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Tartan Video
Posted: September 14th, 2007.
DOCUMENTARY ESSENTIALS BOXSETS
The best things come in threes and in October, Tartan is releasing a double dose of triple-disc boxsets, whichexamine the ethical nature of our lives and truly pioneering figures from the world of music. The boxsets arelimited editions and are available for a limited period.
DOCUMENTARY ESSENTIALS: PROTESTS: Three-disc boxset Supersize Me/ Wal-Mart/ Yes Men
SUPERSIZE ME
- Morgan Spurlocks controversial but compelling documentary explores the truth behind the health risks of fast food and in particular McDonalds. For a whole month, he agrees to only eat from a McDonalds menu. He continuously films himself over that time periods, recording his own thoughts and state of health, whilst also interviewing nutritionists, specialists and individuals who live off fast food. The results are both entertaining and sobering. A film that has become a cultural icon, inspiring on-going health campaigns including Jamie Olivers school dinners crusade.
The wider issues of the burger industry are dramatised in Richard Linklaters recent DVD release Fast Food Nation, based on Eric Schlossers best-selling book
DVD extras: Morgan Spurlock commentary; exclusive UK interview; UK premiere footage; assorted interviews including Eric Schlosser; deleted scenes.
WAL-MART THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE
- The ethics of big business come under the spotlight in this enlightening documentary about the working practices of Wal-Mart, the worlds largest supermarket store. Owners of Asda stores in UK. Despite being one of the most powerful corporations in the world, it is also heavily criticised for business ethics. It has banned union activity and employs cheap labour in the developing world whilst accused of damaging the environment and destroying local communities. Director Robert Greenwald has made a reputation for himself as a campaigning filmmaker with a social conscience. He has taken current affairs and turned them into crusading forums which address our modern global multi-national culture.
DVD extras: UK exclusive interview with Robert Greenwald and footage of Londons Queens market campaign; deleted scenes; behind-the-scenes documentary.
YES MEN
- Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum, the Yes Men are two media-savvy anti-globalisation protesters. Posing as members of the World Trade Organisation, they attend international conferences offering outrageous suggestions about working practices or free trade initiatives. Directed by the collaborative team of Dan Ollman, Sarah Price, and Chris Smith, THE YES MEN is a lively, thought-provoking documentary with a satirical edge. Documentaries such as Super Size Me, Fahrenheit 9/11 and The Corporation have helped feed the publics hunger for films that explore and even explode aspects of the current world around us and it echoes the antics of British comedy terrorist figures such as Chris Morris, Mark Thomas, Ali G and Private Eye, seducing the establishment into exposing its absurdities or hypocracies.
DVD extras: UK exclusive interview with Mike and Andy; trailer
Also released:
DOCUMENTARY ESSENTIALS: MUSIC: Three-discs boxset – RAMONES/ MAYOR OF SUNSET STRIP/ DEVIL & DANIEL JOHNSTON
RAMONES: END OF THE CENTURY
- New York. 1974. Radios explode to the raw rock sound of The Ramones. Rising from Queens and seedy bars, their raucausly energetic sound powered its way across the airwaves and overseas, speaking to a generation of the disenfranchised. Never chart toppers, but an inspiration to Britains own new wave bands such as The Clash, they lived the life of sex and drugs and rock and roll. This gripping rockumentary traces their history from the early days, through star-crossed careers and the sad fates of Joey and DeeDee. Interviews with the band and colleagues are interspersed with concert footage and behind-the-scenes revelations create a hugely entertaining tribute to what Jo Strummer calls the daddy punk group of all time.
DVD extras: interviews with the Ramones, Richard Adler, Joe Strummer and Debbie Harry; featurette on who what on the first three albums; deleted scene; UK exclusive commentary by Danny Baker and Charles Shaar Murray.
MAYOR OF SUNSET STRIP
- David Bowie, Cher, The Doors, Nancy Sinatra, Oasis, No Doubt. All these bands have been championed by legendary DJ, Rodney Bingenheimer, the Major of Sunset Strip, who has been a much-loved figure in LAs music community for over two decades. A man tinged with melancholy but enthused by music. Factory Girls George Hickenloopers affectionate documentary looks at the man behind the legend, talking to his family and his many rock star buddies including Brian Wilson, Joey Ramone, Mick Jagger, Courtney Love and Gwen Stefani.
DVD extras: commentary by Rodney Bingenheimer and Chris Carter; directors commentary; interviews with Bowie, Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello, Courtney Love, Oasis, Gwen Stefani.
THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON
- Daniel Johnston is considered by many to be one of the finest musicians in the world, and was once famously described by Kurt Cobain as the greatest songwriter on earth. This insightful documentary by Jeff Feuerzeig looks not only at the music but also the man behind it, in an attempt to understand how mental illness has shaped not only his life but the lives of those around him. Moving but utterly engaging.
DVD extras: commentary by director and producer; The Cinema of Daniel Johnston 3 sorts films; making of featurettes; deleted scenes
Both Documentary Essentials boxsets are released on October 22nd and retail for £12.99 each on DVD.
Click on the packshots above for more information.
News page content input by Dominic Robinson, 2007.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.