The Bootleg Files: A Place to Stand

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 587: “A Place to Stand” (Academy Award-winning 1967 short).

LAST SEEN: It is on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No perceived U.S. commercial value.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Unlikely.

Fifty years ago, Montreal became the center of international attention with Expo 67, a World’s Fair that attracted more than 50 million visitors. And one of the most popular attractions at that event was a short film exhibited at the Ontario Pavilion called “A Place to Stand.” While mostly forgotten today, “A Place to Stand” was briefly influential in changing the visual style of late 1960s and 1970s film and television productions – and it even won an Academy Award.

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X-Rated Alley: 100 Girls By Bunny Yeager (1997) [Blu-Ray], Nurse Diary: Beast Afternoon (1982) (DVD)

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Felix Vasquez

Many Nikkatsu Roman Porno films tend to integrate sub-genres within their basic frame works of being soft core pornography. While their movies inject frames like crime thrillers, dramas, and romance comedies, every one of these installments garner some long and drawn out sex scene involving petting or molestation. The same can be said for Impulse Pictures’ “Nurse Diary: Beast Afternoon” which is from the Roman Porno library but is deep down a pinku version of a giallo film. Folks that are typically turned off by Nikkatsu films just may find this in their interest.

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Alzheimer’s: Every Minute Counts

Posted on April 7, 2017 by Phil Hall

Elizabeth Arledge’s PBS-aired documentary offers a snapshot on the impact that Alzheimer’s disease has on the national economy and individual families. According to the medical professionals interviewed here, the near-future costs of Alzheimer’s care threaten to bankrupt both Medicare and Medicaid while rivaling the Department of Defense’s budget for the sheer level of spending. This is because there has been no breakthrough in Alzheimer’s treatments – unlike heart disease, cancer or HIV/AIDS, nobody can survive this disease once it begins to take its lethal toll – but federal spending on research for the disease is much smaller compared to other medical categories.

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The Bootleg Files: Garbo

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 583: “Garbo” (1969 BBC documentary narrated by Joan Crawford).

LAST SEEN: An unauthorized posting is on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Uncertain.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: It was announced for a 2005 release, but that never happened.

Around 1985, I was walking down First Avenue in New York City when I noticed an elderly woman coming down the street. I immediately recognized this woman – for many years, she had been the elusive object of tabloid photographers eager to snap her picture. I debated whether I should make any acknowledgement of her presence and decided that it would be best to allow her to maintain the legendary privacy associated with her name. And thus, in less than a New York minute, I had my encounter with Greta Garbo.

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In Search of Israeli Cuisine (2017)

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Phil Hall

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Roger Sherman sets his camera on Israeli culinary culture. With Israeli-American restauranteur Michael Solomonov as the on-screen narrator and guide, the film wanders throughout Israel sampling the foods prepared in the nation’s finest eateries and in the homes of several private cuisine.

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Blackhearts (2017)

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Emilie Black

As Norway prepares for one of its epic black metal festivals, 3 bands prepare to go and play their set there for the first time. The film follows closely Hector from Columbia (leader of the band Luciferian), Sina from the Middle East where playing black metal is a jailable offense, and Kaiadas and his band mates (band Naer Mataron) through their preparation for the festival and what pushes them to play this type of music. The film also explores the history of black metal in Norway, including a visit to the Rockheim museum in Trondheim, interviews and moments with members of bands such as Keep of Kalessin, Mayhem, and a few others. Through seeing the lives of these musicians, what they believe in, and what they want to accomplish, the viewer can get a good idea of what black metal is all about and also learn about its history.

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Dinosaurs vs. Apes: Hollywood Goes Ape! (1994)

Posted on March 3, 2017 by Felix Vasquez

Don Glut is a lover of the golden age of monster movies, and his 1994 documentary explores Hollywood’s fascination with apes. Though “King Kong” popularized the giant ape in film, the idea of giant apes have been around for quite a while and even showed up every so often in silent films. Even by 1994 standards, “Hollywood Goes Ape!” isn’t the most polished documentary, but it does offer a no frills exploration in to ape cinema of all kinds. There are looks at giant ape films like “King Kong” and “Konga,” and odd ball ape movies like “The Ape Man,” and “Superman vs. The Gorilla Gang.”

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