PeterMH

The first Chinese feature was 'The Difficult Couple' (1913) directed by Zhang Shichuan and Zheng Zhengqiu. It was produced by their production entity Xinmin Company. The film was released by the Asia Film Company (founded in 1909 by Ukrainian American businessman turned film entrepreneur Benjamin Brodsky, 1877-1960 to produce local films utilizing Chinese talent and traditional Chinese folklore).

You can read about the early years of the Chinese film industry in Ying Zhu's "Hollywood In China: Behind The Scenes Of The World's Largest Movie Market" (The New Press, New York, 2022).

Https://thenewpress.com.

An exciting premise for a documentary, the discovery of long forgotten women filmmakers starting with Alice Guy-Blache up through Nell Shipman onward to Wendy Toye and dozens of other international directors unknown inside and outside of their own countries today. The downside is the filmmaker approaches the subject matter as if he has to pad out a doctoral thesis by hammering multiple square pegs into round holes to make a point. The inclusion of a number of over-rated current women filmmakers lessens the strength of this film.

Best way to watch this film is to pre-record it and pause when you discover a filmmaker you want to deep dive into. The filmmaker has put screen grabs up on his websiteso you can find the films that are of interest. The downside is most of the films, if they're even on IMDb do not have current rights holders listed. Hopefully Cohen Media Group, The Criterion Collection, Turner Classic Movies and Kanopy who have teamed up to release this documentary across multiple platforms in the US will also track down the rights holders and release many of the films referenced.

Hector Lavoe was a complicated brilliant artist who deserves better than films like this and the Marc Antony-Jennifer Lopez fiasco El Cantante. The current poster for the film retitled as "The King Of Salsa: The Untold Story Of Hector Lavoe" implies that the film is a documentary which alas it is not. To see Lavoe at his prime, watch "Celia Cruz & The Fania Allstars In Africa" which was reissued in the US on DVD by Geneon Entertainment in 2002. The film is an embarrassment to all the real-life individuals from the period such as Willie Colon, Johnny Pacheco, Joe Cuba, Yomo Toro and Pete 'El Conde' Rodriguez.

None of the actors accomplish anything more than chewing the scenery and emoting under the hackneyed direction of Anthony Felton and the equally bad cinematography of Hernan Herrera. The one worthy surprise was an extra, Luz M. Fuentes, who is stunningly beautiful and more than willing to undress for the good of the film sales effort.

Whatever your personal thoughts are about the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan was a key participant in the dramatic shift of the geopolitic at the end of the 20th Century. This film is a mess, self-serving to the Religious Right who feel Reagan could do no wrong and should receive sainthood. As a Lincoln Republican and son of a Goldwater Democrat I was expecting a warts and all serious, balanced documentary about Reagan's rise from affable Hollywood "B" actor to concerned citizen to "Leader of the Free World". The filmmakers intentionally leave out any critical analysis of Reagan, starting from his alleged ties to organized crime in Hollywood, selling out of his members during his presidency of the Screen Actor's Guild (and violation of SAG regulations, but then we can blame that all on the counsel of MCA honcho Lew Wasserman) through his kowtowing to the Religious Right wing of the Republican Party (Senator Rick Santorum gets a special thanks in the film among others) and the financial shenanigans of his campaign financiers and key staffers. Hopefully a much better film that has non-biased research is made in the future.

Now that New Zealand is synonymous with `The Lord Of The Rings' don't think all Kiwi dark pleasures are confined to the subterranean lair of trolls. Director David Blyth has embarked on his own quest for the ring.the nipple ring! Blyth trekked through New Zealand's most notorious dungeons, meeting and profiling the dominatrixes, slaves, pain sluts and fetishists that comprise the thriving BDSM (Bondage, Discipline, Sado-Masochism) culture that lurks in New Zealand's hidden recesses and backyard torture chambers.

Long before Peter Jackson launched his career with splat-horror films David Blyth had a reputation in the genre and a huge cult following. His features `Death Warmed Up' and `Angel Mine' brought him to the attention of Hollywood where he has gone on to direct `Exposure,' `Red Blooded American Girl I & II,' `Grampire' and `The Horror Show.' In addition, he has directed numerous episodes of `Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' and `White Fang.'

This alternatively humorous and scary documentary explores the motivations and pet fetishes of a variety of whip-toting, jack-booted mistresses, together with the painful peccadilloes of their subservient slaves, human ashtrays, clothespin freaks, naughty nurses and nasty nuns! It's all on display dressed up in shiny leather and latex. Come. Enter the sensual and forbidden world of the Dominatrix in a film that takes you on a journey beyond the limits of Pain and Ecstasy into the dark fantasy world of Bondage & Discipline. The Queens of the Dungeon will fulfill all your desires.

I have walked out of two films in my entire life, this was the first. It's the most horrendous use of film stock I have ever seen (and I have to sit through tons of bad student and independent films for a living). His film where he spins the camera on the tripod for 45 minutes is a masterpiece compared to this piece of...

If anyone doubts that it is time for a clear and critical look at Western intervention in the Balkans, consider this: The forces that the US supported in Bosnia and Kosovo were and are closely allied with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Bin Laden, himself, was a regular visitor in the office of Bosnia's President Alija Izetbegovic in early 1993, when the US government was touting his commitment to moderation and multi-ethnic cooperation.

`Yugoslavia: The Avoidable War' makes a compelling case that Western backing of separatist forces led directly to the outbreak of war. `The intelligence agencies were unanimous in stating that if you recognize Bosnia, it will blow up,' George Kenney of the State Department reveals. Why then did the US proceed to do so sparking four years of savage warfare? How did we end up on the same side as Osama-Bin Laden in Bosnia and Kosovo? Newscasters and columnists continue to refer to Kosovo as a victory for the US, but this documentary shows that the region is infinitely more divided and dangerous than it was when NATO bombing commenced in March of 1999. The region is more unstable and US troops are likely to be stuck in harm's way much longer than originally anticipated.

`A Dog Called Pain' is a film drawn and animated by the author, Luis Eduardo Aute, who made more than four thousand drawings which were later processed with the latest digital technology for rending into 2D and 3D. It was a colossal enterprise that began with the first drawings in 1995. Aute has dedicated the past two years wholly to the film. The film borrows its name from the dog owned by the late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

The film, comprising seven stories or portraits, is focused on the artist-model relationship, and continuity is supplied by the dog, co-star of nearly all the episodes. Luis Eduardo Aute reconsiders the relations of such painters as Goya, Duchamp, Picasso, Sorolla, Romero de Torres, Frida Kahlo, Dali, and Velazquez with their models, their environments, and their times. This reconsideration is, above all, a movie, and it employs the most classic film language, but at the same time it is a reflection about art and artists, their inner lives and their worlds.

In addition, homage is made in the film to such cinematic greats as Eisenstein, Buñuel, and Woody Allen. One of the great triumphs of `A Dog Called Pain' is the sheer beauty of Aute's projected images. Intimately paced, viewing the film is like a cinematic walk through a museum. At times, long-held images will have subtle movements such as a blink of an eye that creates the effect of the movie screen as a canvas. Nominated for a 2001 Goya (Spain's Oscars) for Best Animated Film, `A Dog Called Pain' is a unique work of art.

The film, an exciting blend of humour, violence and sex – in a word, of art. The story employs the simplest resources of cinema, and is the singular creation of an artist in love with the camera, as well as with music and painting, two fields in which he has gained fame. Luis Eduardo Aute is a living Spanish national treasure, acclaimed and loved for his music, artwork and poetry.

From the multi-award winning international veteran investigative journalist Danny Schechter comes the first complete and objective look at FALUN GONG, a non-violent, anti-materialistic spiritual movement drawing on Buddhist and Taoist traditions; its 100 million followers in over 40 countries around the world; and the tremors it's practitioners are causing in the corridors of power in the People's Republic of China today by way of their peaceful protests in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Bishop Desmond Tutu in support of freedom of conscience and freedom of association.

In one of the most bizarre cases of political repression in modern history, the People's Republic of China has banned a spiritual practice built around traditional exercises and meditation. On April 25, 1999 15,000 FALUN GONG practitioners quietly surrounded the government leadership compound in the heart of Beijing in silent protest against what they considered an inaccurate, slanderous attack on FALUN GONG in a state-sponsored magazine. Since then, FALUN GONG practitioners have stepped forward repeatedly to appeal to their government for the right to practice their faith.

The Chinese government has responded by banning FALUN GONG, branding them an "evil cult", arresting more than 50,000 practitioners to date (including a number of foreign nationals), killing at least 193 of them (with thousands of detainees as yet unaccounted for) while torturing thousands more (battering, rape, forced-feeding of high doses of salt water, denial of food, sleep and toilet use, exposure to extreme hot & cold weather, burning with cigarettes and heated metal, shocks with electric batons, induced abortions), and burning nearly 8.2 million books written by FALUN GONG founder Li Hongzhi, recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, who is now living in exile.

Countries with FALUN GONG practitioners: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mariana Islands, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Saipan, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, United States, Vietnam.

Spoiler Alert A beautiful but emotionally damaged bisexual woman known only as S. (a phenomenal debut by Natali Broods) searches for love and purpose in this violent and unsettling film. S. has moved to New York with her loser boyfriend and leads a life full of trauma, chaos and loneliness. Unable to communicate with her prostitute mother, and abused by her father who has been put to death for murder, S. has a twisted conception of love and relationships.

Life in New York is bad enough but when her boyfriend sleeps with an ex-girlfriend in her presence, S. is so disgusted she shoots them both. Fleeing back to Brussels, she gets a job in a seedy peepshow and becomes involved in a relationship with the beautiful Marie, a fellow stripper who manages to find a way to love S., and perhaps to save her from self-destruction.

But even love can't stop her downward spiral. Either by rotten luck or cosmic intention, every other person she meets is bad news. When S. realizes that the men she is with are really nothing but horrid excuses for human beings, she begins to murder them one by one. S. is on a crusade to reclaim her dignity and the dignity of her gender through violence.

This visually amazing and groundbreaking film rams us right to the frontlines of a woman's life that can only be described as screwed up. An ultra stylish look at female aggression, S. is the techno music European New Wave version of the Abel Ferrara cult classic "Ms. 45".

Ultimately S. is a story of the power of love, of triumph of modern woman over adversity and the social-poisoning power of personal violence. Featuring luxurious camerawork and kinetic editing, S. is a graphically sexual and violent film as captivating as it is disturbing and will not easily be forgotten. This film is like a car wreck -- you can't help but stare.

Beginning in May, 1980, 130,000 Cubans departed from the port of Mariel for Key West, Florida. Ramon is a `Marielito', the new Cuban refugee. His adaptation to life in the United States is a difficult process. First, he must overcome the negative stereotype associated with being a `Marielito' (notoriously introduced to the public by Al Pacino's character in Brian DePalma's "Scarface"). Next, there is the matter of finding a job and otherwise integrating into North American society. Through it all, he finds freedom, abundance, confusion and deceit…but he also finds `Amigos'.

Drag King lowlife drifter film had interesting premise but turns out to be one of the worst films ever made for the niche lesbian market. With the advent of cheap filmmaking equipment everybody thinks they're creative, but they're not. This film is like a Super8 film all kids make when they're bored during summer vacation.

The sequel to "When I Was Puerto Rican" has been adapted by the authoress herself and made into a charming coming-of-age story of a young Puerto Rican woman who learns to juggle multiple personas as she tries to survive the trials and tribulations of an immigrant in 1960s New York. The actress chosen to play "Negi", Ana Maria Lagasca, is a find and should do great things in her career. Wanda De Jesus, who plays the mother, is a consummate artist worth watching just for her beauty alone.

You hated them in high school, now you get to laugh at them in movies. Piper Perabo walks away with this movie as the cutest, sweetest, backstabber this side of the Mississippi. Definitely worth the admission price.