Archive for the 'DVD releases' Category
The highly acclaimed British feature documentary “Deep Water” is now available on DVD. Set against the backdrop of the turbulent 1960s, the documentary is the true story of Donald Crowhurst, a free-thinking electronics inventor who enters the first solo non-stop, round-the-world yacht race.
Crowhurst entered the race in the hope of winning a cash prize from the Sunday Times to aid his failing business. However, early on in the voyage he encountered difficulties and secretly abandoned the race while reporting false positions. The British media celebrated him as the likely winner of the race, but the grim reality was that he gradually went insane and eventually committed suicide.
The film has been produced by the London-based APT films, and distributed in cinemas by Pathe. Check out the film’s trailer here.
Buy the film from Amazon.co.uk
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The U.S. Vs John Lennon - Hubert Selby Jr: It’ll Be Better Tomorrow - This Film Is Not Yet Rated
The U.S. Vs John Lennon (2006) - This riveting documentary focuses on a part of the music icon’s life that is often overlooked: his politicisation both during and after the Vietnam War. Towards the end of the Beatles’ career, Lennon began taking the band in a new direction, using their popularity to circulate a message of peace in songs such as ‘Revolution’. He became even more involved after the band broke up, and the film traces his growing awareness and dissent through archival footage and interviews with those close to him. The film documents how the FBI was called in to look into the “threat” Lennon posed to the Nixon campaign, and how the US government attempted to deport him to save the nation.
Buy this film or other John Lennon films from Amazon.co.uk
Hubert Selby Jr: It’ll Be Better Tomorrow (2006) - Narrated by Robert Downey Jr, “It’ll Be Better Tomorrow” is an engaging exploration of the life and art of Hubert Selby Jr. - a self-described “scream looking for a mouth”. Selby overcame incredible odds to become one of the 20th century’s most celebrated and controversial authors by writing some of the most distinctly American books ever. The documentary features both archival and new material culled from interviews with Lou Reed, Ellen Burstyn, Anthony Kiedis, Uli Edel and Darren Aronosfsky. Also included with the documentary is Aronofsky’s award-winning Selby adaptation, “Requiem For A Dream”.
Buy this documentary from Amazon.co.uk
Continue reading ‘New DVD releases (April, 2007)’
Shoah - Press For Truth - H.H. Holmes, The World’s First Serial Killer - Say Amen, somebody - Style Wars - Paul Robeson - Speak Of Me As I Am - Terrorstorm - Genocide
Shoah (1985) - Shoah is Claude Lanzmann’s landmark documentary meditation on the Holocaust. Assembled from footage shot by the filmmaker during the 1970s and 1980s, it investigates the genocide at the level of experience: the geographical layout of the camps and the ghettos; the daily routines of imprisonment; the inexorable trauma of humiliation and punishment; and the insights of those who experienced these events first hand. (Comes in a four-disc set, with a 180-page book.)
Look up this documentary on Amazon.co.uk
9/11 - Press For Truth (2006) - Why did the White House stonewall the 9/11 investigation? Following the attacks of September 11th, a small group of grieving families waged a tenacious battle against those who sought to bury the truth about the event–including, to their amazement, President Bush. In this film, six of them, including three of the famous ‘Jersey Girls’, tell for the first time the powerful story of how they took on the greatest powers in Washington–and won–compelling an investigation, only to subsequently watch the 9/11 Commission fail in answering most of their questions.
Buy this documentary from Amazon.co.uk
Continue reading ‘New DVD releases (February, 2007)’
The filmmakers behind the cult internet documentary, “Loose Change” are re-editing the film in the hope of getting a distribution deal by September 11, 2007. By now, the film has become the foundation of the post-9/11 “Truth Movement” in the US, which is assembling convincing evidence to detroy the US government’s official version of the truth.
Today, the Guardian runs an interesting article about the story of the film, taking us into the Catskill Mountains in Oneonta, four hours North of Manhattan, to meet the makers of the film (whose average age is still around 22). So far, the film has been viewed over 4 million times on the internet; shown on television to up to 50 million people in 12 countries; and a 100,000 DVDs have been sold.
Watch the film on the web: Googe Video - Loose change (55 min.) or buy the DVD from the filmmakers.
Related posts: “Loose change - 9/11 documentary update”, July 20, 2006
The Unseen Beatles – 638 Ways to Kill Castro — The Coldplay Phenomenon
The Unseen Beatles — A captivating documentary as seen on BBC’s Timewatch, containing never-before seen footage which provides a unique behind the scenes insight into the Fab Four. At the height of their fame, The Beatles performed their last ever live concert never touring again after their 1966 sell out US shows. This unique programme reveals the truth about why at the height of their fame, they ceased to perform live.
During this turbulent time in the history of the Beatles, this fascinating documentary also explores how the seeds of discontent were sown, eventually leading to the split of the world’s most famous band. The programme includes accounts and extended interviews from personal eyewitness testimonies, the men and women who shared the highs and lows of the band’s ground breaking adventures. The DVD contains previously unseen material plus rare archive footage of the Beatles on holiday in Jersey. (Description from Amazon)
Look up this documentary and other Beatles films at Amazon.co.uk
Continue reading ‘New DVD releases (January, 2007)’
This hypnotic documentary about the life of monks in the French Alps, who live under a vow of silence, is now out on DVD. Directed by German Philip Gröning, the film is a next-to-silent meditation on monastic life. No music (except for the chants), no interviews, and no commentaries.
It was after 19 years following his first encounter with the order’s leader that Gröning was granted permission to shoot the film. During the shoot, he locked himself up in the monastery for five months, immersing himself in the never-before-seen world of the Grande Chartreuse monastery. Before the documentary started making its way through the film festival circuit, Gröning arranged a screening for the monks. “They found a lot of humor in it,” he told Newsweek. The film took 700,000 euro to make, and received many awards, including the Special Jury Price at Sundance.
Click here for the production notes and a lengthy interview with the director.
“An Incoveninent Truth” is a feature documentary based on a PowerPoint presentation by former vice President Al Gore. While the US political establishment continues to sweep global warming under the carpet, Al Gore has plunged headlong into a serious wake-up call for the planet with a series of lectures about the problem.
It’s on one of these lectures that this movie from director Davis Guggenheim is based. Guggenheim breaks up Gore’s delivery by illustrating his points with film footage, much of which features Gore exploring the globe as he examines the effects of global warming. Gore’s speech is neatly divided between calm recitations of the facts about the issue and several stories of a personal nature. His skills as an orator are considerable, and it’s hard not to be alarmed by most of what he has to say.
Indeed, as Gore relates tales of melting polar icecaps, rising global temperatures, and the reluctance of political leaders to do something about the problem, the film takes on an air of hopelessness and doom, especially as no easy solutions are offered.
Watch the trailer on Google Video
Look up this documentary and related books on Amazon.co.uk
