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March 11th, 2010 by jessie3010679Streaming Commissar Online
March 11th, 2010 by jessie3010679![]() |
Streaming Commissar Online.
Movie Title: Commissar Commissar is available for streaming or downloading. |
Based on the legend “In The Town Of Berdichev” by the tall Ukrainian Jewish writer Vasily Grossman (author of “Life And Fate”), this film was originally shot in 1967. It was “shelved” for over 20 years by being denied funds for its completion, finally coming to light in the Glasnost era.
It concerns a woman commissar (military political officer) named Vavilova in a Red Army cavalry unit during the Russian Civil War of 1918-20. She finds herself pregnant to a fellow officer who has recently been killed, and is billeted with a terrible Jewish tinker, Magazannik, his wife and six kids. From her initial hostility to her novel surroundings, she eventually becomes interested in the life of the family, before giving birth to her child – and then disappearing to join the first Red Army unit that passes her draw.
It’s not difficult to understand why the Soviet authorities didn’t want this film to be seen. Besides the fact that Grossman wrote the unusual yarn (he died in 1964 after falling from favour when he submitted “Life And Fate” for publication in 1960), the ambivalence between her roles as agent of the Revolution and mother of her child would have been more than the Soviet censors could have tolerated.
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This is one of the most tantalizing war films that I have ever seen.
Komissar is a movie very dear to me. I watched this for the first time in my life in November 1989, in Romania. I was quite young, Ceaucescu had his last Communist Party Congress – he was to tumble with a (literal) bang soon, in December 1989. I unruffled remember how stunned I was that the Communist censors allowed this astounding anti-Communist movie into the cinemas… it must have been ignorance rather than courage.
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This 1967 movie was banned during its acquire time, the director Askoldov never made a movie again, his very life was in effort for a while. Even as slack as 1987, in full-blown perestroika, he had troubles to earn his movie out of the censors’ hands. Finally he could do it, and the movie was a triumph with international critics and audiences.
If you beget this is an ancient, half-boring movie, the main quality of which would be that it was mettlesome for its have time, reflect again. This is a poetic masterpiece which endures fantastically well the test of time. If you only like American movies, avoid this. If you’re reasonably cultivated movies-wise, if you like Dreyer, Fellini, Carne, Kadar, and the like, by all means, do not allow yourselves to die before watching this movie. Askoldov, the director of one and only serious movie, is on the same level with the ones named above. Apologies for the apparently shrill sale pitch, but yes, this is a one-of-a-kind masterwork. It is deep, tragic, subtle, it deals with the ethics and chaos of war, without the gore nor the guts. I would station this movie on the same pedestal as I spot Kadar’s (also novel) The Shop on Main Street.
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A few words about this particular edition, which made me throw the venerable, worn-out VHS tape to the garbage: it is astounding as well. Everything is ideal. (OK, the English translation could have been better, perhaps.) The transfer, both in its video and audio aspects (terrific soundtrack from a young Schnittke!!) made me experience this, on a plasma TV, like I was help in the cinema.
What was even more unexpectedly obliging and satisfactory was the second DVD, containing special features. I have never seen, not even in my many beloved Criterion DVDs, such a pleasurable, relevant, well-made bunch of interviews – with priceless historical context, contemporary documentation and the like. Watching the special features was almost as riveting as re-watching the movie itself.
Do not capture this in any other edition. This is cinema at its right best, offered in an ideal packaging.
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March 8th, 2010 by jessie3010679Stream RiffTrax: Reefer Madness – from the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000! Movie Online
March 8th, 2010 by jessie3010679REEFER MADNESS (1936) was rediscovered and became a cult film in the 1970s because of its unintentional humor, its over the top attempts at blatant propaganda and its general and inherent silliness, which makes it the perfect candidate for Rifftrax. Rifftrax (a spin-off featuring three of the writers and stars from the great movie-mocking TV show “Mystery Science Theater 3000″) usually uses recent films as its sandbox, but for their DVD releases they’ve been going with the only films whose DVD rights they likely could get their hands on: cheap, old stinkers that have fallen into the public domain. Personally, I prefer making fun of the more obscure or the older films that haven’t stood the test of time, so I’m more than happy with these direct-to-DVD releases.
The first time I watched this DVD, I was actually a little disappointed. This had less to do with the witty comments from Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, and more to do with the film itself. REEFER MADNESS has had a certain reputation for a long time and you can’t walk very far on a college campus without tripping over a copy of it. However, I had never seen the film before, and I probably had a mental image in my mind of a far far sillier, more outrageous film than this piece of celluloid could possibly be expecting to provide.
However, I gave it another chance, and that second viewing was a much more pleasant experience. The first time, the reefer and drug jokes seemed very repetitive. But the second time the jokes had a more rounded feel. (This sort of reaction is something I had a few times with the old “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ show. Every so often, I would be indifferent to an episode before warming to it after a repeated viewing.)
Still, this isn’t the strongest release I’ve seen from Rifftrax which is a pity given the film they had to work with. Of course, an average Rifftrax/MST3k is still worth a look for fans and the uninitiated alike.
Ah, good old Reefer Madness, an infamous film for a number of reasons. This is one of those films that is so bizarre and so knuckleheaded, that you start to wonder just who the creators thought the target audience would be.
This film is part warning of the dangers of smoking marijuana, part exploitation flick, all goofy! Witness a man refusing a soda but accepting a root beer! Gasp in horror at the goofy pratfall into a fountain. Curl up in the fetal position when the pusher’s meal is interrupted. Run screaming from the room when the high school principle gets up to deliver a dry boring speech… for the fourth time!!!
Oh yeah and a bunch of forty year old actors play teenagers, get high, smooch on a couch, die, or become permanently insane. But that’s just the typical stuff you’d expect.
As a whole the film is just a mess. Editing is laughable, with scenes going on way too long, some scenes just ending for no apparent reason and others existing for no reason either. The film opens with a scrolling prologue that lasts nearly four minutes. It is followed by the dry dull monologue from the high school principle character that also goes on for another four minutes. When the movie finally does start, you’ll be excited to see actual actors.
It’s a shame they are pretty much all horrible. With performances veering from the disinterested pusher, all the way to the completely insane piano player who looks like he’s about ready to chew all the scenery in the small closet he’s locked himself inside of (waiting for his Kramer stand in audition). The acting fused with the moronic story and silly dialogue doesn’t so much convince that drugs are evil, but it does make you suspect that the creators were using drugs while making the film.
All this is perfect fodder for Mike, Bill and Kevin to tackle. I owned Mike Nelson’s solo commentary on this film and it did have its moments, and some of the best have made it onto this new commentary. But there is plenty of new material here, and lots of it appears to be written with Kevin, Bill and Mike in mind.
But for some reason the whole thing just never goes out of the park. It’s funny, and the team delivers some hilarious lines, but as a whole the effort seems a bit slight. Part of it is the running time. The movie is short and lots of it is filled with those stupid monologue scenes or bad dialogue scenes that don’t offer much for the guys. However when the smoking and wacky antics are full bore, then the guys deliver.
It’s entertaining, but feels like it should have been a bit funnier. I’d say it’s better than Mike’s solo effort, but about average on a Rifftrax or MST3K scale. The black and white print is pretty good for a movie this old, but other than that, you don’t get any other extras. Rifftrax fans should be fine with this. Fans of the movie should pick up Legend Films version with both the black and white and fully (and trippily) colorized version as well as numerous extras. Then download the Rifftrax commentary from the site for the complete experience.
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Watch Terror of Mechagodzilla Movie Online
March 4th, 2010 by jessie3010679![]() |
Watch Terror of Mechagodzilla Movie Online.
Movie Title: Terror of Mechagodzilla Terror of Mechagodzilla is available for streaming or downloading. |
Overall, this last film in the current Godzilla series is one of the better ones, due primarily to the fight scenes. If you’ve seen Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla, though, you resplendent noteworthy know the situation in this one; aliens from “the dusky hole” are once again trying to conquer Earth with their mechanized Godzilla monster. The only essential disagreement between this film and its predecessor is the addition of the monster Titanosauras. The knowing scientist who discovered the living dinosaur Titanosauras turned away from mankind when his colleagues ridiculed his theories; now his daughter, his only companion for 15 years, can somehow control Titanosauras. The aliens, who are rebuilding the vanquished MechaGodzilla, recruit the improper scientist for their cause, believing Godzilla cannot possibly defeat both monsters single-handed.
Titanosauras is a fair frosty monster at first, but he loses his charm toward the kill of the film. He has basically no offensive weapons (being a collected dinosaur by nature) except for a fan-like tail he uses to compose a remarkable wind. MechaGodzilla is as impressive as ever but is basically the same creature he was in the previous movie. Godzilla looks gorgeous marvelous and seems to be in gorgeous fabricate, despite the unsurprising setbacks he encounters in the opening moments of the battle. I care for the titanic entrance he makes here; he unleashes his breath from the shadows, then the camera rapid zooms to his eyes. Some say Godzilla is meaner in this movie, but I don’t necessarily assume so. When you encounter both MechaGodzilla and Titanosauras together, it probably doesn’t do powerful to brighten your day. While the fighting is exquisite capable, MechaGodzilla impartial didn’t seem to have his heart in the fight this time around. He basically impartial stands there unleashing his arsenal of weapons, eschewing the different forms of attack he showed us in his first encounter with Godzilla.
This movie objective seems to lack something, but I can’t say for determined what it is. The movie seems to destroy very fleet, yet it is of a comparable length with other Godzilla movies. I believe piece of the predicament is the fact that we have seen most of this before–space aliens controlling MechaGodzilla, agents searching for the alien execrable of operations, etc. Had I seen this movie before watching Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla, maybe my feelings would be reversed, but I believe the first movie to be far edifying to this one. This is not to say that this is a dreadful movie; it is in fact better than most of the fresh series of 15 films, and it is historically notable because it is the last of those 15. We would not seek Godzilla again for 10 years after this movie, so certainly Apprehension of MechaGodzilla is a film you will want to add to your Godzilla collection.
This final entry in the unusual Godzilla series is, in the current execute, one of the better 70,s sequels. I read the other reviews saying that this film had a confusing record, and that it was objective TRYING to be more serious than its predecessors, and no wonder. This dvd version is missing about 20 minutes of the modern film. Several critical scenes have been chop out, damaging the myth. I have read that this was an edited version that played to the kiddies in matinees wait on in the day, and indeed all the missing scenes are the darker and more violent parts of the anecdote. And worst of all, the very chilly “history of Godzilla” intro is missing! This dvd is okay for the stamp, and if you are impartial buying for the kids. But if you are a serious fan, search for the complete version, this one will be a colossal dissapointment.
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Watch Ice Age – The Meltdown Online
March 1st, 2010 by jessie3010679![]() |
Watch Ice Age – The Meltdown Online.
Movie Title: Ice Age – The Meltdown Ice Age – The Meltdown is available for streaming or downloading. |
Ice Age: The Grand Chill was very beneficial and captivating. Unprejudiced seen The Meltdown and was thoroughly entertained. Hollywood finally effect something out that didn’t have a bunch of sex, blood and gore. Unbelievable one liners and originality in this. The QUEEN did an outstanding job, and Ray impartial made it all the better. This would be one for the DVD Library for determined. Kids AND adults both had a titanic time. Thank you Hollywood for finally having something that was fun.
We went to gape Ice Age 2 the day it came out, which generally guarantees an eager and rowdy crowd. Everyone there was laughing and clapping throughout.
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Manny (Romano), Diego (Leary), and Syd (Leguizomo) are help. They’ve turned the heavily iced situation into a camp for kids complete with ice slides and wading pools. But a vulture called Rapid Tony (cameo by Jay Leno) warns everyone that the ice is melting and soon their valley will be flooded. So once again, everyone must migrate, fleeing to safer and higher ground. On the blueprint, they meet 3 current friends: two opposums named Rupture and Eddie (Sean Scott Williams and Josh Peck), and their “sister”- a ample named Ellie (Queen Latifah) who doesn’t know she’s a spacious. Collectively, they continue on their migration. Syd and Diego try to convince Manny that Ellie can aid him sustain mammoths from going musty, and a possible realtionship begins. But flood waters, unsightly water creatures, and Ellie’s massive identity crisis stumble them a bit along they diagram. Syd finds respect and reassurance from a secret tribe of sloth’s that revere him as the “Fire God”. But it’s Scrat, everyone’s celebrated neurotic squirrel, that’s the honest star of this movie. My kids, and those all around us, laughed their heads off whenever Scrat’s crazy acorn antics were on mask. My [...] musty asked me today, “Can we go discover Ice Age 2 again? “. He didn’t even say that after seeing “Absorbing George”! Fun for the whole family.
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February 28th, 2010 by jessie3010679Stream A Man Called Horse Online
February 25th, 2010 by jessie3010679![]() |
Stream A Man Called Horse Online.
Movie Title: A Man Called Horse A Man Called Horse is available for streaming or downloading. |
Even though the display ran for several years, it was definitely one of the most underrated cartoons of the era. Unlinke most toons during that era, it actually had continuity with a tremendous record. The fable begins with the improper wizard Wrathamon (while conquering villages for his master Sett) placing a spell on Conan’s parents & grandfather. The spell turned them to “living stone.” As such Conan, with the relieve of unusual allies embarks upon a quest to undo the spell and place the world from Sett.
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The Position contains 36 episodes across 4 dvds. Episodes include:
1 The Night Of Fiery Tears
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2 Blood Brother
3 Star of Shadizar
4 Conan the Gladiator
5 The Heart of Rakkir
6 Men of Stone
7 The Abominable Torrinon
8 Greywolf of Xanthus
9 Shadow Walkers
10 The Claw of Heaven
11 Serpent Riders of Status
12 Windfang’s Eyrie
13 Seven against Stygia
14 Tribal Warfare
15 Curse of Axh’oon
16 Master Thief of Shadizar
17 The Vengeance of Jhebbel Sag
18 The Red Brotherhood
19 Speak and Lightning
20 The Crevasse of Winds
21 Hanuman the Ape God
22 Isle of the Naiads
23 In Days of Feeble
24 The Battle of Wrath-amon
25 Earthbound
26 The Treachery of Emperors
27 A Needle in a Haystack
28 Return to Tarantia
29 Book of Skelos
30 Labors of Conan
31 The Amulet of Vathelos
32 The Final hours of Conan
33 An Inferior Wind in Kusan
34 Blood of my Blood
35 Dragon’s Breath
36 The Queen of Stygia
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A Concert for George Movie Streaming
February 24th, 2010 by jessie3010679![]() |
A Concert for George Movie Streaming.
Movie Title: A Concert for George A Concert for George is available for streaming or downloading. |
The concert event had the chance to be sappy and touchy. Thank God, it isn’t. Instead, it’s a lot of George’s friends covering his songs, having fun doing it, and otherwise doing what they’ve always been doing.
Summary: Tall guests, expedient musicianship. Acquire This DVD. Now.
The indicate opens with a few words from Clapton, who introduces Ravi Shankar and his daughter. They play a magnificent amount of Indian music. It’s aesthetic apt, I have to admit, though not my cup of tea. One word – Ravi Shankar’s daughter is quite the sitar player… She plays a portion and violates at least 2 rules of physics. Astonishing.
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Then the Western band forms up. They play a number of songs, with luminaries being introduces and added to the band over the course of the evening.
Highlights, in no particular order:
1) Ringo
During “Honey Don’t” Search For for Albert Lee. His solo is blistering though short.
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2a) Clapton on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
2b) Clapton having the class to not play all the solos thereby making it the “Eric Clapton Note.” Instead most of the steady guitar work is being done by someone I don’t know. I consider it’s Clapton’s long-time guitarist. My son and I call him “THE Guy”.
2c) Clapton in general
3) Gawk Tom Petty’s guitar player glean OWNED by George on “Taxman”. Tom does this song kinda peculiar, it’s probably the weakest track.
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Buy,Download, Or Stream A Concert for George! Click Here
4) Sam Brown. What a reveal!
5) Waa Waa. Astounding.
6) Something by Paul, via uke.
7) Ravi’s daughter and her sitar. Your eyebrows will flee up!
Dhani has George’s spooky eyebrow thing going on.
9) Jeff Lynne is there, and takes an active allotment doing what he does best. Bob Dylan is notably absent.
Every track is worthwhile and many are pleasant. And while a lot of similar productions are muddy and grisly, this isn’t. Eric is running the indicate, and keeps it challenging and spruce.
The only dings I give this production are
1) The “unhurried the scenes” footage is too sparse. I know there had to me more…
2) The band isn’t introduced well enough. I expected a halt up of every performer, with a hello, and a name. Seek 2b) above.
I am an avid Beatles fan and I was fair blown away by the concert.
A. The Performances
Great musicians and friends/collaborators of George: Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, etc. do an outstanding job and everyone of them keep their heart and soul into the songs of George Harrison and beget them arrive alive. It is eerie, but when you listen to Clapton singing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Paul McCartney singing “All Things Must Pass,” or Billy Preston singing “My Sweet Lord,” you could sense the presence of George as they’re singing! Their renditions of Harrison’s songs were unbiased as masterful as George singing them. Those 3 songs stood out to me.
Some other musical highlights:
1) Ringo Starr’s touching rendition of “Photograph” (the words win on a completely recent meaning in this tribute) and “Honey Don’t.”
2) Anoushka Shankar’s dazzling sitar playing accompanying Jeff Lynne’s rendition of “The Inner Light.”
3) Joe Brown’s tender covers of “Here Comes the Sun” and “I’ll Peek You in My Dreams.”
4) Dhani Harrison’s acknowledgement and thanks to all the musicians playing.
5) Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr playing together for the 1st time live in over 40 years!!! And they seem to be having a proper time!
6) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and their titillating performance of “Taxman” and spot-on re-endition of “I Need You.”
7) Billy Preston’s alive to singing of “My Sweet Lord”
The comical song “Lumberjack” by Monty Python which really lightened up the crowd and the occasion.
B. The Editing
I also liked how the DVD focussed its shots mostly on the musicians performing the songs, rather than panning to the audience and then befriend to the musicians. (This abet and forth between the musicians and then the audience is a very annoying feature which plagues the Paul McCartney “live” DVDs) .
C. The New Layout of the Discs
This movie is organized in an keen fashion:
Disc 1 features the whole complete concert ( 2 hr 26 min) — you cannot do any chapter or song selections.
Disc 2 is the theatrical version (2 hr 20 min) — these are songs from the concert rearranged in order and backstage/ rehearsal scenes/ interviews of the musicians are interspersed within the songs. You can do scene / chapter selection for Disc 2.
D. Some Reservations
Even though the “Lumberjack” song was very amusing and lightened up the occasion, I didn’t care for the song “Sit on My Face” or the mooning of the audience when the Python members bared their rear-ends to the audience. I felt this dampened the whole respectability and dignity of the whole concert.
Summary:
That aside, I highly recommend this DVD. The performances are outstanding; the relate and sound quality are reliable.
If you’re a Beatles fan and a fan of George, you’ll fancy this DVD! A must-have! One of the best concert DVDs you can regain!
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Stream Dust Devil – The Final Cut Online
February 23rd, 2010 by jessie3010679![]() |
Stream Dust Devil – The Final Cut Online.
Movie Title: Dust Devil – The Final Cut Dust Devil – The Final Cut is available for streaming or downloading. |
Drawing inspiration from the tale of Nhadeip–which grew out of the unsolved blood ritual murders that took station in Bethany, Namibia, in the early 1980’s–South African-born director Richard Stanley has created a strangely comely, haunting and highly atmospheric dismay fable. According to African folklore, a “Num” is a Dust Devil or shape-shifting demon who is drawn to suffering and self-destructive souls unconsciously seeking release from the wound of their lives. The demon is basically a sorcerer, trapped in the physical world, where he occupies the body of a human host. By tracking his prey and dismembering them in the “ritual ecstasy of cancel,” he accumulates the power to enable his return to the spirit world. Robert Burke plays a stunning and enigmatic hitchhiker who is the physical incarnation of such a creature.
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The film primarily revolves around the Dust Devil and three other characters: Wendy Robinson (Chelsea Fields) is a unhappy and suicidal Johannesburg housewife on the hasten from her abusive husband. Ben Mukurob (Zakes Mokae) is the police officer who is tracking what appears to be a monstrous serial killer. Mukurob is hampered in his investigations by both a dusky personal history and a natural resistance to believing the murders are connected to the supernatural world. John Matshikiza rounds out the share as “Joe Niemand,” a shaman who is aware of what is really committing the murders and who is trying to benefit Mukurob in stopping the Dust Devil.
The Namibian Desert–with its desolate scrubland and the tremendous emptiness of its endless sand dunes–is the perfect backdrop for a chronicle rooted in mysticism–where the local population has one foot in the postcolonial, unique world and the other rooted in tribal culture and view.
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There is a languid pacing to the film. A voiceover account, provided by Joe Niemand at the beginning and kill of the film, supplies many of the details and back-story that would not be apparent otherwise. The dreams and memories of the characters sometime bleed over into their waking position, and the audience is frequently pulled into a half-twilight world where reality and memory are interchangeable.
Sadly, Richard Stanley’s feature film career has been beset by problems. His first film “Hardware” suffered from unfair comparisons with “The Terminator.” Civil war erupted in South Africa during the filming of “Dust Devil” and postproduction distributorship troubles left a chopped up version of the movie–with only scattershot and straight-to-video release. Creative differences left Stanley unemployed only a few days into his third movie “The Island of Doctor Moreau,” followed by the bizarre rumors of Stanley returning to the film position in disguise. I am jubilant that Stanley did not let these obstacles and setbacks completely defeat him, and I eagerly await the next film from this talented and spellbinding filmmaker.
This is a visually fine film. I watched it expecting a alarm movie but ended up enthralled by its sheer visual splendour; both in its glowing photography and its breathtaking landscape. As a anxiety film, I doubt if it would attract the mass of today’s dread fans. It’s definite why the studio quietly dumped it onto video without a theatrical release. It would not have sold as a apprehension movie. There are not enough shocks, gore or dismay to satiate today’s audience. The predominant feeling I got was not so noteworthy of alarm, but of despair, desolation and spiritual isolation, made all the more stark when site amidst all that beauty. I would agree with director Richard Stanley, when he says that it is closer to an “art film” than a dread movie.
Stanley grew up in South Africa and learned the folklore of the natives at the feet of his mother, an anthropologist who peaceful stories and folktales of the African tribes. This chronicle revolves around a shape-shifting spirit, variously called a Soupwah, a Num or in Afrikaans, a Nagtloper (literally Night-Runner) . The Nagtloper (Robert John Burke) feeds off the life-force of the damned – people who have lost the will to live. Into his orbit float two lost souls, Wendy (Chelsea Field) a South African woman fleeing from a failed marriage and Ben Mukurob (Zakes Mokae), a Zulu policeman whose life came to an kill years ago with the death of his wife. Who will conclude deliverance? The white woman, the gloomy policeman or the Nagtloper, whose beget aim is to return to the spirit world from where it came. The desolate emptiness of the Namib is beautifully captured. Scenes are exquisitely choreographed, almost like a ballet. I don’t know if I would recommend it to the usual dread film fan, but it is definitely one for cinephiles. The DVD is superbly produced with crystal distinct image quality, no dirt, no wound and with exceptionally beneficial sound. It is presented in its fresh 1.85:1 widescreen. Strangely there are no subtitles. The main feature is anamorphic (enhanced for widescreen TV) as are all of Stanley’s interview segments. Sadly none of the other Extras are anamorphic. Even the workprint is letterboxed.
This Special Edition comes with a host of Extras spread over 5 discs. Personally I felt that devoting an entire disc to the “Workprint” was overkill. But I’m not complaining. You can look the workprint in its entirety or fair employ the 46 chapter-stops to salvage directly to the various deleted segments, which are sadly all taken from a VHS source; some having no sound, some looking really awful, and most having the video-counter running above or below the print. I would recommend the workprint only to ardent admirers of the Final Chop. The other Extras have nothing to do with the main film itself but are Stanley’s TV documentaries on other subjects. Nonetheless, they are definitely worth viewing.
The most gargantuan Extra is “The Secret Glory of SS Obersturmfuhrer Otto Rahn” made for Britain’s Channel Four TV. This is a 97min documentary on the life of the Nazi poet and writer Otto Rahn who was obsessed with the search for the “Holy Grail”. This is not the Grail of Christ which we usually associate with the legendary quest but a more obscure “Grail” supposedly made from the crown of Lucifer, variously described as a stone, a gem or a diadem. Stanley contends that Rahn and the Nazis did score the Grail in southern France but gives no source for his claim. To be graceful, the documentary is not about the search for the Grail itself but is an myth of Rahn’s tragic life. The dark irony of his life is that this Nazi stalwart, who wrote so many vile tracts condemning the Jews, was in the slay, himself revealed to be a Jew. The documentary is very dense, and expects the viewer to be fully conversant with Grail account, 13th Century Crusader history (specifically of the Albigensian or Cathar Crusade) and German history circa WWII. Like Rahn, Stanley doesn’t fabricate obvious when he conflates fact and fiction. The Lucifer Grail is referred to in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval poem Parzival (the source of Wagner’s Parsifal) . This is by almost all accounts an invention based on the used Arthurian legends. Rahn ties that in to historical fact by assuming that the Grail mountain, the fictional Montsalvat of the poem, is the same as Montsegur, the last retreat of the Cathars in southern France. The Cathars were Gnostic Christians, declared heretics by the Vatican, which sent in Crusaders to annihilate them in what became known as the Albigensian Crusade. The hilltop fortress of Montsegur was where the Cathars made their last stand. At Montsegur Rahn searches and apparently finds the Grail he is looking for. In fact, the Cathars never claimed to maintain the Holy Grail. The documentary is packed with so worthy information, both historical fact and literary fantasy, that it requires more than one viewing for pudgy assimilation and it is not easy to sit through. Relate quality is mediocre but tolerable for a documentary extra. It is in 1.85:1 widescreen, letterboxed into a 4×3 fullframe. Sound quality is very terrible. Dialogue is recorded at fluctuating volume levels, is frequently inaudible and in many instances drowned out by extremely boomy bass. Worse, the sound and relate for the interviews are never in sync. The film’s temp-track sounds bad (like a unpleasant B-grade awe flick) but the accompanying Wagnerian music is enormous and transcendent. The exerpts reach from Wagner’s Parsifal and Tannhauser. The documentary interviews are in equal parts German, French and English. The entire documentary comes with obligatory English subtitles. To be glowing, Stanley admits that this is unbiased a preview of a work in progress which he hopes to release in splendid get one day.
My favourite of the documentaries is the 36min long “Direct of the Moon”. It is a visual narrate of Stanley’s visit to Afghanistan towards the kill of the Soviet occupation (1989) . As Stanley points out in the interview, it is more akin to poetry than a documentary; a visual tone-poem if you will. The sparse narration, in verse do, occurs only at the beginning and extinguish and is given wholly in Pashto (Pashtun language) . English subtitles are burnt onto the print. This was made for Britain’s BSB channel. As a passe legal documentary it falls flat, but as a visual poem it is glorious. And this is evident despite the unpleasant quality of the 16mm film footage. It was shot on a mechanical (spring driven/hand-cranked) Bolex camera, with no sync-audio. The reason was because they were travelling with the mujahideen and shooting for months in places where there was no electricity; mostly around the Afghan/Pakistan border spot in the majestic Hindu Kush mountains. Stanley’s 1/2-hour long interview accompanying this film is a must-see. He describes the Afghan expedition, his meetings with the Afghan mujahideen, his deep admiration for them and his sadness at seeing them bombed into oblivion post-9/11. The film itself ends with the mujahideen victorious in the final battle for Jalalabad. The music get is lyrical and evocative and is easily the loveliest accumulate written by Simon Boswell on these discs. It is inspired by Eastern European folk music (not native Afghan music) and the documentary also features the Trio Bulgarka singing “Oi Yano Yanke” from their “The Forest is Crying” album.
“The White Darkness” is a documentary Stanley made for the BBC as piece of a series on world religions. Its focus is on the practise of Voodoo on the island of Haiti. Coincidentally, while the documentary was being shot, America invaded the island. The documentary ends up being an examination of Voodoo practise on the one hand, and a recount of the American invasion on the other. Thanks to a particularly sinister US Army Colonel, it also becomes a chronicle about top-notch American Evangelical Christianity coming in to trounce the devil-worshipping heathens of the island. The Colonel is so boastfully arrogant and self-righteous that one could only hiss with relief to learn that he was eventually “removed from roar”. Visually this film looks the best of the three and is presented in its unique 1.33:1 fullscreen with generous audio quality. Most of the documentary is in English with the French and Creole segments suitably subtitled. It also comes with a 17min long interview where, amongst other things, Stanley describes the American invasion and the surreal image of US Marines and “Armed Baptists” coming to evangelise the heathens.
The last disc of this 5-disc residence is an audio-CD containing the soundtrack of “Dust Devil”. I wish they had included the soundtrack of “Insist of the Moon” as well. It is probably the best thing Simon Boswell has written. The position is accompanied by three separate 12-page booklets, the first being a very detailed and informative production diary on “Dust Devil”, the second containing equally detailed discussions on the 3 documentaries, and the third being a comic-book version of the film. The “Dust Devil” feature alone is worth the asking note for this release. Coupled with all the extras, this DVD is self-recommending.
Note: As we are reminded on every disc here, Richard Stanley is the Great-Grandson of the legendary explorer and adventurer, Sir Henry Stanley, who gave his name to the Stanley Falls (now Boyoma Falls, DRC), and the city of Stanleyville (indicate day Kisangani, DRC), searched for and rescued his even more illustrious fellow-explorer, David Livingston and is credited with the iconic line, “Dr. Livingston, I presume? “
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