During the 1960s and 1970s, Madeline Anderson broke racial and gender barrier in nonfiction filmmaking through her work as a director, producer and editor. This DVD gathering of three of her short documentaries offers a fascinating consideration of how Anderson used her medium to spotlight the tumultuous fights for civil and women’s rights.
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Mars Roberge’s comedy is “Office Space” with a bit of “Fear and Loathing” with a dash of mumblecore thrown in for good measure. It’s definitely rough around the edges, but it’s also a movie that I had a good time with. The movie just drips charisma and enthusiasm and Roberge creates a comedy that’s filled to the brim with eccentric characters and a ton of sub-plots. While it wasn’t always easy to follow, Robrerge is able to derive a lot of fun moments from his entire cast.
“Galaxy on Fire” has a lot of potential and creativity behind it, but it has a lot of work to do before it can be watchable. It’s not unwatchable in the sense that it’s bad, but in that it feels mostly incomplete and rushed. The animation varies from sharp to fuzzy, the voice work is stiff and rigid, the sound varies from loud to barely audible, and there is no real momentum to the narrative. Even for a twenty six minute movie it doesn’t do a lot to grab the audience.
Whether you love or hate “Batman Ninja,” you have to admit DC is at least going for something completely different and radical this time around. With a different crew and approach toward the mythology, “Batman Ninja” is a unique time traveling tale that finds Batman at his most godlike, worshipped as a near invincible warrior in Feudal Japan. Beautifully directed by Junpei Mizusaki, “Batman Ninja” puts the entire aesthetic of the DC character in to some of the wildest anime filters, and it works most of the time. Some concepts land with a thud, but when “Batman Ninja” soars, it’s quite spectacular.
After Sophie disappears while on a spiritual trip, Jamie goes to the Himalayas to find her and bring her home. While there, he meets a group of people who believe in a higher power he doesn’t understand.
I’m not entirely sure why, but I hated “Killer Klowns” when I was a kid. And I say this as someone who loved “Spaced Invaders.” That said, watching it years later, it’s shocking how great “Killer Klowns” is as much as it is creative. You can tell “Killer Klowns” is working on a tight budget, but it’s also obviously spending every single penny meticulously to work toward the movie’s benefit. While the film isn’t perfect, “Killer Klowns” earns its cult classic status as a very unique horror comedy. It’s creative, it’s funny, it’s delightfully gruesome and you have to love that theme song.
A young girl goes missing while on an errand for her grandmother. When she is found, it’s clear that she has been raped and left for dead. As the police is no help, her grandmother decides to take matters into her own hands.