A British African documentary by David Icke and Credo Mutwa.
David Icke interviews Zulu Shaman, Credo Mutwa about reptilians or "The Chitahuri".
This is an awesome film and Credo has stories about as wild as those of Bill Schnoebelen. If that's what you're looking for, this is it. However, the editing is some of the worst I have ever seen. There are stories that are cut short as Credo is in the middle of a sentence, some are picked up in the middle of him talking and there is a few minute section that repeats. Mr. Mutwa also speaks very slowly and says "um" and it's affiliates many times, as English is not his primary language. Some extreme subject matter is covered including monopods, eating the flesh of a god, necrophagia, paedophilia and some political statements that not everyone would agree with. There is also a section in which Credo tells a detailed story from his local folklore about the intertwined histories of the human and reptilian races. If you can stay with it through the editing and umming, there is good material here. I rate it best.
An American drama directed by George Cukor, starring Joan Crawford.
A woman in New York has friends at a clothing store and a husband. She learns from her friends that her husband is cheating on her. She gets a divorce and moves to a lesbian farm in Reno for a little while. When she moves back to New York, she hears juicy gossip about the homewrecker who married her husband.
This was pretty boring, except for the ending. Using an entirely female cast with a plot that involves marriage and affairs was a unique idea. The line that describes the film best is spoken at 2 hours and 12 minutes: "There's a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society... ...outside of a kennel". I was watching the whole time thinking that this should have been called The Bitches and here comes a character in the film to put my thought into the perfect words. The women stab backs and gossip through 2 hours in black and white video. In the middle, there is a color scene of an interminable fashion show. My biggest disappointment about this film was no female anatomy points! Overall, you're better off just reading the line of dialogue and skipping the movie. I rate it poor.
An American comedy drama directed by Hal Walker.
A rich man is saved from drowning by a young woman. The rich man tries to repay the woman by giving her unlimited credit at stores and a nice apartment, but she abuses the privileges. When her boyfriend returns, he finds her rich and hanging out with the old man.
This was alright at best. I didn't find the humor very funny, but the plot and characters were adequate. The treble biased audio did not compliment the woman's singing voice and the music was very old fashioned. It may have been unintentional, but the old man seemed to constantly be staring at the young woman's breasts. However, no female anatomy points were earned. The editing was good and helped continuity. Overall, not bad, but not good. I rate it o.k.
A British documentary by David Icke.
David gives his speech at Brixton.
This was pretty much a copy of Secrets of the Matrix (2003). David covered all of the same material in the same way. Please refer to my post about that film. I rate this o.k. because it's just a repeat.
An American romantic musical comedy directed by Bud Pollard, Del Lord, Leslie Pearce and Mack Sennett, starring Bing Crosby.
Bing Crosby's career is shown by way of sections of films that he has been in.
This was utterly horrible. The audio was uneven, muffled and treble-biased. The video was unevenly too dark or too bright, but never correctly exposed. Plot and characters were not a priority besides Bing himself. The only positive thing about this was the 53 minute duration. I rate it bad and would strongly advise against viewing.
An American musical comedy directed by Henry Koster, starring Danny Kaye and Walter Slezak.
An illiterate man from a gang of gypsies incites a riot when he tells an old woman the truth about the magical elixir that they are peddling. The gypsy boss chases him away when he is accidentally carrying an important document. He is arrested in a small town where the local officials think that he is the inspector general in disguise and set him free. His former boss reunites with him as he is about to leave and he is forced to play the role of inspector general.
The plot and characters were interesting, but the music was not. Most of the humor was sitcom style lies, but there was some funny physical humor like throwing wine in a fireplace to create giant explosions. Some of the scenes were physically demanding and involved lots of planning like the military training room. The main characters were easy to keep track of, but there were excessive extras. The video was a little dark and muddy and the audio was pretty standard. I rate this o.k.
A British documentary by David Icke.
David gives his full speech at Brixton. He focuses on the nature of reality, thinking outside the box and waking up to the illusion so that one can realize one's true potential.
Very positive talk. I always like to talk about Mr. Icke when people ask me about the whole NWO Illuminati truth deal because his message is so positive. We CAN be better than we are and we CAN break out of the small, separate world views that we have been programmed into. The world we live in is supposed to be a wonderful place to have a profound experience of being a person in, not some bloody cesspool of manipulation, war, death, lies, struggle and stupidity. Anyway, this talk featured many Matrix (1999) references, some Credo Mutwa wisdom and the story of a woman who was conscious through a major health problem. Good job, Dave. If I hadn't seen so sodding many of your talks so sodding many times, it would get a better rating. I'll go with awesome. Definitely recommended, even if you've seen enough Dave already.
A British documentary by David Icke.
In an interview with Red Ice Radio, David explains his view of the European Union and how it fits into a one world government.
This is a little bit short for a David Icke talk. On the education vs. entertainment scale, this is far to the side of education. There were no fancy videos, just Dave I. being interviewed in a room. At one point, they did display a picture, but that was it. My favorite part was Dave saying that he wouldn't trust Tony Blair to tell him the time in a room full of clocks. Overall, it was short and had good information, but nothing too different from David's other works. This would be a good intro to Icke's filmography for those who don't want to commit to a multi-hour presentation right away. I rate it adequate and would compare it to Michael Tsarion's Architects of Control.
A British documentary by Chris Everard.
Topics surrounding the belief systems of the global elite are discussed with pictoral and video examples.
When I watch documentaries, I tend to weigh education vs. entertainment. This one is entertainment and doesn't do a very good job of that. It was heavy on speculation and repetition like it was made by the discovery channel. There was a repeating whispered voice that must have been played about 100-1000 times over the four part set and the narrator repeated the name of what/who he was talking about ad nauseum. By the definition given in this series of a spell containing repeated words, this video itself IS a spell. There was some information, but not much detail. I rate this poor and would not recommend it.
An Irish documentary by Michael Tsarion and Henrik Palmgren.
Mike T. asks whether people are in control of themselves and examines what forces in the world determine the answer to this question.
As with David Icke and Alex Jones, this is very similar to the rest of Michael Tsarion's work. It does not hold a candle to Origins & Oracles and seems pitiful by comparison. There is some good information and I think that it was well made. Henrik did a good job with the video editing and music. There was one line in section 2 that really interested me about cutting down trees and naming streets after them. Overall, It's alright, but Mike has made better. I rate it adequate and would only recommend it if you don't have the patience to watch Tsarion's longer films.
A Russian documentary art film by Dziga Vertov.
Scenes from a busy city or town are shown with no explanation.
This is one of those wonderful films that I can't write enough good stuff about. Unintentionally being the first piece of psychedelic cinema, the filmmaker used every effect available. These effects ranged from playing with the speed of the film to multiple exposures and screen splitting. I can appreciate much of what is being done because of some experience with videos and a recent course in photography. The original film was released without sound and supposed to be accompanied by a live musical performance. The version that I saw had a soundtrack by Michael Nyman recorded in 2002. I liked this soundtrack, but I may watch the film again with one of the other 19 soundtracks. Some memorable scenes include the shadow of a doorway with people walking through, athletes doing high jumps, a magic show, stop motion of the camera getting onto the tripod and a scene of women putting a dark substance on themselves (picture, female anatomy points). I rate this best and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in photography and video.
A British documentary by David Icke.
David Icke's talk at Brixton is shown. He covers subjects such as the nature of reality, fear vs love, the September 11th events and subliminal messages.
If you've seen one David Icke lecture, you've seen them all. He has points and phrases that he mentions in all of his talks, but around these building blocks, there is some different material. His September 11th section was almost a comedy, as he pointed out that the "official story" is an absurd work of fiction. The 6 hour duration seems like it would be long, but this was easier to watch than The Birth of a Nation (1915) which had half the duration. Overall, good information was presented, but much of it was a repeat from other lectures. I rate this good and would recommend it if the subject matter is something that you are interested in.
An American silent historical drama film by D. W. Griffith.
Events in America around the time of the civil war are shown with stories of characters who were involved. Slavery, President Lincoln and his assassination, the civil war itself and the Ku Klux Klan are the main points.
This was SOOOO boring. Can you sit through 3 hours of a silent film this old? The audio was all classical music and seemed to be on the repetitive side. The video was in black and white with scenes being tinted. However, all of the video was correctly exposed! This brings up an issue about newer films: If they could correctly expose video in 1915, why do so many films afterwards suffer from incorrect exposure? The characters were difficult to keep track of because the length of the film required that I take frequent breaks to get away from it. Same with plot. Overall, it is of historic significance and was correctly exposed. It was also too long and extremely boring. I rate it poor. Unless you are burning with an itching desire to view every film ever made, I would not recommend watching this one.
An American comedic mystery directed by Edwin L. Marin, starring Bela Lugosi, David Manners and Adrienne Ames.
An actor is killed on the set of a film. While the police are trying to solve the murder case, a man who works at the film studio teams up with a studio security guard to solve the case as well.
I've come to dislike Bela Lugosi, as most of the films containing him suck pretty bad. This one had some sloppy editing, but was otherwise technically sound. The characters were easy to identify and keep track of, the plot was clearly presented and the pacing kept things moving. There were also a few creative camera angles. It wasn't painful to watch, but with sloppy editing like that, I have to take points off. I rate it poor and would probably not recommend it.
An American comedy directed by Malcolm St. Clair, starring Zasu Pitts.
Lum is mad at his partner at the general store, Abner for trading the delivery car for a horse. Lum also is planning to impress the woman who reads to him by being a hero, like in the story that is read. Lum and Abner get into various situations because of Abner's trading and Lum's quest to be a hero.
It was alright at best and very similar to So This Is Washington (1943). There were some funny scenes about the glasses that the travelling eye doctor was getting all of the characters to purchase that involved visual distortions visible to the viewer (picture). There wasn't any sloppy editing, so it was technically sound. I don't really feel the need to write too much about this because it is so similar to the other Lum and Abner film that I reviewed. I rate it o.k. and would recommend it if you like the series.
An American romance directed and produced by Alfred Zeisler, starring Cary Grant and Mary Brian.
A rich man feels unwell and goes to see his doctor. The doctor determines that boredom and luxury are his problem and they make a bet that the rich man can't live a year as a regular working guy without using his money or friends. During the year, he meets a woman and they fall in love.
A unique premise, but just a regular movie. Everything about this film was average and mediocre. I don't have to list all of the film elements here. Fortunately for the movie, I don't frown on mediocrity quite so much anymore. I've seen so many really bad films that an o.k. one really is o.k. It was not painful to watch and I viewed the entire hour and a minute duration. I rate it o.k. and would recommend it if you just want to watch something.
A British thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
A man tries to help a counter-espionage agent prevent a group of spies from stealing information. The agent is killed and the man tries to stop the spies.
I couldn't understand the plot and looked it up on Wikipedia. The audio was muffled and almost incoherent. The video looked like total crap. Hence, the production value was quite low. Same for plot and characters. I gave up and turned it off after about 40 minutes. I rate it shit. DO NOT WATCH!
A German silent fantasy animation by Lotte Reiniger and Carl Koch.
An African sorcerer makes a magic flying horse and tries to trade it for a princess. The prince (Achmed) takes off on the horse and falls in love with a woman in a far away land. The sorcerer steals the woman from the prince who befriends another of the sorcerer's enemies, a fire witch. The witch gives the prince weapons and sends him to regain the princess. When spirits from her homeland steal this princess, Aladdin's magic lamp is required to enter their realm. Aladdin and Achmed get the witch to kill the sorcerer in order to retreive the lamp, defeat the spirits and save both princesses.
Wonderful! Fantastic! Beautiful! This is the oldest surviving animated film and it beats the living shit out of whatever is newest. At the time of writing, there's a whole slew of computer animated brainwashing flicks. Just like hospitals destroy health and schools destroy knowledge, the entertainment industry destroys art. As I watched this, I was awe-struck by hand painted backgrounds with silouette characters painstakingly animated onto them. These guys had to arrange each frame and photograph it with absolutely prehistoric cameras. Creative character design yeilded unique and memorable characters with lifelike movements out of just cut paper. The backgrounds and scenery were created very similarly and made unique and memorable locations and settings. The monsters were AMAZING! From the sorcerer/evil kangaroo at the beginning to what I would call the "Omega Caterwocky" (not pictured. I don't want to spoil the coolest monster!) at the end, all the beasts were fantastic, diverse and wild. There was even a wizards' duel a la Sword in the Stone (1963). The complex plot was obviously based on 1001 Arabian Nights, one of the best books ever written. I rate this best and it is HIGHLY recommended for those who can dig real art. WATCH IT!
An American silent stop motion animated fantasy by Willis O'Brien.
A man tells a pair of boys a story about his adventure on Slumber Mountain. While there, he had a dream about opening an abandoned cabin to retreive a device through which he viewed dinosaurs.
Pretty cool film with lame presentation. I'm not talking about the pre-talky or b&w aspects, but how the story is told. Making it a story about a dream is boring. If you're going to stop motion animate dinosaurs, why not have it presented as actually happening? It's just a fantasy film, not a documentary! So there goes the plot. The style is awesome and I think that the animation was done very well. There were some times when I did not know what I should be looking at on the screen, but these were short, uneventful sections at the beginning of an animated scene. The music was very dated and it was entertaining to hear classical/jazz music trying to cope with dinosaur fights. There being no heavy metal genre in 1918, they did the best they could. Although it has some problems, I really liked this film. 19 minutes with stop motion animated dinosaurs is hard to beat. I rate it awesome and would recommend it to those interested in the history of animation.
An American musical comedy directed by William Berke.
The owner of a comic and cartoon company has not smiled or laughed in 20 years and wants his daughter to marry a man who she does not love. The daughter and her real boyfriend hire a special psychologist to help the father. When this does not work, they dig into the family's past for an answer.
This was actually pretty good. The plot was decent, but did not completely fill the duration of just an hour and 7 minutes. The filler is what made the film in this case. This consisted of comedic and musical acts that I imagine must have been popular at the time the film was created. Although dated by today's standards, I think that these acts have stood the test of time quite well. Some highlights include a man who dresses a model using only strips of cloth, a trumpet player with a hand puppet and a very good piano player. The video was of the time, but did not have the sloppy editing that I have gotten used to. The audio was a little thin, but the music came through alright. I'm rating this good because I liked it. You may want to check it out if you can dig the vintage comedy.
An American romance directed by William Castle, starring Guy Madison, Diana Lynn and James Dunn.
A man orders a drink at a bar and the bartender tells him a story. A newspaper writer's grandfather dies and leaves him money so he heads for New York to write a play. On the way, he picks up a young woman who is a compulsive liar. The woman lies him into being her brother and also a bank robber. Another lie gets them a mother who is a pickpocket. When the bartender shows up at the hotel where the writer is staying they go to a shop with fake things to ride.
The main theme of this film was deception. I thought it was alright. The style was of the time and there were a few editing/continuity mistakes. These were mainly sloppy video editing with characters moving. The video was otherwise adequate and the audio wasn't too bad. I liked the complex plot that filled the entire duration correctly without using lots of pointless filler. The characters were good and unique. Overall, it's a decent old movie to watch. I rate it adequate. You may want to check this out.
An American romance directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray.
A soldier and a hair stylist meet in Panama, quit their jobs and fall in love. The soldier gets a new job playing trumpet at a bar and when an opportunity to advance his career in New York comes along, he goes alone. Initially a success, he develops an alcohol addiction and the hair stylist thinks that he is cheating on her. Can they save their relationship and his career?
This was alright for an old movie. The production quality was shit by the time it got to me. There was some pretty heavy dead air noise and video artifacts. The plot was interesting, although alcohol addiction films never really were my cup of tea. The characters were stereotypical and showed little depth. The duration was a little too long for me and the style was of the time. I rate it o.k. because I liked the first half, but the second half sucked.
An American western by Edwin S. Porter.
Bandits force an operator of a railway station to stop a train so they can rob it. They tie him up, but he gets free while they are looting the locomotive and goes for help.
Apparently, this is the first western film ever made. I had to watch and review it for historical significance. It was silent with black and white video, but I've seen much worse. It was actually just right for 10 minutes of western. There were harriers, a train, a chase on horseback and an unlikely hero. I think that they communicated what they needed to get across quite well for 1903. I'm rating this adequate because there was some thought put into making it.
An American comedy drama directed by Arthur Lubin.
An old newspaper worker loses his job and a co-worker friend quits because of this. They decide to work together and end up doing a radio show. The older man's family micro-manages his life and the daughter is dating a man.
Boring. This was just way too boring and slow paced for me. The antique style, audio and video didn't help either. There were video artifacts where the actual film itself had been damaged. The plot was pretty vague in some areas and generally threadbare all around. The characters were annoying and shallow. At least it wasn't painful to watch. I rate it poor and would advise against viewing.
An American comedy directed by Edward Sedgwick, starring Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante.
A dorky professor thinks that he has inherited a vast sum of money and leaves his office for New York. On the way, he befriends and gains ownership of a theater group.
I could tell from the first few seconds that this would be terrible. I turned it off at 38:16 because the humor was the least funny I have ever seen and Jimmy Durante is annoying. Most of the "jokes" had to do with a disagreement between characters because of a misunderstanding. Physical "comedy" like putting an item on a luggage rack, only to have it fall on the person who put it there was also used. I rate this shit. DO NOT WATCH!
