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Innocent Victims -
The cautionary phrase "It could happen to you!" was seldom more appropriate than in this two-part, four-hour TV movie, inspired by a true story and based on actual court transcripts. The story begins in Fayetteville, NC in 1985, when Army sergeant Tim Hennis (John Corbett) is accused of murdering the wife and children of an Air Force captain. A combination of overzealous prosecution from the District Attorney's office and pressure from the armed forces and the media makes a swift conviction a fait accompli, though Hennis and his family continue to protest his innocence. Refusing to give up on the case, Hennis' defense team presses its own investigation, ultimately turning up a maelstrom of hitherto unknown evidence, surprise rebuttal witnesses, and a startling eyewitness testimony. First telecast by ABC, Innocent Victims was originally shown on January 21 and 22, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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Fanex Files: Hammer Films -
In the 1950s and '60s, American film studios became enamored with flying saucers, extraterrestrials, and atomic mutants, making Hammer Films the last refuge for movie fans with more macabre tastes. Their lavish and lurid chillers appeared at precisely the right time, effectively filling the gap between the Universal Studios creature classics of the 1930's and '40s, and the big-budget horror revival sparked by The Exorcist and A Nightmare on Elm Street in the 1970s and '80s. As a result, horror fans embraced Hammer Films and the studio flourished. In this documentary Hammer luminaries such as Christopher Lee, Ingrid Pitt, Val Guest, and Caroline Munro are captured during appearances at Fanex Film Conventions, which were held in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. from 1984 to 2004. Their ability to remain cheerful and cordial despite enduring exhausting transatlantic flights endeared them to fans, and now horror hounds who weren't able to attend the conventions can still witness their favorite stars interacting with fans as they reflect on their favorite roles. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Jackie Robinson Story/The Joe Louis Story - Fullscreen
Includes:The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) The Joe Louis Story (1953) The Jackie Robinson Story Despite its lack of production values and box-office "names," The Jackie Robinson Story is one of the best and most convincing baseball biopics ever filmed. Brooklyn Dodgers second baseman Jackie Robinson plays himself, and quite well indeed. The film traces Robinson's career from his college days, when he excelled as a track star at Pasadena College and as UCLA's All-Sports record holder. Upon his graduation, Robinson tries to get a coaching job, but this is the 1940s, and most doors are closed to black athletes. After serving in the army, Robinson plays with the Negro Baseball League, where his uncanny skills attract the attention of Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Anxious to break down the "color line" that exists in major-league baseball, Robinson is chosen in 1946 to play for the Brooklyn farm team in Montreal. In a harrowing sequence, Rickey lets Robinson know what he's in for by bombarding him with insults and racial slurs. The manager is merely testing Robinson's ability to withstand the pressure: he wants a black ballplayer "with guts enough not to fight back." Robinson agrees to ignore all racial epithets for the first two years of his Brooklyn contract. Despite the unabashed hatred to which he is subjected during his year with Montreal, Robinson steadfastly continues to turn the other cheek, and in 1947 he graduates to the Dodgers lineup. After a slow start, Robinson justifies the faith put in him by Rickey. The Dodgers win the pennant race, and slowly but surely the ban on black players vanishes in the Big Leagues. Though a model of restraint by 1990s standards, The Jackie Robinson Story is surprisingly frank in its detailing of the racial tensions of its own era. It falters only in a couple of silly vignettes involving comic-relief ballplayer Ben Lessey. The cast is uniformly fine, including Louise Beavers as Robinson's mother, Ruby Dee as his wife Rae (Dee would later play Robinson's mother in the 1990 TV movie The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson), Joel Fluellen as his brother Mac, Minor Watson as Branch Rickey, and best of all, Richard Lane as Montreal manager Clay Hopper. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi The Joe Louis Story Coley Wallace plays the title role in The Joe Louis Story. Told in flashback, the film recounts the pugilistic career of "the Brown Bomber" from the early 1930s to his misguided comeback attempt opposite Rocky Marciano in 1951. The film's high point is Louis' defeat of Germany's Max Schmeling; its low point (dramatically, not quality-wise) is the breakup of Louis's marriage. Evidently for legal reasons, most of the character names in the film are fictional. Many of the fight scenes are culled from footage of the real Louis in action. Though the "race" angle in The Joe Louis Story is downplayed, Louis is treated on an equal par with the white characters, which resulted in the film being banned in certain S
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Batmania: From Comics to Screen -
Batman stands alongside Superman as probably the oldest and most popular comic book heroes of all time. This documentary traces how the character has evolved over different media over the course of decades -- from the creation of the Caped Crusader in Detective Comics, through the campy '60s television show, to the movie directed by Tim Burton. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
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Treasures of Black Cinema - Fullscreen Dolby
Includes:Pocomania (1939) The Bronze Buckaroo (1939) Gang War (1940) Up in the Air (1940) Pocomania In this rare film, shot on location in Kingston, Jamaica, a Jamaican native inherits her father's rubber plantation. Later her highly successful sister from New York shows up to claim it for herself, but the other sister employs bogus voodoo rituals to frighten her off. When they fail, the two sisters overcome their differences and begin working together. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi The Bronze Buckaroo African-American cowboy Herb Jeffries (here billed Herbert Jeffrey) headed an all-black cast in this otherwise ordinary Western filmed at the "all-colored" N.B. Murray dude ranch near Victorville, CA. Jeffries plays Bob Blake, a cowboy investigating the mysterious disappearance of his friend, Joe (Rellie Hardin). Joe, it appears, sits on some mighty valuable land and nasty Pete (Spencer Williams Jr.) aims to make him sign over the deed. Bob and his cowboy friends arrive just in time to prevent Joe from being branded with a hot iron. This African-American Western was produced, written, and directed by the white Richard C. Kahn, and included musical interludes performed by Jeffries and the Four Tones. Adhering to every clich? in the book, The Bronze Buckaroo came complete with an idiotic, easily scared sidekick (ventriloquist Lucius Brooks). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi Gang War The all-black Gang War was originally designed for the "colored" movie houses which thrived in segregated communities throughout the 1930s and 1940s. The plot concerns the deadly rivalry between gangsters Killer Meade (Ralph Cooper) and Lou Baron (Lawrence Criner). The object of their war is the control of Harlem's jukeboxes, a plot device that allows for the logical interjection of a few musical numbers. Heroine Mazie (Gladys Snider) falls in love with one of the crooks, only to be left in the lurch when he's cut down by a hale of bullets. The film's overreliance upon newspaper montages as a narrative device suggests that several important plot points were forgotten in the haste of completing the picture within its near-nonexistent budget. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi Up in the Air In this fast paced mystery, an eager page boy for a radio station tries to convince the owners to let him do a comedy show with his pal, a porter. A hopeful singer and the station receptionist support the lads with the former hoping to make her debut there. Things are looking up for the young folk when suddenly several of the station's star acts are murdered on the air. The page, the porter and the receptionist begin investigating while the young singer fills in for the slain chanteuse. Success ensues all around. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
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The Real Robin Hood -
Innumerable movies, television series, and even radio dramas have brought the fascinating legend of Robin Hood to life. But what of the historical truth behind the tales of Sherwood Forest? As produced by and originally aired on The History Channel, this documentary special asks penetrating and incisive questions about the events that cumulatively inspired the character of the rogue thief who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. The program suggests that Robin Hood originated from not one but a whole array of characters stretching back in time to the Crusades era. Ridley Scott produced this documentary in tandem with his big screen Universal Pictures opus Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett; the documentary includes extracts from the film, and interview footage featuring Crowe, Scott, and various historians. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
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Jamaican Railways -
This documentary takes a look at the Jamaican Railway System, a railroad that worked the Banana Boat Steam Train's 63 mile run until 1992. The documentary traverses its tracks, which climb to heights as impressive as 800 feet, and also takes a behind-the-scenes look at the movie The Mercenaries, which depicts the railroad. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi
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Black Hollywood: Blaxploitation and Advancing An Independent Black Cinema -
Through probing exploration and expert commentary, this documentary takes an in-depth look at the evolution of African American cinema, examining how African Americans have been portrayed in film, and how the community has both utilized and expressed itself through movies. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi
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The Achievers: The Story of the Lebowski Fans -
Don your most comfortable robe and slip on your favorite flip-flops for a casual visit to the first ever Big Lebowski festival. The year was 2002. Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt were vendors at a tattoo convention when they playfully began quoting lines from one of their favorite films, the Coen Brothers' comedy The Big Lebowski. Much to their surprise, Russell and Shuffitt weren't the only ones who seemed to know the movie by heart. Almost immediately, the laid back duo hatched the idea for the ultimate Big Lebowski tribute: assemble a large collection of die-hard fans in a typical bowling alley, and keep the White Russians flowing while the film played and everyone bowled to the heart's content. Over the course of the next five years, the festival caught on like wildfire, with Big Lebowski bashes being organized in bowling alleys around the world. Fortunately, filmmaker Eddie Chung had his camera rolling at just the right moment, and in this documentary he shows how a simple joke between friends became a global phenomenon. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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