Graphic Documentary

Starring:Graphic Documentary
Studio: Woodhaven Ent
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Cocaine Cowboys
The best drug story told....
Great In All Aspects
scarface aint got nothin on griselda blanco
Unbelievable story into the dark side of paradise

Cocaine Cowboys
Starring: Kelly Hughes
Director: Billy Corben
Manufacturer: Magnolia
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Shottas
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Jesus Camp
Miami Vice (Unrated Director's Cut)
Babel

ASIN: B000KLQUUS
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Amazon.com

More of a real-life exploitation film than a bonafide documentary, Cocaine Cowboys is tailor-made for anyone who worships Brian De Palma's Scarface. It's no surprise that this slick, energetic film found a niche audience among crime-obsessed hip-hoppers; from a journalistic perspective it's an irresponsible mess, but director Billy Corben is obviously more interested in capturing the thrills and danger of the drug trade that transformed Miami, Florida during the Miami Vice era of the late 1970s and '80s. Corben has no particular interest in seriously examining the sociopolitical implications of Miami's drug-fueled rise and fall, so Cocaine Cowboys lives up to its title by focusing on some of the most colorful, daring, and outrageously successful survivors of that era, when tons of cocaine were distributed through Miami by the kingpins of Colombia's notorious Medellin cartel. Chief among the many interviewees are Jon Roberts and Mickey Munday (who personally transported over $2 billion worth of cocaine into Miami) and Jorge "Rivi" Ayala, a convicted drug-trade assassin now serving consecutive life terms in prison. They're lively storytellers who are egotistically eager to share their coke-tales, and Corben's only too happy to capture their exploits on film, up to and including the dubious use of violent reenactments that could easily serve as a recruitment film for Tony Montana wannabes.

It's simultaneously disgusting and compelling, especially since Corben has a knack for matching swift editing to the pulsing score by TV's original Miami Vice composer Jan Hammer. In the final analysis, it must be said that Cocaine Cowboys succeeds as a brash and breathtaking record of a bygone era, when murder rates were at an all-time high, coke was everywhere, and Miami was financially transformed into a nightlife mecca where criminals were kings. Or queens, as in the case of Griselda Blanco, the ruthless and self-appointed "Godmother" of the cocaine trade, who was responsible for countless murders and as of 2007 remained at large, her whereabouts unknown. All of this deadly life in the fast lane makes for a fascinating movie, but Corben and coproducer David Cypkin's breathless commentary makes it clear that they're young, immature thrill-seekers, and their film makes no apologies for glorifying the drug trade while exploring its bloody and frequently fatal consequences. Their commentary also accompanies an abundance of deleted scenes, and there's also a bonus featurette, "Hustlin' with the Godmother," in which Griselda Blanco's former lover and big-time coke dealer Charles Cosby tells his story, which clearly has all the makings of a Hollywood movie along the lines of Blow. You can bet that film will eventually be made, and don't be surprised if it's Corben who makes it. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Cocaine Cowboys.......2007-07-05

Definitely a must see movie, shows the real side of miami that alot of people haven't seen.

The best drug story told...........2007-06-30

This documentary was so good, and so well told. It had me at the end of my seat in awe and shocked. One of the best drug told documentries ever...if you haven't seen it yet, please do. Miami was getting money fo' real.

Great In All Aspects.......2007-06-27

As a Miami resident, I found the film to be intriguing and very informative. Having grown up in South Florida, the film was 100% accurate and the way it was presented kept you glued to the TV. I do hope that the great city of Miami never repeats the past.

scarface aint got nothin on griselda blanco.......2007-06-13

watch this movie than watch scarface...its a trip

Unbelievable story into the dark side of paradise.......2007-06-05

This story is quite an eye opener to see placed together in one spot. I remember watching bits and pieces on the news over time when I was a kid about Pablo Eschibar and the Medien Drug Cartel, but to actually see all of the information in one place is quite impressive. This story is not only the story of the growth of the cocaine industry, but how the quite little vacation spot of Miami grew into a giant global competator of market cities. The interview detail was quite informative, and does capture the gruesomness of the violence that occured. Definately worth checking out if you like gritty documentaries.

Average customer rating:

My only review ever....
a wonderful documentary about an amazing man.....
Inspirational for artists
One of the best movies I've seen in a long time!!!
Spectacularly serene!

Andy Goldsworthy's Rivers & Tides
Starring: Andy Goldsworthy
Director: Thomas Riedelsheimer
Manufacturer: New Video Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature
Passage
Winged Migration
Time
Touch the Sound - A Sound Journey With Evelyn Glennie

ASIN: B0002JL9N6
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Amazon.com

Andy Goldsworthy's Rivers and Tides is a truly beautiful, Scottish-German 2001 documentary about artist Goldsworthy, a Scotsman whose medium is nature itself and whose preferred studio is the outdoors, particularly where water forever flows, rises, and/or retreats. The soft-spoken, secluded Goldsworthy is seen hard at work making ephemeral sculptures out of bits of ice in the trees, or building tall, mysterious cones from loose rock, which stand like spiritual sentinels in forests and on shorelines, overgrown by plants or swallowed daily by high tides. Filmmaker-cinematographer Thomas Reidelsheimer goes to great and sometimes inexplicable lengths to make visual corollaries to Goldsworthy's ideas about underappreciated relationships between light, color, movement, balance, and fluidity of form in the real world, making Rivers and Tides a lively and always surprising cinematic gallery. Some of Goldsworthy's most miraculous natural installations--stone walls that snake through hundreds of feet of forest and stream, for instance--show up in the last half-hour. --Tom Keogh

Description

Wildly praised by the nation's top critics, the smash theatrical hit RIVERS AND TIDES is a mesmerizing, poetic and curiously contemplative portrait of revered Scottish sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, whose long-winding rock walls, icicle assemblages and other intricate, druidic masterpieces are made entirely of materials found in the wild. Gorgeously shot and edited by director Thomas Riedelsheimer, RIVERS AND TIDES is an intoxicating study of the fragile relationship between man, art and nature.

Customer Reviews:

My only review ever...........2007-06-11

This movie brings peace. The music so beautifully matches the art that it left me breathless.

a wonderful documentary about an amazing man............2007-06-06

I was really blown away by ANDY GOLDSWORTHY'S RIVER & TIDES, the first time I saw it on the big screen in the movie theater in 2003. In all honesty, the big screen is the best way to fully experience the magic of Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy's remarkable natural works of living and moving art. Since Goldsworthy's sculptures are made from transitory material he finds in nature (discs of melting ice that he so elegantly places near and around rootbound trees, cones made out of bits of pebble, just to name a few examples), none of his pieces last forever. But, really, what does in this world? Human beings spend so much time feeling to be master in command over nature, one another, material and living objects, and RIVERS & TIDES truly brings the message of the temporary state of nature and humankind in the world. It ebbs and flows, and Goldsworthy's unassuming but dutiful continuity as a true natural artist, working with the medium of mother nature, to design intricate visual sculpture and installations out of the elements we take for granted all too often. This is an especially timely film in this day and age, where we are questioning what is to be done to work toward sustainability and conservation in the world. Highly reccomended!

Inspirational for artists.......2007-05-28

I am an artist who sometimes gets too bound up with striving toward perfect realism and detail. When I first came across books of Goldsworthy's work, I was intrigued and liked the work. But, it wasn't particularly inspiring to me for my own work. Then, I saw this DVD and something happened in my head. It reminded me of how my art started when I was a kid...playing with the materials that were available in nature and just goofing around. The sheer joy of that was recaptured in my artist's heart by watching this film. For this touch to the past, I'm grateful to Mr. Goldsworthy and give him my public thank you here.

One of the best movies I've seen in a long time!!!.......2007-05-17

Rivers and Tides fascinated me. I am an artist myself and the fact that he creates art and installments that will eventually be taken by the river, tide or by the ever-changing aspects of nature is something that intrigues the Buddhist philosopher in me. It gives a concrete experience of "impermanence" that anyone can contemplate because it is portrayed within the framework of this artistic film. Upon watching it a second and third time I was a little disquieted by the interaction he had with his wife near the middle of the film, but I figured that it was his artistic temperament coming out. I enjoyed sharing this film with friends who are also artists.

Spectacularly serene!.......2007-05-17

The brilliant conceptions and thoughtful, meticulous excecutions of the stunning, evocative, nature-inspired sculptures by this sensitive, intelligent artist have been beautifully documented. Goldsworthy's articulate explanation of each installation adds to the viewer's potentially transcendental viewling experience, but they can be turned off without hindering the pure enjoyment of the awe-filled visual experience. I whole-heartedly recommend this 2 DVD set to people of all age who wish to have yet another justification to celebrate the beauty of this planet and the poetry of artistic vision and expression.

Animusic - A Computer Animation Video Album (Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

I like it
Animusic - A Computer Animation Video Album (Special Edition)
A Very Positive Musical Experience!
Watching it even a third time lets you pick up more
Animusic - Technically great, musically so-so

Animusic - A Computer Animation Video Album (Special Edition)
Director: Wayne Lytle
Manufacturer: Animusic
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001WNL26
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Amazon.com

Watching Animusic is like being mesmerized by the world's most elaborate Rube Goldberg devices: You're so astonished by their ingenuity that you can't look away. This "computer animation video album" is the brainchild of Wayne Lytle, a progressive-rock keyboardist and 1988 graduate of Cornell University's Program of Computer Graphics. Modifying techniques originally applied to the visualization of scientific data, Lytle partnered with graphic artist and 3D modeler Dave Crognale to create elaborate virtual stage sets and imaginary musical instruments that are driven via MIDI interface to virtually "play" the music that Lytle has composed for them. "The music drives the instruments," explains Lytle in his engaging DVD commentary, "and not the other way around." Using proprietary software called MIDImotion™, Lytle and Crognale have invented self-playing musical instruments that exist in a magical realm of musical and mathematical precision, perfectly synchronized to the kind of fully-synthesized prog-rock that Lytle obviously enjoys (and if you're a fan of Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman, you will, too). It's the kind of audiovisual bombast that appeals to some more than others (and there's something oddly impersonal about removing humans from the performance of music), but Animusic is so intricately clever that anyone can be captivated by the meticulous novelty of these beautifully engineered musical marvels.

Take, for example, the most popular track, "Pipe Dream," in which thousands of animated balls take on a life of their own, popping out of an intricate system of pipes and barrels and bouncing, with percussive precision, onto all varieties of strings, drums, xylophones, timbales, cowbells... it's just hypnotically amazing. The same holds true for all of these videos, and while the colorful 3D rendering of Animusic (first released in 2001) is no longer state-of-the-art, the underlying mechanics remain timelessly appealing. For this special edition DVD released in 2004, Lytle opens his toy-box to reveal the creative process of Animusic from conceptual drawings to final 3D rendering. There's also a "solo-cam" function allowing viewers to switch angular focus from one instrument to another, along with animated set-construction demonstrations to show how everything fits together in the realm of Animusic. The 5.1-channel surround mix makes Animusic a perfect demonstration disc for high-end video systems (this is nothing if not a geek's delight), and Lytle's first animation (from 1996) is included along with a sneak-peek at Animusic 2, the follow-up DVD released in 2005. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

I like it.......2007-07-03

Just like CDs, some songs I like others I don't. My grandson (8 months old) likes the drum sequences.

Animusic - A Computer Animation Video Album (Special Edition).......2007-05-12

Wonderfully done and very visual. Music is upbeat and very good. Makes you wonder if this is truly animation or real instruments. Was able to draw my 19 year old out of his room to watch and listen. Fantatic graphics and excellant music.

A Very Positive Musical Experience!.......2007-05-11

Not only does this DVD contain so many great musical tracks, with accompaning video. But, it also has special features that make the Animusic experience even more special. This album has become a family favorite, at my home, because of the cross-generational appeal...

Watching it even a third time lets you pick up more.......2007-05-09

I first heard of Animusic when the music video Pipe Dream was included with the ATI Radeon 9700 series graphics card. I was blown away by the very concept of music-driven animation. Unlike other computer generated animation music videos where scenes are composed to go along with the music, or the music is mixed in to fill in the audial gap that animation leaves, Animusic is a state-of-the-art synthesis of art and science. With the very pulse of the music driving the on-screen characters to play their instruments, you almost get the feeling of real musicians given mechanical form performing for you. And like true music, even if you stare at a single instrument through an entire performance, the illusion is complete because no note goes unplayed. Listening to the bass guitar played by Mr. Stick (on the front of the case), you can see him strike each and every note perfectly, even applying vibrato, and the strings vibrate as well. All in all, this is an excellent piece of computer animation and would be a welcome addition to any DVD collection. And while you're at it, go have a look at Animusic 2 - A New Computer Animation Video Album.

Animusic - Technically great, musically so-so.......2007-05-07

The graphics for this disc and the follow-on delight the eye. Animated drum sticks, guitars, marimbas etc. play themselves with right-on motion and timing. But the original music sounds all the same after a couple of tracks. A novelty good for one or a few plays and then destined to take up room in your collection.

Average customer rating:

Can you see how important home is?
Must watch
Brilliant, Beautiful & Sad
Hope amid despair
a GREAT documentary

Born into Brothels
Director: Zana Briski , and Ross Kauffman
Manufacturer: Velocity Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Born Into Brothels
Murderball
Turtles Can Fly
Mad Hot Ballroom
Children Underground

ASIN: B000A2XCBC
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Amazon.com

Set in Calcutta's notorious red-light district, Born Into Brothels explores the lives of its most vulnerable citizens. Directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, the picture's eight small subjects shot the still footage themselves. Briski first teaches them how to shoot and edit. The children then put her lessons into practice. They gain confidence as the film proceeds, yet there's always the threat that any of the girls, especially 14-year-old Suchitra, could be forced to "join the line" (work as a prostitute). For most, it's only a matter of time. The boys don't have it much better. Promising photographer Avijit's mother is gone and his father is a drug addict. "Without help," Briski notes, "they're doomed," so she takes matters a step further and tries to get them out of the brothels altogether. Produced for HBO, this heartbreaking, if inspiring film won the 2005 Academy Award for best documentary feature. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

2004 ACADEMY AWARD WINNER FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY

BORN INTO BROTHELS is an inspiring look at the transformative journey of a group of extraordinary children in Calcutta's red light district. Voted Best Documentary by the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. BORN INTO BROTHELS, which was produced and directed by New York based filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, also garnered over 20 major film festival awards including the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and the Best Documentary Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.

A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, BORN INTO BROTHELS is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta where their mothers work as prostitutes. Zana Briski, a New York based photographer, gives each of these youngsters a camera and teaches them how to take pictures, simultaneously causing them to look at their world with new eyes. Together with Ross Kauffman, Briski captures the magical way in which beauty can be found in the most unlikely of places and how a bright and promising future becomes a possibility for children who previously had no future at all.

Touching and heartfelt, yet devoid of sentimentality, BORN INTO BROTHELS defies the tear-stained tourist snapshot of the global underbelly. Briski spent years with these children and became a part of their lives. Their photographs are prisms into their souls, rather than anthropological curiosities, and a true testimony to the power of the indelible creative spirit.

Customer Reviews:

Can you see how important home is?.......2007-07-05

If anything, this documentary is a display of human nature, a demonstration of children's textbook behaviors. As a teacher, I have found that despite life's hardships, children are resolute survivors and this film reinforced this belief. While many of us cannot even imagine the life of being raised in a brothel, we can easily imagine our own selves joining the quest in which Zana Briski embarks to improve the children's lives. We understand the importance of sending them to a good school and getting them out of their horrible surroundings so they can make something more of themselves. However, they're still children, and the importance of living a life with which they are familiar -- mom, sisters, brothers, friends, HOME -- is more important to them than anything else in the world. While I was shocked at hearing the "where are they now?" portion of the film, I was not in the least bit surprised. I wish I could show this film to parents whose children were taken by CYFD here in the U.S., so they could see just how important their roles as homemakers really are.

Must watch.......2007-06-04

I rented this movie unaware of what it was even really about. Blockbuster has the worst movie synopsis's for films. But our new pastors daughter works as a missionary in the red light district of Calcutta, and I wanted more input on what that world is like.

I have to say this, any one who has never been to India, has no idea of what it is really like. I have several friends and a fiancee there, but have not been able to go yet. So I started immersing myself in the world of Bollywood a few years ago. I love musicals, the stories are funny but tragic, but fairly unfulling unless it is a historical piece. But lately, I've begun to watch the documentories instead. This, is how one learns more about the true country.

The kids in this movie completly drew me in. I wonder every day, where they are, what they are doing, how many have escaped. I am amazed at how they can incorporate living a grown up life, into their childhood. They are not mad at their situations. They are matter of fact instead.

Born into brothels is heart wrenching, and I don't see how ANYONE w/ a soul could rate it less than five stars. I've joined the mailing list on the kids w/ cameras website and will be donating as well.

Don't pass this one up.

Brilliant, Beautiful & Sad .......2007-05-01

Very sad because while they are still children they are so delightful & beautiful, but destined to become like the mostly harsh parents in the film, the youthful exuberance completely crushed by the hard realities of life in the Indian brothels. But see it for its fleeting beauty & joy.

Hope amid despair.......2007-04-23

Extraodinary work. Both the story and the effort of the filmmakers to save some of the children. You will be moved. Perhaps to help.

a GREAT documentary.......2007-04-13

This was truly an amazing film. The stories of the Indian children are heartbreaking, yet the film ends on a very hopeful note. It was interesting, well made, and deeply personal. Anyone interested in problems of poverty, Indian culture, and the welfare of children ought to check it out.

Average customer rating:

Fun Movie
Is this documentary a fake???
Who the *&^( is Teri Horton?
Trucker momma proves the emperor has no clothes!
Fair and Real

Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?
Starring: Teri Horton
Director: Harry Moses
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Notes on a Scandal
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ASIN: B000NVI0EY
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Amazon.com

Ex-60 Minutes producer Harry Moses made Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?, a favorite documentary film at festivals in 2006. Like an extended 60 Minutes segment, the film presents all aspects of the drama surrounding San Bernadino resident Teri Horton's ten year crusade to certify that her thrift store art purchase is an authentic Jackson Pollock painting worth $60 million. The story, hilarious because of Horton's vibrant, spitfire personality, and because of the absurd lengths she has gone to prove skeptical Pollock experts wrong, extends into a larger sociological discussion of art historical fraud. Gathering forensic evidence to battle art critics and collectors, Horton's attempt to buck the system, which requires provenance and a paper trail to qualify artwork, seems lame. Early on, for example, she claims that the painting was made in a bar at ski resort Mt. Baldy, where several movie stars were snowed in and forced to make artwork together culminating in Pollock's signing the painting with his penis. Interviewed, she explains why she's declared war on the established, discriminatory "art world." As the plot thickens, the viewer chuckles at its absurdity, but also sympathizes with this clever woman who, if anything, deserves some payment simply for her dedication to the cause. --Trinie Dalton

Description

When Teri Horton, a 73-year-old former long-haul truck driver with an eighth grade education bought a painting in a thrift shop for five dollars, she didn't know that it would pit her against the most powerful people in the art community and perhaps forever change the way art is authenticated around the world. Who The #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? is a rollicking adventure that documents a 15-year war with the art world's inner circle, lifts the veil on how art is bought and sold in America and introduces audiences to the funny, profane and utterly unforgettable Teri Horton.

Customer Reviews:

Fun Movie.......2007-07-08

I have no idea whether the picture is a Pollock or not, but the movie is fun. The film feels like an extended "60 Minutes" segment in a very good way. I understand both sides, but the forensics are pretty convincing. If you are on the art critics side, you almost have to develop illogical conspiracy theories to explain away the evidence. I know 25 million dollars is a lot of money, but how would a 70-plus-year-old trucker set up this fraud? Unfortunately, the movie doesn't present expert evidence against the painting. How good is the partial fingerprint? Would the fingerprint stand up in a court of law? However, the art critics arguments against the forensic evidence are pretty lame.

The movie was funny because of the main character is so spunky. The movie presents a great David vs Goliath story. We all think she should sell the painting, but we all kind of understand why she wants to stick it to the art world.

Is this documentary a fake???.......2007-06-20

....OK, I'm going to go way out on a limb here and state I think this documentary is a fake!!!I think what was made here was a "Spinal Tap" for the art world. If that is the case this "Movie" is deeper and more interesting than any documentart could ever be....think about it.

Who the *&^( is Teri Horton?.......2007-06-18

I happened upon this documentary at the video store. As an artist, I was intrigued. I watched the entire video twice.

Teri, as the cantankerous truck-driving little woman is the perfect underdog we can really get behind in fighting the establishment. I thouroughly enjoyed this tale. If you like a good story, it's a must see.

Trucker momma proves the emperor has no clothes!.......2007-06-17

This film just tickled me; delightfully done with a light touch, it pits a down-to-earth dumpster-diving trucker named Teri Horton against a pretentious boatload of art world snobs, and she proves (in the words of a famous author) that they don't know their scrotums from Kentucky-fried-chicken. The film stands up well as a documentary, covering a lot of ground to interview witnesses who knew Pollock, as well as forensic, art, and legal experts. Bottom line is that the fingerprint and other physical evidence pointing to the authenticity of the painting is just overwhelming; if this were a murder case, there would be more than ample evidence to send someone to the electric chair. The only thing standing between Ms. Horton and $50,000,000 (the estimated value of the painting if it were deemed authentic) is a bunch of arrogant blowholes who can't utter a single coherent or persuasive sentence in support of their position that the painting is a fake. If I ever had any doubts about the credibility of the art world, this certainly settled the issue once and for all. As for Teri, a phenomenally feisty, if complicated and self-destructive woman, she makes one of the most interesting lead characters I've encountered in fact or fiction.

Fair and Real.......2007-06-12

I am an artist of thirty years and consider myself well-read and aware in regards to artworld issues and painting, my main form of expression. Having grown up with people who became the world's most profound art critics once they got a little alcohol in them and who regularly counseled me that what I was learning in art school was all wrong, I found this DVD quite fun. It was fair to both the experts and the philistines.

I am sure that the experts will seem quite funny to a lot of folks. Yes, it looks weird the way elderly men twist and dance in front of Teri's painting to visually test it for it's possible Pollockness. But, those feelings are ironic in the context of this story. While experts are questioned as to how they know what they know, other experts are touted as being experts, and therefore right. I suppose it is a matter of expert against expert.

This DVD has something for everyone. Beyond its entertainment value, it offers a great lesson in how artworks are authenticated. It also offers an insight into the world of people who decide what we will see in museums, a world that almost none of us has anything to do with. Finally, it's a real kick for those persons who would love to tell off artworld experts once they get a little lit. You get to watch Teri Horton do this with great verve.

Personally, I'm on the side of the artworld experts. But, you can decide for yourself. Whether you laugh more at the experts or Teri, you will get some good chuckles out of this DVD. Watch it! :-)

Jackass - The Movie (Unrated Special Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

Not for the squeamish
So funny
Movie
the title says it all...
Gross by funny.

Jackass - The Movie (Unrated Special Collector's Edition)
Starring: Tony Hawk , Mat Hoffman , Henry Rollins , Spike Jonze , and Johnny Knoxville
Director: Jeff Tremaine
Manufacturer: Paramount / MTV
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000GBEWHK
Release Date: 2006-09-05

Amazon.com

Some critics see the success of Jackass: The Movie as the last nail in the coffin of civilization, and they're probably right. This compilation of pain-inflicting stunts and embarrassing pranks has no artistic merit whatsoever--which doesn't keep it from being freakishly entertaining. Among other things, Johnny Knoxville and his posse get beaten up by a female kick-boxing champion; shoot bottle rockets out of their rectums; run amok in Japan wearing giant panda bear costumes; swim with whale sharks while holding pounds of brine shrimp in their swimsuits; and get done up in realistic old-age makeup so that they can race each other in motorized wheelchairs, among other goofs. It's a weird mixture of machismo and masochism, adolescent recklessness and frat boy homoeroticism, and someday someone will write a doctoral thesis about how Jackass relates to our safety-obsessed society. In the meantime, just enjoy. --Bret Fetzer

Description

All the jackasses you love from the MTV series are back performing stunts no one would let them pull on television.

Customer Reviews:

Not for the squeamish.......2007-05-19

This movie is as wrong as it is funny. Get a handful of your buddies, who happen to be nigh-fearless stuntmen and film yourselves doing incredibly stupid things (you know "guy stuff"), things we (guys) all do when we are with out dumb friends, and especially if we have been drinking. From the giant shopping cart (who hasn't wanted to do THAT at one point or another?) to the taser (ouch!), this is almost two hours of fun and gut-busting laughter as we get to be voyeurs of a frat party gone wild. This movie is worse than its reputation. Don't even bother watching it if you are the "sensible" type. It will just give you a conniption. However, if you are having a wild party and need something playing in the background, turn the sound down, the music up (loud) and pop this in the DVD. A good night's entertainment is guaranteed.

So funny.......2007-05-09

These guys are just plain crazy! Great movie to watch on depressing rainy sundays!

Movie.......2007-03-30

Was surprised by the price compared to other movies, but it was worth it.

the title says it all..........2007-03-13

this is another JackAss movie I purchased for my husband. He thought they both were hilarious. So, I know he would give them a 5 star rating. Fortunately, he is of an age where he wouldn't try to imitate any of the stunts. At least I hope he is of an age where he wouldn't try... But boys will be boys, whether five or 65.

Gross by funny........2007-03-12

There were a couple of parts of this movie that were pretty disgusting. I think the Jackass crew sometimes trys too hard with the gross out factor. But overall this is hilarious. I little too much sausage for the younger kids though! But is your 17 or over I highly recommend it.

Average customer rating:

Just buy it
The Ultimate Reality Documentary
An Inspirational Experience
One of the best films ever made about human nature
Fantastic.... amazing.

War Photographer
Starring: James Nachtwey , Christiane Amanpour , Hans-Hermann Klare , Christiane Breustedt , and Des Wright (II)
Director: Christian Frei
Manufacturer: First Run Features
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

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ASIN: B0000C825I
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Customer Reviews:

Just buy it.......2007-07-02

There are a lot of words in other reviews and they say it better then I can... Seriously, Just buy it (or rent if you prefer but), Watch and Think.

The Ultimate Reality Documentary.......2007-05-08

XXXXX

Near the end of this powerful film, James Nachtwey, the photojournalist profiled in it states what might happen if people could see what he has:

"What you see [in war or conflict] is unmitigated pain, injustice, and misery. It has occurred to me that if everybody could be there just once to see for themselves what white phosphorus [used in bombs, artillary shells, and mortar shells] does to the face of a child or what unspeakable pain is caused by the impact of a single bullet or how a ragged piece of shrapnel can rip someone's leg off--if everybody could be there to see for themselves the fear and grief just one time, then they would understand that nothing is worth letting things get to the point where that happens to even one person, let alone thousands."

He continues by stating why the war photographer's work is so important:

"But everyone cannot be there and that is why photographers go there, to show them, to reach out and grab them and make them stop what they're doing and pay attention to what is going on--to create pictures powerful enough to...shake people out of their indifference."

This is what this documentary does. It reaches out and grabs you through Nachtwey's photographs enabling you the viewer to see what he sees. Besides seeing pictures and moving images of pain, injustice, and misery, the viewer also gets to see poverty, suffering, violence, brutality, and famine. You also get a glimpse of the danger Nachtwey is exposed to on each assignment.

Besides brief comments by Nachtwey, there are also comments made by others throughout the film. Specifically, there are comments given by Chief International Correspondent for CNN Christiane Amanpour, two foreign editors, a Reuters cameraman, and a screenwriter. Make sure the subtitles are turned on as all comments are not in English.

Locations we follow Nachtwey to include The Balkans, Kosovo; Jakarta, Indonesia; Ramallah, Pallestine; New York City; Hamburg, Germany; and Kawah Ijen, Indonesia.

Finally, the DVD itself (the one released in 2003) is perfect in picture and sound quality. It has some extras that I found to be very interesting.

In conclusion, this is a powerful film. Near the beginning of this Academy Award nominated documentary Nachtwey says,

"In a war, the normal codes of civilized behavior are suspended."

After viewing this film, you'll actually see that this is definitely true!!

(2001; 95 min; wide screen; 18 scenes)

XXXXX

An Inspirational Experience.......2007-03-27

This documentary was by far the most moving, piercing, inspirational piece of film or any media I have ever seen. Not only is the subject, James Nachtwey, deeply inspirational in his devoted, quiet, compassionate commitment to documenting the lives of the countless millions suffering today, but the film itself is extraordinary. Seeing the full context of the photographer's subject before the photo is taken (through a videocamera attached to the camera) makes the effect of Nachtwey's work, his life, and the lives of those he photographs that much more powerful. This is the one documentary I would recommend all of my friends watch. Truly inspirational.

One of the best films ever made about human nature.......2007-03-20

This is an amazing documentary. I enjoyed every moment of it. Being an amateur photographer and pasionate about photography I could only admire the human quality if James Nachtwey. In order to apreciate it, I also reccomend another video "The Death of Kevin Carter" to see how war photography destroys men, specially those who in normal circumstances are strong sucesful men. Instead Nachtwey is the exception: he's at his best as a human been when other people suffer.

Any soldier should also watch it. The same morals applies to the military. Amazing film.

Fantastic.... amazing........2007-03-19

Sure it has 5 stars across the board, but what exactly is being conveyed in a DVD like this? Just someone following around a famous photographer? Or is it more than that? It tells a story, albeit a hard to swallow one, it's about humanity, professionalism, and duty.

He has this little video camera attached to his regular camera, which follows him around, and you see exactly what he's seeing as he shoots. In other parts he has another video guy following him around, showing an area, and James deducing what is the most important piece of the scene to shoot. Cristiane Amanpore chimes in several times as do other experts in the field and they talk about his dedication to his job etc... in a few shots they show post processing on a some photographs....

Truly an excellent DVD. If you can't take true humanity though, it can be tough to watch at times.

Average customer rating:

Mindless Spin.
Is it an industry?
A revealing look at Adult Artist
A "naked" look
It's about time this came out on dvd

Thinking XXX (Extended Cut)
Starring: Sunrise Adams , Ginger Lynn Allen , Brianna Banks , Belladonna , and Seymore Butts
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Secret Lives of Adult Stars
Rated X - A Journey Through Porn
Pornography - The Secret History of Civilisation
XXX: 30 Porn-Star Portraits
Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered

ASIN: B000BNXD50
Release Date: 2006-06-13

Amazon.com

First things first: Yes, Thinking XXX features adult film stars. No, the HBO production is not a porno. Nor does it include any clips. The documentary instead offers an introduction to the biggest names in the business, like Gina Lynn and Lukas Ridgeston. For his book, XXX - 30 Porn-Star Portraits, celebrity photographer Timothy Greenfield-Saunders shot the stars both clothed and unclothed. In the film, they talk about their work while getting their hair and make-up done, posing for pictures, playing with their pets, etc. They're presented as real people rather than actors (which just may destroy the fantasy for some fans). In the print edition, 15 writers, including author Nancy Friday, musician Lou Reed, and filmmaker John Waters, contribute their thoughts on pornography. They also appear on screen (fully clothed, of course). Some are quite critical. The biggest revelation isn't the nude bodies, readily available via videos and calendars, but what they have to say. Unlike Star 80 or Inside Deep Throat, there are no horror stories about physical or verbal abuse, but the talk is still frank and uncensored. Sean Michaels, for instance, opens up about race, while Chad Hunt discusses homosexuality. Interestingly, cover model Jenna Jameson doesn't utter a single word, possibly because she has already told her life story in the bestselling autobiography How to Make Love Like a Porn Star. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

Award-winning director and art photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders brings viewers onto the set of his newest photo shoot and into the private worlds of the top porn stars in the country in this unusual and provocative documentary. From Savanna Samson to Nina Hartley, Sean Michaels to Lukas Ridgeston ? straight to gay, legends to newcomers ? Thinking XXX offers a clothed and unclothed look at some of America?s legendary porn stars as they pose in front of Greenfield-Sanders?s large-format portrait camera, and then discuss many of the facets of their lives and careers. The film follows these women and men through interviews on and off of Greenfield-Sanders? photo sets in New York and LA, delving into discussions of exhibitionism, private and public sex, money, and the business today. Stars are interviewed at home, in the office, at the gym, and with friends and lovers. They discuss their lives, their decisions for going into this business, their hopes and dreams..

DVD Features:
Deleted Scenes:Over 2 hours of additional footage!
Featurette:Video of the celebrity and porn-star filled NYC & LA gallery openings
Interviews:Over and hour of bonus interview with cultural icons such as John Waters, Karen Finley, Salman Rushdie and Lou Reed.
Photo gallery:100 photo's from Timothy's private archive.

Customer Reviews:

Mindless Spin. .......2007-03-18

This is a perfect portrait of the way in which our society accepts practically everything from anybody. Personally, I don't have any problems with pornography and I never really have, but I found the rah rah take on the business to be rather offensive. The porn stars profiled here are celebrities and their interviews portray only a kindly spin on the industry as a whole. There is no interlocutor voice so the narrative's angle is entirely positive. In America, people are free to make lifestyle choices and that's what makes it such a great country. However, we should be honest, as for every choice we make there are unanticipated consequences. The film avoids this truth and I found such salesmanship to be rather sad.

This video showcases the great morass that is political correctness. John Waters and Gore Vidal are both commentators who provide their opinions about porn, and they make a point of saying that they don't like the straight variety. Waters compares straight condomless sex to being a snuff film (what of barebacking among gays?) and Vidal compares it to the rape of the Sabine women. Of course, these two are rather biased commentators but political correctness apparently prevents us from pointing such things out nowadays. These two icons should tolerate heterosexual diversity and not imply that the love of female breasts is not due to Americans being an infantilized population. Also, female porn stars being self-actualized successes in this world is a concept mutually exclusive with their being exploited and demeaned by men.

Is it an industry?.......2006-09-13

I guess the interviews on the DVD prove it is and that sex for the majority of the participants in the industry is a job to be performed well. I actually felt sorry for the men - envious of their 'size', but sorry for them in their chosen profession as they seem so poorly remunerated.

There are naked bodies all over the place, but no sex and that makes this particular DVD all the more authentic. The theme of a photographer creating a book of nudes and essays is not new, the sheer number of naked bodies scanned in detail by the movie cameras make this a good piece of entertainment as well as informative. The bonus bits and pieces make the few dollars well worth spending.

A revealing look at Adult Artist.......2006-06-26

What happens when you have a knockout body, you are a narcissistic exhibitionist who requires all the attention on yourself, you most likely become an Adult Artist and make adult movies, doing the nasty for all the world to see. This HBO made for tv movie gives you some insight to how the Adult superstars think, act and relate their life experiences candidly to the viewer. If you are an art student, the nudity probably won't offend you, but if you don't like nudity, don't watch, because there is plenty of it in this dvd, male & female. The bonus section is very good too. If you are curious about the adult film industry, this makes for good watching.

A "naked" look.......2006-06-26

I felt that this was a wonderful film, as we are presented with a naked look at these nude stars. The background discussion about the porn industry was very inlightening, and it told some interesting stories from the horses mouth. Yes there are some tragic tales, but some of the stores are far from tragic. The key thing (I think) is that it is not some activist (from either side of the fence) talking about hoor what the industry is doing to these "poor girls" but we get to hear the views and opinions directly from the ladies who both love the industry as well as feel trapped by it.

It's about time this came out on dvd.......2006-01-29

I saw this way back on HBO and I was amused that they showed full nudity. This photographer is taking pictures of adult porn stars both male and female, they take the pictures at home at a friends house, at work or the gym. Through the whole documentary while their taking the picture they are talking about the whole porn industry the whole life style.

Average customer rating:

The terrible future nestled behind doors
AHHHHHHHHHHH
Eerie and haunting nightmare
Tragically beautiful film showcasing a great filmmaker
Bowling With Gus

Elephant: A Film By Gus Van Sant
Starring: Alex Frost , Eric Deulen , John Robinson (IX) , Elias McConnell , and Jordan Taylor (II)
Director: Gus Van Sant
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001EFUFK
Release Date: 2004-05-04

Amazon.com

Elephant, the elegant and unsettling movie from Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting), depicts students at a high school before and during a harrowing, Columbine-style shooting. The movie follows one young boy who takes over the wheel from his drunken dad while returning from lunch, then loops back in time and follows another student who crosses paths with the first, then loops back and follows another--all captured in long, unedited tracking shots that are serene and unhurried, even when two boys in camouflage gear, carrying heavy bags, arrive at the school and begin shooting. Elephant doesn't attempt to explain their behavior; it simply places the audience back in the brief yet interminable window of adolescence, when life is trivial and painfully important at the same time. Your reaction to Elephant will depend as much on your life experiences as anything in the movie itself. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Winner of the Palme d'Or and Best Director prizes at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, Gus Van Sant's (Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester) Elephant takes us inside an American high school on one, single ordinary day that very rapidly turns tragic. Elephant demonstrates that high school life is a complex landscape where the vitality and beauty of young lives can shift from light to darkness with surreal speed. It's an ordinary high school day. Except that it's not.

DVD Features:
Featurette:On the Set of Elephant: "Rolling Through Time"
Full Screen Version
TV Spot:HBO Films Spot
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

The terrible future nestled behind doors.......2007-06-11

Gus van Saint surprised to many people with this singular picture that explores with crude realism the frivolity, hopeless and miscarriage existence of two teenagers who assume the world is like a video game when you can kill and win points. After a extremely slow introductory section that consummates three quarter parts of the film, we may realize how the troubled mind of these young murderers take over their ambitious plans.

There is explicit violence and for many viewers may become unbearable. For many reasons that you and me are aware I would like you to watch in presence f your children for trying to avoid this movie might be regarded a cult movie like "Natural born killers" achieving a distorted pattern's behavior.

Brutal and devastating, not for squeamish.

AHHHHHHHHHHH.......2007-06-03

WARNING STAY AWAY, HORRIBLE MOVIE. If you like watching people walking around and doing nothing for over an hour, then this movie is for you. This was honestly the worse movie that I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of movies.

Eerie and haunting nightmare.......2007-04-28

This film gives no explanation, no backstory, and no judgment as it presents a Columbine-esque tragedy at a high school: two boys plan to shoot as many people as they can on a regular afternoon when everyone is going about their business and nobody sees it coming. Here's an example of tracking shots that actually work in their extended form. You focus entirely on one person as that person goes through the mundane high school life: cafeteria, classroom, library, photo development, gossip, and the emotionless planning of the massacre too. Also an intriguing example of multiple versions of the same scenes as the focus shifts from one character to another.

Tragically beautiful film showcasing a great filmmaker.......2007-04-25

Elephant is an understated, incredibly haunting film account of how the day of the Columbine shootings might have progressed.

With long, amazingly detailed and subtle steadicam shots (most several minutes in length), director Gus Van Sant follows his cast of characters through their typical daily school lives. Although some reviewers may call this tactic "boring", I think they're missing the point entirely. This isn't a subject or a story that requires quick cuts and shaky character development to tell.

What Van Sant manages to do is to show, in a beautifully tragic way, just how ordinary the school day was, and how surprising and explosive the events really were or could be.

Following the long shots, at several points overlapping from different angles and different characters, the audience begins to create a visual image of all the activity occuring on a school campus at any given time. The understated performances by all the young actors add another layer of perfection to the film by making it all feel painfully realistic.

When the shooting finally does start, in the last 10 minutes of the film, it's almost like the viewer has been lulled into a false sense of security, much like the students in the school have been. Overall, this film is terrifically and tastefully done and it's definitely worth watching whether you're interested in Columbine or not. Elephant is just good filmmaking.

The DVD is 2-sided with the feature on one side and special features on the other. The special features are pretty weak. There's a making of featurette, but it's pretty much the worst making of I've ever seen. There's no discussion from the director on what he was trying to do or say, there's a few different cast members describing what their definition of violence is... other than that it's just shots of them making the film.

Bowling With Gus.......2007-03-23

A fairly tedious exercise of particularly contentious issues which deserves far more committed, engaged behaviour from its director, Van Sant. The unfolding of the pointless mayhem is told in interweaving, elegant hand held camera style, all very collegiate in concept, and, really, in intellectual content. Van sant falls for the old gag of content being held in contempt by form, or art for art's sake. Dangerous stuff when you play a nihilistic hand in dealing with nihilistic, adolescent behaviour. There simply isn't sufficient depth, no explanatory power in this cheap entertainment. Get the scene of the killer kids lounging in the bedroom. Blondey looks at his computer game which displays rear-view figures and takes them out in turn. Camera swings to rear view of actual conspirator buddy and lover, also from rear and displaying identical anonymity as the game. All too easy a swing here, Gus. Get real.

Average customer rating:

Fairly Informative but Needlessly Dreary in Tone
Andy Warhol - A Documentary Film.
Outstanding portrait of Warhol, 1960s, and art

Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film
Starring: Salvador Dalí , Jeff Koons , Bob Dylan , Holly Woodlawn , and Edie Sedgwick
Director: Ric Burns
Manufacturer: PBS Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000GEIREQ
Release Date: 2006-11-21

Amazon.com

Ric Burns' Andy Warhol is a four-hour pop-culture extravaganza that will retool what you think you know about the famed and oft-parodied soup-can painter. Delving deep into Andy's impoverished upbringing in Pittsburgh, the greatest success of Burns' film is its ability to delve deep behind the façade of Andy Warhol, Pop Celebrity. Featuring interviews with an array of confidants from art dealers to artists (but, alas, no Lou Reed), Burns' film portrays an extremely insecure man who lived with his mother through much of the Factory years and constantly seeked a measure of fame akin to the Hollywood starlets whose photographs he tore out of the pages of Depression-era movie mags. Andy Warhol succeeded in achieving that fame, and along the way redefined how we think of art and culture. This film may very well redefine what you think of the man. -- Kristian St. Clair

Description

"He was the most American of artists and the most artistic of Americans," one man later said - "so American in fact that he is almost invisible to us." ANDY WARHOL - a riveting and often deeply moving film portrait of the most famous and famously controversial artist of the second half of the twentieth century - is the first to explore the complete spectrum of Warhol's astonishing artistic output, stretching across five decades from the late 1940's to his untimely death in 1987. Combining powerful on-camera interviews and rare still and motion picture footage, it is also the first to put Warhol himself - his humble family background and formative experiences in Pittsburgh, and his crucial apprenticeship as a commercial artist in New York - back into the presentation of his life.

Customer Reviews:

Fairly Informative but Needlessly Dreary in Tone.......2006-12-19

I'm pleased to know that others find more value in this documentary than I did. As someone who has been fascinated by Warhol's work and life since childhood, I've always felt that a fair and comprehensive overview of the man's life was lacking, despite several biographies and some documentaries prior to this one. It seems that each biographer or documentarian has some (usually negatively judgemental) bias or point of view that they want to paint Warhol with ... somewhat understandable as the man refused to characterize himself directly. In my opinion, the value of Mr. Burns' documentary is the wonderful archival footage included, Ms. Anderson's fine narration, and some of the anecdotes of those interviewed (most revealingly, Irving Blum's recollections, and most charmingly, Billy Name's surprisingly coherent memories.) However, the tone of the documentary is quite dismal. You end up feeling like Warhol's was a tragic life, when I feel that a fair assessment wouldn't arrive at that characterization. Where is the joy? Why is the musical soundtrack so awful and in some cases inappropriate? Where are the other surviving acquaintances (e.g. Dallesandro?) Must Warhol always be blamed for the excesses of his followers? Must all charismatic people be held responsible for their groupies' lack of self control? I don't think so, but many persons besides Mr. Burns appear to hold Warhol accountable for the drug abuse and deaths of some of his 60s hangers-on. I'm not sorry I bought this DVD. I just wish it had been more well-balanced, and above all, wish that the art had been explored in depth more. Some of Warhol's major phases are mentioned, described, but with the exception of early works, are not really explored with an eye to their significance in the art world and culture at large. Others are completely missing from the documentary. In any event, it's worth seeing if you're interested. Just don't take this to be the be-all and end-all bible of all things Warhol. Perhaps it's still just too soon for a proper assessment, but I'm STILL left feeling that the self-appointed stewards of Warhol's "meaning" just don't get it, at least not comprehensively enough.

Andy Warhol - A Documentary Film........2006-12-03

I just received this in the mail and finally got to watch it. It is a very engaging and in-depth presentation of his life from early childhood to the late 60s. In fact it's the most in-depth documentary in the respects of his early life, pre-pop success, that I've seen. There are lots of great images and archival footage that otherwise you may not have a chance to see, but...

This documentary seems to focus mostly on the silver factory years, which lasted only from the early 60s to 1968, yet takes up most of the 4 hours of this film. Granted, those were arguably some of the most influential and important years of his career, but I wish this film contained more on his later life. The last 2 decades of his career, the 70s and 80s, took up only the last 20 minutes (credits included) of the whole 4 hours, which is only a brief summary. This is the only reason I decked one star off my rating, as the 70s and 80s are my personal favorite times in his career. There's always The Andy Warhol Diaries for that area though, which I would also recommend.

So, overall, I would recommend this to anyone interested in Andy, and to those who are already fans and admirers. Even though it's lacking in it's coverage of his late life and career, it excels in every other aspect, and I'm glad I got to see it.

Outstanding portrait of Warhol, 1960s, and art.......2006-10-11

This is the best portrait of an artist I've ever seen. I was completely entralled by the film. Because Warhol was both tremendously inventive and horribly cruel, I alternately felt a sense of awe and disgust. Warhol's genius and callousness are both fleshed out. Despite the turbulent content of the film, I was simply exhilerated throughout.

Having watched this excellent film, I feel a greatly enriched appreciation for Warhol's art---a sense of what it said, how it worked, and how it became a cliche. (I was particularly ill-informed about Warhol's films, which were discussed in great detail.)

The Factory--where Warhol worked (but seldom played) and where transvestites, drifters, and creative spirits intermingled--is featured in healthy portions. This locale comes across as one of those rare places in history where the geist of a era is spatially concentrated. Here, in this one extraordinary place of production, Warhol and others fomented art and a vision of a post-Fordist world. This film is essential viewing (like the Weather Underground or Berkeley in the Sixties) for those who want to ingest and comprehend the paradigm shift of the "1960s."

Warhol's cruel indifference to the self-destruction of those around him is critically revealed. While some in the Factory drank and drugged themselves to death, Warhol passively watches, always remaining cool, detached, and voyeuristic.

The attempted homicide on Warhol, his commercialism, and his later years are all mentioned. I would fault the film for not showing Warhol speak on film more often, for not really considering his cooptation by capitalism, and for skipping over his influence in art and in popular society.

I must admit though, that the film is brilliantly executed, and well worth your time and nickel.

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