Issues Movie Reviews

I've seen a few interviews with John Sayles and for the most part they are pretty stiff. This was a really insightful interview combined with footage from his last film and behind the scenes footage. The short films were great too. Really liked More, which is an animation that was done for 70mm IMAX screens set to a New Order soundtrack. I'd seen it online at IFILM, but needless to say, it's way better on DVD. Check out Catholic School...it's a hilarious documentary about school kids and their views on God, marriage, love, and lunch.

If you decide to buy this DVD, you made a wise desicision. This has the best collection of shorts on 1 DVD I have ever seen. The shorts on this DVD are only the best, and the interviews are excellent. BUY.

I like this concept, a dvd magazine.

If you are a fan of Baboon, one of north Texas' most interesting "rock" bands of the last decade, then you'll really want to grab a copy of this dvd. It contains the one and only video Baboon has ever released, to my knowledge anyway, and it does not disappoint!

I'll never forget the thoroughly bizarre shot of a scantily clad young woman, spanking a couple of toy wind-up dogs with the band members' faces on them! This sort of absurd, turn-rock-conventions-upside-down-till-they're bizarre-and-funny attitude is what has always made Baboon one of the most interesting bands out there. Check it out.

This was one of the first DVDs I bought and it blew me away . I found all the shorts entertaining, but Bingo really stood out . The whole disk is really cool from it's navigation to its content. Check it out!

This DVD would be worth it for the warped animation Bingo from Chris Landreth alone. I first saw Bingo at SIGGRAPH a few years ago and was just blown away. It was a test piece for the Maya animation software and on DVD it's just amazing. There is another hour and a half of cool stuff on this disc including 6 more short films. Definitely worth your time and $$.

This is one of the greatest series of DVD's I have ever seen. It's hard to believe that so much information can be contained on one disk. Not only is it entertaining, it's also educational! You get to see what goes on behind the scenes and see interviews with directors/cast members. You also get trailers, teasers, short films and a plethora of other cinematic tidbits. It is a "must have" for the serious videophile!

I bought this for the interview with the stars of Committed. I thought it would be longer, its under 5 minutes. The interviews with Johnny Rotten and Dave Foley are nice. But if you're one of the many probably buying this for Heather Graham (unlike me), you might be disappointed. But at under $13, who can go wrong?

Film-Fest is a great idea and I wish I'd thought of it. So what is "Film-Fest"?.."Film-Fest" is an interactive movie magazine that's entertaining as well as informative. And by the looks of how rare and what it costs to get back "Issues", they seem to be a collector's item as well.Just like any magazine it is filled with interviews,features,and short stories,these being in the way of "shorts" by up and coming young filmakers.And just like any other magazine, there are also advertisements(which you can fast foward through if you like). Film Fest is geared toward an audience that enjoys and is interested in the world of Independent filmaking.

I throughly enjoyed this issue of "Film-Fest 4".It centers around the Sundance 2000 and Hawaii International Film Festivals. The interviews and candid chats with such stars as Brenda Blethyn, Nick Nolte, Nathan Lane,Heather Graham,and Dave Foley among others were highly entertaining. What I most enjoyed were the shorts. Included is "Call Me Fishmael", a delightful animated short,"Enchanted", "Protest",a highly innovative piece about the endangered elephant, and the very charming "Jorge".These shorts may be watched with or without commentary from the directors and vary in length. You'll also find coming attractions for other films,a terrific feature on Seniors who surf, and lots of Film-Fest facts in the form of notes.

There's alot to look at. The interactive menu's are great. You can choose exactly what you want to watch, each section has their own menu's to navigate through, or you can just pop in the disc and let the DVD take you through the whole 2hr 10 minute view.

The DVD has a great picture and sounds nice as well. I had alot a fun, viewing this issue and will probably order some more, For those interested in this sort of thing, you can also order a subscription(which I'll probably do). It is the much more economical way to go.

Enjoy...oh and when you get to a menu that has a picture of Kevin Smith, be sure to click on this...he's always fun!...Laurie

This is probably my favorite issue of this excellent DVD magazine series. Or maybe issue 3 is. I dunno. There is an outstanding short film on this disc called Protest that makes the whole disc. It's a must see if you are into computer generated animation - crank up the Aria, turn out the lights and stare at your screen - and the director's commentary on the alternate audio track really added to my already considerable awe. As for the rest of the disc, articles are cool, interviews are interviews, Call Me Fishmael is hilarious, Enchanted is a really solid student film out of Germany and Jorge is a charming, Quirky half hour short.

A friend of mine told me about this DVD magazine and the people who made it. It's really an interesting story. But more importantly, this is an amazing piece of filmmaking and a brilliant concept. There are all kinds of things on here... how they did it and can sell it for this price is beyond me. I hope it works out, as this could truly become the Rolling Stone Magazine of the video generation.

These guys are trying something a little different and it seems they are on to something good! Talk about guys that can find the good in anything. Here they are! Rise of the Underdog! A definate must see and it's super cheap! Why not?

I love movie F/X and with so few mags out there now it's nice to see something I can get. I do have a few problems with it.
1) The background music is not in the background. I have to strain to hear the people talking. Tone down the music it's just too loud.
2) I just want more detail, I enjoy what you do and it's great but I hunger for more detail. How about taking a prop build from the start to finish. It know it's a lot of work but it would be great to see.

I wanted to comment on this DVD. Since Movie Magic ( the tv show) went off the air I have been looking for something like this, found reference to it on the Discreet support forums and bought the first issue as a 'test' ..There is some great material in here, my favorite being the maquette sculpting piece. I am on my way to order the second issue, All in all its a great e-zine, which will go well with my Cinefex magazine.

Una DVDmagazine de lo mejor hasta la fecha. Trata campos como el modelado, props, efectos especiales, etc. La pena que solo esta en ingles y con las posibilidades de ese soporte se puede subtitular en otros idiomas y tendrian mas probabilidades de venta. Porque la verdad es que esta muy interesante.

This review refers to the "Film-Fest - Issue 3" DVD

Lovers of shorts and the world of independent film making will love this edition of "Film-Fest". In this issue of this great series of video magazines, you'll be swept away to the Toronto International Film Festival(1998) and Santiago, Chile for a Short Film Fest.This later one takes place in the middle of a poltical demonstration, with fire bombs going off all around...but...the show must go on! Jim Jarmusch and Harry Conick Jr,are among the interviewees and Kevin Spacey with Danny Devito, Bruce Willis with Nick Nolte and Natalie Portman with Susan Sarandon share some anecdotes of their time working together on various films.Robin Williams and Elton John also include some of their views.

On top of all the wonderful interviews and after touring the film festivals, you'll be treated to 4 of the most clever and innovative short films around. First up is "Desserts". At only 4 minutes and no dialouge this one starring Ewan McGregor will leave you speechless as well, with it's surprise ending."When Day Breaks" is a uniquely animated short using a combination of pencil drawings and paint.Then in the span of about 12 minutes, "The Robber" has the tables turned on him. It is a clever story with lots of unpredictable twists.And finally, in the hypnotizing "Dolphins", you'll be lost in Lara's world for about 40 minutes. Although lock away in a clinic, she manages to escape through her fantasies. The director, Farhad Yawari, makes great use of shadows, light and colors.This is one you'll be talking about with fellow film buffs for some time afterwards.

The total time of the DVD runs a little over 2 hours and has a great interactive menu. You can watch it straight through or go to a sub-menu for any of the features your interested in.It also includes previews for some of the other films from the festivals that were coming out at the time("Onegin" ,"Ghost Dog" and "The Way of The Samurai" to name a few).It presents a very good picture and sound in Dolby Digital.These DVD's are becoming collector's items and are hard to come by. Some are outrageously priced by the sellers, but if you put them on your wish list you can watch for a reasonable price.(one that is comprable to your average DVD). And I would just add to the producers of "Film-Fest"...subtitles for those who may need them would be a nice feature for future releases.

So attend these film festivals without leaving your couch, enjoy the films by some rising stars in the filmmaking world and spend some time with your favorite celebs. It's a fun and entertaining two hours......Laurie

I have every collection published so far of short films on DVD, and this disk contains two of my absolute favorites. "Dolphins" is a stunning masterpiece of cinematography and scoring, exceeding the best hollywood production values. "Desserts" is also an all-time favorite, but I won't say any more or it will spoil the surprise! The film festival footage is also fun, but it's the short films themselves that will keep you watching this DVD again and again. An excellent choice if you're new to the short film medium, and want to see some magnificent examples of what freedom from Hollywood can empower independent filmmakers to create.

I originally bought this DVD for Natalie and it's true...she's not in it for very long. There's only a short excerpt of her at a press conference promoting Anywhere But Here.

But while exploring the DVD, I saw the short film, "Dolphins" which blew me away. It stars the beautifully shot Julia Brendler who is absolutely stunning as a patient trapped in a mental hospital, longing for the sea. The score is the narration and dialogue in this "silent" movie and it makes for an incredibly moving 40 minutes.

Nat fans, do NOT pass up on this dvd. Take the chance and you won't be disappointed. For me, this was one of life's nice surprises and I want to pass on the good fortune.

If you want to see what DVD can really be all about, buy any DVD in this series. I have all 6 of them and aside from lots of great short films in each issue, the interactivity and look and feel of these discs are just phenomenal. Really high quality and totally different from the DVDs that Hollywood is putting out.

The bands on here are: Slipknot, Korn, Machine Head, System of a Down, S.O.D., Crowbar, and Society 1.

This is way better than Backstage Pass two put out by the same company. I can't recommened Backstage Pass II, but I recommend this video only for a low DVD price. I got this because of Crowbar and Machine Head, but although it left me wanting more it was professionally done and has GREAT sound. I wish it would have been longer than an hour, but luckily this video put these bands material out in a video magazine. Also included on this DVD is trailers two of which are for "girls gone wild" (very cool trailer) and a huge photo gallery of the various bands on the video. What I like best about this video is nearly every band talks about major labels, and it cover several issues plus live performance.

The track list for the DVD:

System of a Down: Interview and live performance of "Sugar"
Slipknot: Good Interview
Society 1: "Wretched" W/Strippers
Jonathon Davis (Korn): Interview
S.O.D.: Interview W/Billy Milano and live performance
Crowbar: Interview and various live clips including "The Only Factor"
Skin Lab: "Second Skin" (Music Video)
Machine Head: Interview and a jam

Is possible to buy this DVD for Europe????????

This is such a cool series. If you aren't familiar with it yet, do something about it! I have a subscription and just received issue 6... oh my goodness! The graphics are so amazing... i can't believe that every issue this thing looks better and better. If you are a shorts lover, don't miss it. If you aren't, I bet you'll become one. FilmFest has some great selections of shorts and interviews... check it out!

This is a cool DVD magazine with behind the scenes stuff and video articles from Cannes and the South By South West Film Festival. There are interviews with Willem Dafoe and John Waters that are pretty interesting but the best thing about this DVD is the hour of short films. In particular, Five Feet High And Rising (which won Sundance and Cannes last year) is amazing, raw filmmaking that is sure to be nominated for best short film in the Academy Awards. There is also a student animation called Luz which was nominated for a student Academy Award last year.