No comments about Ivanhoe & Friends - Yo! Happy Birthday to You!.

2 comments about Post No Bills.

1. A very compelling film! I had seen Conal's work for years and didn't really know the story behind it. The filmmakers really do a good job of presenting a lot of different perspectives surrounding his work. The interview with L.A.P.D. Chief Daryl Gates is fascinating. An amazing mix of art, politics and humor. A very well done documentary on a modern day urban legend!



2. I first saw this film when it was showing on PBS and have had the opportunity to to see it again recently. I noticed a lot more subtle details in my recent viewing that I don't remember seeing before. It seems like a simple enough subject matter at first but it really does become quite complex as the film progresses. It is really great to see Conal is still at it 10 years later. I highly recommend this to others.

3 comments about The Jaundiced Eye.

1. I have always felt that the production company of Amy Sommer (Academy Award nominee for Waco; The Rules of Engagement) would be better and more accurately represented if it was called Eternal Vigilance Productions. Because every time I see one of her works I am reminded that that is the price of all freedom, both personal and civil. She, once again, and director Nonny de la Pena, along with the rest of their crew, have raised the form of documentary film from Shark Week on the discovery channel, back to the unblinking eye that should always be searching out the truth, however unpleasant, so that justice and not popular opinion can be seen. "The Jaundiced Eye" is another sterling example of that tradition.

   This amazingly shown story of two me, wrongfully imprisoned for child molestation, shows us not only the devastating effect of homophobia on our justice system but also the bias that we as a country still feel toward those of an alternative life style.

   Stephen Mathews, a gay man from Michigan, and Melvin Mathews, his straight father, were both sentenced to 35 years in prison when Stephen's ex-wife and, then, live-in boyfriend convinced Stephen's son to claim that he had been molested and tortured by the two men. They were convicted with no physical evidence, represented by an attorney who really didn't seem all that interested in performing his duties and forgotten by the community.

   This film follows their later appeal and subsequent reintroduction to a society that, despite their proven innocence, still seemed uninterested or incapable of accepting them back into it.

   It is the stark reality of a world that is unforgiving and a system that is more concerned with dispensing punitive sentences rather that looking for the truth that made this film both difficult to watch and at the same time impossible to ignore. It has been a very long time since I was moved to tears by a film, but I suppose that because of its amazing true story and incredible narrative style this one was bound to do it.




2. This is just an amazing story and one I think everyone should see no matter whether they are gay or straight. The idea that one can be imprisoned on such flemsey evidence is shocking at best but a let down with the legal system and I guess society in general.



3. "The Jaundiced Eye"
   
   Twisted and Truthful
   
   Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
   
   "The Jaundiced Eye" is a documentary about a gay man and his father from Monroe, Michigan.
   The two are falsely accused of sexual abuse of the 6 year old son by the younger man's ex-wife by her homophobic new husband. The isolation that the case caused is shown. The entire movie has the feel of the old witch hunts. The lawyer for the accused in incompetent and has no care as to what will happen to the two men. In fact, he is completely ill at ease in defending a gay person. The movie shows both sides of the issue but is basically favorable to the gay side. We know that an accusation of sexual molestation, whether true or not, can change a person's life forever. Since documentaries are based upon real life, what we get here is real life.
   This is a twisted tale and I found it to be completely amazing to see how easy it s to be accused of such a crime in modern America. The movie shows the cost of true freedom and Amy Sommer, the director, raises the level of documentary filmmaking with this effort. She gives us the ever searching unblinking eye and through it we learn how dear justice really is.
   To see two men arrested and wrongly accused of child molestation is frightening. It also shows the devastating effect of homophobia--the way it affects our justice system and our lives and the bias felt in the United States.
   Stephen Matthews and Melvin Matthews each were sentenced to 35 years in prison because Stephen's ex-wife and boyfriend convinced the boy to claim that he had been molested by the two. There was no physical evidence and the men's attorney could not be bothered with the case.
   The film also looks at the subsequent appeal and finally the men's return to society--a society that, despite their innocence, wanted no part of them.
   Many of us think that we live in a world that forgives but this movie proves the opposite. We see a system more concerned with handing out punitive sentences rather than searching for the truth. This is what makes this film both difficult and impossible to ignore. The plight of these tow men is so awful that it is impossible to watch a movie like this with dry eyes.

1 comments about Final Verdict: JFK's Murder--Solved!.

1. I was in the audience at the 2 hour long (it turned out to be 1 hour) "workshop" at the Fortean Times Unconvention in London, April 2003. The presentation, which forms the basis of Korff's book, was atrocious. Poor research was in abundance, selective use of evidence, and the author trying to excuse his poor theories by saying "this is physics". As a phycisist, I found this excuse to be pitiful.

3 comments about Bangin.

1. This is one of the best gang films for the latino community. I mean this one is up there with boyz n the hood or dead homiez. I can't belive I found this film it's one of a kind.



2. i thought this was going to show like actual gang fights and stuff like that, but instead they mostly just interview these two guys at a park. kinda boring. don't judge a book by it's cover.
   the cover looks awsome, but the tape isn't that good.



3. I think the beginning of this video isn't really that good. The younger gangsters are all about stupid values and haven't lived enough to understand what that future holds for the kind of people the glorify being. The vetranos have lived and learned and found a better way. times are different now though and the way gangster life has become the youngster have a good chance not to live to see their stupid ways. My fience is the fine gangster on the cover of this video. That's probably why I like it so much. I watch this video everyday.

No comments about Leonid Borodin Looking Through The Years.

No comments about Call Me What You Like.

1 comments about Airstreamers: An American Family.

1. america is such a funny country some times - in terms of humor. but airstreamers places that humor in perspective. it's the story of a trailer inventor who liked having a good time, and that trait of his got turned into a 'club' where others could participate. the makers of film did a good job not to make fun of the participants but to allow their personalities to show through. it's a good watch. I just wish it was longer.

1 comments about COMPASSION IN EXILE: The Story of the 14th Dali Lama.

1. Mickey Lemle's documentary weaves the biography of the 14th Dalai Lama with a summation of the history of the Chinese government's invasion and occupation of Tibet. The stories are fascinating and tightly linked. I was moved by both the Dalai Lama's presence, leadership and vision, and I was deeply saddened by the genocidal destruction brought on Tibet's people and culture by the Chinese government. The film is extremely well made including, as I understand it, footage smuggled out of Tibet, and excellent interview footage. Highest recommendation.

1 comments about Hasten Slowly: The Journey of Sir Laurens van der Post.

1. This hour-long film consists mainly of an interview with Laurens van der Post, author, friend of Carl Jung, and godfather of Prince William. The interviews, which must have taken place shortly before his death, focus on his imprisonment by the Japanese during WW2 and his quest for the last people living the traditional life of the Bushman (San) in the Kalahari Desert in the 1950s. There are several excerpts from the film he made for the BBC on that quest, a film that is otherwise unobtainable; anyone who has read Lost World of the Kalahari will find these fascinating. Disappointingly, there is very little about other periods in his life, but what we do get is a very worthwhile experience of this truly exceptional human being.