The Film:

Honest Man depicts the heady life and times of R. Budd Dwyer, former Pennsylvania politician and State Treasurer. The documentary begins with a kick to the gut: In 1987, after Dwyer was convicted on bribery charges, he called a press conference; members of the Forth Estate assumed he would use the event to formally resign from office; instead, before rolling television cameras (in a cinéma vérité moment, reminiscent of Network’s Howard Beale), Dwyer thrust a blue-black pistol into his mouth and shot himself in the head (and into VHS-tape immortality) as members of the crowd cried out, “Don’t do it, Budd!” The film, regrettably, omits any mention of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain’s obsession with the video death clip.

This doc then rewinds, chronicling the rise of Dwyer from an extroverted teacher to leading Republican wonk, who shared the Republican National Convention stage with President Ronald Reagan. With a reputation as an honest politician, was Dwyer consumed with guilt? Or like Socrates, was the taking of this own life the ultimate sacrifice for an unjust system of government he still believed in? In any case, Dwyer remained state treasurer to his end.

Documentary director James Dirscherberg will not be confused anytime soon with Errol Morris (Thin Blue Line, Tabloid). Nonetheless, through cogent interviews with William Smith who testified against Dwyer during his corruption trial and other voices, including Dwyer’s Xanthippe-like wife Joanne Dwyer speaking from the grave (gotcha, Killer Film fans: she passed away in 2009), the film rolls out a compelling case for Budd.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The quality of the DVD was suitable for its purpose with some thirty year-old video showing its age. The patterns of Dwyer’s 1970′s leisure suits proved more disturbing. Audio is fine. This reviewer could make out all the words, despite a frequent diet of hard rock and hair bands during Dwyer’s heyday.

No extras, but check out the film’s website here.

The Film: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Film:

Based on book Sid Vicious: No One Is Innocent, this documentary provides an examination of the brief life of the Sex Pistol bassist Sid Vicious and specifically the stabbing of his girlfriend Nancy Spungeon in room 100 at the Chelsea Hotel in lower Manhattan on 12 October 1979. After her death, Sid posted bail and died soon after of a drug overdose. Case closed. But here director Alan G. Parker presents some compelling arguments arguing against Vicious as the murderer. Numerous eyewitnesses present the night of the Nancy’s death attest Sid was splayed out on the bed, motionless from heroin. The murder weapon, a knife, was wiped clean, an action others thought Sid would not have the presence of mind to do. In addition, thousands of dollars were stolen from a stash Sid and Nancy kept. Why would Sid steal his own money?

Interspersed with creative animation, Who Killed Nancy? provides a time capsule of the late 1970’s punk scene in New York with interviews gathered over the last thirty years. Some colorful minor characters here, including Neon Leon, Rockets Redglare and Helen Killer. Unlike the film Sid and Nancy, which romanticized the couple as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, this doc yields insight into the punk pair. Nancy comes off as a loud, upper middle class Jewish tramp. Sid, asexual and strangely passive, appears under her thumb. Helen Killer recounts a visit of Sid’s mom who showed up with two plastic bags for her son: one filled with Jujubees and another with syringes.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Because of the vagaries of some of the interviews, the audio suffers at times. Where it does, subtitles are used effectively. Otherwise, the DVD functions well.

A selection screen entitled, “Never Mind the Feature, Here Comes the Extra,” an allusion to the Sex Pistols landmark American album. The cursor is an open paperclip.

1) Donlette’s Archive: An informal video of Sid chatting at the Roxy. Though interesting to see a clownish Sid speak for more than a few seconds, the video is at times difficult to hear.

2) Trailer: Some pointed soundbites.

3) Bonus stories: The high point of the extras. Some fantastic, anecdotal interviews with this motley crew.

4) “No One Is Innocent”: A party from the book’s release. Skip.

5) “Fast Track to Hell”: Neon Leon strums a guitar and sings about Sid’s demise.

6) “Alan’s Interview”: Learn how Sid’s life and time influenced the documentarian.

The Film: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Film:

Due to the kitsch yard decor, we tend to have this naive view of flamingos, the pink divas that dominate Home Depot’s shelves, yet as unlikely as it seems, their lives are born into hardship and their survival day-to-day is anything but the diva lifestyle we tend to think. The graceful looking birds are the subject to a lesser known Disneynature documentary, as the film received an international theatrical release, while here in the States it went DTV. Make no mistake in that, as quality is as high as Disneynature’s Earth and Oceans, with Disneynature’s The Crminson Wing: Mysterious of the Flamingos.

It’s a shorter documentary, running only 78 minutes, yet it benefits from a tighter focus on this one species, where as the previous two had a large area of species to focus on, which glossed over most creatures we might have wanted to see more of. The Crimson Wing isn’t another Winged Migration, although it’s dangerously as good. The film zeros in on the bubble of flamingo population in the shores of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania, with all of the beautiful, typical HD photography we’ve been used to in recent years with nature documentaries.

The tighter focus helps, as we follow a chick’s survival from near death by marabou storks in the film’s darker and most riveting sequence, to a life without parents. Besides the storks, this area at Lake Natron also develops a salt island, that sometimes on young chicks can collect and harden like concrete on the legs and/or bodies. Despite the gorgeous scenery and the tense moments with a hyena and the marabou storks, the film rarely offers theories on the flamingos, which even if scientific knowledge still isn’t there, makes for a beautiful, yet shallow film.

But it’s still a winner. The film poses a question that since knowledge of the flamingos in Lake Natron is limited, but with pollution and human involvement causing a threat to the species, would we notice if they disappear? Luckily, due to Disneynature, we have something to raise awareness and hopefully start to learn.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: The pinks and blacks just pop out in HD with another stellar transfer from Disney. The video is near, if not, perfect. Fans of HD nature documentaries have another good 1080p film to show off. The DTS track is really good, yet reserved. Mariella Frostrup’s narration never gets lost in the warm score, light bass, or directional activity. Overall, it’s another nice release from Disney.

Lake Natron Diaries: Behind The Crimson Wing: This is a five-part making-of that can be played all in SD, that offers up some great stories on the creation and filming of the doc. Runs about 20 minutes.

Filmmakers Annotations: Furthers the above making-of with even more interviews via picture-in-picture. Pretty decent for those who like this feature. I enjoyed the pop-up trivia track a lot during this.

Living Menu is an interactive map via BD-Live; a Crimson Wing Screensaver and a slew of trailer including the next major Disneynature film, African Cats in HD round out the extras. There’s a second disc that houses the DVD version of the film and the “Lake Natron Diaries” making-of.

Conclusion: Another great nature documentary, even if it seems a little unsaid due to it being DTV. It also arrives on a great Disney Blu-ray disc.

The Film: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Film:

Thanks to Planet Earth, the hugely successful BBC/Discovery Channel documentary miniseries, there’s been a rapid boom in the nature documentary genre, a boom so big, Disney is again involved, something they use to fondly do many years ago. Their new branch, Disneynature, is spearheading this theatrical venture, into capturing some of the most amazing footage around, making it accessible, and making money. Like March of the Penguins money. The first film, last year’s Disneynature’s Earth was a rousing critical and financial success, which only assured us more.

Enter Disneynature’s Oceans.

Judging from the pedigree, it should come to know surprise that Oceans is a gorgeous and breathtaking excursion into the largest entity on Earth, our oceans. Early scenes of pure silence, only to be interrupted by the massive waves crashing against the rocky cliffs, gives the viewer the awe, as if Poseidon himself ordered the angry motion. With recent and improved HD camera developments, film makers are capturing some exquisite footage, and that stamp is all over Oceans. The medium range shot of the Humpback whale jumping out of the water and crashing back in, signalizes this. While Planet Earth, Disneynature’s Earth, and others have came first, as we’re now accustomed to the amazing footage, it never the less impresses.

Besides the footage, the film loosely has a narrative arc. Questions about the ocean are explored, but it doesn’t take long to incorporate man’s involvement through pollution, whaling, and indifference. The scene showing a seal swimming in pure filth looking for food against a rusting shopping cart, is haunting and tragic. But the scene that has stuck with me after viewing is the one with an Iguana looking up at a shuttle from NASA blasting off into space. This scene shows our separation from nature, and also harks back to some of our own science-fiction fears. But putting fear into our minds isn’t the true motivation of Oceans. Learning and respecting what the ocean contains is.

Disneynature’s Oceans is a family-ready, accessible film, that should wow all ages. Even though, it doesn’t do anything new that Planet Earth hasn’t revolutionized, it’s still a fine time to be spent. One wishes the narration wasn’t so nonsensical, as the images can speak for themselves. My minor quibble is the footage feels episodic, and perhaps focusing on a few ideas, instead of the broad approach could have made this different. Regardless, it’s a beautiful ode to our life-sustaining force that we widely neglect and misunderstand. For that alone, hopefully kids will learn and see what we and our parents have done wrong. Because our future is in their hands.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Too poor to travel to the real ocean? Just buy this disc as the HD video is just stellar! Bold, bright colors, wonderful details, rich textures, you can’t ask for a better demo disc. Disney always delivers in high-definition and this picture quality is top-notch. The DTS track is equally as impressive, with its engulfing music and ambiance. See? It’s like to the ocean, but way cheaper.

Filmmakers Annotations: This is a picture-in-picture feature with interviews and discussions on the footage we see.

Living Menu: Featuring an animated globe of Earth, we can click on various icons that included additional information in the form of either little featurettes or text-based.

Disney & Nature: Caring for the World We Share: This little featurette might be a little pat-on-the-back to their efforts, but it’s no less thankful.

A Music Video and a Trailer for Disneynature’s upcoming African Cats finishes out the extras.

The Film: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Film:

Alfred Hitchcock’s original Psycho (1960)broke the rules for film. Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is killed early in the film, forcing the audience to relate to Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Crane’s adultery is viewed matter-of-factly. Never before had bathroom been seen in a film. A naked woman is stabbed (though she isn’t actually as a cineaste noted after breaking the film down frame-by-frame). Though the film was produced on a low budget, with Hitchcock using his TV crew to film the sequences, the story set a template for all future horror films.

Hitch asked audiences not to spoil the ending for other viewers and, it seems, for the most part they didn’t. Who saw The Crying Game or The Sixth Sense without knowing the ironic twist beforehand? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Hitchcock also hired guards like my 300 lb. Viking father-in-law to not let audience members enter the film late.

Psycho Legacy would have been better served devoting more time to the original, the classic, and less time to the three sequels, however good they might be. In Psycho 2 (1983), a middle-aged Norman Bates is released from a mental institution, much to the chagrin of Lila Loomis (Vera Miles). He returns to the hotel and the Edward Hopper-inspired Victorian mansion, where history repeats itself with a nubile Meg Tilly. Dennis Franz had an early role P2, though without nudity. The director of this effort Richard Franklin knew Hitchcock and received his daughter Pat’s blessing before continuing the series. Psycho 3 (1986) was Tony Perkins’ directorial debut. In a tower sequence, Perkins pays homage to the Hitchcock films’ Vertigo and Saboteur. To set the mood for the actors, Perkins showed the Coen Brother’s Blood Simple. In Psycho 3, an anachronistic phone booth substitutes for the shower. Psycho 4 (1990),a made for TV movie, was a prequel to the original film. Perkins pouted about not directing. Olivia Hussey–yes, Juliet of the Zeffirelli film–plays Norman’s smoking-hot mother. Later of The Shield, CCH Pounder stars here also.

Archival footage here is haphazard. At an unnamed fan festival, Perkins sports over-sized Larry King glasses and holds the world’s largest mic. Janet Leigh discusses her fear of showers on a 1970′s talk show interview à la Merv Griffen or Mike Douglas. While Robert Loggia weighs in on Psycho 2, many key figures are missing. No Vera Miles. No Meg Tilly. No Dennis Franz. No CCH Pounder. No Pat Hitchcock. The result: a doc for only the most serious of Psycho fans.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Per the transfer, see the previous paragraph.

Extras: Three hours of extras on its own bonus DVD.

Tony Perkins’ Question and Answer Interview (41 minutes):Interesting if you can overcome the amateurish video. Is this the first time the filmer ever picked up a camera?

Psycho Reunion Panel (6 minutes): Stills from an audio interview in 2008 with Richard Franklin and others.

Tour of the Bates Motel (2 minutes): On the Universal lot. Really the second set, as the first set was built over by Jaws.

Revisiting Psycho 2 (15 minutes): Writer Tom Holland and editor Andrew London reminisce.

Shooting Psycho 2 (19 minutes):Camera-man Dean Cundey waxes nostalgic on the sequel.

A Visit with Psycho Memorabilia Collector Guy Thorpe (7 minutes): See a sculpture of Norman, the bones of the mother from Psycho 2, and numerous lobby stills.

Norman Bates in Print (12 minutes): Robert Bloch author of Psycho. Learn of Bloch’s puns and corny sense of humor.

Psycho on the Web (4 minutes):A chat with Jay Allentoff. A look at his comprehensive Psycho website.

The Hyaena Gallery presents Serial-Killer-Inspired Art (12 minutes): This Burbank gallery depicts the dark arts in many colors.

Final Note: This critic experienced Psycho during its initial run in his mother’s womb.

The Film: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Film:

This unusual documentary examines the alternate, preferred life of Tool lead singer Maynard James Keenan, who prefers solitude over decadence, grounded existence in an old Arizona mining town over the glitz of LA or Vegas, and life as a vintner over that of a rock star à la the Nickelback song. For the last decade, Maynard, as he is referred to in the film, has been perfecting his own wines in Jerome, Arizona. With the assistance of Eric Glomski, an engaging and spirited winegrower, the shaved-head savant has been mixing and matching wines. How ’bout a bit of merlot, combined with chardonnay with a touch of sauvignon? From Blood into Wine teaches much about wine production and bottling in engaging fashion.

As a frame, Maynard talks to two local pundits on a segment of “Focus on Interesting Things.” Think the production quality of Wayne’s World with two pretentious snobs, who berate the deadpan Keenan (while getting thoroughly sauced on his product) with questions like, “What kind of ‘tool’ do you have to be to make wine in the desert?” In contrast to the Napa Valley, this production aims at originality and spirit. Budding capitalists, Glomski and Keenan do sign bottles of wine for gaga Tool fans. One particular touching moment: Keenan dedicating a bottle of wine to his mother who was an invalid more than half of her life.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The transfer to DVD appear seamless. Much of the action is shot outside and the pumice of the valley and the blue-purple of the grapes appear flawless.

The extras are composed of deleted scenes and trailers.

The deleted scenes number eight.

Is Wine Medicine? Maynard argues no, especially as licensing agents are reluctant to approve his brand name Caduceus. 8 minutes.

Sacred Geometry: Maynard waxes poetic over naturalistic patterns of existence, like DaVinci Vitruvian Man, the chambered nautilus and his own garden. 3 minutes.

Nagula di Marzo: Maynard discusses his latest wine creation, named after his great-grandfather. 5 minutes.

Eric on Sensualism: Like the drummer who bangs the skins for an extended solo, Eric expounds over the modern decline over the sense of smell and taste. Heady stuff. 10 minutes, but five minutes are already seen in the film.

Megan Megehan: More from the two interviewers of “Focus on Interesting Things,” who share similar first and female names. 7 minutes

Full Bottling Sequence: Like the Eric segment, a shorter section seen in the film. Magnums, bottles and corking here. 10 minutes.

Caduceus Tasting Room: Maynard returns to highlight a bar in Jerome, AZ, which sells tastes and bottles. 5 minutes.

The Film: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Film:

Jessica Yu’s recently released 2007 Sundance Official Selection, Protagonist, interweaves the underpinnings of Euripidean drama (Medea, Hippolytus) with the lives of four disparate men: a renowned German terrorist, a Mexican bank robber, a formerly gay evangelist, and a martial arts master. Each of these stories would be interesting in and of itself. Sadly each man suffered from neglect or abuse a child. In the 1970′s, Hans-Joachim Klein ran with Carlos the Jackal as a left-wing member of the terrorist cell Revolutionäre Zellen. Participating in the attack on OPEC Headquarters, the terrorist suffered a near-fatal gunshot wound. French, German, and Dutch producers have created video productions based on Klein’s life. Though the gay Evangelist Mark Pierpont proves a likable fellow, his story proceeds very predictably. Too, the story of the bank robber seems more sad (with his terrorism of women) than provocative. However, Mark Salzman spins hilarious yarns. From cutting out the soles of his Keds and walking essentially barefoot to school to donning a bald wig purchased from the back of “Boys Life” in imitation of the TV series Kung-Fu, Salzman had me convulsing on the floor with laughter.

If you have ever watched “Biography” on Art and Entertainment or anything on the Holocaust on “The History Channel,” then you are familiar with the talking-head style here. In addition, this production intersperses wire puppets to help narrate part of the action. And the puppets wear Greek clothing as to personify the universal themes. One question remained: Why not use a woman protagonist for at least one of the stories? One would have thought that Yu would have been more sensitive to that omission. Euripides certainly was: In fact, his stories focus almost exclusively on women.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The transfer here proves very workman-like. After all, the action of a talking head or puppet does not need surround-sound or high definition.

Conversation with the Director (17 minutes): Jessica Yu discusses the origin of the film, including the eight months her crew looked for participants whose paths paralleled Euripides’ nineteen works. Yu discusses my last complaint about the lack of women in the tale, noting that of the 200 candidates they examined who had a “strongly fictional narrative,” only four were female. It seems men are more inclined to a complete “crash.” Who knew? The director also discusses the interesting evolution of the puppets in the production.

Title Animations (4 minutes): This section simply revisits the engaging and ancient Greek-looking animations used in the film, like “doubt” and “fever.” No narrative here, but some stirring music.

Gallery: Behind the Scenes Puppet Shoot (2 minutes). Here one sees still photos from the puppet shoot. Interesting, but already glimpsed in video of the conversation with the director. An improvement would have been to have some audio from the head puppeteer.

A workable trailer ends the bonus features.

The Film: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Dungeon Masters is a documentary that follows three D&D nerds as they explore their experiences in the game and their at home lives. While they clearly picked the nerdiest of the bunch to follow, the film makes sure to portray all of them in a sympathetic light. Instead of showing how their lives have been consumed by this game, the film instead shows how these people have managed to escape the downfalls and stresses of their real lives by playing it. Scott is an apartment manager and failed author trying to provide for his family. Elizabeth is a New Orleans resident who survived not only spousal abuse but the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Richard is a sanitation worker who helped raise his former wife’s three children. All three of these people have been through considerable hardship and made many sacrifices but they all seem to forget their problems when they enter the fictional world they’ve created for their characters. It’s really refreshing to see a documentary about these “social outcasts” that puts them in an extremely positive light as each one comes out looking brave for all they’ve been though. Furthermore, each person gets to have a personal triumph in their real lives by the end of the film.

I wasn’t expecting much out of this documentary. I was afraid I would have trouble relating to it as I’m not an RPG gamer. Director Keven McAlester knows that many people are in my same position and does a great job of letting us into this world without completely bombarding us with useless information about the game. Instead he lets the subjects give us just enough of a background to understand what’s going on, giving us some ability to follow their gaming stories. If you’re looking to this film to give you a crash course in the world of pen and paper RPG gaming, you’re going to be disappointed. If however, you’re looking for a film about the hardships many people face and the escapism that gives them the peace of mind to carry on, I definitely recommend checking out this flick.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Countdown to Zero

Though this message is an important one, the film lacks focus. The Jaywalking, man-on-the-street interviewers produce little, except showing the lack of intelligence on the issue worldwide. Talking heads move quickly across the screen, leaving the viewer to ponder the expertise of the speakers. One silver-haired analyst comments, “Complexity is the enemy of reliability.” A Google search on that phrase yields almost 200 hits. Although Gorbachev (with an avuncular cameo) and Reagan made headway more than twenty years ago, the total number of nuclear weapons has stabilized at about 23,000, of which the US and Russia control a whopping 96%. A countdown to zero weapons is a laudatory goal, but one sadly relegated to the American backburner behind the economy and immigration reform, at least until a devastating accident that could have been prevented.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Directors Sebastian Junger (author of The Perfect Storm) and Tim Hetherington (cinematographer of The Devil Came on Horseback) correct this deficiency through the documentary Restrepo. For much of the film, the viewer feel like a participant, scrambling up rocky terrain, riding in a M1 Abrams, cleaning 762mm machine guns, and dodging incoming fire. The soldiers ask, “What are we doing in this shithole?” while they show off their tatts, and engage in a variety of homoerotic activities, like wrestling and dancing. A couple of memorable shots: an ancient-faced, bearded Afghani trying to insert a plastic straw in a cool aid pouch and the twisted shoe of a dead American fighter.

The film also interweaves interviews from the troops and yields insights into their psychological damage. Despite sleeping pills, one soldier cannot visit the sandman. Another knows he will never forget his time at Restrepo, but only hopes to understand it. The death of their contemporaries are not captured on film, but a gut-churning revenge strike against the Taliban is. Though this film is not overtly political, like Gen. McChrystal’s recent comments, the film ends with a shot to the stomach as the viewer must recognize the futility of this military misadventure.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The worst thing Berman could have done, was to make this film a promo piece for the man and the Playboy culture. For the first hour, in fact, she’s far less concerned with his Bunnies and Mansion. Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel excels as a historical piece of Americana; a film about a man that gave a damn, when all others didn’t. The only thing the film really needs from you is to put aside your judgments, and for some that’s asking a lot, but walking through the 1950s with an open-mind sets you onto the film’s journey about a man who was on the forefront of every major issue the country has ever faced. He gave us the Sexual Revolution long before the hippies did, and for that, he and his work – The Playboy Magazine – will be scrutinized by religious and conservative sects forever, but right from the start he had his finger on the hot button topics, sometimes even before the media did.

He faced The Red Scare, Civil Rights, Social Rights, even the still taboo subject of abortion, and won, each and every time, not because he was opportunistic or lucky, but he fully believed in what he was doing and that fact that he had the power to do so, fueled his actions. That’s what makes this film so good. There’s more to the man than those robes and slippers. His opposition will always find ways to tear him back, but Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel places him into American history, where he belongs, even if history doesn’t want him there. When Berman does focus towards the end of the film on the traditional side of Hugh, it feels tacked on and trivial. But that’s due the richness of her documentary in the prior 70 minutes: we’re more interested in the man as an activist than a Playboy. Although, there was what Gene Simmons said…

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Film:

This unusual documentary, Huxley on Huxley, details the life of Italian-born violin virtuoso Laura Huxley with husband Aldous Huxley, renowned psychotherapist, author and LSD-imbiber. The footage here takes several turns as she outlived her husband by move than forty-five years. His second wife but no trophy, Laura kept up with Huxley on her own terms: Her nephew describes her the 1960′s Acid Queen as having “a touch of craziness.”

Aldous Huxley was both a scion of literary royalty and a protean force, authoring novels, screenplays, poetry and essays. Huxley’s best-known work “Brave New World” foretells our dehumanization as man becomes subordinate to his inventions (Can you say, “iPhone?”). In his last novel “Island,” the Englishman portends geo-dependence on oil (Can you say, “Gulf War?”). Much of his archival footage comes from smoky interviews with CBS’s Edward R. Murrow and Mike Wallace. Huxley’s death proved the ultimate case of bad timing: he passed on peacefully the afternoon of the Kennedy assassination in Dallas.

The DVD:

Audio/Video Quality: Though uneven as one might expect when the protagonist dies almost fifty years ago, the varied quality of scratchy prints has its own charm in this Docudrama films’ issue.

Bonus Features: 42 minutes of interviews with the following: Laura Huxley, John Densmore, Ram Dass, Don Barchardy, Huston Smith, Nick Nolte, and David Dunaway.

Laura Huxley: The attractive nonagenarian (not often written) waxes poetic about death as a “taking off of a tight pair of shoes.” She exercises on two treadmills and celebrates her 90th birthday under a giant white tent with hundreds of friends. She would live another seven years.

John Densmore: The drummer of the 1960′s rock band “The Doors” recounts the origin of the band’s name. Lizard King Jim Morrison suggested the name after reading Huxley’s essay, “The Doors of Perception,” a self-study of mescaline use. Huxley himself gleaned the title from William Blake’s poem, “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” Densmore liked that the name was short, unlike other contemporary, surrealistic bands; e.g., The Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Velvet Underground.

Nick Nolte: The Omaha-born actor reports on his personal experience of tabbing LSD in 1962 as he attempted to expand his consciousness. Nolte also speaks fluently on the development of Eastern spirituality in the US during that same decade. Heady stuff.

The Film: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Film:

Joan Mitchell may be the most talented abstract expressionist you have never heard of; in fact, one of her friends noted that she would have been much more popular if she were “French, male, and dead.” In any case, Mitchell painted in New York in the 1940′s and 1950′s, and was a contemporary of Willem deKooning, Franz Kline, and Hans Hofmann. Although Mitchell passed away from lung cancer in the early 1990′s, this new documentary from Marion Cajori chronicles her life and art in Joan Mitchell: Portrait of an Abstract Painter.

The film, which has rightfully garnered prizes at international film festivals in Montreal and Chicago, weaves an engaging tapestry depicting both Mitchell’s life and her paintings. Abstract expressionism is a romantic art movement following World War II that highlights the emotions. The camera adroitly follows her artwork, zooming in-and-out without calling attention to itself. A self-admitted depressive, Mitchell bemoans her time in New York and in Paris. When asked if the more popular painters respected her, she remarks that they were always “very nice.” How would Machiavelli feel about that? Certainly not well. One wonders how her life might have been improved on Prozac, or another serotonin duplicator. Ultimately after her divorce, Mitchell attempts to foster an art based on love, the love of her black poodle Georges du Soliel. Regrettably she never does comment on sharing a name with the 1970′s folk singer Joni Mitchell.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Docurama’s Arthouse Films does the best it can with the footage available. Mitchell died in 1992 and the audio suffers a bit because of its age. Several scenes from an interview with her had the feel of Orson Welles’ last film, F for Fake.

Bonus Feature: The one bonus feature is a 40-page booklet illustrating Mitchell’s life and paintings. The detailed cache is very cool, reminiscent of the Beatles’ packet with the “White Album.”

The Film: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Film:

And he came to a door…and he looked inside…

The 1960s was a tale of two mentalities for America; there was a counter-culture happening, a love movement, and then there was the death of that being, a violent, radical tonal shift into an aggression led backlash. The sex, the drugs, the Bay of Pigs. Everywhere one turned, their eyes were stained with blood and their voice harsh from screaming into deaf ears. That decade exposed the facade of the 1950′s, with the JFK assassination, the Civil Rights Movement, Viet-f*cking-Nam, Charles Manson, LSD, Nixon, Kent State, more assassinations with MLK and RFK, which by decade’s end, was a collective ball of bloody lines drawn into the sand. Where to go? Where to turn? And all of this was echoed in the most vibrant and unique bands ever in rock and roll history: The Doors.

Is everybody in?

Director Tom DiCillo’s documentary is much like the band itself. It never compromises and never follows conventions. This isn’t just a standard entry into the rock and roll documentary category, it’s a lyrical beast, who’s power not only draws from the music and the era, but the mentality that The Doors represented. When You’re Strange: A Film about The Doors is incredibly emotional and captivating, and the key reason is DiCillo eliminates the talking-heads style of documentary telling, and uses a much more powerful tool. The entire film is a collection of footage of The Doors, from rock shows, to television appearances, to candid recording booth sessions, to even a film with Morrison. Adding the silky, unobtrusive voice of Johnny Depp to string ideas and narration, when needed, together anchors the film.

In the background is the music of The Doors, but this film isn’t just about how great the band was, it’s a deeply focused look at the members and the story of the band. There’s been much criticism from hardcore fans and the surviving members about Oliver Stone’s 1991 film for the bending of facts to serve a dramatic purpose, maybe even an exploitation purpose, but DiCillo never follows Stone’s route. He can’t. The film is essentially The Doors story, told through the eyes of The Doors. That’s why When You’re Strange is mesmerizing and marvelous. Growing up, my father and I used to sit outside in our driveway looking at the stars, drinking, listening to The Doors’ blend of poetry, jazz, and rock and roll blues. Within the music and Morrison’s voice, we were transported as the lyrics led us like a shaman into looking at ourselves, our lives, and society. It was purely subconscious, but that’s what this film does, like all of those dark and cool Saturday nights with my dad. When You’re Strange takes you by the hand and breaks you on through to the other side.

Are you still here?

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Eagle Vision releases the film on a solid DVD, all things considered. It is a documentary, told visually through rare home movies, television appearances, and concert footage, so expect a varying degree of looks. Some of damaged, others look fine. But when it comes down to it, this really doesn’t matter. Also, don’t expect concert level sounds. The doc is mostly just their music and Depp’s narration, and while those are clear and perfect, don’t expect to be blown away with bass or audio effects. Remember, this is a doc not a concert.

Conversations with…is a fascinating 10 minute interview with Jim’s sister and father, who has rarely ever publicly spoken about his son. They talk about his home life, his rock star life, and his death, with earnest and truth. Within these few minutes, we get a lot to digest, especially from the father, considering fans of The Doors, know Jim dismissed him and often claimed he was dead.

A Trailer and a cool Fold-Out Poster round out the disc.

Conclusion: The Doors fans will be in love with the film, and there’s some great stuff for just documentary fans as well. A beautiful ode to one of the best bands to ever record music.

The Film: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Many people of the younger generation do not recognize Rivers for a lot of her work as a comedienne but rather a host for a bland red carpet show. The layers of make-up come off in this engaging documentary that not only springs to life her floundering career but gives us a different point of view on her life.

Sympathy isn’t a word that should not be used too often in the case of a review, but this time it’s necessary. This is simply due to the direction that Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg chose to take. It takes the steps of condensed and altered hero’s journey that still has the audience grinning ear to ear whenever something successful comes her way. You can tell that when it came to putting together this documentary they took time and a lot of effort into piecing it perfect, and it shows to a certain degree.

One thing that the documentary does not succumb to is the reality television tone that could easily have been saturated in it. It could have tripped into the generic ploy of overly dramatic hog wash that could have chipped away at the hear that resides in the film. Through the year it is a little difficult to keep track of where exactly we’re placed, but that’s due to a good third of the film devoted purely to back story. It is needed but the transitions are not always smooth, but that is forgivable.

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work is a nicely directed examination of her life so far and her constant uphill battle to stay on the top. It’s the fresh perspective that was needed of the spunky blonde that served as a good film.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars