary manages to be both history lesson and an opportunity to revisit your assumptions of that history. While Black Hollywood covers much familiar ground, it also opens one’s eyes to some of the pivotal figures in the often exploited, but nevertheless defiant role of African-Americans in Hollywood. A thumbnail sketch of that role …
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Review: Renaissance Village (NTI Upstream; 85 minutes)
The individual stories of those who lived through Hurricane Katrina get lost in the story of the event that has taken on a life of its own. Both sides of the political seesaw have used the tragic flooding of one of America’s great cities, and the subsequent displacement of its poorest residents, whether it be …
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Book Review: The History of Independent Cinema by Phil Hall
Even limiting the scope to American film, Phil Hall set for himself a daunting task in The History of Independent Cinema.
DVD Review: In The Realms of the Unreal: The Mystery of Henry Darger (2004; Fox Lorber)
Henry Darger has become a celebrity of sorts within the last decade or so, providing dealers and collectors with another cash cow in the Outsider Art genre.
DVD Review: Points on a Space Age (MVD video)
Maybe the old bit about a prophet not being accepted in his own land could have been upended if the prophets had had decent musical chops.