Director Josh Johnson pulls off an ingenious move with “Rewind This!” Truly, it’s about the age of VHS and recalls many of the fond memories of buying VHS and learning how to enjoy the spoils of the hunt for the perfect Friday night entertainment from your local mom and pop video store. But by the end of the documentary, director Johnson is wise to warn about how personal media and art is slowly becoming impersonal and is gradually breaking from our grasps.
In the interest of full disclosure, author Mike Watt is a friend and respected colleague who sent us a PDF of his latest book for review. This is nonetheless an objective review of his book “Fervid Filmmaking.”
You have to give it to author Mike Watt. His book isn’t built around 66 great films, or even 66 of his favorite films, but 66 films of importance and relevance that really say something about the genre they’re representing. Take for example the entry in to “Survival of the Dead” by director George Romero. While I’m often a Romero apologist, author Watt really does manage to break down the specifics of the film, and cite past interviews with director Romero to paint “Survival” as a film made by a man perpetually chained to the sub-genre that made him a horror icon.
It’s very interesting how the original “The Terminator” was envisioned as a precursor to “The Matrix.” Long before the Wachowskis, we had James Cameron, who envisioned a world controlled by a sentient technology, and robotic drones that attempted to destroy humanity. Only certain human survivors dared to stand up against the machines, with a few of their rebels using technology to try to change their current reality. Author Ian Nathan who brought us the wonderful “Alien Vault,” is back with a treasure trove fit for fans of James Cameron, Science Fiction, or The Terminator series.
We fucking love Quentin Tarantino. And odds are if you’re thinking about buying “Pulp Fiction: The Complete Story of Quentin Tarantino’s Masterpiece” from Voyageur Press, you fucking love him, too. At two hundred pages in length,. the giant tome written by Jason Bailey (with essays from movie historians and critics) doesn’t just fill you in on “Pulp Fiction,” but on everything Tarantino. This is the big Kahuna of Tarantino knowledge, and it’s a hell of a fun book to sift through.
“Tigers will do anything for a tuna fish sandwich!”
I first discovered “Calvin and Hobbes” in high school, where a curious glance in to one of their trade collections led to a love for the comic that’s lasted for many years. “Calvin and Hobbes” ended in 1995, but has continued to be an important part of many people’s lives. From fans, to modern cartoonists, Biller Watterson has left a large legacy behind, after “Calvin and Hobbes” went exploring. “Dear, Mr. Watterson” isn’t just a wonderful and insightful exploration in to the popularity of the comic, but why the comic has been so influential, years after its end.
It’s no easy feat to create a new dedication to “Night of the Living Dead” that doesn’t feel rehashed or regurgitated from other documentaries. Rob Kuhn’s documentary had every chance to be just a summary of “Document of the Dead,” but thankfully is a fresh and very entertaining look at the horror film that changed the world. Director Kuhns doesn’t just explore how “Night of the Living Dead” changed horror films, but how it changed the pop culture and American landscape for fifty years after its release.
This is it. The final season of one of the most critically acclaimed war dramas ever created. On an eight disc edition for fans, “Combat! The Complete Fifth Season” is the only season of the popular war drama broadcast in color, and it features the stories of two parallel platoons on a journey in World War II.
Well known for its array of guest stars, as well as its direction and writing from noted directors included Robert Altman, “Combat!” is a change of pace for the series before it bows out, with new props, and settings, but delivering the same exciting war based drama we know the series for. In one episode character Saunders is blinded in combat and tricked by a German Chaplain to help a wounded German soldier, while in another episode Saunders receives the upsetting news that his brother has enlisted in the army.