Kubrick's Odyssey: Secrets Hidden in the Films (2011) Review

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(More customer reviews)First off, let's set the record straight, at no time does Jay Weidner say we did not go to the Moon. What Weidner states is that much of what we saw was faked. What he does nicely is show how this was done technically and does so convincingly. He then demonstrates how this explains much of what Richard Hoagland and Mike Bara have detected in NASA footage and photos from the Moon.
The second half of the video is brilliant. This is where the author goes through The Shining on a level that is nothing less than mind-blowing and is alone worth the price of the DVD.
For those who think Weidner is reaching or grasping at straws, I recommend taking one course on films, either on-line or at a community college. I learned from a course on Westerns that there's more in the most basic John Ford Western than I imagined possible. In addition, Kubrick was the 'man of a thousand takes' supposedly using as many as 148 takes on a single scene. If it's in a Kubrick film, it's there intentionally.

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This provocative and insightful film is the first in a series of documentaries that will reveal the secret knowledge embedded in the work of the greatest filmmaker of all time: Stanley Kubrick. This famed movie director who made films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut, placed symbols and hidden anecdotes into his films that tell a far different story than the films appeared to be saying.In Kubrick's Odyssey, Part I, Kubrick and Apollo, author and filmmaker, Jay Weidner presents compelling evidence of how Stanley Kubrick directed the Apollo moon landings. He reveals that the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey was not only a retelling of Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick's novel, but also a research and development project that assisted Kubrick in the creation of the Apollo moon footage. In light of this revelation, Weidner also explores Kubrick's film, The Shining and shows that this film is, in actuality, the story of Kubrick's personal travails as he secretly worked on the Apollo footage for NASA.

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The Sentinel (Widescreen Edition) (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)A mediocre, instantly forgettable espionage American government crime thriller, The Sentinel plays out more like a trumped-up network television show than a fully-fledged motion picture crime thriller. This fractured, overly convoluted tale of a spy within the Secret Service who is trying to assassinate the President is so laughable and implausible that you'll end up being cynically amused at most of what goes on.
The movie is totally dumb, and gets even dumber as it goes on. Michael Douglas - who indeed seems to be fighting the hands of time - plays Special Agent Pete Garrison. A few years back, he slept with the wife of his best friend and protégé, David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland). Now he's having an affair with first lady Sarah Ballentine (Kim Basinger).
When Pete receives incriminating photos of himself and Sarah he realizes he's being blackmailed. At the same time he also learns that there's a "mole" working in the secret service plotting to assassinate the president. Things go really haywire when he realizes that someone's trying to frame him as the perpetrator.
Beaten into a corner and in danger of being charged with treason, Garrison goes on the run, partly in order to clear his name and also to hopefully uncover the real architects behind presidential assassination plot. But Breckinridge stays hot on his tale, chasing his former pal with the gorgeous rookie (Eva Longoria) who adds a bit of glamour to the chase. (Eva Longoria as a Secret Service Agent?).
Unfortunately The Sentinel doesn't really work that well. Apart from that fact that you can figure out whom the mole is after about twenty minutes, director Clark Johnson allows his pursuit scenes to run on for far too long. Most of the action is made up of a lot of gratuitous running, crouching, skulking around corners, aiming guns and shooting them. This of course gets a bit boring when carried on for so long.
Johnson uses jerky camera work to heighten suspense and to make the film look a little more prestigious that it really is, but this ends up being annoying instead. The same can be said about the film's overpowering background music as well as its choppy editing. And are the Secret Service really this efficient and on top of things in the real world? When you think of how the government has handled recent tragedies, something tells me they're not.
The Sentinel becomes even more preposterous as it lurches along. The rationale behind the assassination plot is murky at best. And then there's the big, hugely far-fetched shoot-out at the close, which suggests that infiltrating a small army of gunmen into an international assembly that is supposed to be a G8 summit must be the easiest thing in the world to do. It's also never really made that clear whom the gunmen actually are, but at least the scenes are shot in Toronto so we get to see some of the City.
The movie gradually sinks into a pit of conspiracy clichés, from the D.C. detective who talks like he's from a Manhattan borough to Pete's unkempt on-the-street informer who seems to know everything. Even worse, the characters lack in-depth development. It's also criminally sloppy writing when towards the end of the movie Sutherland's Breckinridge changes his attitude towards Garrison for the flimsiest of reasons.
The performances are pretty much what you see is what you get. Douglas goes through his usual tight-lipped shtick - you would think after thirty years in the business he'd be stretching himself and taking on more interesting roles. Sutherland does his TV show spiel and Longoria - who is never going to the world's greatest actress - is wasted in a role anybody could have phoned in. And Basinger looks svelte and gorgeous but offers little beyond her appearance as a meek and decorous First Lady. Mike Leonard September 06.


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There's never been a traitor in the United States Secret Service...until now. And the evidence points to Pete Garrison (Douglas), one of the most trusted agents on the force. Now on the run, with two relentless federal investigators (Sutherland and Longoria) hot on his heels, Garrison must fight to clear his name and thwart an attempt on the President's life before it's too late!

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Invasion - The Complete Series (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)A really outstanding series that started slowly but steadily built momentum over the season, finally rushing to a stunnning Season Finale climax complete with cliffhanger. It SHOULD have been renewed, and evidently was GOING to be until the last moment, when its cast, crew and audience were left shocked by its demise. Production values, writing, and acting are all first-rate, and I love the strong subtext of "family" -- broken families, blended families, families whose members have resentments and fights but still care for each other. Sheriff Tom Underlay makes a great, ambiguous central character who can be favorably compared to Shaun Cassidy's Sheriff Buck from his previous show, "American Gothic." (My feelings about Tom did a complete shift from suspicion to love during the the run of the season, thanks to the clever writers!) Hopefully this series can be saved by the grassroots movement currently gaining momentum, or a new network can be found for its home, but regardless of what happens, Mr. Cassidy deserves praise for this amazing series. At least we have the opportunity to obtain this first season on DVD, for which I'm grateful!

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From famed writer/producer Shaun Cassidy comes a suspenseful tale of a blended family trying to recover from a devastating hurricane and its mysterious aftermath For park ranger Russell Varon (Eddie Cibrian), a divorced father of two who is expecting a third child with his new wife, the hurricane proves to be merely the beginning of a long journey into the unknown. As the tiny town of Homestead, Florida struggles to rebuild itself, Sheriff Tom Underlay (William Fichtner) - who is married to Russell's ex-wife - suspiciously orders the entire area quarantined. Russell starts to investigate the strange goings on and unknowingly begins a fight for the survival of his family, his community, and what might ultimately be the whole human race.

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