Monthly Archives: February 2017

DVDs, Movies, TV

PBS goes into the bowels of Boston for a fascinating documentary on subway history

Petula Clark made it very clear: Don’t sleep in the subways, darling.

But learning about the underground travel system is a whole different trip. In the late 19th century, as America’s teeming cities grew increasingly congested, the time had come to replace the nostalgic horse-drawn trolleys with a faster, cleaner, safer, and more efficient form of transportation. Ultimately, it was Boston—a city of so many firsts—that overcame a litany of engineering challenges, the greed-driven interests of businessmen, and the great fears of its citizenry to construct America’s first subway. Based in part on Doug Most’s acclaimed non-fiction book of the same name, The Race Underground tells the dramatic story of an invention that changed the lives of millions.

PBS Distribution releases American Experience: The Race Underground on DVD on February 28. The program will also be available for digital download.

In the late 1800s, Boston reigned as America’s most crowded city, with nearly 400,000 people packed into a downtown of less than one square mile. With more than 8,000 horses pulling the trolleys, the city was filthy and noisy, reeking of manure and packed with humanity.

In 1890, Edison General Electric Company, which manufactured much of Sprague’s equipment, purchased and absorbed the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company

But a young American inventor named Frank Sprague had a revolutionary idea. Inspired by his visits to the London Underground, Sprague envisioned a subway system that would trade London’s soot-spewing coal-powered steam engine with a motor run on the latest technology—electricity. After an early job with his idol Thomas Edison, Sprague launched his own venture, the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company.

Sprague

Seeking investors, he first struck out with financier Jay Gould after almost setting the mogul on fire during a demonstration.  He soon found backing with the wealthy capitalist Henry Whitney, who owned a fortune in suburban Boston real estate and quickly saw the financial upside of connecting his desirable residential neighborhoods with the city’s economic center. Whitney also proposed the consolidation of Boston’s seven existing streetcar companies—all under his control. When the Massachusetts General Court granted Whitney the monopoly, he announced an unprecedented plan: To build the nation’s first subway. Powered by Sprague’s technology and enthusiastically supported by Boston Mayor Nathan Matthews, the project threw the city into a voluble debate.

“The Boston subway was not a foregone conclusion, not by a long shot. There was a petition at one point where 12,000 businessmen opposed the subway,” says historian Stephen Puleo. “There were going to be streets torn up, sewer systems affected, water lines affected, electrical lines affected. Secondly, folks felt like traveling underground was very close to the netherworld, that you were getting closer to the devil, that you were taking this great risk in God’s eyes by traveling on a subway.”

The debate raged on, but the Mayor finally convinced the city that the new subway would provide much-needed jobs and not infringe on the city’s beloved Boston Common. After two years of construction, Boston’s new subway made its first trip on September 1, 1897. Despite lingering fears, more than 250,000 Bostonians rode the underground rails on its first day. In its first year of operation, 50 million passengers would ride the Boston system, and within ten years, New York and Philadelphia opened subways, with more American cities to follow.

 

Celebrity Chatter, DVDs, Movies

It took three decades but “Film Threat” is back, wildly entertaining as ever

One of the treats found on the site

It’s taken a while, but it’s back.  After its premiere 32 years ago, Film Threat is back. The rogue brand that introduced film lovers to some of the great filmmakers of our time has been, maintaining its original goal to support and promote emerging filmmakers looking to make their mark . . . as well as remind people that it’s not about the sequel. Filmthreat.com will house reviews, features, interviews with emerging filmmakers and nifty stuff, all without taking itself too seriously.

Coos Chris Gore, Film Threat‘s founder and principal Chris Gore. “It’s hard to believe that Film Threat is back and I’m so excited. “Our number one reason for restarting Film Threat is the fans.  Over the years, they’ve asked me about Film Threat and without even realizing it, they’ve kept the brand alive.  So after a few challenges–nothing a true indie filmmaker hasn’t experienced–we got it together and I’m thrilled to announce our launch.  We also have a few fun projects planned and we hope you’ll follow our journey, share your stories and laugh with us along the way.”

Film Threat began as a photocopies fanzine started by Chris Gore and Andre Seewood. Only 500 copies of the first issue were printed and then distributed on the campus of Wayne State University on February 6, 1985. It was on that campus that Gore and Seewood earned a reputation as disruptors by playing pranks on the film department . . . even going so far as to fake Gore’s death to promote a film screening. Seewood left after a year and Gore continued to grow the magazine beyond its photocopied roots into a magazine.

Its history is the stuff of Hollywood scripts. Gore moved the magazine to Los Angeles in 1989 and opened an office at the Cherokee Building on Hollywood Boulevard. In 1991, Larry Flynt acquired Film Threat which then split into two magazines:  Film Threat was owned by Larry Flynt Publications, and Gore continued to champion underground filmmakers in the pages of the newsprint sister publication, Film Threat Video Guide (edited by David E. Williams).

Gore briefly left the magazine in 1995 and Film Threat was then headed up by Paul Zimmerman. After Flynt chose to end the magazine in 1996, the rights reverted back to Gore. During the paper crisis of the late ’90s, Film Threat printed its final issue in 1997.

The Film Threat website launched just before the print magazine’s demise in 1996. Only two issues of this new incarnation were published; a third issue was completed but never made it to the printer. Gore expanded the Film Threat website offering an email newsletter that contained reviews and news. The site grew with extensive coverage of independent films and film festivals.

Gore sold the website to Mark Bell in 2010. Bell headed up the site for the next five years with the rights reverting back to Gore in 2015. After an unsuccessful crowd funding bid in 2015, Gore chose to shut down the site for good. Amid overwhelming public outcry over the site’s absence, Gore launched a new Kickstarter campaign in 2016, resulting in the site’s return.  1,073 backers pledged $56,199 to help bring this project to life. Maybe this photo helped?

Film Threat can be found at www.filmthreat.com.

Celebrity Chatter, DVDs, Movies, TV

Cheesy, cheap and a true cult classic: Olive Films brings “Panther Girl of the Kongo ” to Blu-ray and DVD

Patty, Maxene and LaVerne promised that bongo, bongo, bongo, I don’t want to leave the Congo, oh no no no no no/Bingo, bangle, bungle, I’m so happy in the jungle, I refuse to go.

Spelling aside, we can’t wait to spend 12 chapters with Panther Girl of the Kongo that, at a cost  of $179,341, was the most expensive Republic serial of 1955.

When we say this is cheesy and cheap and oh-so-cultable, we mean it. The series was the penultimate ( 65 of 66) Republic serial, and was filmed in about two weeks. In order to make it possible to use significant stock footage from the earlier serial Jungle Girl, and cheaply pad out Panther Girl of the Kongo, a duplicate costume was used; as a result, Republic’s last female lead wore the same costume as its first!

The plot was a meld of serial fodder. Dr. Morgan is a mad scientist who is trying to nab sole access to secret African diamond mines (by way of the Republic backlot). In order to accomplish this he breeds giant “claw monsters to scare away any other inhabitants. Jean Evans, the Panther Girl, and her friend Larry Sanders encounter this plot while on a photo safari in the region.The star was Phyllis Coates, who played Lois Lane in the first season of the television series Adventures of Superman. Dr. Morgan was played by Arthur Space, best known as veterinarian Doc Weaver in 39 episodes of the TV series Lassie.

Olive Films releases release Panther Girl of the Kongo to Blu-ray and DVD.  Even audiences unfamiliar with serials can find plenty to enjoy. You may just not want to leave the Congo . . .

DVDs, Movies

“Resistance” shines light on the little-known, top-secret Winston Churchill organization

And you think our country is in trouble.
What if D-Day had failed and the Third Reich continued to roll across Europe?  Following in the alternate history footsteps of The Man in the High Castle and Fatherland, Resistance shines a light on the little-known British Resistance Organization (BRO), Winston
Churchill’s top-secret and highly trained civilian army designed to wreak havoc on occupying enemy forces. This BAFTA Award-winning revisionist drama will be available on DVD and Digital on March 7 from Omnibus Entertainment, the specialty label of award-winning independent and foreign film distributor Film Movement.
Starring Michael Sheen, Andrea Riseborough, Iwan Rheon and Tom Wlaschiha, Resistance, based on the acclaimed novel by Owen Sheers is set in Nazi-occupied Britain.  D-Day has failed, and, as Panzer divisions and Nazi troops sweep westward across the dispirited countryside, Sarah Lewis (Riseborough), a young Welsh farmer’s wife, awakens to find that her husband, along with all the other men are gone, presumably having fled the village to join the top-secret BRO.

Shortly thereafter, a small Wehrmacht platoon arrives in the pastoral countryside and sets up an outpost in the valley to root out the resistance.  And when the severe winter forces them to cooperate with the locals, Sarah befriends the commanding officer, Albrecht (Wlaschiha), and the lines between collaboration, duty, occupation and survival are put to the test. Called “a beautiful, elliptical war film with the haunting qualities of a ghost story” by Empire Magazine, Resistance was nominated for the prestigious Cinevision Award at the Berlin Film Festival and a BAFTA Cymru Winner for Best Actress (Sharon Morgan).

DVDs, Movies, TV

Who offers great TV shows on DVD? BBC has just what the doctor ordered

Who continues to churn out great shows on must-have Blu-rays and DVDs? BBC America does, offering just what the doctor offers. Catch up on Doctor Who’s latest adventure with Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio, working its way onto Blu-ray and DVD on February 21. And, yes, there’s some nifty bonus content.

In Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio, join the Time Lord, played by Peter Capaldi, as he teams up with an investigative journalist, played by, and a superhero to save New York from a deadly alien threat. Written by Steven Moffat, the special stars Justin Chatwin as Grant, along with Matt Lucas, Charity Wakefield, Adetomiwa Edun, Aleksandar Jovanovic and Logan Hoffman.

The bonus content? There’s A New Kind of Superhero, in which we ask what it is about the Doctor that makes him so heroic; a special Christmas Doctor Who Extra (which stars Peter Capaldi and Matt Lucas); and many other extra features giving fans a special inside look at the making of The Return of Doctor Mysterio.

Celebrity Chatter, DVDs, Movies, TV

Mercy me! PBS Distribution is leading fans of great TV to “Mercy Street: Season 2”

Mercy me! PBS Distribution is leading fans of great TV to Mercy Street: Season 2, available on Blu-ray and DVD (and as a valentine) on February 14. The program will also be available for digital download.

What a small-screen saga! The critically-acclaimed Civil War-era drama takes place in the occupied city of Alexandria, Virginia, where allegiances blur, loyalties shift and the drama intensifies as the scope of the war pushes beyond Mansion House, the former hotel commandeered by northern troops to serve as a Union hospital.

The series follows the doctors, nurses and soldiers, as well as free, enslaved and contraband African Americans and other residents of the war-torn city, as they navigate the new world emerging from the most cataclysmic event in our country’s history.

Just how hot is the series? The first season of Mercy Street, that premiered in January 2016, reached a total audience of 14 million people. It is the second highest rated drama for the year to date on PBS, after Downton Abbey.

The second season picks up directly from the dramatic events at the end of the first season finale, continuing to explore life in the chaotic city of Alexandria, the complicated interpersonal dynamics of Dr. Foster, Nurse Mary and the Mansion House staff, the increasingly precarious position of the Green family and the changing world of the burgeoning black population. The second season will introduce a number of new elements, taking the viewer closer to the war and into the halls of Confederate power, all set against the intensifying war, starting with the Seven Days’ Battle and culminating with Antietam.

The new season also delves deeper into the lives of newly freed African Americans, exploring–among other areas–life in a contraband camp, where formerly enslaved African Americans are forced to confront horrific living conditions and disease, but also get a glimpse of freedom.

New actors and guest stars introduced in Mercy Street: Season 2 include:

· Patina Miller as Charlotte Jenkins, an educated contraband abolitionist activist who arrives in the first episode. A former slave who escaped to freedom years before through the Underground Railroad, Charlotte (a composite of numerous historical figures, most prominently Harriet Jacobs) offers education to other former slaves and helps with the sick who have contracted smallpox, which was epidemic during the Civil War.

· Brian F. O’Byrne as Allan Pinkerton, head of the Union Intelligence Service. The character is based on the real Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish emigrant and abolitionist who founded America’s first detective agency and successfully brought down some of the country’s most ruthless criminals.

·Bryce Pinkham as Major Clayton McBurney III, the new hospital chief.

· Lyne Renee as Lisette Beaufort, a stylish and bold Parisian who has a past with Dr. Foster and creates a stir in the hospital when she accepts a commission with the Union Army in medical visual documentation.

·Chris Wood as Captain Lance Van Der Berg, a handsome young Union captain lodging at the Green home when he strikes up a budding romance with Alice Green, who has ulterior motives for the courtship.

· William Mark McCullough as Larkin, a Confederate sympathizer in league with Jimmy Green, who helps formulate a plan to provide rebel fighters with munitions.

· Nyambi Nyambi as Caleb, a contraband who arrives at Mansion House Hospital searching for a particular woman.

Books

“The Genetics of Health: Understand Your Genes for Better Health” is a practical guide to personalized health and nutrition

You can now take charge of your health by understanding the connection between our evolutionary past and our future well-being with The Genetics of Health: Understand Your Genes for Better Health (Atria Books/Beyond Words, $26), a practical guide to personalized health and nutrition from distinguished physician Sharad Paul, MD. Save the date: The book releases April 4.

Recognized as one of the best in his field, surgeon, academic and philanthropist (Time has dubbed him “Open Hearted Surgeon”), Dr. Paul combines everyday health with evolutionary biology and explains how to improve your overall wellness by following a diet and exercise plan based on your gene type.

Written in a captivating literary narrative that sets this title apart from the average self-help book, The Genetics of Health starts with our brains and covers everything from skin and muscles to hearts, diets and stress management. Dr. Paul shares key information and provides steps to improve our daily well-being—impacting everything from our energy levels to memory retention to our overall longevity.

Dr. Paul discusses:

· How to eat for your gene type

· Getting your genes tested

· How you can test for genetic dispositions such as laziness and procrastination

· The best types of exercise for your gene type

· How to reduce your risk of dementia

· The surprising benefits of dance and stress on our genes

· How anxiety and being a scaredy-cat can make you live longer

Our evolutionary past and genetic makeup determine how and why the body works the way it does and how it all combines to make us unique individuals. Presenting a compelling blend of medical mysteries, patient stories, and science, Dr. Paul has developed a revolutionary approach to wellness that will result in beautiful skin at any age, a healthier diet for muscle endurance and skeletal strength, a more resilient and efficient heart, better mood and memory balance and more.

 

CDs, Music

Save the date! “Hits And Pieces–The Best of Marc Almond and Soft Cell” hits March 10

For the record: As a youngster growing up in Southport, Merseyside, Peter Mark Sinclair “Marc” Almond was immersed in the magical world of the three-minute single. Remember those 45s with those nice round holes in their centers? The 45-rpm single was King, and Almond worshipped at its spinning throne. Marc had always aspired to become a great singles artist; he wanted to follow in the footsteps of two of his heroes, David Bowie and Scott Walker in turning the single into an art form.

Those records, as well as tuning in to Radio Caroline, Radio Luxembourg and a weekly fix of Top of the Pops, acted as catalysts for the aspiring singer’s dreams and ambitions. He achieved exactly that when “Tainted Love” rocketed to the top of the UK chart in September 1981 (and became the biggest selling single of the year), commencing a singles chart love affair that has played a huge part in Marc’s 40 + year career and has seen him shift in excess of 30 million sales.

https://youtu.be/ww-N_1FCxi8

Now that impressive singles career is celebrated on March 10  with the UMe release of Hits And Pieces–The Best Of Marc Almond And Soft Cell, which comes available as a 2-disc or single CD digital download and traces Almond’s singles career from Soft Cell through to his solo work and collaborations.

Almond has always excelled at recording superb singles–he has secured a body of work that encompasses truly outstanding originals, covers and duets. Highlights of Hits And Pieces include “Tainted Love”; “What!”; “Say Hello Wave Goodbye”; the No. 1-reaching Gene Pitney duet “Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart”; his interpretation of Scott Walker’s cover of Jacques Brel’s “Jacky” (with its epic kitchen sink production from Trevor Horn); a cover of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” (with Bronski Beat); “Melancholy Rose” and “Ruby Red” from the Mother Fist album, a Tony Visconti-produced nugget “The Dancing Marquis”; last year’s superb “The Velvet Trail”; the glam stomper “Varieté” and another unforgettable cover in the form of “The Days of Pearly Spencer”.

To complete the package is the newest track on this compilation: The previously unreleased “A Kind Of Love”, three effortlessly breezy minutes that hint at Almond’s past–the “light summery psychedelic sounds” on that mid-’60s transistor radio, the Northern soul scene that inspired Soft Cell to cover “Tainted Love” and “What!”–without really sounding much like anything Almond has recorded before. “A Kind Of Love” was co-written and produced by Chris Braide. The loving tune is Almond the Singles Artist showing once again how to turn three-and-a-half minutes into aural gold.

Almond, a LaVeyan Satanist, has been with the same man for more than two decades. Yet he says he dislikes being pigeon-holed as “‘gay’ . . . such a label “enables people to marginalize your work and reduce its importance, implying that it won’t be of any interest to anyone who isn’t gay”.

DVDs, Movies

“Blood on the Mountain” is a powerful and “early autopsy of a dying business”

It’s been called a “sobering early autopsy of a dying business”, this powerful and riveting documentary from filmmakers Mari-Lynn Evans and Jordan Freeman. Blood on the Mountain, available on DVD on February 21 from Virgil Films, helps explain some of the psychology behind its region’s economically embattled actors, whether they are beaten-down miners, unregulated companies or compromised state politicians.

Using interviews, archival clips and a timeline of headlines and news footage, this shocking in-depth investigation of the coal mining industry sheds light on the economic and environmental injustices that have resulted from industrial control in West Virginia. The film examines the harsh conditions of the coal industry and the haunting effects on the American workers. It is a documentary the American public needs to see.

Over the course of many years, the coal industry has transformed and impacted the development of coal. The need and appetite for coal and labor has placed a massive burden on many people including the workers and the land of Appalachia. Blood on the Mountain delivers a striking portrait of a fractured population, exploited and besieged by corporate interests, and abandoned by the powers elected to represent them. This documentary details the struggles of a hard-working, misunderstood people, who have historically faced limited choices and have never benefited fairly from the rich, natural resources of their land.

The film showcases the haunting and long term devastating impacts of coal mining that it will have its citizen and the planet. The film will inspire audiences to take action towards the many issues presented in the documentary.

 

Books, Movies

Harper Design and MinaLima team for a most glorious “The Beauty and the Beast”

Tale as old as time/True as it can be/Barely even friends/Then somebody bends/Unexpectedly . . . 

Harper Design never does anything unexpectedly, but the publisher has bent itself in a most lavish way. They have just released The Beauty and the Beast ($29.99), the third book in a series of illustrated classics, that gets reimagined in a most deluxe gift edition. What a glorious journey . . . the tome features stunning new artwork and nine interactive features from the award-winning design studio behind the graphics for the Harry Potter film franchise, MinaLima. Timed to coincide with Walt Disney Pictures’ film adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, this book engages those interested in seeing the musical starring Emma Watson, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Kline and Ian McKellen.

To add elements of visual intrigue, MinaLima includes:

· A trifold map of the rich French city where the Merchant (Beauty’s father) and his family reside

· A fold out that reveals the interior of the Beast’s enchanted palace

· A series of windows that open to reveal different entertainments to Beauty while in the Beast’s palace

· A dial of the ring Beauty turns on her finger to return to the Beast’s palace after visiting her family

This collectible edition is filled with stunning illustrations of stories that continue to be cherished by readers of all ages. Forget the flowers, chuck the chocolates. The Beauty and the Beast  is a scrumptious wonder.