_ Sean Weathers films are exploitation films. You can tell by the titles; Hookers in Revolt and They All Must Die!. Find me a Merchant/Ivory film with a title like Hookers in Revolt. These two titles, and the more ambiguously titled, The Unfinished Works of Sean Weathers, come out November 22 on MVD Entertainment.

Hookers in Revolt’s plot is pretty simple;hookers revolt against their pimps. Apparently inspired by Orwells Animal Farm this film uses pimps and hos in Brooklyn over the barnyard. They All Must Die was apparently investigated because authorities thought it was a snuff film. The press says it was “banned” but I don’t know where and how. Outrageous, depraved and disgusting are adjectives used. When I hear those these days I think “Faces of Death” (which was fake by the way). BUT good exploitation is all about the marketing, the shock. That is all part of what makes the “genre.”

The last title is a collection of three titled Weathers was unable to complete.

Whenever I see any “how to” book or DVD I am skeptical. But really? In the case of indie film distribution—especially DIY indie film distribution? What do you have to lose, have a look. The Secrets To Distribution: Get Your Movie Distributed Now! is out on DVD.

It purports to have all you producer and director types need to know to get distribution for your feature or documentary. I will dispense with hyperbole. The package is 9 DVDs with 18 hour of material and three work books with resources, case studies and distro contact lists.

What have you got to lose? Especially if you don’t know the biz? Well, yes, you could lose whatever this costs but that is implied…I mean beyond THAT what do you have to lose? Ok…18 hours of your time but you would likely waste that on Facebook or down at the dog track right?

If you subscribe to Smashcut (and I was unaware I did) you get a discount which is slightly less than $450….for the course. Read more at www.distribution.la/smashcut. And ask around about this. I am not endorsing this...just letting you know it exists.

Bob and Nadya Gruen bought a portable video recorder in the early 1970s. That was pretty early to have one I guess but in itself is not remarkable. What is remarkable is the 40 hours of footage they shot of New York Dolls. This footage was turned into into the documentary All Dolled Up fo Lookin’ Fine On Television.

Footage has been added and edited as well for this release. Footage includes  videos from shows at Max’s Kansas City, Whiskey-A-Go-Go and a slew of others. There are also interviews with David Johansen and Johnny Thunders.

Bob Gruen, in case you are unaware, is a celebrated rock photographer.

For more info on the releas go HERE.

MVD is releasing a series of DVDs from the Dalai Lama. The first set comes out on August 23 and includes four titles; A Pratical Way Of Directing Love And Compassion, Contentment, Joy And Living Well, Interdependence, Interconnectedness And The Nature Of Reality and Facing Death And Dying Well.

The titles of the films are sort of self-explanatory but I suspect that his holiness goes into a tad more detail. Most of the DVDs are around three hours long or thereabout. The tapes are in a mix of English and Tibetan (with subtitles obviously).

Years ago I saw the Dalai Lama speak (despite a poor sound system) and the idea that compassion was our greatest human attribute and that we had a responsibility to the people around us made the biggest impression on me. Of course, I still got into a fight with my then-girlfriend right after his speech. It took awhile for it to all sink in with me as I am not terribly bright.

But even that is a lesson that even the thickest person can take such messages to heart and these DVDs are something any person of conscience, any person, open to other views should check out.

Live From Tokyo is coming out on DVD on Cood Charamel Records. The release will include a digital download of the soundtrack. It all hits the streets August 23. Yeah, so this is music but since it is a movie? I consider it appropriate for the movie section.

The Tokyo underground scene is noted for pushing the envelope and for being, by subjective standards, weird. There is no specific genre involved. There are many. Lewis Rapkin directed this documentary that also looks at Japanese society in addition to the eccentric musical culture represented. Bands include; Nisennenmondai, Tenniscoats, DMBQ, PARA , Shugo Tokumaru, Sexy-Synthesizer, Sajjanu, KIRIHITO, d.v.d, Optrum, Uhnellys, Samm Bennett, W. David Marx, Tokyo Pinsalocks and others.  

For more information head to www.GoodCharamel.com.  

It is kind of hard to believe but Brian Eno “1971-1977: The Man Who Fell To Earth, is the first ever documentary about Eno. He is, without any doubt, one of the most important figures in rock music both as an artist, and maybe even more so as a producer. This documentary follows not only his career but his life from the early to the late 70s. This is Eno before he quipped that U2’s Unforgettable Fire (which he produced) sold more records in minutes than he had in his entire career.

The film includes interviews with musicians, writers and more as well as archival footage. If you are not familiar with Eno then this might be a good place to start. The DVD comes out May 17. You can order HERE.

Back in 1984 David Travis was capturing Los Angeles punk rock on video. He took hundreds of hours of L.A. shows and did tons of interviews. In this video A History Lesson Part 1, footage from 1984 is presented and it includes the likes of Meat Puppets, Minutemen, Twisted Roots and Redd Kross. Interviews with each group are also included.

Travis is an L.A. native whose dad worked in television. When he was 15 Dad gave him an old video camera. He documented punk rock in L.A. until 1997 (he also worked on videos for bands and other projects). Travis became a teacher for a decade and then began digitizing his old footage. This is the first video from the archive.