DURHAM – After months of drought in this area, the clouds finally opened up and poured the entire weekend of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The rain made for perfect weather to take refuge inside a movie theater all day and watch the truth on the big screen.
The big films this year included Trouble the Water, Up the Yangtze and Man on a Wire. There was plenty of water inside and outside the Carolina Theater. Trouble the Water has home video shot of the New Orleans disaster as it happened. Kimberly and Scott Roberts show us exactly what went down in the Big Easy when the levees failed. Up the Yangtze also dealt with flooding, but this time it’s a damn project that will dam the Chinese river. Over two million people will be displaced. The footage is stunning and sad knowing soon it’ll all be gone in the name of making more cheap plastic stuff for Wal-Mart. Man on a Wire also deals with a place that’s gone. In 1974, Philippe Petit balanced for nearly an hour on a wire between the World Trade Center Towers. The film lets us know how this amazing stunt was pulled off. This is a powerful and entertaining trio of films that should be coming to a major city or college near you.
I was asked not to publish reviews of Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson and Glass: a portrait of Philip in twelve parts. So I won’t. It’s not like I’m holding back the secret of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Meth. Good Ol’ Charles Schulz was the same version that ran on PBS. The Schulz family really hates the film and there was a rumor that they wanted to stop the screening.
Werner Herzog destroyed the myth of Germans being sticklers for quality control. He didn’t show up to introduce his Encounters at the End of the World. This turned out to be a good thing since the screening was a nightmare. A few minutes into the film, the HD image started to ghost. The problems grew to the digital image flaking and freezing up. The audio didn’t have any issues. But it became a burden to watch since constantly the beautiful shots of Antarctica’s underwater life went to hell. A small note to people who ship out their movies on cutting-edge technology: Send a back up copy. If Werner had included a DVD version of the film, all this could have been prevented. Sure it wouldn’t have been as pretty, but it would have been as frustrating an experience. Encounters was so rich as it showed what type of people spend their time at the South Pole. Herzog’s humor comes out as he deals with volcanoes and penguins. I’ll be rewatching Encounters when it comes on Discovery Channel HD. Shame Werner wasn’t in the theater cause I would have loved to see him go nuts in person.
The true delight of the festival was Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story. Director Jeffrey Schwarz and his crew capture the legacy of one of cinema’s great showmen. Castle directed horror films such as Macabre, House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, Thirteen Ghosts and Homicidal, but his ultimate genius was in the gimmicks he created to put butts in the seats. For Macabre he insured all the viewers for $1,000 if anyone dies of fright. House on Haunted Hill had Emergo – better than 3-D! And The Tingler had Perceptor! During the ’50s America’s youth went nuts for monsters with the Shock! movie package bringing Frankenstein and Dracula to TVs. Castle gave the kids a reason to flock to the movie theater to get their cinematic thrills and chills.
Spine Tingler! gives us the directors that admired Castle including John Waters, John Landis and Joe Dante singing his praises. There’s plenty of vintage footage to take us back to that time when a man wanted to do more than ship a film to the theater. Castle looked thrilled to be around people flocking to see his films. While a lot of showbiz documentaries turn into depressing tales of downward excess, this movie is uplifting. Castle never directed a scary Monsterpiece, but he produced Rosemary’s Baby. He also lived for more than his movies. His family was extremely important to him and it shows as his daughters talk about him.
A lot of people talk about the importance of seeing movies in theaters with an audience. Castle came up with amazing ways to make it a special event to see his films. After the documentary, the Full Frame folks ran a 35mm print of The Tingler. While they didn’t wire up Perceptor to the streets, Skip and Germaine from AVGeeks tossed stuffed Tinglers into the audience during the black out moment. Everyone had fun screaming along with the action.
Schwarz said there’s no DVD in the works for Spine Tingler! If you want to know if the documentary is coming to you area for a festival screening, visit www.spinetinglermovie.com.
HOW’S BUSINESS
The highlight of Full Frame is the annual State of the Doc panel. Instead of having critics or filmmakers speculate, the roundtable group consisted of distributors who know what’s selling tickets. After several boom years with hits like Mad Hot Ballroom and Winged Migration, the documentary box office has taken a hit.
Last year distributors had high hopes for In the Shadow of the Moon, Crazy Love and My Kid Can Paint That. None of the trio made March of the Penguins coin. What’s worse is that there are now twice as many documentaries receiving theatrical releases than at the start of the 21st century. The market is overwhelmed. The outlook for the moment is that theatrical release is merely a way to get a higher profile for the DVD release rather than a profit generating machine.
Tom Quinn of Magnolia Films spoke of how Cocaine Cowboys was a flop theatrically by barely pulling in $60,000. But it’s moved more than 100,000 DVDs. Plus it was a major hit on XBox Video On Demand. This has allowed the company to produce Cocaine Cowboys 2. Quinn promises more in the series if the response continues. The title appeals to the fans of Miami Vice, Scarface and Grand Theft Auto.
Greg Kendall of Balcony recounted how King Corn‘s producers were selling the DVDs while the film was in the theaters. This allowed people across the country that weren’t near the theaters to see the film after reading the big city reviews. They also did brisk business renting the film for small group non-theatrical screenings. He mentioned how people wanted to set up private screenings rather than have their group wander over to the nearby art house running the documentary. There are plenty of people concerned about how corn has overtaken our diet and economy.
The ability for people to watch full length films on the internet has helped small films reach more eyeballs. Thomas Zadra of Red Envelope, Netflix’s DVD company, sees film fans enjoying this new delivery system. He stated that DVDs of Helvetica, the font documentary, has been sent out to 60,000 subscribers and that 60,000 subscribers have clicked Watch Now. The sad news for traditional Mac users is that the Watch Now function is nowhere in sight. Damn you, Steve Jobs! While Zadra won’t say anything, it does sound like Jobs is restricting Safari to keep it iTunes turf.
For those thinking of getting into the documentary world, the panel’s simple tips were: Take plenty of hi-res stills for the publicity kit. Make sure you can afford to license the music on your soundtrack. Shoot in True HD because that’s what the cable channels want. When you send your documentary to people, put your name and phone number on the actual DVD disc.
The big thing that came from the talk was that the lessons of William Castle must be put to use. Be special when marketing your specialized film. For the first weekend, you might want to be at the screening. Make the audience know there’s a reason they must come out that weekend and not put off coming down to the cinema. Your film can be yanked after a few empty seat screenings. And don’t dream you’ll be making Michael Moore cash off your film. Be realistic about your subject, budget and box office unless you have tons of penguins in the film.
WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
While hanging outside Full Frame in the plaza, I spot a husky guy in an expensive suit with bright almost white hair. “What’s Ric Flair doing at a documentary film festival?” As the guy gets closer and I get excited at meeting the Nature Boy one more time, I realize it’s actually Phil Donahue. Was I disappointed. Even worse was he didn’t have Marlo Thomas with him. I was hoping to ask for her memories of the Impeccable Hair of Ted Bessell. Phil was at the Festival to promote his movie Body of War.
DVD SHELF
Now the actors are going to go on strike? No!!! There’s no reason to give up watching DVDs since this “new season” will only last a few weeks.
Cloverfield is like Godzilla attacking the set of Gossip Girl. We’re watching home video footage of a Manhattan party full of vapid kids when out of nowhere a giant monster rampages across the city. It’s an interesting twist on the Giant Monster on the rampage movie since we don’t cut all over the city to show to cover the action. The attack is more intimate when seen through camcorder’s lens. It’s just kids trying to survive the disaster. The little monsters in Cloverfield are especially creepy. You’ll enjoy getting to freeze frame and slo-mo the monster scenes.
Matlock: The First Season means my Uncle Bill will no longer have to worry about when his favorite lawyer is on TV as he travels around the globe. Matlock allowed Andy Griffith to be a Southern lawyer for nine seasons. This first season sets up his law firm. Unlike Sheriff Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show, Matlock doesn’t work for cheap. He also has a lawyer daughter (Lori Lethin) to help him on the cases. His main private investigator (Kene Holliday) brought youth to the show as he hustled for clues and cash. He adds a little comic relief, but he’s no bumbling Barney Fife. The two part episode “The Don” has Griffith tangle with William Conrad. It’s Cannon vs. Matlock! When I visited retirement communities, Matlock was always on TV. This is the perfect gift for the AARP member in your life.
Perry Mason: 50th Anniversary Edition is a sampler of special episodes along with plenty of bonus features. There’s nothing from Seasons 1 & 2 so dedicated fans of the legal mastermind won’t be double dipping. The special guests in the episodes include Burt Reynolds, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Redford, Bette Davis and Adam West. The bonus features include the original screen tests. Thrill to the sight of Raymond Burr playing D.A. Hamilton Burger. They also have William Hopper auditioning to be Perry Mason. What a different show this could have been. They also have the comeback movie of the week Perry Mason Returns. The biggest shocker is a 22 year old interview Burr did with Charlie Rose to promote the show. Charlie Rose doesn’t age. The entire cast ends up on Stump the Stars. For those who’ve enjoyed the first two seasons on DVD, this is a treasure chest of bonuses.
Melrose Place: Season 4 opens when Marcia Cross blew up the apartment complex. The strange thing is that in the aftermath of this disaster, she moves into the rebuilt place. But who watched Melrose Place for logic? This was the fourth of seven seasons so the insanity just keeps on coming over the 32 episodes packed in the boxset.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Complete Animated Series is not the animated version of the Melissa Joan Hart series. This is the original comic book version of Sabrina that was part of The Archies universe. I remember a TV minister’s nasty rant about how Archies comics were a gateway to Satanism because of Sabrina. Did anyone get the urge from watching Jughead to sacrifice goats? The Sabrina episodes are cute with her secretly using her magic to solve problems. The Groovie Goolies is already out on DVD in case you want to double feature them like CBS did on Saturday mornings in 1970.
Laverne and Shirley: The Fourth Season brings more fun from America’s favorite brewery workers. Laverne and Shirley are still living in the basement. They still hang around the Pizza Bowl. As a man, I watch this series for the golden moments from Lenny and Squiggy. How come these two guys didn’t get more action from the ladies? They had real jobs and cool jackets. The freakish episode of the season is “The Feminine Mistake” with Laverne having the hots for a co-worker played by Jay Leno. This explains why Leno pursued the Tonight Show instead of Oscar glory. Leno’s chin is in prime form with his supporting Elvis sized sideburns.
Surviving Motherhood: Your Guide to Being a Mom is the perfect gift if you’ve discovered that way too many of your friends are knocked up. Over the course of 13 episodes, your expectant parent pals can understand that they’re going to turn into nutcases. Sleep deprivation and lack of adult time is clearly covered in this series.
What Not to Wear: Mom Makeovers Clinton Kelly and Stacy London perform missionary work in the world of stretch pants and sweatshirts. Can these frumpy moms get a wardrobe makeover that will make their children proud? Or at least have their kids’ friends utter the MILF line?
Meerkat Manor: Season Two avoids the sophomore navel gazing found in a majority of reality shows. The Meerkats don’t reflect of their newfound fame. They’re the same frisky critters living Kalahari Desert. They’re not partying with Brody Jenner or getting tattoos on L.A. Ink. They’re just Meerkats doing their best to survive. It’s more real than The Hills.
Growing Up Wildcats has nothing to do with kids in Kentucky. It’s a four part series about how lions, tigers, cheetahs and black leopards mature. They are so cute when they are cubs. These are a lot more involved than those old 16mm educational films they’d project in third grade.
FROM WOODSTOCK TO PUMPS
Anyone else shocked at seeing Carlos Santana pimping his line of women’s shoes at Macys? Who knew that the man who rocked the world with “Black Magic Woman” secretly aspired to be Ed Bundy? What’s next from the dinosaurs of rock? Brian Wilson’s discount mattresses? Keith Richards’ blood thinner? Shane MacGowan’s teeth whitening strips? Mike Love’s douchebag? Fred Durst’s ball waxing kit? Kevin Federline’s condoms?
HIRING MORONS
What part of Gordon Ramsay’s contract with Fox had him surrender his integrity? The new season of Hell’s Kitchen is barely a few episodes old and it’s a disasterpiece. Are we really supposed to believe any of these people are deserving of being an Executive Chef at Ramsay’s latest restaurant? I wouldn’t let these people work a nacho stand at a cock fight. They’ve had two dinner services that completely fell apart.
I can find 15 interesting people in the restaurant business that can make Beef Wellington and risotto in their sleep. These people are pathetic on a Jessica Simpson level. Why would you want to eat at a restaurant knowing these spastic fools are supposedly running the kitchen? Is Ramsay setting up a pigeon for the new season of Kitchen Nightmares? The winner should be given a gift certificate to Pizza Hut and told to never go inside a working kitchen.
If any of these people showed up at Ramsay’s office looking for a job, would he have hired them to clean toilets or peel potatoes? None of these people deserve this lofty prize.
WHY SO GREY?
Over the last few years I’ve noticed video companies and Netflix have gone with gray paint on their DVD discs instead of full color artwork. Thomas Zadra of Red Envelope said that the gray DVDs have a lower breakage rate at Netflix. So now you know.
RUPES HATES KATIE
Why is Rupert Murdoch going out of his way to make life hard on Katie Couric? First he has his new toy, the Wall Street Journal write a rumor filled article about how CBS is ready to oust her. Then he gets the talking heads at Fox News to keep repeating this article with the Wall Street Journal as their sole source since Fox News doesn’t like to gather real facts cause reporters cost money. What did Katie do so wrong to Rupes? Was he upset when she didn’t poke his colon at a fundraiser?
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