On Demand Weekly

“Comcast is thrilled to extend the reach of independent movies into living rooms across the country, providing more exposure for these films, which have a passionate following,” said Diana Kerekes, Vice President of Entertainment Services for Comcast. “It’s all part of giving our customers more choice, value and a sense of excitement and closeness to indie filmmakers. With the popularity of indie films, we’re proud to be working with leaders in this field, like Edward Burns, Tribeca Film, SnagFilms and others, to make that happen.”

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand and from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: MEET BILL (Gravitas).

MEET BILL
By Joe Charnitski

Many movies have centered on an upper middle class, lower middle aged man arriving at the point in his life when he realizes his marriage, his job, his habits and his lack of self-confidence all add up to a pointless, sad routine. He wonders, “What happened to me?”. You know the guy. He has more memories than dreams. He longs for the days when his wife was the wild child he met many years ago. He’s shocked when he sees himself on videotape and his overgrown gut dominates the frame. He’s also the title character in the comedy MEET BILL.

Aaron Eckhart (THE DARK KNIGHT, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING) plays Bill, the insecure, candy obsessed EVP of Human Resources at the bank his father-in-law owns. That’s the only way he secured the job, of course. His wife Jess (Elizabeth Banks) has no respect for him, his brother-in-law (who also works at the bank) openly mocks and degrades him and his father-in-law can barely stand the disappointing sight of him. Things only get worse for Bill when he secretly tapes Jess having a tryst with local newsman Chip Johnson (Timothy Olyphant), and making jokes about her husband’s “little acorn.” Ouch. Encouraged by the prep school teenager (who remains unnamed throughout) he has agreed to mentor, our hero attempts to transform his look, his luck and his life.

Like many moviegoers, my first exposure to Aaron Eckhart

was in the role of Chad in Neil LaBute’s dark comedy

IN THE COMPANY OF MEN.

Bill is exactly the kind of man Chad would hate

(and then cruelly manipulate and take advantage of).

In the role of Chad, Eckhart was mean and brutal, but not without charm and the ability to make you laugh against your will. In the role of Bill, Eckhart seems uncomfortable and unsure. He tries too hard to play the schlub, just contorting his face and slouching a lot. He’s supposed to be a unique, lovable loser we all rally behind. Instead, he’s just sad, and he doesn’t make us laugh very much at all.

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: DMT (Gravitas).

DMT
Is the next step a trip?
By Kris Scheifele

The letters DMT stand for a naturally occurring compound—N,N-dimethyltryptamine—which can be found in many living things—plants, animals, and humans. (Sounds nerdy and sciencey, so far.) It can be extracted from plants or synthesized in a lab and is related to the neurotransmitter serotonin and the pineal hormone melatonin. (Sounding more clinical, more medical.) DMT is part of a blended brew called ayahuasca, which has been used for thousands of years in South American shamanic rituals. (Sounds anthropological). DMT, a hallucinogen, is also a Schedule I controlled substance, a classification it shares with heroin, LSD, marijuana, mescaline, and magic mushrooms. Bam, sounds like trouble!

Through a relentless conga line of well-spoken talking heads, DMT—the documentary—tries to convince otherwise, hence the addendum to the title—DMT: THE SPIRIT MOLECULE. This authoritative group of intellectuals, including a bevy of PhDs and MDs, makes the argument that the altered state of consciousness produced by this psychedelic drug is more than just escapism for down-and-out druggies; it's a mystical window onto a universal interconnectivity surpassing our restrictive material realm and bodily identity. The claim is DMT is a kind of "God molecule," which hard-wires us for much-needed global enlightenment. In order for this to happen, spiritual and scientific knowledge have to intersect, according to Rabbi Joel Bakst, who says, this "is part of the process by which humanity is going to evolve into its next stage." Among the group interviewed in the film, it's believed DMT is the essential catalyst.

Central to the discussion is work done by clinical psychiatrist Dr. Rick Strassman, who, in the early '90s, conducted the first human psychedelic research in a generation. Thanks to fear and taboo put in place by '60s recreational drug use, the study had to focus on basics like the effect DMT had on heart rate and blood pressure. Among the notes, however, are accounts from study participants of vivid journeys induced by DMT.

Put aside images of rubbery, mud-spattered hippies flailing around a drum circle; this was a highly scrutinized study conducted in a hospital with volunteers who were, for the most part, unassuming professionals. What is really too bad is that these people couldn't bring cameras along on their internal DMT trips. Instead, the film relies on groovy motion graphics, which attempt to articulate participants' verbal descriptions of expanding out of their bodies into a timeless universe filled with kaleidoscopic marvels. Here, stripped-down to their spiritual essence, they even met entities!

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand and from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: BILLIONAIRE (Gravitas).

BILLIONAIRE
Larry Hillblom, billionaire and founder of DHL, dies in plane crash off his Micronesian island home, and dozens of would be heirs seek to lay claim to his billions.
By Sidney Falco

We’ve all been in the supermarket, glancing at the tabloids and wondering if perhaps, some odd story is remotely true. One of these stories that could have been ripped from the tabloids, yet is true, is the death Larry Hillblom, one of the Founders of DHL. Hillblom died in 1995 in a plane crash off the Micronesian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, near his home, on the island of Saipan. His body was lost at sea and his death was a mystery to some residents of Saipan. That is the simple part of the story. As Journalist Peter Manso (who covered what transpired after Hillblom’s death) says in the film, “That’s where the trouble starts.” After he died, dozens of would be heirs came forward to lay claim to Hillblom’s fortune.

BILLIONAIRE, directed by Alexis Spraic, is a fascinating story of a Man and his Fortune – I can see why the filmmaker was attracted to such material. Truth is stranger than fiction and this cliché proves true this time around. The film is part documentary, part mystery, and all entertaining. The mystery aspect centers mostly on whether or not a 10-year-old Filipino boy named Larry Jr. is the son of Larry Hillblom. Without getting too deep into the narrative (and some of the various legal complexities), all the elements are there for a ripe Hollywood drama: rich, greedy corporate men taking advantage of the poor; a local, small time Lawyer taking on a big corporation; tampering and destroying of DNA evidence; illicit and questionable sex, all for none other than a few billion dollars.

“Did Larry father Larry Jr.? Why was his Will never updated? And why did he have such an affinity for female virgin prostitutes? Some of those questions, and many others, you will get answers to while watching BILLIONAIRE, but the question I asked myself after the film was over was, who was the real Larry Hillblom? Frankly, you don’t know and I do not think the filmmakers know either. While a truly fascinating story, there is very little humanity in the Larry Hillblom portrayed in BILLIONAIRE, especially once the film’s narrative veers towards the mystery aspect of whether or not he fathered a child (a simple internet search will give you your answer if you do not want to see the film).

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: GOD SAVE MY SHOES (Gravitas).

GOD SAVE MY SHOES
By Amy Slotnick

Although you first might think this is another fashion documentary, one that explores the history, design and obsession with women’s shoes. However, GOD SAVE MY SHOES is actually more about addiction than anything else.

Julie Benasra’s documentary provides a thorough analysis of shoes as pop culture icons and fetishized objects. Interviews with top designers, such as Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin, shoe collectors, like performers Kelly Rowland, Fergie, Dita Von Teese and poker player Beth Shak (who owns over 900 pairs), as well as sexuality experts, fashion historians, orthopedists and psychologists, explore the power, sexual and social implications of the famous stiletto heel. More than once SEX & THE CITY is credited with exploiting women’s attraction to stiletto heels and bringing them to the forefront of today’s fashion and pop culture.

Several theories emerge about what draws some women so obsessively to buy an impractical quantity of shoes at increasing heights. On the one hand, by minimizing the height difference with men, the high heel can be seen as increasing a woman’s power, putting her on eye-level with male counterparts. On the other hand, they limit a woman’s mobility and if heels were a way to increase power, as one of the film’s experts observes, they would be coveted and worn by men (as they were at one time in the 18th century).