What does democracy mean to you? Does it mean the same thing in the US as it does in Russia? Mikhail Morozov (AKA Mikhail Fedorovich), "a Russian patriot, devout Christian and millionaire businessman ... also presides over Duravoko -- 'the village of fools' southwest of Moscow -- where people willingly come from all over Russia to free themselves from freedom." For God, Tsar and Fatherland examines a community struggling to deal with the US concept of "democracy." The documentary is available for free online viewing, courtesy of our friends at SnagFilms, and is quite timely, in view of President Obama's first trip to Russia this week.

Morozov gets a memorable, if not entirely flattering, introduction: a view from behind as the portly, balding man jumps into a swimming pool. It's almost as though journalist / filmmaker Nino Kirtadze wants to strip the man down to his essence, and then allow the film to clothe Morozov with the issues that define him. He lays down the law to a potential resident: listen and obey only me; don't ask questions. He leads the prayers for the group and ties God, Tsar, and the Fatherland (Russia) all together into a trinity. "Western-style" democracy, he says, has only led to disaster.

To be certain, the doc is dryly presented, yet it's of interest because it provides a Russian perspective, questioning why resistance to "Western-style" democracy seems to be gaining ground. More information about the film is available at the Why Democracy site and at SnagFilms.

After the jump: Watch For God, Tsar and Fatherland.

Continue reading Snag This: For God, Tsar and Fatherland

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I am shocked -- shocked!! -- to learn that the porn industry is shunning plot, dialogue, and narrative arcs. Instead, they are increasingly focused on shooting ... wait for it ... more sex scenes! Who wudda thunk it? According to no less an authority than the New York Times, the pornographic movie industry is concentrating on creating "more short scenes that can be easily uploaded to Web sites and sold in several-minute chunks."

The article is accompanied by a photograph of porn star Savanna Samson looking pensive and sad as she stares into the distance. She laments: "I used to have dialogue ... I couldn't wait to get my next script," Nowadays, there is little reason for her to even look at the script. And doing one sex scene after another "just isn't as much fun." The industry is feeling pressure to cater to the short attention span (three to five minutes) of Internet users, claims Steven Hirsch, co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment. Industry observer Paul Fishbein says that DVD sales have fallen sharply "because the Internet has made it easy to watch snippets of video."

Declining DVD sales are also cited by the mainstream film industry as a major threat to their survival. Can Hollywood learn anything about adapting to changing viewing habits from the porn industry? I'm not saying they should start including explicit sex scenes designed for the Internet, but maybe the big studios should examine more closely how and what people are watching online. Right now the Internet is viewed as a last resort destination for films that can't get theatrical distribution. What if certain "A-list" films were rethought for online-only viewing, with big stars and a big marketing strategy?

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Continue reading Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 7/7

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Continue reading Direct-to-DVD Release 'The Code' Tops the Charts

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Consider this post your confessional as well as my own. You see, I can't resist a cheap DVD. Even if the film isn't something I'd even put on a top 10 or 20 list, if I see it for $10.00 or less, I must own it.

This week's guilty grab was Australia, a film I was very disappointed in, and planned never to see again unless I stumbled on it while flipping through cable channels. But there it was on half.com, "watched once, brand new" for $5.00. I thought about how very nice "the bucket scene" is, and how it's chock full of beautiful sunsets and rugged Australian landscapes (several that aren't named Hugh Jackman) and I caved. It's really the perfect movie for knitting to, because I can just concentrate on turning my sock heel, and look at the pretty cinematography. My DVD shelf is chock full of such films. Kate and Leopold, The Long Kiss Goodnight (worth far more than whatever I paid), my entire Mel Gibson collection, Marie Antoinette, The Wedding Singer, and so on. The list is long and not very illustrious (Vanishing Point remake, anyone?), but at least I can say I didn't go out of my way for most of them. I just threw them into the Target cart while shopping for flip flops. I'm always on the hunt for more. I saw The Transporter in a hologram box awfully cheap, and it's begging to come home with me for those awkward Sunday nights when I need something short before heading back to the grind.

So while Scott Weinberg was positively crowing about the fact that I'd willingly purchased Australia with my own money, I see nothing wrong in it. I can spend $5.00 on a lot sillier things, like a magazine that ultimately ends up in my recycle bin, or an enormous Starbucks espresso that is gone in a matter of minutes. But Hugh Jackman's tight shirt? That lasts forever.

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What are your plans for the weekend? Here in the U.S., most folks are enjoying a long holiday weekend, filled with food, friends, and fireworks -- and maybe a free concert and a movie or two. On a personal note, with local temperatures soaring above 100 degrees for the past week or so, I'm staying inside and out of the weather as much as I can. And so I was pleased to find Jazz on a Summer's Day is available for free online viewing, courtesy of our friends at SnagFilms.

Directed by Aram Avakian and Bert Stern, the film documents the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and the America's Cup sailing tournament, two events which go together like a cool drink on a hot day. Performers at the festival include Thelonius Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O'Day (pictured), Dinah Washington, Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong, and Mahalia Jackson. My knowledge of jazz is extremely limited, so all I can add to that list is that I very much enjoyed listening to all the musicians. As much as anything, I got a kick out of the spectator footage -- nicely dressed folks, a number in business suits (!), stylish sunglasses, bright colors, the whole nine yards -- and the dulcet-toned, super low-key announcer.

Frankly, this is a good doc for watching, and listening to, in the background. We've embedded it after the jump. More information is available at SnagFilms.

After the jump: Watch Jazz on a Summer's Day!

Continue reading Snag This: Jazz on a Summer's Day

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"Slim pickings" is the best way to describe this week's releases. Isn't anyone planning to stay home and watch DVDs?

Two Lovers
Joaquin Phoenix can't decide between Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw. Directed by James Gray, this suffocating drama is dark, thoughtful, and "more true to real human existence than most of the dreck that comes out of Hollywood studios," wrote Kim Voynar. I wasn't quite as impressed by it as she was, but it's still my top pick in a slow week. Also on Blu-ray. Rent it.

12 Rounds
Wrestler John Cena stars in Renny Harlin's latest train wreck (as I described it in my review), a sober drama that resolutely refuses to embrace its loonier plot elements (fire engine smashing through New Orleans, an out-of-control street car). Aidan Gillen (The Wire) provides one of the few pleasures as an exceptionally-nasty master criminal. Also on Blu-ray. The "Extreme Cut" adds less than three minutes of footage. Skip it.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li
I was hoping against hope that this might provide some cheesy fun, but Nick Schager slammed that door shut: "Fighting sequences are dreadfully lethargic ... their choreography is of a dull, unimaginative sort." Not even Kristin Kreuk can save this one. Also on Blu-ray. Skip it.

Also out: Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience.

After the jump: "Indies on DVD" provides several good rental choices, a landmark film by Spike Lee hits Blu-ray, and a long-dismissed effort by director Hal Ashby gets dusted off.

Continue reading Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 6/30

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Netflix began a contest in 2006 for coders to win $1,000,000 if they could improve Netflix's Cinematch algorithm by at least 10%, and because coders like a good challenge (and people like money), folks have been steadily tinkering with their 1's and 0's ever since. (You can read more about the contest and its rules here.) Three years later, two teams came together with the winning code, which was confirmed Friday. Netflix's VP of corporate communications Steve Swasey told Wired, "This has been terribly exciting. It's like watching the Belmont Stakes, the Preakness and the Indy 500 all at once -- for geeks."

There are still a few hurdles for the team to jump through; the Netflix contest site states, "your qualifying submissions must have the largest accuracy improvement verified by the Contest judges, you must share your method with (and non-exclusively license it to) Netflix, and you must describe to the world how you did it and why it works."

As Wired points out, Netflix isn't the only company to dip its toes into "so-called Prize economics," which is when these companies offer prize incentives to outsiders to basically do work for free with an outside chance of winning big bucks. But doesn't this say to companies that it's okay to try and get lots and lots of hours from (some) highly skilled professionals for free? It would have cost Netflix far more than $1M to get consultants and coders on the job, especially for full-time gigs with all the benefits and trimmings. I'm not a code geek, but if I were, I'd probably be interested in this sort of challenge as well. On the other hand, perhaps I'd rather have a full-time job at Netflix writing code all day along with, you know, insurance.

Continue reading Coders Crack the Netflix Cinematch Algorithm

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Continue reading Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 6/23

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Indie Roundup looks back at the past seven (or, sometimes, eight) days of news in the indie film community, along with a peak ahead to what's coming soon.

Opening. The highest-profile "indie" is Woody Allen's Whatever Works, wiith Tatia Rosenthal's stop-motion animation feature $9.99, Francois Velle's NYC drama The Narrows, Andy Abrahams Wilson's Lyme disease doc Under Our Skin, and Tommy Wirkola's Nazi zombie flick Dead Snow vying for attention on a limited number of screens. On the festival circuit, CineVegas drew to a close on Monday (Eric D. Snider covered it for us), the same night that Silverdocs opened in Silver Spring, Maryland. The Los Angeles Film Festival starts tonight and the New York Asian Film Festival kicks off tomorrow.

Box Office. Last weekend saw several strong openings, with Robert Kenner's doc Food, Inc. leading the way ($20,171 per-screen), followed by Duncan Jones' sci-fi drama Moon ($17,006 per screen), and Francis Coppola's family drama Tetro ($15,252). The doc Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love ($10,866) and Le combat dans l'ile ($10,217) also debuted nicely, while the expansion of Sam Mendes' Away We Go brought in good business ($12,463). Daryl Wein's very informative AIDS activist doc Sex Positive drew $3,408 at one theater.

Online Viewing. How about a doc about a doc? Keir Moreano's documentary As the Call So the Echo follows an American doctor who unexpectedly finds himself in Vetnam after he decides to donate unused medical equipment. The film is available for free streaming at Babelgum, courtesy of the good folks at Cinetic.

After the jump: How will AFI Dallas the Dallas International Film Festival fare without AFI?

Continue reading Indie Roundup: 'Food, Inc.,' Vietnam Doc, Dallas Without AFI

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In the wake of the disputed Presidential election in Iran, film fans might find it interesting to take a look at Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution. Directed by Nader T. Homayoung, the documentary provides an overview of Iranian cinema, spending most of its time on milestones -- both positive and negative -- from the past 40 years. SnagFilms has made it available for free online viewing.

Starting in 1997, Iranian cinema became "an international phenomenon," as Jeffrey M. Anderson wrote in his wonderful, extensive primer for GreenCine, "a New Wave on par with the French movement of the 1950s and 60s, the German movement of the 60s and 70s and the Hong Kong movement of the 80s and 90s." But Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution makes it clear that the country's cinema was flourishing in the late 60s and 70s, producing a flock of vital, progressive pictures that received little attention outside the local territory. Tantalizing glimpses of these films are featured, suggesting that further exploration would indeed be worthwhile. That all came crashing down with the ascendance of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.

Khomeini's rule led to the idea of "Islamically-correct cinema," or as filmmakers interviewed in the documentary described them, "films about people in absolute poverty," preferably without any women. Some filmmakers found a way to express themselves artistically within the limitations imposed, eventually gaining international recognition, while nearly everyone was frustrated with censorship issues. The doc is very straightforward -- talking head interviews, archival footage, narration -- but the subject carries the day.

We've embedded the film after the jump for your viewing convenience. More information is available at the official site and at SnagFilms.

Continue reading Snag This: Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution

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Diane,

It's June 17, 2009, and I'm coming back to Twin Peaks.

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Friday the 13th
Marcus Nispel directs a rebooted version of the venerable series, which borrows elements from the first four films and adds precious few of its own. I'm tempted to say "skip it," based on my own review, but those first 20-25 minutes are pretty ferocious, and the "Extended Killer Cut" promises more of everything. Also on Blu-ray. Rent it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail
Tyler Perry has grown his beloved character Madea "into a larger-than-life force of nature that is genuinely funny," wrote Eric D. Snider. He noted the writer/director's "tendency toward oversimplification," however, and commented: "Maybe if someone would do a better job of making films targeted at a black, female Christian audience, Perry's half-baked didacticism would suffer in comparison. In the meantime, this is the best there is, so it's nice that Perry is improving, albeit in small increments." Rent it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

Ghostbusters
The comedy classic with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver stands ready to imprint itself upon your memory once again, in a new Blu-ray edition. One word to keep in mind before buying, however: grain. "Surprisingly heavy," says DVD Beaver; "heavy wash of grain that never quite dissipates," per IGN; "features plenty of the swirly stuff in most every scene," according to Blu-ray.com. Other than that important factor, which is claimed to reflect the original source print, reviews have been positive. Rent it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

Also out: What Goes Up, Morning Light, Sword of the Stranger, and a boatload of TV series (a list of the latter at TV Squad).

After the jump: Indies on DVD, more Blu-ray, and Collector's Corner.

Continue reading Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 6/16

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What has the combination of YouTube and inexpensive editing software wrought? For one thing, the opportunity for fans to fashion their own movie trailers, recutting footage to honor or, more commonly, ridicule well-known films. The practice has become so commonplace that online video sites are now jam-packed with fan-made, recut trailers that should never have left the privacy of their creator's computer. To help sort out the good from the bad (and the ugly), our friends at Urlesque have compiled a list of "The 10 Best Recut Movie Trailers."

They date the phenomenon back to 2006 and the recut trailer for The Shining, transforming Stanley Kubrick's horror picture into a "fuzzy, family-friendly comedy replete with a Peter Gabriel song to give the whole thing some 'extra polish.'" Their Top 10 includes one that goes the opposite direction, from family-friendly comedy to horror picture (Toy Story), as well as a couple that rescue romantic comedies by emphasizing their more hair-raising possibilities (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle), along with a few surprises. Head on over to Urlesque to watch all ten.

Of course, centuries before motion pictures were invented, the Greeks were parodying epic literature. The first movie parody may have been 1922's Mud and Sand, starring Stan Laurel. Fan-made or recut trailers are simply the latest variation on a theme. Thanks to technology, industrious fans now can crank out amazing, funny, clever, or silly recut trailers almost as soon as the originals appear.

What are your favorite fan-made / recut / remix trailers?

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There will be crunch this fall. "Crunch" as in furiously intense action from Thailand. "Crunch" as in Tony Jaa, madder than ever. "Crunch" as in Ong Bak 2, directed by and starring Jaa, now set to enliven the autumn theatrical release schedule. And if you can't wait until October 23, well, you can sit at home and watch the movie on September 25, according to Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal.

Magnolia Pictures acquired rights to the film for its genre label Magnet in February and it was showcased at South by Southwest the following month. As I wrote at the time, Ong Bak 2 "features numerous insanely awesome fight scenes. Jaa explodes in every direction, his arms and legs delivering lethal blows as he lays waste to a variety of opponents, employing all manner of martial arts, straight fighting skills, and amazing dexterity with a variety of bladed weapons." To be fair, the pace is sometimes lumbering, and narrative clarity is not a strong suit, but those fight scenes are something glorious to behold.

Wise Kwai points to the official U.S. web site, which is only a placeholder right now, and to Mark Pollard's comments at Kung Fu Cinema about Magnolia's plan to make the film available on cable VOD, Amazon, and Xbox Live one month before the theatrical release. That's in line with how Magnolia has marketed and released other recent releases, and, in view of the modest returns for the original Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior a few years ago, makes good business sense. Meanwhile, Ong Bak 3, which will hopefully clear up some of the loose threads from OB2, is scheduled for release in Thailand in December.

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Did the kids who just won Tony Awards for Billy Elliott on Broadway ever have to endure this kind of criticism from a director? "Stop, stop, stop! It's 'toward.' Who is singing 'towards'? ... If you put an 's' on it, it makes it cheap, it makes it sound like you're from Long Island. Nothing against Long Islands ..." Thus begins Stagedoor, a documentary about a summer camp with superstar alumni such as Robert Downey, Jr., Natalie Portman, Mandy Moore, Bryce Howard, Zach Braff, Amy Ryan, Jon Cryer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Felicity Huffman, and director Shawn Levy. Our friends at SnagFilms have made the film available for free online viewing.

"What will life be like when theater geeks and show-tune queens rule the world?," asked Jorge Morales in his review at The Village Voice. "Documentarian Alexandra Shiva's cameras miss the moment some of the alpha divas cross the line, but the overwrought counselors make it sound like a showbiz Lord of the Flies." Ed Gonzalez of Slant notes that Stagedoor Manor was "the inspiration for former student and teacher Todd Graff's Camp, a film which never arrived at the truth of what this performing arts camp means for the Future Gay Men, Fag Hags, Three Straight Boys, and Broadway Stars of Tomorrow who go there every summer." The doc "remains goodhearted and agreeable throughout -- low on pathos and surprisingly critical of the drama-queen roles students and counselors adopt throughout their three weeks" at the camp.

After the jump, we've embedded the film for your viewing convenience. More information is available at SnagFilms.

Continue reading Snag This: Stagedoor

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