Reviews (77)

This is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen!
I am a high school student who is very involved in the band and choir. I know what it takes me be a good musician and the amount of work required for putting on a good show (I'm involved in the marching band). The musicians in Blast are some of the most talented people that I have ever seen perform. Their show is perfect in almost every way! Their movements are perfectly together, their musicianship is wonderful and the flag line is spectacular. This cast performs beautifully and the show is amazing. I've seen the movie countless times, and just last night I saw the show in person. I went expecting this to be one of the most wonderful things I had ever seen, and it was everything I expected and more! It absolutely took my breath away! These people are very talented and it is worth every cent you pay. I almost paid [a lot] for the DVD at the show last night, but I knew one of my friends had purchased it through Amazon for less ... This is a magnificent display of their talent and very awe-inspiring. I recommend it 100%.

Out of the PIT and onto the stage
I have read most of the reviews of this fantastic musical experience and agree with them all. If you are a musician, you will love this DVD. If you aren't a musician, you will love this DVD. Blast! is a product of Drum Corps International and had it's humble birth as the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps in 1985.

I marched in the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps from Denver, CO. and had the pleasure of going head to head with The Star of Indiana during the summer of 1989. Star of Indiana went on to win the World Championship a couple of years later in 1991.

I know exactly what those musicians and dancers do to put that performance on the stage. They work at least 14 hour days, seven days a week. It's hard work, perfecting not only musical aspects but also the movements on the stage. That work has paid off and the product is Blast! I give this DVD all the recommendations I possibly can. You will not regret this purchase.

Now, if you can't see the actual Blast! performance live, the 2002 Drum Corps season is about to kick off. Watch for a local Drum Corps show near your home town. They are all over the U.S. If you can't find one, check with your local High School band instructor, they can tell you where there is one or visit www.dci.org for a listing of competitions. These shows are the ORIGINAL Blast! You will be amazed at what 128 people can do with horns, drums and flags on a football field. Oh, and not one of them is over the age of 21. Marching band pails in comparison to Drum Corps! From what I could tell, every member of Blast! had Drum Corps exerience.

Buy this DVD!!!!!!!!!

WOW!
I have been in both marching band and drum corps and watched groups like the Blue Devils, Santa Clara Vanguard, Phantom Regiment and others and this group blew them all away. The American cast's show (which I saw on stage live) is not as good as the British cast's so I highly recommend the DVD but if you get a chance to see Blast live on stage DO IT!

This is a GREAT show!
I love this DVD. It really captures the excitement of the performance and behind the scenes life. I was introduced to Drum Corps by my friend who participated in his college years. I've seen a live performance at a local college on the football field. I also saw "blast" performed at UCLA at the Royce Hall Theatre. It is a HOOOOT!!!! Play it LOUD!!! 5.1 prefered!

Visual Music
Ballet, modern dance, marching bands, drum and bugle corps, flag dancers, bell ringers, army drill teams and more are what you can expect from this original and fascinating visual display of music.

This collection of music and movement does its best to avoid classification. There is simply nothing like it. Imagine seeing the following:

A drum team with the precision of Riverdance
A trombone player riding a unicycle
Dancers dancing with giant blades of grass
Colorful flag throw across stage in musical precision
Officer Krupke done in a way that makes West Side Story look dull
A xylophonist playing while chasing his instrument
Drum rolls so fact the sound like bees
Beautiful ballet and precision dance while playing instruments
Swords and rifles used for dance and as drumsticks
Blindfolded drummer who change drum sets without missing a beat
Some of the best horn playing around
A dozen tubas gyrating to a rhumba beat
More more more...

There are two themes that thread through all of the productions. The first is the use of color. Flags, lights, costumes and props take the production through the rainbow. The second is that these performers really love what they are doing. Just look at their faces.

The camera work is well done. Angle change to show what is going on without being to spastic like in Lord of the Dance. There is even an intermission where several performers join the audience and use stools for drums.

My only complaint is that some numbers are actually several pieces in a row without their own separate tracks. So when watching the drum battle, if you want to see the precision blindfolds, you will have to watch the pieces before it (at least until you set your own bookmarks).

My whole family really loves this one from my wife and myself to my one-year-old and my four-year-old. The visuals are gripping and unbelievable. While the music itself is great, anyone who just gets the CD is really missing out. ... Read more

Reviews (40)

provocative viewing
This series was excellent. It is well worth the time and money. As a registered nurse, I once worked at Parkland. I found the revelations about falsified documents and autopsy records, altered post mortem photographs, illegal removal of the body from Parkland for an autopsy at Bethesda, missing forensic evidence, and information from the funeral home and Bethesda autopsy personnel very disturbing. Dr. Wecht is more than justified in calling for a 21st century forensic investigation of whatever evidence remains.
The lack of Secret Service protection of the president is appalling. The lack of documentation or "lost logs" is egregious at best. Why hasn't the Secret Service been held accountable? The only plausible explanation is that a conspiracy existed in which the organization was duplicitous on some level.

If you are not familiar with the assassination or this series, buy it! I have viewed it several times. Each time I become more outraged that something of this magnitude could have occurred. The medical and Secret Service information was enough for me to conclude a conspiracy existed.

The newest tapes "The Final Chapter" were equally amazing.
Information from Judy Baker regarding her affair with Oswald was very interesting. Her knowledge of New Orleans, cancer research, and Jackson State Hospital appeared credible. The information about alleged human subject cancer tests performed on Angola inmates at Jackson State Hos[ital was sickening. I have never seen this information presented anywhere other than this series. Information about LBJ wasn't that shocking to me. As a native of Louisiana, I can remember discussions that occurred at the time of the assassination and Shaw trial regarding LBJ. He wasn't perceived as an "honest broker", and many thought that he was involved on a deep level.

Great tapes!! If you are a history buff don't miss them.

provocative viewing
I thought these videos were provocative. I am a native of Louisiana, lived in Dallas for several years, and was a nurse at Parkland. Among the most disturbing allegations for me are the disputed autopsy records and photos, the lack of proper Secret Service protection, Oswald's intelligence connections (alleged), the disappearance of forensic evidence, and significant unaccounted for amounts of time during which Oswald's activities are in dispute. The interviews with Drs. Wecht, Peters, McClelland and funeral home personnel are very important and disturbing from a medical perspective. I can not fathom Parkland physicians and nurses falsifing critical assasination documents. I feel certain the opposite would be true, especially involving a presidential assasination. Even for routine terminal events extensive documentation is and was required. For a problematic case, it would been more detailed. Dr. Wecht discussed the benefits of a thorough 21st century forensic examination of the case. I believe that the American public deserves this and an investigation about the lack of secret service protection for the president. I think the newest tapes regarding the alleged affair Oswald had with Judy Baker were spellbinding. She put alot of disputed time into focus. She is not an ignorant woman, naive and foolish, but not stupid. She seemed extremely knowledgable about cancer research, New Orleans, and the ramifications of testing medications on human subjects. The testing of prisoners from Angola in the Jackson State Hospital turned my stomach. Today, this action would land a person in jail or on death row.

I think this tape series is well worth one's money and time.
I am certainly no "expert" in the assasination, but many of those interviewed are. The JFK assasination remains one of American'a greatest murder mysteries.

Not a hysterical piece... Serious material...
This 1988 British documentary is loaded with important "real person" interviews that cannot be viewed and just dismissed lightly as "conspiracy hogwash"... Yes, there are flaws, naturally: Beverly Oliver may not be the essence of credibility, and the Corsican hitmen theory smelled a bit over-ripe even if the 2 surviving "hitmen" hadn't allegedly threatened to sue (and successfully had their names removed from the piece, although that's still a controversy in itself)... And much of the data (though not all) is circumstantial and mixed all around, it cant really be ignored upon viewing.

And the 1995 "sequel" chapter ("The Truth Shall Make You Free"), though also worthwhile and very disturbing, seems in places to be infected with some of that latter-day media mindset of 'well-if-we-have-to-admit-that-maybe-there-was-a-conspiracy-then-let's-make-the-Kennedy-brothers-seem-like-they-essentially-brought-it-on-themsleves', which I don't appreciate.

The recent "Final Chapter" was pulled from distribution and is not available for purchase because it implicates LBJ as complicit--- which caused an uproar and, in the mood of 2004, even very old information that would never raise the eyebrows of "students" of this subject, can get suppressed all too easily. (Until it's ever released, a seance with Madeliene Brown will have to suffice).

Nevertheless, despite what you may have heard "TMWKK" is a very serious, chilling documentary, if an imperfect one.

Very Provacative
What's there to say about TMWKK that hasn't been said so many times before? This is one of the most ground-breaking documentaries of our time. By the way, if anyone reading this can tell me where I can get a copy of "TMWKK: The Final Chapter" (which includes "The Smoking Guns", "The Love Affair", and "The Guilty Men"), I would greatly appreciate it. I don't care if it's DVD, VHS, or Bootleg. E-mail me at Quarryman88@yahoo.com
Thanks.

Detailed Review
This DVD is a good overview of the assassination of Kennedy. True, it does focus on the conspiracy theories and it is not an unbiased look at the evidence; however, the interviews with people who have a lot to say are engrossing and the "evidence" produced is thought provoking.

There is no doubt that evidence exists to dispute the findings of the Warren Commission report on the assassination of President Kennedy. This DVD presents a lot of that evidence in a organized fashion. It is good to actually see the people interviewed who say the shots were coming from the grassy knoll. I liked looking at the photographic evidence that critics claim show a person (badge man) shooting from the knoll (I don't see anything). The DVD at least allows you to see the people and the evidence and make a lot of judgments for yourself.

A lot of the witnesses are not convincing to me, and a lot of the so called evidence just looks like junk. I have a natural tendency to distrust testimony from strippers (or former strippers) and I don't see what others say is clearly present in certain photographs. I am a lawyer (not a trial lawyer) so I suppose I look at evidence a little differently than most and probably take a more skeptical view, but I still like to see it myself and not let someone else tell me what something shows or who to believe.

I think the DVD does raise significant questions about the killing of the President as presented by the Warren Report on the assassination. I have read portions of the Warren Report and I have read a few books on this subject authored by both the critics and those who support the Commission's conclusions. While I would say this DVD does contain some speculation that is impossible for the viewer to make an independent decision on, and it contains a lot of language that is less than clinical, it does present a lot of solid evidence. Actual interviews with the Dallas police officers who were there and who talked with Oswald and Ruby are just invaluable. So are a lot of the other interviews. Just a list of those who have been sent to an early grave that had facts to support a shot being fired from the grassy knoll is unnerving. To see some of those same people on screen telling their story near in time to the killing of the President is compelling. If you believe what they have to say a lot of the Warren Commission's findings are not accurate.

If you are not interested in mysteries this isn't for you. In the end there are a lot of theories that can be supported depending on which set of facts you find to be most important. The assassination of President Kennedy is a mystery because so much is left unexplained. For example, there is no doubt the evidence in the National Archives has been corrupted. The brain is missing and at least some other evidence has disappeared. Once evidence has been tampered with a person is allowed to believe it is all under suspicion. The evidence is the foundation of analysis, and when that is gone mystery remains.

So the viewer will not get a solid "we have it all figured out" explanation at the end. No murderer jumps up to confess in the last scene and reveal all. The mystery remains and the uncomfortable feeling that comes with mystery - real mystery - is there. We will probably never figure it out because the list of "oops" or whatever is almost endless. Criminal incompetence on the part of the Secret Service, incompetent medical examiners, missing evidence, incompetent police procedures, consistent failures to follow even the most elemental criminal evidence protection steps, failures to tape or record critical interrogations, failure to follow up important information, investigators ignoring certain aspects of the case (who were the men who displayed Secret Service credentials to the police on the day of the murder), inconsistent statements from important witnesses etc. This is a real mystery.

A lot of people are murdered every year without explanation. The real world can be a messy and inhospitable place. We tend to want to think that the murder of the President of the United States would be different. With some of the best police agencies in the world working on the case we could figure it out and close the file and be at least comfortable with the idea that we know what happened. This film will not allow you to think that way. This was a messy event with a lot going wrong - as it usually does - and this DVD lets you know that. No nice world tied up in a nice package with a bow on it. No...this is reality. And a lot of it.

A very good DVD and well worth the price. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Spectacle-makers Cirque du Soleil push the sheer abundance of eye-candy tothe maximum in La Nouba. While some astonishing physical feat isunderway, a host of colorful clown characters dart in and out at thefringes of the stage. For some viewers, this will only enhance theexperience--others will find them an annoying distraction, particularlythe lackluster quartet of white-faced clowns who almost never go away.This, combined with some overly busy camerawork, threatens to underminethe show; but the acrobatics are topnotch as ever. The German Wheel,phenomenal bicyclists, trapeze acts, flying straps, tightrope walkers(including a sequence in which a woman does a hand-stand on top of atightrope walker's head), chair-balancing, and a particularly impressiveextended trampoline routine will make La Nouba satisfying.--Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Important and entertaining
Edited by Edward Norton, this PBS series takes a look at the ways in which man has unintentionally altered his environment for the worse.Some examples include hermaphrodite frogs resulting from water pollution, out of control plant life which threatens the survival of ecosystems, and overfishing and its relation to coral reef degradation.

While this series is quite informative, it is also entertaining.Norton lends a good, serious narrative to the series, and though the series presents the audience with disasterous (or potentially disasterous) scenarios, the segments usually end with a success story or a glimmer of hope.For instance, one scientist engineers a plant to absorb, or "eat", the mercury which is polluting the waters.Another segment ends with a private farmer demonstrating environmentally-friendly farming techniques to preserve local water integrity.

Highly recommended.I doubt this series has the entertainment value to hold a young teenager's (or younger) attention for long, but anyone with even a passive interest in biology and/or the environment should be pleased with this series. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A window into a frequently unseen aspect of theatre.
Nearly every aspect of theatre has been written about and documented extensively, yet the production of cast recordings has sadly received short shrift.

Though this documentary following the recording of the original cast recording of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company is over thirty years old, it still feels fresh and important. While you shouldn't buy this expecting to hear all the great tunes from the show (that's what the cast recording itself is for), if you want the inside story on how it was put together--filled with as much humor, drama, and tension as a play itself--then you have to check this out. Though the most thrilling (and harrowing) segment deals with Elaine Stritch's struggle with her big solo, "The Ladies Who Lunch," this recording grips the imagination and is a vital historical record of a fascinating and important musical from the 1970s.

If you love theatre, particularly musicals, this should be required viewing.

Nathan's Review of the Original Cast Album of Company.
This DVD was great, I watched it smiling and singing along to all the wonderful lyrics by the master Stephen Sondheim.

When I ordered it I was under the impression that it was a stage production recording. I looked over it again and found that it was a film of them recording the cast album for the musical of Company. I was no less eager to still see the film.

I enjoyed the camera work of Pennebaker, he was able to catch the mood of the actors and actresses that were certainly giving all that they could to make this record work. It was also wonderful to see Stephen in his element - making words to music to work. As I said he is the master.

Portions of the film are quite humourous, most of it though is quite serious as they are only recording this in one night and finishing late in to the morning.

One thing I have learnt is that Elaine Stritch is one hell of a performer.

If you have listened to the original recording and want to see more, I would recommend this DVD.

I hope you found this helpful.

A must for Sondheim fans
I'd heard of this documentary and was thrilled to be able to finally see it. A real "behind the scenes" documentary. While there's no continuous narrative, it's interesting to see the process and to later hear the commentary of Pennebaker, Prince and Stritch. You can see the joy the performers had singing these songs and you cheer when you hear Elaine Stritch sing a successful take of "Ladies Who Lunch." Recommended for those who loved Company, Sondheim completists and those who care about musical theatre.

Behind the scenes of a classic
Stephen Sondheim's "Company" was a revolutionary show in the American Musical Theatre - not unlike "Show Boat," "Porgy and Bess," "Oklahoma" and "West Side Story." It broke new ground and expanded the medium. It set a higher standard. Considering Sondheim's genius it isn't possible to label a single score his "best" or his "masterpiece." Truly, when you listen to the various and varied Sondheim scores one inevitably thinks "this is the greatest of his achievements" - which is only true until you listen to the next score and find yourself having the same thought. This DVD offers a unique look behind the scenes of the recording of the "Company" album. All of the best remembered songs from the score are represented - "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," "Another Hundred People," "The Little Things You Do Together, "Being Alive" and the incomparable "The Ladies Who Lunch" featuring Elaine Stritch's knock-out performance. If you love Sondheim or Stritch or the American Musical, you shouldn't be without this DVD. Order it now!

Great fun, but too short
What a great idea: record the cast album for Stephen Sondheim's "Company" live, as it were--no overdubs, no artificial mixdown. What a great idea: get a documentary crew to record the record session. The filmmaker caught 15-and-a-half hours of bleary-eyed cast members giving their all for a tough record producer and an even tougher composer/lyricist. (It had to be one marathon session because it would be too expensive to assemble all those singers and musicians for multiple sessions.) This is a great documentary that shows how hard it all is. If you've only seen her on the incipid show "Alice," you'll have no idea how talented Beth Howland is till you see her in "Getting Married Today." Donna McKechnie, Susan Browning, and Pamela Myers spoof Rogers and Hart (and not the Andrew Sisters as everyone seems to think) with verve in "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," which also finds Sondheim at his most clever. Charles Kimbrough would go on to do Murphy Brown and Barbara Barrie would briefly be in Barney Miller, and both shine here as effortless, "natural" actors. Star Dean Jones is perfect as the slightly dopey Bobby, even if some of his singing will make you wince. What's perhaps most remarkable is that the numbers that sound so fresh and improvisational actually took 8, 10, 15 takes. Especially "The Ladies Who Lunch." Elaine Stritch's famous song was the last number they recorded. By the time they were ready, it was after four in the morning and everyone was exhausted. Stritch tries, but after about eight takes it's clear she's not going to make it that night. With everyone getting punchy, they decide to record her music track separately, bringing her back the next day to knock the song out of the park.

The DVD has a commentary track, as Stritch, Hal Prince and the filmmaker reminisce about the session 30 years later. There's also a strange feature where one of the songs not covered in the doc can be listened to over B&W stills from the theatrical production. This didn't do anything for me, but there's no harm in having it there, either.

So this is a very good documentary. But it could have been even better. Two of the most complex and interesting songs, the opening number and "Side By Side/What Would We Do Without You," are barely covered in the film. I really wanted to see how they pulled off these extraordinarily complex numbers with the complete cast "live," but the documentary doesn't show it. Too bad. A 90 minute documentary with this material would hae been so much better than a 60 minute documentary without. It's probably true the 60 minute limit was imposed by ABC, which originally aired the documentary, but I'd be surprised if the filmmaker didn't save material that could have been added back for this DVD.

Still, this is worth owning, if a little pricey for a 53 minute CD (not 58, as advertised on the case). In some ways this musical is a classic, and in others it's incredibly (and amusingly) dated. Both qualities just make it all the more wonderful. ... Read more

Description

A tantalizing documentary as hilarious as it is tragic, the critically acclaimed theatrical hit LOST IN LA MANCHA tracks maverick filmmaker Terry Gilliam's madcap mission to film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. As he struggles to complete his masterpiece, ... Read more

Reviews (27)

a documentary about how a movie didn't get made
Lost in La Mancha is a documentary film focusing on Terry Gilliam's failed attempt to film "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote". For ten years director Terry Gilliam (Twelve Monkeys, Brazil, The Fisher King) had been trying to get a movie made of Don Quixote made. It is his dream project. Unfortunately for Gilliam, it is also a film he has never gotten to make. Lost in La Mancha covers the six weeks of preproduction and the six days of actual production on the film.

Lost in La Mancha is a document of what can go wrong on a film shoot. During this documentary, a crew member states that if someone would write this story, nobody would believe him. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

We see a brief bit about the history of trying to film Don Quixote including Orson Welles' twenty year obsession and ultimate failure to get the movie off the ground. This leads into Terry Gilliam and his ten year obsession with the same thing. We begin with the six weeks of preproduction and the principal actors do not have signed contracts and the ones that do are not quite living up to the requirements of the contract. Costume fittings and rehearsals are being missed and the studio for some of the filming is nothing more than a warehouse with no acoustics to speak of. Things just have the feel of slipping out of control. It is suggested that this is the way Gilliam works, but even Gilliam feels that things are slipping. He mentions the fiasco of Baron Munchausen. Gilliam states that things are similar. Munchausen had actors but no costumes or sets. Don Quixote has costumes and sets but no actors. The film is slipping away from him.

Finally the actors arrive (including Johnny Depp). There is minimal rehearsal but they are ready to begin. They are filming the first scenes nearby a NATO bombing range in Spain. Supposedly NATO only uses it an hour a day. Filming begins. NATO flies the fighter jets overhead so that sound is ruined for these scenes. An extra wasn't there for rehearsal and ruins another shot. A storm that was not mentioned on any weather report for three days rains down and floods the set. Not only is equipment partially damaged, it changes the color of the landscape. Gilliam selected that location because of how it looked. The color of the dirt has changed because of the rain and mudslides. The lead actor playing Quixote (a Frenchman) has a prostate infection and can't sit on a horse. He'll be gone a day, a week, another week. The film has come to standstill and there has only been six days of actual filming.

Finally, Gilliam's movie is done. Nothing more can be salvaged and it is taken as a loss. Lost in La Mancha is a fascinating look at the breakdown of a movie (and one that looked like it could be good, too). I didn't know that a documentary about how a movie didn't get made could be so interesting, but it was.

The Impossible Dream
***1/2 Thanks to DVD, we've all become accustomed to seeing 'inside' documentaries about the making of some of our favorite films. But what of those films that ' for whatever reason ' never end up seeing the light of day? Are there any lessons to be learned from examining the making (or near making) of those works? This is the questioned posed by 'Lost in La Mancha,' a behind-the-scenes chronicle of director Terry Gilliam's attempt to fulfill his decade-long dream of bringing Cervantes' 'Don Quixote' to the big screen, a project that ended up in heartbreaking, catastrophic failure for both the filmmaker and the gifted crew with which he was working.

Directors Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe did not, of course, set out to record such a debacle. Like all the people involved in the making of 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' ' a film intended to star Jean Rochefort and Johnny Depp - the documentary filmmakers assumed that Gilliam and his crew would end up with an impressive finished product and that their own work would serve as little more than supplemental material on a future DVD release of the film, certainly not a theatrical release in its own right. What none of them foresaw was the series of almost Biblical disasters that would ultimately doom the film to a state of perpetual nonexistence. Flash floods, health problems, nervous investors and bottom line insurance agents all eventually conspired to prevent Gilliam's dream from becoming a reality. Thus, what became a bust for Terry Gilliam turned into a boon for Fulton and Pepe.

With the benefit of hindsight, the filmmakers ensure that the parallels between Don Quixote and Gilliam himself are never far from the viewer's mind. Gilliam, a maverick director whose movies have always tested the boundaries of the film medium, is clearly an artist and a visionary obsessed with impossible dreams of his own, but dreams that inspire those around him to strive for a greatness not always nurtured by the mundane realities of the everyday world. The fact that, in this particular case, those realities intervened to bring his vision crashing back to earth only completes the connection to the Quixote figure. Gilliam spends most of his time in this film tilting at his own windmills, only to find that the vagaries of fate are more terrifying than any giants Quixote might have imagined. The documentary also notes that Gilliam is not the only major director to have been stymied in his attempt to adapt this material; the great Orson Welles failed to complete his version of 'Don Quixote' as well. The irony of these two innovative cinema giants both failing with THIS particular material pervades the film with an eerie sense of doom and foreboding.

'Lost in La Mancha' is an instructive film on a technical level, but also immensely sad on an emotional one. Because we know from the beginning that this venture is doomed to failure, even the moments of hope and optimism early on in the film carry with them an air of fatalistic melancholy. This pre-knowledge also turns the many admittedly humorous moments into genuine black comedy.

It is always painful to see genius and creativity choked off at the root, especially since the few glimpses we get of actual completed footage hint at what a fine production this 'Don Quixote' might have been. As to Gilliam, one can only hope that he will continue to pursue his impossible dream despite all the roadblocks reality has set in his way. Don Quixote would have wanted it that way.

Insightful companion to Gilliam's work
OH! The pieces of film the documentary shows is alone worth the price. The clips of Gilliam's film look gorgeous. Watching the making and unmaking of this creation is compelling viewing.

Monty Python and the Man From La Mancha
A very low-key, undecidedly entertaining, documentary about a film Terry Gilliam never got quite off the ground called THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIOXTE. The result is the documentary, titled LOST IN LA MANCHA, salvaged from videotaped pre-production, taping during production, and hours worth of filming with only a few minutes worth of actual screen footage. It is an interesting if not a sad account of how a film (dogged with post-production, financing, casting, and stated in the documentary "acts of God" problems) failed without being actually released or finished for that matter. The most heartbreaking pitfall and probably the main cause of the shut down of the film, is the failed health of the lead, French actor Jean Rochefort. Included are some pre-production and completed footage with Johnny Depp as Quioxte's sidekick. The film had the proverbial "Murphy's Law" syndrome hanging over it from the get go. One funny sequence caught on tape during the first few days of production in the deserts of Spain is where a Spanish airforce fighter is doing maneuvers overhead. The production crew have to stop filming and wait for them to stop. In some of the pre-production footage, it shows Gilliam drawing some of the storyboards himself and playing with miniature recreations of the set designs. The documentary is narrated by Jeff Bridges. Overall, a unique "fly-on-the-wall" documentary about the behind the scenes look of film pre-production and its problems. Also, its a chance to see (director, performer, screenwriter and Monty Python member) Terry Gilliam up-close and personal in some very human moments from frustrating to humorous.

Terry Gilliams Disaster
This documentary about Terry Gilliam's attempt to make a film about Don Quioxte is facinating. Seeing the disasters that are thrown in front of this film can be hard to watch at times. One definiitely feels sorry for the cast and crew. What was most interesting to me is to see how little Gilliam had to work with after having his film budget cut drastically. From location, to equipment, to actors who had agreed to work for a fraction of their normal salaries - the documentary not only chronicles a disaterous attempt to make a film, but also captures the struggles that any director has while working on a budget. Worth seeing if you have any intellectual interest in the film making process. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A supercharged bloodfest for mixed martial arts fight fans, but of more dubious merit as a documentary, The Smashing Machine is a blurry, noncommittal portrait of would-be American warrior Mark Kerr, a soft-spoken drug addict who performs astonishing acts of violence for big money.A former wrestler turned extreme fighter, Kerr proves a contradictory subject--a boyish, quietly restless man who resorts to no-hold-barred savagery in the ring--in this shameless, often nauseating HBO project. Over several months, director John Hyams (NYPD Blue) captures Kerr's seemingly unstoppable parade of victory in the U.S. and Japan. He also reflects the decay in Kerr's private life and highlights a dramatic turn in his fortunes after Kerr loses an important MMA match to a Russian brawler. Along the way, we meet Kerr's trainer, Mark Coleman, whose own destiny takes on ironic, unexpected importance in the end. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (23)

A Modern Tragedy and A Great Documentary
I have tremendous respect for the courage of Mark Kerr in participating in this powerful and affecting portrait of one the "almost greatest" fighters in the short history of American NHB. A lot of guys in the sport try to act hard and pretend they are never scared, but Mark opens up the fact that many fighters, even some of the best, have fears, personal demons and pains that lead them down some bad roads in their lives out of the ring. How many times have you watched a fighter's performance change drastically from fight to fight and wondered why? The fact is, MMA is tough sport with great highs and low lows, and some guys lose their way. Mark Kerr is a tragic figure in the sense that his great strength and energy in the ring make him vulnerable to depression and drug use out of it. The film the results is an excellent behind-the-scenes look at MMA as well as a graphic but compassionate portrait of a giant's fall from grace.

Uncut, rough, passionate...true
Alright first of all I have followed MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) for quite a few years, although Mark Kerr never really was one of my favorites..one of his friends...Mark Coleman (also featured in the movie) has been one of my favorite fighters for a long time.

This movie shows us what fighters go through in order to prepare, now granted not all of them might have a drug problem like Mark did but it's definately a wakeup call, yes these guys look great, they perform in front of thousands of people but that doesn't mean they are happy or they are living a great life

I thought this movie gave you a very gritty look at Mark Kerr's up's and down's, ANYONE with even a remote interested in MMA then at least rent this movie, you won't be sorry, definately worth a look

The human underbelly of the
Straight up, this DVD is not for people who are adversely affected by the sight of human faces audibly and visibly smashed in by really scary 400 lb punches (Kerr's) , vicious knees and elbows to the head, and blood-spattered mats.

The fact that people like watching this kind of thing attests to the fact that we are not evolutionarily too distant from the patrons of gladiator sports in roman times.And gladiatorial this certainly is.

Kerr is quite a revelation, for someone so merciless in the ring. He shows a disarmingly vulnerable aspect of himself with his relationship and substance abuse problems. He admits to being physically sick from anxiety before his first MMA-Mixed Martial Arts-contest. Therefore he turns to painkillers, et al to allay his constant anxiety, finally turning addict. He talks about how alive , in-the-moment and spiritual this mode of combat makes him feel. His combination of tremendous physical strength, high pain threshold, skilfull takedowns, heavy punching, and great flexibility - all point to a fantastic genetic soup. Looking at him in action, I wondered if there could be any other activity at which he so excelled. For Kerr, this is his "bliss"...and there are enough of these creatures around to have an actual, sponsored sport! (...)

I guess, for those who dare, there can be no physical high greater than a full-contact bout. The documentary is great, but Kerr is not my favourite fighter. That would be Don "The Predator" Frye. From the non-violent styles, I love Royce Gracie's amazing victories. Check them out if you haven't already.

A dark and poignant documentary
This DVD offers an unblinking look into the life and times of Mark Kerr between the years of 1999 and 2001. Kerr was once regarded by many as the most dominant ultimate fighter in the world. Those who remember watching his early matches will recall the physically imposing Kerr, an ex-Olympic wrestler, easily handle all comers and earning his nickname "The Smashing Machine". This film documents the rollercoaster ride that was Kerr's professional fighting career. It portrays the story of an intelligent, well-spoken, and emotionally vulnerable athlete who gave himself to one of the most demanding and brutal sports in the world.

Kerr, lured by the promise of large paydays and fueled by the euphoria of his early victories, is forced to do battle with physical injuries and his inner fears. The chaos of these matches weigh heavily on the minds and bodies of these athletes, and some like Kerr deal with the physical and psychological trauma by turning to drugs. Kerr's addiction is shown in raw form, and the camera does not shy away as he desperately solicits drugs from friends and event staff, and injects pain killers into his veins.

Fans who remember Kerr's shocking loss to Fujita in Japan, will finally understand the forces behind Kerr's undoing. Especially intriguing is seeing the relationship between Kerr and the wily vetern fighter Bas Rutten, who helps train Kerr and is then forced to watch the unraveling of his pupil.

It is a story that can be difficult and gut-wrenching to watch. The documentary has few cheerful moments, and a dark mood hangs overhead even when Kerr wins his matches. It seems to suggest that pain and blood are always right around the corner in the lives of these fighters. Outside the ring, Kerr's gentle nature and thoughtful commentary make him an endearing figure. However this story does not have a happy ending, and may leave fans with mixed feelings over what they just saw.

Interesting guy, boring DVD
I've watched a lot of different 'real' fighting events, and Mark Kerr is one of the better performers. These guys work just as hard as pro-wrestlers, and take a lot more blows because most of these things are unscripted. And at the end of the day they don't make much money for their trouble. However the fact is this DVD will have you yawning in about 10 minutes. I can't really reccomend it. ... Read more

Description

Plunge into the realm of wild dolphins in this great adventure film MacGillivray Freeman Films, producers of the large-format films "Beavers" and "The Living Sea." In "Dolphins," you'll experience the warm, white sand banks of the Bahamas where the inquisitive dolphins live and play. Find out how we are unraveling the mysteries of dolphin communication. Here, you'll also meet a bottlenose dolphin named JoJo who explores the colorful reefs with his human friend Dean. Brimming with details about the complex lives of these fascinating animals, this ocean adventure film takes you into the very heart of the world of Dolphins. Narrated by Pierce Brosnan, music by Sting. Ever wonder "how did they do that?" "The Making of Dolphins,'" shot on High-Definition Video, takes you behind the scenes. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Dolphins IMAX DVD
Now THIS was an outstanding movie! Great commentary and human interest as well as all of the dolphin footage you could want. Even the "making of Dolphins" was great. If you love dolphins, you will love this film.

Dolphins Was Good.
But not great. When I buy an Imax DVD my expectation are high. Dolphins was good but not 5 star. To give Dolphins the same or better rating than the The Living Sea DVD is not accurate in my opinon. The story starts off well but it seems to lag from the meddle on. The Living Sea is a DVD you can watch time and time again. I do not feel that way about Dolphins. So rent and watch a nice film.

Does it really matter if it's high resolution picture yadda?
Like virtually all IMAX movies; a bloody bore and fit for audiences who simply love to go home and throw something on their big wide screen tv that they don't have to think about, by gosh by golly!

Melodic, entertaining, and fun.
I am a huge fan of IMAX films in general and this is one of the best. The soundtrack (Sting) is awesome and Mr. Brosnan does a great job narrating. It is inspiring to see these intelligent creatures as they interact with humans and you quickly become unsure of who is the scientist and who is the subject.
Their intelligence combined with the perpetual smile make the dolphins seem more like distant cousins than a different species.
My 6 and 2 year old love this movie as well and the outreach value of science is made self evident. We may truly communicate with other creatures in the universe and won't it be amazing if we find them on our own planet?

A Masterpiece
Dolphins Is a wonderful film with a wonderful musical score provided by Sting and Steve Wood. We purchased the DVD, and the soundtrack CD - and it is regularly in our CD player. Our kids love it !!! The cinematography is awesome. This film will put you in a good mood on a cold, winter day with it's visuals and island flavored music. You'll also learn so much about these most incredible creatures. I would love to see a sequel to this great documentary. I think it was actually nominated for an Academy Award. Do yourself a favor, buy the DVD and the soundtrack CD !!! ... Read more

Video Description

OT: OUR TOWN is the August selection in the Film Movement Series. Subscribers receive a socially important film such as OT: our town to own on DVD each month. Against all odds, the first theatrical production in over 20 years at Dominguez High School is going to be Thornton Wilder¿s American classic ¿Our Town.¿ The kids at this Compton school are about to experience more than a culture clash, as they embark on a rich journey and discover the educational and social value of theater. OT: our town tells the story of the human spirit and its strength against the stereotypes holding them down. Whereas Wilder wrote about little Grover¿s Corners, this documentary exemplifies how Our Town is every town¿ Our Town is Compton. The documentary film tells the inspiring story about a high-school in the ghetto performing its first-ever theatrical production. OT:our town is used by teachers across the nation to demonstrate the power of art to transform lives. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

Young children love it but it is for all ages
The video is approximately 30 minutes of non-stop motion showing cause-and-effect. The background is an old factory and there is no music score or narration, just the real sounds of the fire lighting, of things dropping down and rolling, etc. A very active imagination (or imaginations) thought up the ideas of what would roll, drop, ignite, etc. to make the next thing happen. The recording is a bit amateur and sometimes the lighting is a bit dim, but the content is so fantastic and real but it doesn't matter to our family because we love it.

My family began watching this when our youngest was nearing two years old and my oldest was four: both were glued to the screen. My husband and I enjoy it as well. Our four-year-old was so inspired he wanted to create a similar and large set-up (with fire and everything) in our home! I was able to convince my son that we could not do a large set up with fire, etc. so while I was busy makign dinner, on his own he made a chain-of-events set-up out of wooden unit blocks and wooden cylinders, and toys that would roll. He called me to see his demonstration and then we had discussions about ideas of what would work, tried them and then brainstormed other ideas when it did not work. I was surprised at the creative thinking this video inspired in my four-year-old.

I am just amazed at the creativity and imagination at work in this video and that such a huge project was set up and obviously practiced many times to ensure that it would work as it was being filmed.

This is entertainment and education rolled into one. This is a welcome change for children to watch from the usual children's video programs that are available (although it is for people of all ages).

a poorly filmed collection of 6th grade science experiments
This film was NOT done in one take like some reviewers here might imagine. This film is almost 30 minutes, made up of about 20 or more short segments of film showing some simple chain reactions. I think it would be impossible for any viewer to miss the cuts and transitions as one segment ends and the next begins.. This film is not mesmerizing - it is repetitive and amateurish. Events are duplicated, and the same props used in previous segments are reused. This film holds some interest as a student film, but there is nowhere near enough substance to justify putting it alone onto a DVD, and it is not worth the same price as top of the line movie classics.. If this DVD had five additional student films of similar quality to this one on it might be worth a little.. If you buy this don't say I didn't warn you.. (P.S., if you've never played with fire, dry ice, baking soda and vinegar, balloons, or balancing and rolling things then perhaps you would be more amazed at this film. But probably you will find looking out the window more interesting than watching this.)

6th grade science review
If you've read the other reviews you already know what this video is about. What I'd like to add is that I am amazed every year that my sixth graders watch this video, with no dialogue or music, and are enthralled with it for the full 30 minutes. I show it after we've done an extensive motion and energy unit and simple machines unit. Before watching it I explain 3 or 4 reactions that they may not get on their own, which piques their interest. It is the one video they remember years after leaving 6th grade!

Is this for real?
I remember watching this film late on television
one night after the pubs shut back in my student days.
I remember watching and thinking "THIS IS AMAZING", as did my housemates .
After recently buying a copy and watching it again it is still
a great 30 mins entertainment.
BUT.......

There are obvious cut scenes that sceptics will pick up on.

One minute it's daylight, the next it's DARK! MMmmm....

Why didnt they have an overhead camera to prove that this was
all done in one take!

Scepticism aside. This is worthy of being in your eclectic DVD
collection. It's worth the money.

Simply amazing
You really have to see this one to believe it. The spinning bag unwinds its tether and gradually descends. At some point, it reaches down to a balanced tire, and gives it a gentle push ...

For about the next half hour (it seems like a lot more), each object in the chain bumps into the next, pulls the support from under it, launches a bottle-rocket into it, or somehow kicks off the next step in the chain. There must be hundreds of steps, involving flame, weighted cylinders rolling up hill, and a few episodes of oozing spooge.

The presentation is very plain, just the documentary of this incredible sequence chaining cause to effect. There is no sound track except for the noises made by the parts of this wild "machine". Even the parts themselves look like nothing special: teapots and tires, soda bottles and sugar cubes. It's the action that counts, and the time and creativity that brought it into being.

Perhaps the creators cheated at a few steps. There are some cuts in an otherwise continuous stream of action. If some purist lets that interfere with their enjoyment of the spectacle, it's their loss. If someone wants a "point" to the sequence, that's not my problem. It just is, and it's wonderful. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The making and continued influence of Metallica's commercialbreakthrough (known simply as "theBlack Album") is entertainingly recounted in this mustfor Metallica fanatics, especially those who are interested in the recordingof one of hard rock's most sonically breathtaking albums. Drummer LarsUlrich, singer James Hetfield, and producer Bob Rock take up the lion's shareof the interviews, and their reminiscences a decade after the fact includemany juicy tidbits (like Ulrich and Rock loathing each other by the time therecording was finished, or that the final mix was nearly ruined by a digitalclicking sound on the master tape--luckily, a successful remastering wasdone). The Dolby 2.0 Stereo sound is appropriately pummeling, even if we aretreated to mere excerpts from the songs, videos, and even some of the originaldemos. Classic Albums: Metallica adroitly summarizes a pivotal moment inhard rock history. --Kevin Filipski ... Read more

Reviews (17)

The making of a great album
I actually got this dvd for my birthday, and i wasnt really sure if it would be good coz i'm not a huge fan of documenteries, but i gotta say i was not disappointed with it.
Although i would've liked to see maybe more of the video clips for the singles instead of just little clips from them it was interesting hearing them talk about songwriting and how they wrote the album etc.
It's also their 1st album with producer Bob Rock and he has some interesting things to say.
Some highlights are Kirk's solo on wherever i may roam, watching them at the mixing boards playing around with the sound and hearing all the seperate guitar parts, and all the little clips of their live shows. It also explains what inspired the S&M concert.
If you're a die-hard Metallica fan or interested in songwriting and good music, then i reccomend this dvd.

Good, but a bit dull
I bought this video expecting it to have the videos to all the Black Album singles, but nope, just a documentary on the album. It's still a good video however, some good coverage on all the songs, and plenty of footage of them in the studios. But like I said, it's just, kinda dull. It could've been a little more interesting, and I wish it could've included the videos to all the songs on there. So in the end, if you're a HUGE Metallica fan looking for a GOOD video, eh, you might not wanna try this.

Metallica - Metallica
For all you metallica fans out there who didnt get this yet i bet you wanna know whats written on the back of the box...so here it is:The story of the making of this remarkable album is told here via exclusive interviews,archive footage and performance,with contributions from preducer Bob Rock,band members James Hetfield,Lars Ulrich,Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted. We revisit the original multi-tracks of the album,as well as listen to previously unheard demo recordings.

Featuring the five singles from the album, Enter Sandman, Sad But True, The Unforgiven, Wherever I May Roam and Nothing Else Matters, this is the compelling story of one of the biggest selling albums of all time,a true Classic Album.

I guess this will help know more about what your buying...

Decent DVD
I watched this at a friends and will probably eventually buy it but I have a few other Metallica videos I want to replace with DVD first.

First off, this DVD doesn't get ratings for the videos from the Black Album, it's a documentary...if you want music videos or sessions, buy A Year and A Half... There's no comparison between the two. ;) If it contained most of the same material, I think that would be a bigger waste of money.

Good but...
This was a good documentary of Metallica about one of their best if not the best album they made "The Black Album" but if you had allready saw lots of documentary and know a lot about Metallica this video won't be as interesting to you, well I find it good but I allready knew a lot about what they were saying but if you like to know more about them, you are a huge fan of Metallica and would like to know how they made the Black Album well you would like this documentary! ... Read more

Description

The Day After Trinity is a haunting journey through the dawn of the nuclear age, an incisive history of humanity's most dubious achievement and the man behind it--J. Robert Oppenheimer, the principal architect of the atomic bomb. Featuring archival footage and commentary from scientists and soldiers directly involved with the Manhattan Project, this gripping film is a fascinating look at the scope and power of the Nuclear Age. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The best documentary I have ever seen.
I watched this in my General Physics class my sophomore year of college. It is simply the best documentary I have ever seen. It will reshape the way you look at the worlds most powerful weopons.

A truly excellent film
As a person who enjoys the history of the atomic bomb and the cold war, I thoroughly enjoy this film. It is a brilliant and profound film that out lines the people and events that helped to set the stage for the cold war and the nuclear arms race. It shows the devastating effects of the atomic bomb on not only Japan, but the world. What this film lacks in visual glamor and effects, it makes up for in the powerful and informative stories of the people who actually built the bomb. It packs more emotional punch and significance than more glamorous films about the bomb, or nuclear history in general. It is a must have for any aficionado of cold war/nuclear history.

A major contribution toward understanding the atomic bomb
The Day After Trinity covers both the day after, but more importantly the days before Trinity experienced by the scientists who built the atom bomb. The story of the bomb is usually told from its public debut, Trinity, though the story begins long before. Here it is told very well, through fascinating interviews with the men and women who lived in the strangely utopian Los Alamos.

Day After Trinity connects the humanity of the project with the horror of the result. The destruction at Hiroshima and Nagasaki make it hard to imagine the sort of people capable of creating such mass destruction. Perhaps for that reason, the creators are sometimes written off as mad scientists, or lumped in under Oppenhiemer's personality. But the people on the screen are brilliant, insightful, agonized, and funny. It contributes a great deal toward our understanding of the bomb, without making it any easier.

Aside from the overall content, there is priceless footage of Robert Serber, Stanislav Ulam, Dorothy McKibbon and many others.

day after trinity
This is an absolutely stunning documentary. Real footage of individuals and events. Events are put in the perspective of time with the thoughts and even feelings of individuals revealed. The technological developments as well as the moral hurdles the "players" overcome is heroic and at times agonizing. A fabulous piece of film.

The best anti-nuclear war film ever made.
The Day After Trinity, the story of the making and firing of the first atomic bomb, tells in stark, factual interviews the story of the Faustian bargain we made with atomic energy. Tracing the steps taken by our government and leading scientists and focusing on J. Robert Oppenheimer, it is a compelling, riveting story of personal ambition, scientific curiousity, and tragic regret. The martyrdom of Oppenheimer is particularly well-told. Combining the American "can-do" spirit, the philosopher/scientist elite, World War II militarism, and Mc-Carthyism, it is a compelling guide to understanding for anyone interested in the 1950s. ... Read more

Description

If you think you know the story of the Manson Family, you are dead wrong. Director Jim VanBebber (Deadbeat at Dawn) delivers an uncompromising snapshot of this cult of personality, hell- bent on executing the brutal vision of its leader, Charles Manson. On a ranch outside of LA the dream of the "Love Generation" is perverting into something evil. What was once an oasis of free love and acid trips has become ground zero for a madman’s paranoid visions. An average group of kids, the "Family", become engulfed in a delusional world where torment and slaughter is considered the path to righteousness. The Manson Family is a dizzying, rapid-fire vision of the sex and violence that unifies the misguided group, and at the direction of their leader, ends in a brutal spree leaving seven people dead in a 48 hours. You’ve seen the story through the eyes of the law. Now witness it through the eyes of THE MANSON FAMILY. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Mixed Feelings....
For those out there not overly familiar with the story of Charles Manson, The Manson Family, The Tate & La Bianca murders, or the crazy drug induced summer of 69 at the Spahn ranch; this will no doubt be an entertaining film to watch.

Plentifully filled with lots of sex, nudity, drugs and tons of blood; this film is an artistic representation of one of the most publicized murders and murderous "family" of the last 35 years.

Done in art house style- "The Manson Family" is full of vivid colors and sets, lots of red blood, and lots of imagination. This is one of the most artistically presented horror movies that I have seen come out of the United States in quite some time.

However, having said that, the film is also extremely disturbing for anyone with in depth knowledge of the Tate & La Bianca murders or anyone who has ever felt sympathy for these victims.

This reviewer loves to indulge in the most disturbing of horror. However, just the fact that these were REAL murders, I find it almost insulting that they were recreated in such a fashion. To watch these people die in such vivid detail - with so much blood and with so much "color"; was a little unsettling to say the least. I just couldn't help but feel sorry for anyone who might actually be connected to the victims if they were to ever have to suffer through this film.

When it's gritty, grimy, bloody, shocking and disturbing, fictional horror is at its best.

True life horror movies can be just as enthralling when left in the hands of a capable filmmaker who respects the victims, while at the same time presenting a honest portrait of murder and mayhem.

Although "The Manson Family" is only based on a true story, and does not claim to be a fictional, nor documentary movie- it manages to weasel it's way out of both categories above.

However, this is a true story that is so well documented, and still so prevalent in our media and our culture- that it holds a certain significance with many people (including myself, who's read "Helter Skelter" and "The Family" twice, in addition with seeing the countless other films made about it all).

To see these shocking and real life murders played out in "art house" styl is really an injustice to the actual crimes, victims, and victims' families who are very much alive and well to this day.

"The Manson Family" is a good film, on the basis that you don't know too much about the actual Manson Family History. The more you know, the more respect you lose for Jim Van Bebber's vivid retelling of these murders, and of "The Manson Family" as a film.

I also thought that including Charles Manson's music in the film was downright appalling.

Nobody needs to hear that crap......

I wish it lived up to my expectations
I am facinated with this case because I love American history, and this case is a monument in American True Crime. Based on Amazon ratings, I bought "The Mason Family" and waited for it excitedly. I guess I just wanted a more "fly-on-the-wall" view of the murders. The 2004 TV movie sucked compared the the 1976 one, and I thought this might give a more eye-witness view.
Unfornutaly, I was wrong. There is a very vague, disturbing, real-time story over the actual events, portrayed as a frame story. This outside story is filled with vulgar events that have no bearing on the story we all want to see...the family and the events surrounding the murders. As for the story of the murders, the actors were awful, and the portrayals of the events were way off, if you have researched the case to know what really happened. (Did Abigail Folger get maniacally stabbed in the kitchen, stagger onto the front lawn, and then die?)
I love gore as much as the next person, but this gore was gorey in a comical kind of way. I wanted to be disturbed because the movie took me there. Instead, I felt like I had just read a comic strip about these historic murders.
I was very disappointed by this movie. It was very well done, for an independent filem, Van Bebber. But it didn't reach the level of a person who knows nearly all there is to know about this tragic, facinating story.

Could Have Been Much Better; But Still Not Terrible Either
I watch & read everything I can get my hands on about Charles Manson. Although I might not condone the actions of murder that the Manson Family took part in, I find it to be very interesting to me. This movie is VERY confusing; but just watch it a second time and you will understand it a little better after a second veiwing. You will catch things that you missed before. I own and have read Charlie's autobiography, and I understand him more than the average person. Most look at Charlie as being nothing but a monster, but there is actually a very sensitive and weaker side to the man than most care to look for. I believe that this is the Charlie that this movie was intending to portray, but although he is not 10 foot tall and bulletproof....this movie made Charlie out to be a little feminine, and bubbly man. The actor who portrays Charlie in this movie should not have been chosen. If you are looking for a movie ABOUT Charlie, look elsewhere because he is simply a character in the background in this film. This film focuses more on the other family members, but I understand the reasons for that. Not a terrible movie, however if you are the type of person that sits around watching nothing but blow-em-up action flicks, Matrix type of garbage, comic book movies, or chick flicks....stay away from this film because you will not understand this movie, or enjoy it. I am going to recommend the film "Helter Skelter 2004, Director's Cut" to you all instead. The movie ends too early; but it is a great look into the true events and the way the Manson Family lived. Some say that "Helter Skelter" is all about the way the prosecutor viewed Charlie; and I will say that is true of the original Helter Skelter film of the 70's, starring Steve Railsback as Charlie. The 2004 film is not so much like that. It is not viewed from Vincent Buliosi's point of view, but from Linda Kasabien's, who actually lived amongst the family, and was there the night of the Tate murders. The two "Helter Skelter" movies are more for the person who wants to study and learn more about Charles Manson; whereas "The Manson Family" has a satanic feel all the way through the film. The "gothic" culture seems to view the Manson family that way, and would probably prefer THIS film, but although Charlie led folks to believe he was Christ, the family did not actually live a satanic lifestyle. The murders were only the tail end of the Manson Family's jouney. There was MUCH more in life that they stood for, and murder was not their original intention. Please read the book "Manson-In His Own Words, by Charles Manson & Nuel Emmons". I feel that Jerremy Davies, in this film is the best portrayal of Charles Manson that has ever been performed. But remember, this is just MY opinion. You may feel differently, and I don't tell you NOT to purchase "The Manson Family", because I myself own the 2-disc unrated version. Check it out! You may enjoy it, you may not. But you can't knock something, unless you have seen it for yourself and know what you are talking about. ATWA.

Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
Despite an ultra low budget and no-name cast, this 1996 independent feature from director Jim Van Bebber nonetheless rates as the most chilling and eerily effective dramatized evocation yet of the the Manson "family" and thier shocking 1969 murder spree. Just as in the "Blair Witch Project", the viewer will take away only what they bring with them. If you are a"slasher" fan seeking only the visceral thrill of witnessing a gruesome re-enactment of the Tate-LaBianca slayings, that's exactly what you'll get (and you should seek psychiatric help). If you go in prepared to dismiss this as purely exploitative trash, then, yes, you will find plenty of spurting red Karo syrup and gratuitously naked hippy chicks to shake your head disapprovingly and cluck your tongue over. But if you are open-minded and willing to look just below the surface, you will discover intelligent filmmaking at work. In fact, "The Manson Family" is much less of an "exploitation" film than, say, the higher profile "Natural Born Killers". Oliver Stone has gone to great lengths to convince us that his film was a a misunderstood "media satire", but Van Bebber makes his point much more economically. Several key scenes in "The Manson Family" feature characters literally holding a mirror up to the camera; so perhaps it is not Charles Manson who fascinates us, Van Bebber seems to be saying, but the IDEA of a Charles Manson (or a Hitler, Jim Jones or Osama Bin Laden). What is it, we ask ourselves, that makes an otherwise "normal", intelligent person suddenly drop on all fours and merrily follow such misguided messianics into oblivion? This film comes the closest of any I've ever seen in realistically depicting circumstances that might enable this truly frightening type of transformation. DVD notes: The 2-disc version features an excellent doc with director and actor interviews. Some of the stories regarding on-set occurences will creep you out more than the film itself! Not for the squeamish, but a must-see for fans of fearless filmmaking.

Jim Van Bebber Rocks!
I purchased a copy of The Manson Family and found the film to be breathtaking. Jim Van Bebber delivers the goods. The film is definitely not for the squeamish. However, the violence that is depicted has a purpose and is never gratuitous. It is there for a reason, showing how ugly and terrible the crimes committed by the Family were. I thought it was a nice touch to show the effects that the horrors of the Family could have on the youth of modern times. Although the Neo-Family were a piece of the fictional wrap-around story, they serve as a cautionary reminder to be mindful of what kids are doing. That's what I got out of the film and I look forward to repeat viewings. ... Read more

Description

Spellbound is the extraordinary documentary that follows eight teenagers on their quest to win the National Spelling Bee competition. ... Read more

Reviews (71)

Under the spell of unusual words.
In 1996 and 1997, I was a nervous parent watching my daughter compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Therefore, I had a personal interest when I went to see the Oscar nominated documentary, "Spellbound," directed by Jeffrey Blitz.

Blitz does what every good documentary filmmaker tries to do. He personalizes his subject. By focusing on eight competitors from different parts of the United States, from a variety of ethnic groups, and from different social classes, Blitz engages the audience's interest in the individual contestants. From Angela, the Mexican-American daughter of a laborer who speaks no English, to Emily, the privileged daughter of wealthy parents, we get a close look at the hometowns, the family lives and the personalities of these eight bright and ambitious kids.

"Spellbound" enchants because of its great storytelling, its sharp editing, its humor and its celebration of a piece of Americana. In an age of high-speed computers, digital cameras and PDA's, it is quaint and enchanting to observe children who still regard the written word with reverence. Are the parents too pushy? Undoubtedly. Is there an element of child abuse in putting kids through this torture? Perhaps. However, no matter how you look at it, all of the contenders are terrific kids and Jeff Blitz has done a wonderful job of bringing their stories to life.

Hugely enjoyable documentary...A MUST SEE!
SPELLBOUND is a highly entertaining documentary. My young daughter, and some of her friends, were introduced to the idea of a "documentary" with this film.

It follows eight children who are all headed to the National Spelling Bee in Washington DC. We meet kids from all places (Texas, California, Florida, DC, Pennsylvania, etc.) and backgrounds (children of poor Mexican immigrants, children of wealth in New Haven, etc.) and genders, of course. They are a delightful range of children, and getting to spend a little time with each is a blast. We meet all eight during the first half of the film, and naturally, everyone will be rooting for their favorites and "placing bets" on who will win.

The second half follows their grueling time at the finals. We've seen these kids at their most relaxed, and now we get to see them at their most stressed. We feel for them and sometimes, if we're lucky enough to know how to spell the word, we try to "feed" them the spelling.

It feels like a TV-reality show without the annoying host and without the artificiality of those shows. This is real and this is objective. Either the word is spelled right or it isn't. No "immunity challenges" or eating gross things or letting the audience vote. These young kids (11 to 14 years old, mostly) are totally on their own. We've seen them training and studying (some to amazing extremes) but in the end, it's just them against the word.

The filmmakers found a great slice of children to work with. Emily comes from priviledge in New Haven, CT, and she's bouncy, speaks like an adult, has lots of interests and is both annoying and endearing at once. Nick comes from a seemingly well-to-do Indian or Pakistani background, and his father is driving him to succeed. His dad puts nearly as much time into the prep as Nick does...and he's hired tutors and language experts. You're never sure if Nick is all that interested in winning, but Dad sure is. On the other side, there's Angela, whose Hispanic parents don't even speak English. She lives in a small time and has to be her own motivator. She is doing it FOR her parents, to show them their sacrifices were worthwhile, but she seems more like a "regular" kid her age. Then there's Harry, a manic 12 year old who can't stop talking and bouncing around and making faces. Here's a kid who probably always had a hard time making friends. It looks like he only has a mother on the scene, so no doubt he is troubled on many levels. This bee seems to be a way to keep pouring enough stimulus into his active mind to keep him even slightly calm!

Anyway, as with the best documentaries, we know that things will NOT turn out neat and tidy like in a fictional film. We hope things will go a certain way, but alas, they rarely do. How things DO turnout is another matter, and it's what makes the film fun. In the end, we find that we don't really "care" who wins all that much...we just feel for the kids, and take pride in their achievements and feel bad for their disappointments. And we feel good about the "next generation." These kids, quirky as many are, can be seen as a little slice of what is around the corner for our country...and the weirdnesses of Harry aside, things look pretty good. These are DECENT kids, and capable and joyful and good. It's a shame they can't all win the contest, but they are certainly all winners.

I highly recommend this G-rated film for EVERYONE. I can't imagine one single viewer not being highly entertained and involved in this outstanding movie.

PS: The DVD doesn't have loads o