Wholesale and Distribution Movie Reviews

I own this video and it's mostly old band members and ex girlfriends bashing him and the rest of the band. I do not advise true fans to buys this because it's unauthorized and it just doesn't have that much info that isn't already know from his book that he wrote himself. In my opinion, I say don't bother with this video, read his book if you want info about the band.

Marilyn Manson is a human being, just like you and I. Except, what sometimes, no.....Not sometimes. What ALWAYS bothers people is that he sing in an anti-Jesus point of view. I'm not the only Christian that likes him. My friends, my enemies too. We all like his music. I don't agree with him, as a person, but his music is an amazing spectacle of lights, sound, and other things. God Bles the King, Mr. Manson!! Don't buy this video! It's not the right thing. They describe Brian Warner as Marilyn Manson, and Marilyn Manson, ONLY!!

interesting for people like me who always want to know more about Manson, but if you are just a casual listener this will probably be boring for you.

I purchased this video hoping to get some footage of Gov't Mule in concert. The only material I had previously, was a DVD about Robert Johnson's legacy entitled, "Hellhounds on my Trail", which included the band performing only one song. But, instead of a concert, I got a very entertaining documentary focused on the making of the "Deep End" series that included substantial commentary on the founding member of Gov't Mule, the late Allen Woody. There were only "parts" of songs being performed by the band with guest bassists sitting in. These guests included some of the truly great bass players ranging from classic rock bands, to today's current trendsetters. The magnificent Jack Bruce, Hendrix veteran, Billy Cox, Roger Glover from Deep Purple, and, ironically, the recently diseased John Entswistle is shown in a number of soundbites. Of course, the director is the bassist from Phish, and he is very well in evidence thoughout the video, maybe a little more than is necessary. I really would have enjoyed a little more of the legendary artists that were present. A few minutes with Jack Bruce would have been wonderful, but he was barely seen.
Regardless of what I wish had been here, what is here is wonderful to watch, somewhat instructive to the art, and adds to the list of videos that show "some" of Gov't Mule in action. Warren Haynes is the most exciting guitarist to come upon the scene since Stevie Ray! He has the finese of Duane Allman, the "thick presence" sound of Paul Kossoff, the creative riff punctuation of Hendrix, and the sheer power that Stevie R. Vaughn displayed. He has the potential to contribute more to the art of lead guitar than even Page & Beck have to this point. Only the charisma of Clapton, himself, seems to be beyond the reach of this young phenomena! He has said that the Mule will add another permenant bassist soon, and carry on as they had begun. I hope so! The material in this video, and on their recorded work to date, indicate that the future of blues-rock music may well be written in the annuals of this band, by this marvelous master of six-string wizardry!

rising low is a great movie especialy for both a bass player or a Gov't Mule fans. it was directed by mike gordon the bass player of Phish which is a great band. as a bass player i enjoyed it for all of the input that well known bass players put in. i also enjoyed the diferent bass parts put in by all of the different artists. i think that it is a well made film it has great commentary from some of in my view the greatest basses such as Les Claypool, Flea, Mike Gordon, and a number of other great basses. anyone that is at all interested in bass or Gov't Mule would enjoy this movie.

This DVD is worth going out to purchase a DVD player if you don't own one. I have found myself watching different segments over and over. It also gives you a chance to "sample" the tunes before you go out and plunk $40 on the music CD's. To all bass players out there, I would recommend this DVD to add to your collection. There is a wide variety of some of the best guys that you know, as well as some that you don't. In particular is a cat that keeps coming up in conversations throughout the video. His name is Joey Arkenstat, and he is credited as playing with "Dominion Hinney". For the life of me, I can't find anything on him and wonder if it is some inside joke for this video. You here comments from other bassists mentioning that he is why they came, etc. If anybody can enlighten me, please do so.

All in all, this DVD rocks!

I never thought that I'd say this about an Eagles song, but "Hole In The World" is an absolutely trite piece of pop music aimed straight at the soul of every bleeding-heart sappy American who's old enough to toddle to a record store and lay out their allowance money on the counter to buy this. It's aimed at a teenage audience, and yet sounds like it was written by four-year-olds. This kind of crap should be left to the now defunct Backstreet Boys or 98 Degrees, not a classic rock dynasty like the Eagles. Rest assured that this will in no way taint songs like "Victim Of Love" or "Desperado" or the rest of their great songs, but though Glenn Frye once sang "Smuggler's Blues", he should have some far greater blues for being a part of this horrid little song.

At least, that's what the Eagles are going for.

Give me a break, this song is dull and repetitive, the lyrics are weak- "They say that anger is just love disappointed"..huh?
I'm sorry, but what makes Don Henley think that anyone cares to hear even more of his political views.. I don't like war or violence anymore than anyone else, but if it weren't for our country standing up in the past, and defending ourselves when necessary, he certainly wouldn't be able to live the type of lifestyle he's accustomed to.

Go preach somewhere else.. whatever happened to music taking us to another place? I'm sick of everyone trying to cash in on the devastating events of the last two years.

Don't get the wrong idea here, all of this is coming from an actual fan of the Eagles(at least their music). When I heard they had a new song coming out, I was fairly hyped, but then when it turned out to be this sleeper, and the fact that there wasn't a new album of material following it, what a letdown.
As I said, I've always liked their stuff, even though they've never been especially exciting, they had some solid material-
"Sad Cafe", "Tequila Sunrise", "James Dean", "The Last Resort"(yes, I actually somewhat admired Don's point of view on this one). Hell, I even thought the new songs on "Hell Freezes Over" were worthwhile, especially "Learn To Be Still", what happened? Now, we are supposed to get our wallets out, and pay one more time to hear Henley's point of view, no thanks..

I do not understand why people hate this song so much. I love all the old Eagles songs like Desperado, Hotel California, Life in the Fast Lane, Tequila Sunrise, etc... I don't like the Backstreet Boys and such because they are manufactured by the record companies. However, the Eagles wrote this song because they are trying to embrace trends in the music industry rather than pigeon holing themselves into one category. It is this same attitude which took them from their country roots to rock legend status in the 70s. I love classic rock, it is always my first choice of music to listen to, but I am willing to listen to almost anything, including stuff like Rap and Techno. Only by embracing all musical styles with an open mind does music ever progress.

And one more thing, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE EAGLES SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE WAR!!!!!!!! They opposed the war and this song is about telling us why they did. They are showing their true Patriotism by standing up for what they believe in, and for that they should be praised, not ridiculed. Even if you supported the war, it is wrong of you act so pig-headed towards people who have a different opinion than you. We do not believe this war was in any way a defense of the freedoms we enjoy, it was only an excuse for George Bush to steal a bunch of oil while unneccesarily depleting the Federal Budget for military spending. If you don't agree with us, THATS FINE, but don't tell us we are unpatriotic for disagreeing with you. YOU are unpatriotic if you want everyone to think like you becuase American democracy is about people having different opinions and having the freedom to express those opinions without retribution.

So this isn't best anime feature in the world. Okay maybe that is an understatement. The art is dated, the subbing is awkward, and all that other jazz. But you know what? That is the best thing about this movie! It is so damn bad it is freaking hilarious, heck the opening battle scenes had me rolling on the floor with the fact they were fighting amidst holograms of dancing pop singers! And what is up with the singing? The singing is the best part! Hell I am little [irritated that] the characters didn't whip out any dance moves during their selected scores...

Just try to keep a straight face when Hibiki is placed in jail and he gives his "heartfelt" speech about media censorship or whatever...

Even the closing dialogue will give you big chuckle. God, what a disastrously great movie.

I have seen a lot of anime, believe me. And some of them were absolutely ridiculous!! You guys know what I'm talking about...the ones with plenty of gore, violence and/or naked flesh and little or no plot or character development. Fortunately, Macross II the movie is NOT one of them.

The story is engaging and easy to understand (unless you're an idiot). It has a love triangle theme that involves Hibiki Kanzaki, an ambitious reporter who will do anything to get a good scoop, Sylvie Gena, U.N. Spacy's beautiful top pilot, and Ishtar, a beautiful Zentradi emmulator. There are wonderfully choreographed action scenes (for all you mecha freaks!) good character development, and targets the issue of racism throughout the movie between the people of Earth and the Zentradi. Also, the mystery of the gigantic, powerful, lengendary Macross fortress is revealed as well.

In the end, love truly conquers all and the message of tolerance towards others is delivered. I didn't want to go into too much detail about the movie, but please take it from someone who has seen a lot of anime, this movie is definetly worth watching...and buying!

I rented this movie for vhs back in 98, and I watched it 5 times in the 3 days I had it. I bought it a few weeks later, and watched that tape a couple of times. Then I got it for dvd, and it still kicks [rear]. The picture and sound quality is excellent as well. I like the dubbing, especially for the Marduk characters, but the humans sound better in the Japanese track. Anyway, the language track goes by preference from each person. Anyway, this movie is great. It has cool villians (Marduk and Zentran), cool mech battles, and great music. The only donwside is that the subs for the characters that speak Zentran are hard subs fixed to fit the dub, so those subs won't be timed correctly with the Japanese tracks Zentran language. It isn't that bad though. Most people consider this in an alternate universe, but since it is 80 yrs later, meaning it takes place in 2092 (since that is when Space War I ended), I think it does belong in the regular universe. Anyway, I highly recommend this movie, well OVA, especially if you love Macross. Oh, and I prefer this one over Macross Plus.

One more of these films with Frank Sinatra that is entirely carried by the main actor. The situation, the attempt to assassinate the President in the little town of Suddenly, is dramatic for sure but the plot is too loose to be believable. But the acting of Frank Sinatra as a killer, born to kill, and all his ambiguities, dilemmas and other self-righteous contradictions, gives to the film some credibility. It is surprising that Frank Sinatra accepted to play in such films where his talent was wasted on incongruous and incredible scenarios. He could have been a better remembered actor in films that would have had some real depth.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

The president is scheduled to make a stop in a small town called Suddenly, and Sinatra and his buddies are hired hitmen who plan to bump him off when he arrives. In order to carry out their plan, they take over the house of a widow, her son, and her father-in-law, holding the inhabitants hostage.

Sinatra's speech about guns and God is a classic, and the allusions to nefarious government plots will have the conspiracy junkies wetting their pants. I wouldn't be surprised if the NRA funded this picture. Four stars.

This was filmed in 1954, when Ike was President and Tricky Dick was next in line. What could they have been thinking? It also shows an assassin as a psychopathic personality - another probable first.

The assassin thinks his job is a joke: "if one is killed another steps in to take his place". That's true, but ticket-balancing usually means a change in personalities and politics, and the forces that each politician represents. But this is unmentionable in this movie.

Their diabolical plans come to naught due to the sacrifice and patriotism of common men. The good guys win again in this movie. But Oliver Stone's "JFK" shows how it works in the real world. This movie is still entertaining, and worth watching as popular culture from the 1950s.

By 1945, the war in the Pacific was rapidly drawing to a close, and one would think that Hollywood would have presented a then contemporary view of America's relation with Japan. Surprisingly enough, director Frank LLoyd harkens back to a pre-Pearl Harbor take on Japanese, which is to say that as far as Orientals were concerned, Charley Chan was mainstream America's image of the Asian. It took the events of 12/7 to awaken America to a newer, more lethal yellow peril. What is remarkable about LLoyd's BLOOD ON THE SUN is that nearly every one of the Asian characters is played by an American wearing some really bad makeup. Since political correctness was non-existant then, no one seemed to mind the incongruous accents and eye makeup. Into this mess of a national antipathy towards anything Japanese comes James Cagney, a Tokyo-based American news editor who somehow comes into possession of a secret Japanese document that outlines nothing less than a domination of the world by the Japanese emperor. The plot revolves around efforts by the Japanese to regain custody of this document before Cagney has a chance to publicize it. From a purely dramatic point of view, the interest of the film lies less in the race for possession of the document and more in a not so subtle expose of what passed for an anger towards all things Japanese. Most of the Japanese were of the buck-toothed, slanty-eyed, grinning widely school of acting. The only true oriental who radiated any genuine emotion was the Chinese veteran character actor Philip Ahn, who has made a career of playing rogues and coolies with an impressive depth of dignity. Here Ahn has a bit part as a sadistic Kampetai (Japanese secret police) official who nevertheless gives a chilling performance as a officer who exudes menace with each soft-spoken word. Most of the action revolves around Cagney who must navigate his way through a series of political roadblocks put there by those who may or may not be on his side. Sylvia Sidney is a half-oriental woman with whom Cagney has an unlikely romance and is on screen mostly to give Cagney something to do when he is not being pursued by the local cops. Early on, a hulking Japanese officer suggests that he would like a Judo match with Cagney. Such subtle foreshadowing sets up a climactic grappling bout that is far more realistic than what is found in most chop-socky kung fu films. The ending, of course, is sheer nonsense and bears as much resemblance to real world intrigue as, say, this movie. Still, BLOOD ON THE SUN has its charm as long as one can plow through mounds of cinematic and ethnic implausibilities.

These comments apply to the edition released by Artisan in July of 2003. Aurally and visually, this version is relatively clear, particularly when one considers its age. However, there are problems with its presentation.
The film is described on its container and on the disc itself as being in black and white. In fact it is colorized, and rather unnaturally so.
Special features are promised by the insert, accessible through the MENU button. In fact, there are none.
Incidentally, there was a version of this on VHS with a time of 98 minutes; this runs 94.
One might hope that Steve Beeks of Artisan will act to insure more care in future offerings.

If you're a Cagney fan (especially a female one) I think you'll love this film. Cagney lays down some classic lines and is invloved in a number of romantic moments which will make the ladies swoon (well, I did anyway). Despite the fact that this is one of his later films, Cagney still bring to the film a certain sexiness and assertiveness that I have come to love him for. Not to mention that he gets to throw a few punches! If you are truly a diehard Cagney fan, this is a must see.

This movie was a bit of a suprize. I expected a low budget film and was impressed at how well it was made. It was enjoyable and entertaining. I would have to say that it would never be up for an Oscar, but it was fun to watch.

Finally a horror movie that shows something besides girls' cleavage -- guys' cleavage. Hunky college freshman Chris (Samuel Page), who evidently forgot to pack any shirts, becomes entangled with a secret society of guys who hang around in their underwear gazing lustfully at each other -- oh, and drink blood so they can stay forever hunky. One might consider this a homophobic association of gay people with vampires, except that Chris has a doting roommate who sits awfully close to him on the bed and also forgot to pack any shirts. Roomate struggles to unravel the mystery, getting himself into all sorts of dangerous spots and finally mounting a daring rescue. At the end of the movie, they walk off together, no doubt to transfer to West Hollywood Tech.

It's been done before, obviously -- Corey Haim plays a gay boy trying to de-vampirize his brother in "The Lost Boys." But never with so much eye-candy and homoerotic sizzle, and a quiet boy-next-door romance on top of it. If only somebody had the nerve to use the "g" word, just once, it would get 5 stars.

This is one of the most horrible movies I've ever seen. It's terrific. This is quite possibly the world's best movie for watching with friends on a Friday night while you're one-quarter drunk.

The term 'campy' was probably intended to describe cheesy monster movies of the 50s like THE GIANT GILA MONSTER. Horror films preceding this decade and following it have tried to scare audiences in a serious way, usually with middling success. In the 50s however, the possibility of a nuclear holocaust convinced more than a few directors that a new and untrod direction in cinematic fear was needed. This direction was to dump some truly ridiculous monsters on the screen, usually with dancing rock and rollers, and go for the cheap laughs. Such a direction was undoubtedly facilitated by an equally cheap budget that did not allow for convincing special effects or a talented cast or gifted script writers. Director Ray Kellog is typical of his contemporaries in that he presents a menace to mankind in which the monster's lethality is confined to a limited target population, either country bumpkin types or jitterbugging teens. The 'monster' was either a giant reptile, as the Gila monster in this movie, or smaller and recognizable variants of known animals like the predatory shrews of THE KILLER SHREWS (also directed by Kellogg). It is difficult to assume that Kellogg really believed that a sequence of shots with a lizard slithering around and through some toy mockups would scare anyone over the age of ten. Far more likely is the belief that he wanted to use the non-existent fear factor as a blanket by which he could raise some threads and peek at an assortment of 50s style themes and fads. It cannot be a coincidence that the scourge of rock and roll, which was thought by the stiff collar crowd to be the undermining of our youth, was loudly trumpted in nearly every third scene. Don Sullivan, who plays the ukelele plunking hero, sings some truly awful songs that are meant to be a jibe at rock and roll but emerge more as an abortive aspirant to star in Hee Haw. TGGM contains the usual range of cinematic cliches from the hayseed but earnest sheriff to the goofy teens (played by actors at least ten years olders than their parts) to a monster that leaves the audience truly gasping at its inept level of non-lethality. As often was the case in this genre only the youthful protagonist could figure how to to slay the dragon. The ending reminded me of that which often closed television juvenile shows of the era--the remaining cast gathered in a circle to hold hands and laugh, possibly to reassure us that the dragon has been banished, but more likely to indicate that they could hardly believe that anyone would pay the price of a ticket to see this one.

My fellow Motorheads will get a kick out of this movie simply for the period hot rods; a half-dozen T-buckets powered by the long gone Flathead Ford V-8! I often wonder what happened to those old rides, hopefully some were perserved.

As for the movie itself, well it's bad but doesn't take itself too seriously. Too much 1950's stuff is crammed into the movie for a two hour horror flick. Hot rods, rock and roll, teen angst, rich vrs poor, and of course the rich girl dating the poor boy. All this and a giant Gila monster! They could have had about three decent movies (budget allowing of course) out of this low budget gem that tries to do too much with way too little.

Viewed as a fun piece of nostaglia it is certainly worth watching.

I first discovered the film, "The Giant Gila Monster" while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000. While the commentary given by the characters on the show really made this film funny, watching the film by itself also lent some humor.

The story centers around a small town that is ravaged by a giant gila monster that emerged from the desert. While the gila monster wreaks havoc on the town and the town's people, the audience is also treated to the singing of Don Sullivan, who plays the lead. While it was funny at first, by the end of the movie you'll want to scream if you have to hear the song, "Laugh Children Laugh" one more time!

All in all, I did like this movie. It's interesting to see the archaic special effects that were probably cutting edge back in 1959 and compare them to the out-of-this-world effects used now. For those of you who love those old, drive-in movies that are purely for entertainment this is the one for you!

I was quite disappointed at the quality of this VHS print. It looked as though it were a copy of a copy! It is a pity that such a masterpiece should have such a third rate presentation. I have seen a much, much better showing on a TV channel. I will keep my eye on the AMC and make a copy for myself from the television presentation.

Poor Edward G. Robinson. That is to say, poor Christopher Cross, the character Robinson plays in SCARLET STREET (presumably no relation to the 80's pop "star" of the same name, although that would explain a lot). Chris is trapped in a loveless marriage to a woman who looks like Edith Bunker and acts like Archie. He's a middle-aged bank-cashier who has gone through life having never truly been loved nor having loved anyone himself. The one enjoyable thing he has in his life is his art, his paintings - which his totalitarian wife has banished to the bathroom, as she hates the smell of his paints. So, when this poor, downtrodden, lonely man happens upon a young and beautiful woman, it's easy to see how he could be utterly manipulated by her.

At first, I thought I was going to be bored by this film. It takes its time setting up the scenario and the various characters. But once the plot gets cooking, I was completely engrossed. I love a film that surprises me, and I simply could not guess where this story was going. As one nears the end, surprise revelations and unexpected bombshells come exploding out like fireworks. And every revelation was logical and consistent, but startling. I made several mental predictions, and after I started getting all of them wrong, I just sat back and let the film overtake me.

Fritz Lang's direction makes this a darker film than even the screenplay probably anticipated. There are several scenes that are still unsettling today. The more experimental sequences near the end are quite haunting. It's certainly not a feel-good movie; the only characters that aren't out and out despicable are merely pathetic. I won't give away the ending, but it's enough to say that there is no "...and they all lived happily ever after". People get what they deserve, and in SCARLET STREET, they deserve a hell of a lot of it.

The acting is quite good across the board, with a few notables. Edward G. Robinson is, of course, great. If that man ever gave a poor performance, then I have yet to see it. Here, he is playing against type -- an apron-wearing, totally dominated, shell of a man. He conveys a genuinely sad loneliness by his mere expressions as his confidence crumbles at every indignity and the way he desolately clings to any scrap of love he can find. You'd completely forget this was the man who played tough gangster Johnny Rocco in KEY LARGO. Dan Duryea is possibly laying it on a little thick as the sleazy, scheming boyfriend, but that sort of thing is what the role calls for. Joan Bennett rounds out the cast as Kitty March, the woman who lets Cross fall in love with her, and then takes him for as much cash as she can.

The DVD released by Alpha Video has some flaws. However, since it is the only one on the market at the moment, we're stuck with it. The picture is decent, but not what I would call great. There are a numerous scratches and the image is a little fuzzy. On one or two occasions, the movie skips a few seconds ahead. The sound quality I would describe as adequate, but muffled. A few times, I had to rewind because I couldn't hear what the actors were saying. It's not a wholly awful disc, but I wouldn't get your hopes up as to its overall quality. Perhaps a better print of this film will show up on DVD; until then, we'll have this. And this is quite a cheap disc, so it does have that advantage.

Greenwich Village, that is, which we learn was home to "hop-heads" and "long-hairs" in 1945 (!) Fritz Lang's masterpiece tells the story of a middle-aged bank clerk (Edward G. Robinson, dependably brilliant) who escapes the dreariness of his job and his marriage to a harpy by spending his Sundays indulging his only hobby: painting. His life gets considerably more exciting when he runs across Joan Bennett, a con-artist and tramp who -- with the help of her pimp, the always-amusing Dan Duryea -- proceeds to slowly drain his financial wherewithal. Of course, the greatest irony is that Robinson has conned the con-artists: they think he's a wealthy artist because, in his attempt to impress Bennett, he neglected to mention that he's a just a lowly bank cashier. The movie shows us a dizzying amount of untruths, scams, cons, misperceptions . . . nothing is what it seems. Truth is relative, baby. While Lang has a lot of fun with all the illusions, he also dedicates himself to the principle that no good -- or bad -- deed goes unpunished, and that great noir principle, the inescapability from Fate, starts weighing more and more heavily on our characters as they perambulate through their sundry fictions and cons. -- For the sake of historical interest, it should be noted that *Scarlet Street* is an American remake of Jean Renoir's excellent *La Chienne*. (This story was based on a French novel; hence the concern with painting. Needless to say, the story migrated easily to Greenwich Village during the budding of the beatnik movement.) Renoir, in his film, spends a considerable amount of time building up the characterizations -- at the expense of the plot, to some degree. Lang, however, correctly understood that these characters are not as inherently interesting as the situation itself, with its myriad variations on the theme of Reality and (or versus) Illusion. As a result, Lang's movie is rather more suspenseful than Renoir's. Also of note: *Scarlet Street* is a follow-up of sorts to Lang's previous movie, *The Woman in the Window*, which featured the same cast (Robinson, Bennett, and Duryea)! It's a masterpiece, too. [A special word of congratulations must go to "Alpha Video": Congratulations on crafting the ugliest-looking and poorest-sounding DVD I have ever seen or heard. It's a great thing, when masterpieces in the Public Domain can be snatched up by any unscrupulous producer. Simply burn an old magnetic-tape version onto a digital disc, press a few thousand copies, and voila! -- Instant profit. Bravo!]

Boring, that is if you can get it to play. This is the only DVD I have ever had problems with. And what a let down (after many reloads).

I'm not a lesbian, but I saw this when I went to my 18-year-old MALE cousin's house. It was quite exciting and titillating within the first fifteen minutes, but it got old real fast. The quality of the video was low, with shaky cameras and loose lenses. Not to sound like a total feminist, but, it's demeaning. Yet, guys like it, so I gues it's okay. If you wanna see something more exciting, go to your local adult video store. This isn't gonna satisfy you.

This dope DVD is a guys dream. Cough up the dough and buy it.The Girls Gone Wild crew dropped the mad chick on chick action. These college honeys were ...I was like DAMN! What made this more dope than the other DVD's is the girl girl stuff. This was like another ... DVD named AMERICA'S WILDEST BACHELOR PARTIES.