Shopping Cart: $0.00 (0 items)
DVD Catalog
-
Beyond the MatGenre: Musical & Performing Arts Release Date: 08/24/2004 Rating UR Production Year: 1999 Run Time: 108 mins Released By: Universal Studios Home Video Cast: Terry Funk, Mick "Mankind" Foley, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Vince McMahon, Jesse Ventura Filmmaker Barry W. Blaustein takes a look at the professional wrestling game at every level, from the hopeful, perhaps deluded beginners who spend their money on wrestling schools, to the lower levels of the profession, to the pinnacle of wrestling success: national fame in the WWF. Particularly fascinating are Blaustein's examinations of Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Mick "Mankind" Foley. Roberts was once a superstar in the WWF, but evidently drugs and alcohol destroyed his career, and left him a broken and bitter man, wrestling on the outer reaches of the pro circuit. In a poignant scene, Blaustein captures a painful reunion between Roberts and his adult daughter. Foley, on the other hand, is a tremendous success in the WWF and a devoted husband and father. But the violence of his profession still threatens to tear his family apart. Blaustein makes no bones about his perspective in making his film. He's a wrestling fan. That said, the film offers an honest view of the outrageous and controversial world of professional wrestling. Though the outcomes of matches are usually predetermined making it a different kind of sport, pro wrestling is certainly a demanding and brutal way of life. … more less -
Tom Dowd and the Language of MusicGenre: Musical & Performing Arts Release Date: 10/12/2004 Rating UR Production Year: 2004 Run Time: 90 mins Released By: Palm Pictures Cast: Tom Dowd, Tito Puente, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Allman Brothers In the annals of pop music, there's probably no one other than legendary impresario John Hammond whose ubiquitousness compares with that of engineer/producer Tom Dowd. From the 1950s on, Dowd was both a tireless technological innovator and a uniquely musical engineer and producer. A key figure at the Atlantic and Stax labels, among others, Dowd was intimately involved with the recording of the giants of jazz (Dizzy Gillespie, Ornette Coleman), soul (Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin), and rock (Cream, Allman Brothers, Derek & the Dominos). TOM DOWD & THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC is a lively profile of this artistic and technical mastermind, punctuated by gripping performance footage of the countless top-shelf artists on Dowd's resume, as well as interviews with some of those musicians, and with the charming, effervescent Dowd himself. Besides being a skilled musician (at one point we see him playing some impressive jazz piano), Dowd was uniquely qualified for his work on the technical side, with his background as an army engineer. Not only did Dowd oversee the making of groundbreaking albums like Derek & the Dominos' LAYLA and Otis Redding's OTIS BLUE, he helped design and test the atomic bomb in the infamous Manhattan Project. Clearly this is a man with a story to tell, and this film tells it in a visually and contextually arresting format, focusing on Dowd's long list of achievements as well as his natural gift for communication and camaraderie. … more less
