Cinema (101): Call of the Wild *** (1935, Action / Ad)
Aspect ratio 1.37 : 1
Summary: Jack Thornton has trouble winning enough at cards for the stake he needs to get to the Alaska gold fields. His luck changes when he pays $250 for Buck, a sled dog that is part wolf to keep him from being shot by an arrogant Englishman also headed for the Yukon. En route to the Yukon with Shorty Houlihan -- who spent time in jail for opening someone else's letter with a map of where gold is to be found -- Jack rescues a woman whose husband was the addressee of that letter. Buck helps Jack win a $1,000 bet to get the supplies he needs. And when Jack and Claire Blake pet Buck one night, fingers touch.
HD Cinema (104): Grass **+ (1999, Doc)
Aspect Ratio(s): 1.85:1
Summary: Consider this a documentary for those who inhaled. Ron Mann's playful portrait of marijuana in America is less a social history than an examination of the government's systematic seven-decade campaign to demonize the devil's weed: the conspiracy against cannabis! Through government documents, period newsreels, and clips from hysterical educational scare films and campy overheated features (like High on the Range and the cult classic Reefer Madness), Mann reveals a systematic policy of misinformation to (he argues) justify the billions spent on the losing war on drugs. Well researched if one-sided and occasionally questionable in its own assertions (aren't there any side effects to this wonder weed?), this witty history lesson is charged with raucous energy and a satirical slant. Mann and his easygoing narrator Woody Harrelson may be preaching to the converted, but it's a hilarious sermon. Pass the munchies! --Sean Axmaker
Description
Grass, narrated by actor/activist Woody Harrelson, takes a highly spirited and innovative look into one of America's most deeply rooted cultural myths: the evils of "pot", "cannabis", "weed", "dubich", "doobie", "shrub", or whatever man. From the story of America's first drug czar, to the absurd scare tactics behind propaganda films like Reefer Madness, and Marijuana: Threat or Menace, director Ron Mann (Comic Book Confidential, Twist) poignantly and humorously exposes the social, political and economic facts behind this enduring weed, and the extent to which it has profoundly shaped our culture.
Cinema (101): The Legend of Johnny Lingo ** (2003, Action / Ad)
Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1
Summary: The 1969 short movie of the beloved Johnny Lingo receives feature-length treatment in this heartwarming family film by veteran producers John Garbett and Jerry Molen. Filmed in New Zealand, this seafaring adventure expands the legend of the wealthy island trader by tracing back to childhood the boy, Tama, who eventually becomes Johnny Lingo's namesake. When a storm casts ashore a tiny canoe carrying the infant boy, Tama's tribe receives him as a gift from the gods. But when misfortune strikes, Tama is cursed and cast out to live with a feisty girl, Mahana, and her drunken father. Mahana and Tama forge a friendship and when Tama is old enough to sail away from the island, he vows one day to return for her. Good fortune takes Tama to the isle of Johnny Lingo, who teaches him life lessons of fair trade, hard work, and honor. Tama eventually returns to bestow dignity on Mahana in an ashes-to-beauty love story. Steven Ramirez, in his directorial debut, retains the spirit of Patricia McGerr's original story, "Johnny Lingo's Eight Cow Wife," underscoring the power of second chances. (Ages 6 and older) --Lynn Gibson
Death By Design (1997)
Aspect ratio 1.37 : 1
Summary: This witty, fast-paced documentary by Peter Friedman (working with French researcher Jean-Francois Brunet) concerns an unlikely but fascinating subject: programmed cell death. Taking us deep into the mysteries of cellular biology, Friedman reveals the arcane reasons why some cells suddenly and automatically kill themselves, apparently triggered by signals from surrounding cells. Friedman employs some impressive, microscopic cinematography, but he knows most people are not inclined to look at the building blocks of life even for an hour. So he makes clever, allegorical use of other bits of film--clips of cars driving on the freeway, animation, Busby Berkley musical numbers, Harold Lloyd--to underscore the major points. Wonderfully entertaining and enlightening, Death by Design makes the invisible a thing of kinetic beauty. --Tom Keogh
