Fade to Black

Starring:Dennis Christopher, Tim Thomerson, Gwynne Gilford, Norman Burton, Linda Kerridge, Morgan Paull, James Luisi, Eve Brent, John Steadman, Marcie Barkin, Mickey Rourke, Peter Horton, Hennen Chambers, Melinda O. Fee, Anita Converse, Bob Drew, Teddi Siddall, Sharon Schlarth, Joseph Daniels, Marilyn Staley
Director: Vernon Zimmerman
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Fade to Black is a document of Jay-Z's self-proclaimed final concert; a grand affair that took place before a sold-out crowd at New York's Madison Square Garden in November 2003. (But anyone who follows celebrity news knows that Jay-Z was out of retirement and back performing at the Garden just a year later.) Fade to Black is a legitimately powerful record of a truly historic event in the annals of rap. Muttering offhand narration with typical bored, streetwise affect, Jay hails the concert as a momentous occasion for being the first time a hip-hop show was allowed to headline at the Garden.

It's unlikely that the full impact of the live performances will hit home to viewers unfamiliar with Jay-Z and his Roc-A-Fella Records stable of artists. Another frustration is trying to identify the array of visitors who trade raps on Jay's stage. Included in the star-studded lineup are Missy Elliott, Foxy Brown, Pharell, Ghostface Killah, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, and R. Kelly. One unmistakable figure--and we do mean figure--is Jay's squeeze Beyonce, who raises the temperature and the roof with her skimpy outfit, flowing hair, soulful yowl, and sexed-up dance routine that leaves her boyfriend and the whole of Madison Square Garden slack-jawed with animal desire.

Twenty cameras captured the event, and some of the most powerful sequences are sweeping moves across the swirling, blissed-out masses as they lip sync along in perfect unison with Jay-Z's complex, profane, quick-witted raps. Less effective are intermittent cutaway segments that show the artist in various studio settings working up beats and rhymes. These amateurish home video breaks may give some insight to Jay's perfectionism and dedication to his craft, but they detract from the visceral power of the beautifully executed performance footage. --Ted Fry

Description

FADE TO BLACK takes a look at the rapper's career, providing a backstage glimpse during the concert and showing how his last album was conceived. Narrated by Jay-Z himself, the film features notable guest performances by Beyonce, Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly, Pharrell Williams, Foxy Brown and appearances by P. Diddy and 2004 Grammy-winner Kanye West.

Customer Reviews:

My Inspiration.......2007-06-05

This film shows Sean Carter is the most positive light. I see a man with a strong work ethic and so much drive. He's hungry for success and he never settles for anything. He always aims higher. I think I enjoyed the studio footage more than the actually concert footage. Much love goes out to Jay Z and his production crew!

An Authentic Peek.......2007-05-29

I recently began seeking out hip-hop documentaries after watching Jin's No Sleep Till Shanghai. I was pretty skeptical though as to how much a superstar like Jay-Z would be willing to show. It's actually a much more insightful doc than I expected, in terms of understanding the music process. I was surprised how much, and sometimes how little, effort goes into making an album, especially for an artist of Jay's stature. Of course, Fade to Black can also be enjoyed simply for its concert footage, which makes this an excellent film overall.

It is what it is...........2007-05-14

What more can I say?... It's Hova baby.... The concert footage is hot... The studio footage showing the many producers he worked with in creating the Black Album was hotter... Only one reason for falling short of five stars... It wasn't long enough...

"The Last Waltz" of Hip-Hop.......2007-01-08

Jay is one of the few hip-hop artists who can not only fill the seats at the Garden, but play to an audience that large as well. There are tons of guest appearances here and they are universally strong. Even potentially mismatched performances such as Beyonce's appearance work extremely well. The behind the scenes footage of Jay in the studio is riveting. He has a soft, almost hoarse speaking voice yet a powerful voice on the microphone. Like his contemporary Biggie Smalls, he listens to beats with a frighteningly focused intensity and then writes and records all from memory. Some scenes, like when Jay visits Rick Rubin and spits an entirely new verse to the Public Enemy classic "Welcome To The Terrordome" are alone worth the price of admission.

The picture quality of this DVD transfer is decent, though not stunning. Saturation is pushed a little high and the transfer can appear a bit soft at times. The audio track is a well executed surround mix that really captures the acoustics of the Garden. Audio and video sync appears to be quite good.

This is one of the great hip-hop DVDs. Highly recommended.

Jay-Z in My Lifetime.......2006-07-29

From begining till the ending rolls, Shawn Carter has done the wittest and most meticulous work to promote his The Black Album in 2003. Well maintained!

Average customer rating:

So, So Double Bill
A Great Buy
Delightfully Demented Double Feature

Fade to Black/Hell Night
Starring: Linda Blair , Vincent Van Patten , Peter Barton , Kevin Brophy , and Jenny Neumann
Director: Tom DeSimone , and Vernon Zimmerman
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000AB16Q
Release Date: 2003-09-09

Customer Reviews:

So, So Double Bill.......2007-04-20

I don't see what's the big fuss about these two movies especially Hell Night. The movies were okay with Hell Night being slightly better overall. The one thing which blew me away was AnchorBay's transfers of these titles, which were surprisingly very crisp with vibrant colors and without any imperfections I could detect.

Fade to Black was interesting in its plot but there's not much going on here. It looks like a direct to TV release. It had potential. Well, they both did.

If you have to pay more than $10 for the two, don't waste your time. Seriously!

A Great Buy.......2007-04-17

This release of a double feature dvd is excellent. Remember back in the day we could actually see double features at the movies? Here you get a double sided dvd with the Linda Blair movie Hell Night and the very weird dark movie Fade To Black. It's very worth the price.

Delightfully Demented Double Feature.......2003-11-05

The hip folks at Anchor Bay offer a delightfully demented double feature on a double-sided DVD: The 1980 thriller FADE TO BLACK and the 1981 teen horror film HELL NIGHT.

*****

FADE TO BLACK:

Dennis Christopher, star of 1979's BREAKING AWAY, has the lead role in this wry comment on Hollywood's growing influence over the worldview of average citizens in contemporary Western society. Christopher plays Eric Binford, a young man so obsessed with the cinema that he ultimately blurs the line between reality and the plots of his favorite motion pictures. As his life begins to unravel, Eric looks to the movies for the solutions to his problems, and of course, it's only a matter of time before Eric starts eliminating those "problems" following the example of his favorite movie characters--with murder!

Christopher's over-the-top performance is exuberant and flamboyant, but since his Eric Binford is a person whose behavior is governed by the cinema, such a performance makes the character seem both plausible and sympathetic. Another strong performance is offered by Linda Kerridge as Marilyn O'Connor, the Marilyn Monroe look-alike who is the object of Eric's unrequited love.

Admittedly, the supporting cast is not nearly as strong as Christopher and Kerridge, and a great deal of the dialogue for minor characters is pure caricature. Indeed, if taken too seriously, FADE TO BLACK will come across as cartoonish and the plot will seem outlandish. But if viewed as the Juvenalian satire it is meant to be, the film definitely works. Cinema buffs will enjoy the clips from old classics, and horror fans will get a real kick out of watching Eric commit acts of mayhem and murder while costumed as Dracula and The Mummy.

Viewers who do not appreciate dark satire--and especially those who do not enjoy thriller films--will probably regard FADE TO BLACK as made-for-TV fodder. True, it is not destined to be a classic. But it is definitely an entertaining film, and it's a genuinely fun ride for cinema buffs and devotees of the horror and thriller genres.

*****

HELL NIGHT:

That head-spinning little girl from THE EXORCIST, Linda Blair--now all grown-up and gorgeous and causing all the guys' heads to spin--stars in this surprisingly well-made and entertaining hybrid of the teen slasher film and the gothic ghost story. Blair plays Marti, one in a quartet of college students who are required to spend the night in a dilapidated old mansion as part of the initiation rites for joining a fraternity or its sister sorority. Rumors have it that the mansion is haunted by the sadistic late owner or, even worse, that it may be inhabited by the late owner's hideously deformed and depraved son. Unfortunately for the four Greek-house pledges, some of the rumors are true....

In spite of the bum rap that HELL NIGHT often gets for riding in the wake of John Carpenter's highly successful HALLOWEEN (1978), it is actually a very well-written, literate film that rises above the teen-slasher cliché by combining the sub-genre with elements from the classic ghost-story format. Not only are the teens being pursued by a deformed maniac killer, but all the action takes place within the confines of an old gothic manor house that seems to be afflicted by the supernatural.

HELL NIGHT has some pretty good scares that might make even the seasoned horror buff jump. The sets of the manor house interiors create an appropriately spooky atmosphere, and the creature what does the slashin' is creepy enough to rival both Michael Myers and his cinematic cousins Jason and Freddy. And Marti (Linda Blair) gives the creature his final comeuppance in a most satisfying and grisly way.

Most of the acting in this film is pretty good, too. No stranger to horror films, of course, the beautiful Linda Blair does an excellent job. She comes across as being genuinely frightened, jiggles in all the right places (a necessary requirement for the principal female in teen horror films), and screams quite effectively. Co-star Vincent Van Patten flashes his killer abs and flexes his biceps quite adequately (a requisite for at least one male lead in teen horror films), so he does an adequate job portraying the group's jock. The son of actor Dick Van Patten (better known as the father on TV's EIGHT IS ENOUGH), viewers may also recognize him from his various movie roles (e.g., Tom Roberts in ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL) and TV parts (e.g., the titular role in THE BIONIC BOY and a stint as Christian Page on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS). Also notable is actor Peter Barton, whom many older female viewers may remember swooning over when he played the titular roles on TV's THE POWERS OF MATTHEW STAR (c. 1982) and, more recently, BURKE'S LAW (c. 1994).

Though they perform quite adequately in HELL NIGHT, most of the other actors are relative unknowns and did not go on to do any other TV or cinema work of note. It is unfortunate that the public has not seen more of Ms. Suki Goodwin, who portrays the fourth member of the quartet of pledges. Not only does her work here indicate that she has talent and potential, she is also quite pretty and has a sexy British accent. If nothing else, it would've been nice to see her become another famous horror-movie scream queen.

HELL NIGHT. It's a slasher flick; it's a ghost story. It's two great sub-genres in one! However it may be categorized, HELL NIGHT is an underappreciated, underrated horror film that deserves a look. Aficionados of the slasher film will love it, but mainstream horror fans will like it, too.

*****

Amazon.com

"I'm Jarret. Cody Jarret, understand?!" snarls Dennis Christopher (Breaking Away) in his best James Cagney. OK, he's no Rich Little, but as the movie-mad social misfit Eric Binford he makes a convincing media-saturated Norman Bates, and for a while his geeky fumblings and wounded vulnerability keep the film on track. He is a gofer for a B-movie studio, constantly bullied by his tough-guy coworker Mickey Rourke and his aunt, a bitter wheelchair-bound failed starlet who blames the boy for her misfortunes and never lets him forget it. His sanity already precariously close to the edge, he flares up and becomes Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death, shoving dear auntie down the back stairs and forever losing himself in the characters of his favorite movies. It's the first of many movie-inspired murders, but the gimmick becomes repetitive and the film loses its focus in series of pre-Scream set pieces. Better is Eric's deluded romance with an Aussie Marilyn Monroe look-a-like. It's hard to understand what she sees in this jittery nerd who rattles off meaningless movie trivia like it was the meaning of life, but give Eric credit for wooing her as Laurence Olivier in The Prince and the Showgirl. Tim Thomerson gets to play both tough guy and sensitive social worker as the counselor who utters the immortal line: "Binford's not to blame, he's a victim of society!" --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Interesting .......2007-02-27

This is a parody of slasher flicks that is also an intelligent horror movie. It shows how the line between fantasy and reality can become blurred and how that can lead to tragic results. Eric Binford was raised under rather bizarre circumstances by an old hag who is determined to make his life a living hell. He retreats to a movie based fantasy world. Combine this with the boss from Hell and a chance encounter with a Marilyn Monroe look-alike, and you have a perfect set-up for a descent into insanity. Things get so insane that by the end of the movie, your suspension of disbelief has been violated which is why this film does not merit a 5 stars out of 5 rating.

Great movie way Underated.........................2007-02-07

Really intresting and good movie, I highly recommend this movie as it is really rare...........

a twisted little shocker with a sharp,quick wit made even more creepy because your watching the movie also.......2006-05-10

this is not the greatest movie,but it is fun (in a twisted way) and makes some sharp points(no pun intended) about the amount of time we spend watching movies and how the line between fantasy and the real world can blurr very quickly.
eric binford loves movies,so much so he stays up all night watchingold movies on t.v.(this was before dvds or cable). eric's parents are gone and he lives with his wheelchair bound aunt,a failed star herself,and she blames eric for her problems. eric also gets picked on by his co-workers(at a film studio)and most of the rest of the world.his only friends are the flashing lights of the t.v. and the actors in the movies he watches.something has to give,and it does,after watching "kiss of death" eric's aunt starts picking at him again and eric retreats into his film world and just like in the movie pushes his aunt down the steps.
after that eric sets out to right a lot of things that have been done to him.
from there the movie takes you along with eric as he desends into madness. for a b horror movie this has some very strong ideas about movies,t.v.,bullies,and how quickly one can slip over the edge into madness. i like this movie and if you try you may like it also.

Never ever meet dead stars........2006-01-23

One more film, you may say, on the cinema as a perverted model for young men. It came out in 1981, at a time when the campaign against violence in films and on TV was going on full blast under the accusation that it was the teacher in violence for a vast array of violent teenagers and young men. The film though is slightly more positive than that and critical of this easy and narrow-minded position. It analyzes one concrete case and is very careful to show how the young man has become a film-addict because of the absurd family position in which he was living : raised by a crippled mother (a car accident) who refused to declare herself his mother not to break her dancing career which was broken anyway four years later by the car accident. Frustration, loss of references, destructured or unstrustured emotional landscape, and a vindictive henpecking rather bitchy mother/aunt who is also slightly perverted and requires her son/nephew to massage her back in the evening. It is the meeting of a girl looking like Marylin Monroe, her not coming to a promised rendez-vous and several ensuing mishaps that lead him into realizing a few vengeful crimes on the model of some of his favorite films and actors. It is an already sick mind that falls in the trap of imitating violence in films. In other words this violence is only active on already disturbed young males. Strangely enough, at the time, the case of women was not even considered. Since then of course many other films have been shot on the subject. This film takes advantage too of this opportunity to nail a big stake in the back of some policemen who only think that the solution is and can only be « Shoot them down and eventually bring them in, if it is not too much of an effort to do so, otherwise go back to the first instruction and shoot them down. » This attitude has widely changed and we have learned a lot that we have to be preventive, without segregating against some who could be sorted out as potential criminals, and afterwards reformative, though the persistance of the death penalty prevents that reformative stand from prevailing.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Université Paris Dauphine, Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne

MST3K Material! Definitely!.......2004-01-13

I plan to put this film on my worst films ever made list. I mean it was absolutely terrible. It [is bad]! It's only redeemable quality is that you could back and crack on how stupid this film is with friends while you are less than sober. There is a [pjysical gratification] scene that is perhaps novel for 1980, yet of course it's not worth getting this film over, I had more fun watching Hobgoblins that was made around the same time.

Average customer rating:

FADE TO BLACK - SONG OF FREEDOM

Manufacturer: CustomFlix
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | African American Cinema | Genres | DVD | Video

When the Levees Broke

ASIN: B000HEVARQ
Release Date: 2006-08-07

Description

FADE TO BLACK - SONG OF FREEDOM Director/Producer - Zachary James Miller Producer - Tannie Stovall This exciting series of classic films is created for all film buffs and/or individuals interested in African-American history. Each DVD explores in it's entirety a historic "Black" film. Renown actor, Clarke Peters, (The Corner, 5 Guys Named Moe, Notting Hill, Mona Lisa, K-Pax, etc.) one of the stars of HBO's hit police drama "The Wire", will host and present each film. He will be giving background and additional information on each film, the subjects, and personalities involved in the making of it. He will introduce and close each episode in addition to leading a round table discussion panel at the end of the film. SONG OF FREEDOM (1936) Starring Paul Robeson, Elizabeth Welch. Song Of Freedom (filmed in 1936) is a soaring musical drama that explores one man's rise to fame as a concert vocalist who then explores his African roots. Paul Robeson stars as John Zinga, a British-born stevedore who is discovered by an influential impresario and becomes a singing star. This Dockworker-turned-opera singer then travels to Africa to investigate his royal ancestry. Rare early feature from the famous Hammer Film Productions, Ltd., including the only feature appearance of company founder Will Hammer. The film contains many interesting scenes depicting interracial working-class camaraderie, a milieu that was all but absent in most all of the American films produced during this same historical period. A 2 Bulls On the Hills Production (SARL Miller Stovall) Paris, FRANCE copyright - (SARL Miller / Stovall) - 2006

Fade to Black [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]

Average customer rating:

Interesting
Great movie way Underated..................
a twisted little shocker with a sharp,quick wit made even more creepy because your watching the movie also
Never ever meet dead stars.
MST3K Material! Definitely!

Fade to Black [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000E2UCG6

Product Description

Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: English (Dolby Digital 2.0) Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) Spanish (Subtitles) Synopsis: An interesting, introspective variant on the '80s slasher formula, this low-key psychological thriller details the troubled life of obsessed movie junkie Eric Binford (Dennis Christopher), whose love of old movies extends far beyond his job at a film distributor's warehouse and endless late-night film screenings in his bedroom. His singular obsession eventually rounds the bend into psychosis after he crosses paths with a Marilyn Monroe look-alike (Linda Kerridge), who becomes the physical embodiment of his cinematic desires. When stood up on what he believed would be their first date, Eric becomes homicidally unbalanced, transforming himself into a gallery of classic movie characters -- including Dracula, The Mummy, Hopalong Cassidy, and Norman Bates -- and sets out to destroy his oppressors, starting with his crotchety wheelchair-bound Aunt Stella (Eve Brent Ashe), then targeting a boorish co-worker (a very young Mickey Rourke), and eventually working his way toward Kerridge. The film begins with a groovy concept, but loses something in the execution -- the horror and comedy elements fail to gel completely, and Christopher's performance is too creepy to generate much empathy. Extras: Filmographies Interactive Menu Scene Access

Customer Reviews:

Interesting .......2007-02-27

Great movie way Underated.........................2007-02-07

Really intresting and good movie, I highly recommend this movie as it is really rare...........

a twisted little shocker with a sharp,quick wit made even more creepy because your watching the movie also.......2006-05-10

Never ever meet dead stars........2006-01-23

MST3K Material! Definitely!.......2004-01-13

Average customer rating:

Fade to Black [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]
Director: Vernon Zimmerman
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000EHMGHO

Product Description

Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Language Options: English (Dolby Digital 2.0) Spanish (Subtitles) Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) Synopsis: An interesting, introspective variant on the '80s slasher formula, this low-key psychological thriller details the troubled life of obsessed movie junkie Eric Binford (Dennis Christopher), whose love of old movies extends far beyond his job at a film distributor's warehouse and endless late-night film screenings in his bedroom. His singular obsession eventually rounds the bend into psychosis after he crosses paths with a Marilyn Monroe look-alike (Linda Kerridge), who becomes the physical embodiment of his cinematic desires. When stood up on what he believed would be their first date, Eric becomes homicidally unbalanced, transforming himself into a gallery of classic movie characters -- including Dracula, The Mummy, Hopalong Cassidy, and Norman Bates -- and sets out to destroy his oppressors, starting with his crotchety wheelchair-bound Aunt Stella (Eve Brent Ashe), then targeting a boorish co-worker (a very young Mickey Rourke), and eventually working his way toward Kerridge. The film begins with a groovy concept, but loses something in the execution -- the horror and comedy elements fail to gel completely, and Christopher's performance is too creepy to generate much empathy. Special Features: Filmographies Interactive Menu Scene Access

Charlie Rose with Paul Gigot, Daniel Henninger, Dorothy & Susan Lee; Jay-Z (October 27, 2004)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Paul Gigot, Daniel Henninger, Dorothy & Susan Lee; Jay-Z (October 27, 2004)

Manufacturer: "Charlie Rose, Inc."
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

A discussion of the upcoming 2004 presidential election with the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, including, editor Paul Gigot, deputy editorial page director, Daniel Henninger, columnist Dorothy Rabinowitz, and editorial board member, Susan Lee. Then, rap impresario Jay-Z discusses his life, career and new film, Fade to Black.

Bill Mallonee: Fade to Black - Live at the Axiom Arts Centre, Cheltenhams, UK 1999

Average customer rating:

Bill Mallonee: Fade to Black - Live at the Axiom Arts Centre, Cheltenhams, UK 1999
Starring: Vigilantes of Love
Manufacturer: Fundamental
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

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