On Demand Weekly

Get the latest information about Movies On Demand from On Demand Weekly. Every week we provide the Week’s Top 10 Movies On Demand (MOD).

HAYWIRE is now on demand.

MMA superstar Gina Carano Is Mallory Kane, a highly trained government operative who works in the dirtiest, most dangerous corners of the world. After successfully freeing a Chinese journalist who was being held hostage, she is double crossed and left for dead by someone close to her in her own agency. Instantly the target of skilled assassins who know her every move, Mallory must find the truth in order to stay alive. Using her black-ops military training, she devises an ingenious – and dangerous – trap. But when things go haywire, Mallory realizes she'll be killed in the blink of an eye unless she finds a way to turn the tables on her ruthless adversary.

Backed by an all-star cast of Golden Globe® nominees Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton and Michael Fassbender, Oscar® and Golden Globe® winner Michael Douglas and Channing Tatum.

Here are ODW's 5 Things You Should Know About HAYWIRE

1) Gina Carano began her career as an MMA fighter and was handpicked by director Steven Soderbergh to make this film after he saw one of her MMA fights on television.

2) Gina Carano trained for about two months prior to filming with Aaron Cohen, the film’s Special Ops Technical Advisor. Aaron is a counterterrorism consultant and former Israeli Special Forces operative.

3) Haywire’s fight choreographer J.J. Perry was also the fight choreographer on WARRIOR. Gina gave input and added in some of her MMA movies into the fight sequences.

4) The first fight that was shot for the film is the one between Gina Carano and Michael Fassbender. Michael was also Gina’s first on-screen kiss.

5) The film was shot on location in Dublin, Barcelona, and New Mexico.

Look for HAYWIRE on your cable provider's Movie On Demand section.

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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: A NY THING (Film Movement).

A NY THING

By Sky McCarthy

Although A NY THING strives to be a romantic comedy, there is little humor to be found in this melodramatic tale of French and American lovers whose worlds collide in the city that never sleeps. Antoine (Jonathan Zaccai) is in love with Alice (Fanny Valette) who happens to be dating Arthur (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). Despite Alice’s uncertainty, she seems unable to let go of Antoine’s affections. He follows her on a flight from Paris to New York in hopes that she will soon be returning with him. When they arrive in the States, Antoine assumes the alias of “John” and simply poses as a friend of Alice so that he can keep a close eye on her dalliances with Arthur in New York. But when Arthur’s roommate Tamara (Greta Gerwig) develops a slight infatuation with “John,” a strange love quadrangle unfolds.

Greta Gerwig / A NY THING (Film Movement)

One of the best things about this film is probably the attractiveness of the actors. Who wouldn’t want to spend an hour and half with some beautiful French and American hipsters who drift between trendy loft parties in Manhattan?

Despite the overwhelmingly melancholy mood of A NY THING, Gerwig gives a delightful performance as a peppy love-sick-hopeful who happens to get mixed up in an unusually complicated situation. The character of Alice provides a stark contrast as an indecisive, yet beautiful, female lead. Unfortunately, her lies about Antoine keep the audience from really cheering for the two Frenchies to end up together. Antoine is too weak to give Alice an ultimatum, and she may be too insecure to admit to herself that what makes her truly happy is just being wanted.

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: FIRST POSITION (Sundance Selects).

FIRST POSITION
By Amy Slotnick

The prestigious Youth America Grand Prix is like the Olympics of dance, where the world’s best classical dance students compete for scholarships or placement with the top ballet schools and companies. Director Bess Kargman’s first feature documentary film, FIRST POSITION, follows six gifted dancers, ranging in age, ethnic and economic backgrounds, all of whom share a dream to satisfy their unique gift and passion.

Over 5,000 dancers compete worldwide, and of those, 300 make it to the YAGP finals in New York City. The six dancers featured in the film, aged 11-16, come from places as diverse as Sierra Leone, Columbia and Israel. They have all sacrificed childhood normalcy in exchange for intense dedication, long hours of practice and physical abuse (you should see their feet!).

They each have a compelling narrative involving endurance and talent, equivalent to that of any professional athlete.

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.

Pierre Hardy                        Christian Louboutin                      Manolo Blahnik

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).

Kelly Rowland

Michelle Williams plays twenty-eight-year-old Margot, happily married to Lou (Seth Rogen), a good-natured cookbook author. But when Margot meets Daniel (Luke Kirby), a handsome artist that lives across the street, their mutual attraction is undeniable. Warmly human, funny and bittersweet, TAKE THIS WALTZ deftly avoids romantic clichés and paints an unusually true and unsentimental portrait of adult relationships.

Watch the trailer below and look for our review soon.

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: THE MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE (Magnolia).

THE MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE
Never stop looking for what’s not there.
By Britt Bensen

See clips of THE MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE & more movies on demand via The Movie Loft: Quicktake...

As we watched Morgan Freeman (THE UNFORGIVEN, DRIVING MISS DAISY) receive the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award from the Golden Globes® in January, I’m sure we were all wondering when would we see the next solid Morgan Freeman movie performance? Not all of his roles are great (whose are?), but he’s one of today’s actors who when you see or hear his name mentioned with a movie, you take a little extra notice. Who doesn’t like Morgan Freeman?

I was curious when I first learned THE MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE, a Rob Reiner movie starring Freeman, was being released on demand today (Friday, June 1), a full month before in theaters (July 6). The last film they did together, THE BUCKET LIST (with Jack Nicholson) grossed $93 million domestically and $175 million worldwide. Not too shabby. The second highest grossing film to A FEW GOOD MEN.

Morgan Freeman / THE MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE (Magnolia Pictures)

The next thing I wanted to know was whether THE MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE would feature Freeman’s narration? He speaks first on screen at the 2:30 minute mark while his character Monte Wildhorn (I’m going to guess he’s loud & boisterous with a last name like that) is being driven to a new home in a new lakeshore town for the summer by his nephew Henry (played by SNL’s Kenan Thompson). Apparently Monte has seen better days.

We’re next greeted by his neighbors. Charlotte O’Neill (Virginia Madsen), a single mother and her three young daughters. The movie’s dialogue quickly establishes itself in the cinematic comedic styling of do as I say, not as I do. Virginia tells her youngest (Flora) to not waste water (pre fire) after learning Finneagan, the precocious middle daughter, splashed Willow, the disinterested oldest child, with water. And then playfully sprays her from the hose.

 
Morgan Freeman, Emma Fuhrmann / THE MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE (Magnolia Pictures)

As Monte bristles at being helped into his wheelchair from the truck to the home next door (yup, he’s loud), his ire catches the attention of O’Neill’s. As they venture over to look, Charlotte advises her daughters that “it is not polite to stare.” Of course they look back (accompanied by a twang of a guitar score). The movie is written by Guy Thomas whose previous film screenplay credit dates back to 1980’s WHOLLY MOSES, starring Dudley Moore and James Coco. Wholly Moses that is a long time ago!

I will say at this point, the movie wants us to dislike Monte (so he can start low and rise above), but give him, the movie (and this review) a chance...

Monte begrudgingly enters the small cottage (apparently it is free) and demonstrates he is an alcoholic by demanding Henry get him a mid-day (mid-morning?) drink. Henry hands him a full bottle, sans glass and then brings in Monte’s old classic typewriter (or as Monte calls her: “a black-hearted whore. And he’s done with her.”). We learn of Monte’s paradox as a former published writer of western novels after hearing a phone message from his agent leads to Henry’s encouragement him to respond:

Monte: Nobody cares about a writer nobody reads.
Henry: Nobody reads you because you don’t write.

Without caring for anyone or being cared about, Monte's drinking is getting in the way.

Dimension Films and Starz Digital Media Premiere PIRANHA 3DD on TV/Internet VOD Day and Date with Theatrical Release Today

Sequel Brings Summer Thrills to Multiplatform Audiences, Including First-Ever 3D Movie VOD to Facebook

Starz Digital Media and Dimension Films announced that PIRANHA 3DD, the sequel to the surprise 2010 hit, PIRANHA 3D, will be available on-demand and online for VOD rentals day and date with its June 1st theatrical release. It is first-ever 3D VOD Day and Date theatrical launch.

The PIRANHA 3DD day-and-date theatrical/VOD launch is the first Dimension Films release to venture into this trendsetting release model, the first collaboration between Dimension Films and Starz Digital Media, and the first ever available for a 3D movie.

“With the worldwide box office and critical success of PIRANHA 3D, I am excited to explore and take advantage of a wider release strategy which will give fans of the franchise an opportunity to see PIRANHA 3DD on multiple platforms,” said Bob Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company (TWC).

Starz Digital Media has also collaborated with Milyoni to bring PIRANHA 3DD in VOD to Facebook, with the first-ever 3D Facebook VOD app for rental on the leading social media platform. The app allows users to transform the online movie-viewing experience into a social experience by letting them comment and share clips, stills, and quotes with their friends.

“Fans of the PIRANHA franchise are in for a ‘feeding frenzy’ of viewing options, with so many opportunities and ways to enjoy the campy and thrilling sequel,” said Mara Winokur, senior vice president of digital media distribution at Starz Media and lead executive at Starz Digital Media. “We have been looking at experimenting in the premium VOD space; PIRANHA 3DD provided the perfect title in terms of genre and installed fan base. Adding in the first-ever Facebook 3D option gives viewers even more control over how and when they watch the movie, and is a logical extension of the premium VOD experience.”

About PIRANHA 3DD

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: POLISSE (IFC Films).

POLISSE
Underbelly of a city… the Child Protection Unit
By Cynthia Kane

Working in any city, in any country where there’s a Juvenile Protection Unit- that has got to be one of the toughest jobs there is. POLISSE takes us intimately into one such unit in Paris. In the City of Lights, the daily grind for this unit is pretty similar to any other such crime squad: taking in child molesters, busting underage pickpockets and runaway adolescents, interrogating abusive parents, taking statements from children, confronting the excesses of teen sexuality, then enjoying a comradeship with colleagues and laughing uncontrollably at the most unthinkable moments. In short, these cops daily live with the underbelly of ugliness and perversion; they know the worst that exists. They live with it every day. They find unique survival mechanisms.

In the tradition of French cinema, there have been many complex, nuanced, informative and provocative, dark examinations of gritty city crime. From directors such as Jean-Pierre Melville, Henri-Georges Clouzot,Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Corneau, comes Maïwenn Le Besco, better known only by her first name, and her film, POLISSE is the newest addition to that acclaimed list.

Actress and emerging director, Maïwenn (LE BAL DES ACTRICES, PARDONNEZ-MOI) got the idea after seeing a documentary on this subject on French television. She asked the Child Protection Unit if she and her cast could follow police officers on and off the job in order to base the film as close to real life as possible. In doing so she has achieved a non-fiction-like film that gets under the skin and stays there.

While the film follows several criminal cases – physically and sexually abused kids, runaways - and sometimes feels loosely structured, the cases are not the absolute center of the story here. In fact we’re never privy to the outcome of any of them. Maïwenn focuses on the cops, their outer and inner lives, people searching for balance before this job eats away at their souls. In the midst of their daily routine, the Ministry of the Interior sends in a photographer called Melissa to document the unit. They are under surveillance themselves. The pressure is on – hotter than ever.

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: CHELY WRIGHT: WISH ME AWAY (Gravitas).

CHELY WRIGHT: WISH ME AWAY
Like Chely…
By Cynthia Kane

As a little girl growing up in Kansas’ heartland, Chely Wright used to pray to God, “Please don’t let me be gay.” She also dreamed of one day going to Nashville, performing at the Grand Ole Opry and becoming a Country Music star. She achieved her childhood dreams. Yet even as she developed a loyal audience, earned accolades - including the Academy of Country Music's 1995 prize for top new female vocalist- and climbed the charts with popular singles, she was tormented by guilt and fear caused by hiding and denying her sexual orientation.

CHELY WRIGHT: WISH ME AWAY (Gravitas)

We think we live in modern times, but this is the tragic story of a beautiful, talented woman who closeted herself for most of her life, finally deciding in 2007, it was time to be true to herself and honest with her friends, family and fans. She decided to come out. It took three years. In fact, she is the first Country-Western Music star to do just that. She proves there’s still a great divide in the United States – and it’s not only to do with gay marriage. For many in conservative areas of the nation, it’s still daunting to be out if you identify with being homosexual.

When I first heard about the doc, CHELY WRIGHT: WISH ME AWAY, I had no idea who Chely Wright was – I like Country Music alright, although I am the first to claim I don’t always know who I am listening to. And I being a former New Yorker now living in the Bay Area, I did wonder what all the fuss was about. After all, hasn’t k.d. lang been opening gay all along and doesn’t she sing Country? Then again, it’s not all she sings – and she is Canadian. What’s shocking in this very courageous and moving documentary is that it is not at all acceptable within the Country Western-Nashville scene to be openly LGBT and to identify as a lesbian.

Coming out for Wright had the threat

of committing career suicide.

That career she so carefully built and that she dreamed of since she was a little girl growing up in a conservative Christian household.

Filmmakers Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Knopf follow Wright for the three years as she leaves Nashville for New York and works on her autobiography, “Like Me”. The doc is straightforward and is structured more or less in the countdown up to the day she publically outed herself on The Today Show on May 4, 2010. Her book was published the same day.

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: THE OTHER F WORD (Oscilloscope Labs).

Editor's Note: THE OTHER F WORD can be seen on Showtime (June 14, 2012).

THE OTHER F WORD

By Chris Claro

Punk rock has always been about rebellion: sticking it to the man, telling society to go to hell, making sure that people just don’t understand, man! At its core, punk is anti-authoritarian, anti-government, anti-establishment, not the environs for such bourgeois pursuits as parenthood – “Father knows best? Father knows nothing!”

But even punks grow up, despite their attempts to the contrary. And no matter how hard they may have moshed or how badly they courted attention with choices in hair, ink, and accessories, punks age just as the rest of us do, and with age often comes the desire for something more fulfilling, something more than where to go eat after a gig. That something, as many of us squares know, is fatherhood.

THE OTHER F WORD, produced by Morgan Spurlock and directed by Andrea Blaugrund Nevins, is a rollicking doc about what happens when punks become parents. Though it sounds like the idea for a bad pilot starring Michael Rappaport and Jason Lee, THE OTHER F WORD is funny, insightful, and even touching, as it plays up the ironic dichotomy of post-40 punkers who need to maintain their bad-ass stage cred even though most of them are toast-making homebodies who find it increasingly difficult to go on tour.

Blaugrund traces the rise of punk in southern California, through the recollections of everyone from Flea to Art Alexakis to Mark Hoppus.

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: SLEEPWALK WITH ME (IFC Films), available August 31, 2012 on demand.

See clips of SLEEPWALK WITH ME & more movies on demand via The Movie Loft: Quicktake...

SLEEPWALK WITH ME
Quirky Sundance Charmer….a Comedian Comes Out of his Procrastinating Shell
By Cynthia Kane

If you’re the niche audience for this film, meaning if you’re a middle-class white guy and under 35 and kinda nerdy in that cute-nerdy kinda way, this is for you. I am not the niche audience, not at all, and even with some very wince-able moments, I found this charming, quirky plus it really made me consider that good indie filmmaking is not dead. Not by a long shot. And I prefer to most Hollywood films.

Actor-writer Seth Barrish co-directs with Mike B. For each, a virgin turn at the helm. This is a feel-good, fun guy-project that doesn’t diminish its female characters – they just come off smarter and more together than the guys (thanks, guys!) It’s not super slick with a huge budget, but it is genuine and actually funny. I am certain I’m not the only one who wished there were more movies like this out there. And when you come to think of it, I am surprised that more indies are not spun off stories from THIS AMERICAN LIFE.

The storyline’s not so simple, but is based on Birbiglia’s real life saga. Entering into his early 30’s and still pining to do stand-up professionally, Matt Pandamglio is a bartender who feels his life going nowhere. At his sister’s engagement party, he’s bombarded by family and friends with questions as to why he and Abby (Lauren Ambrose – SIX FEET UNDER, WANDERLUST, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE) his girlfriend of 8 years aren’t married. His parents (Carol Kane –DOG DAY AFTERNOON, HESTER STREET, TREES LOUNGE and James Rebhorn – most recently seen in HOMELAND, also MEET THE PARENTS, SCENT OF A WOMAN) are well-meaning but truly mis-guided in ways to support their late-bloomer son.

Then two things happen and along the way collide. 1- Matt begins to sleepwalk due to erratic, highly dramatic, mercurial dreaming (maybe the shock of potential marriage?!) and 2- a low-rent agent gets him an actual gig, a standup gig out of town, somewhere in the depths of upstate New York. Matt takes off, his career a bit more slowly, until he begins to deal with his own personal issues within his act; a form of self-therapy that proves to be hilarious to us, the audience but makes him realize that, well, there might be need changes ahead in his heretofore less-than-challenging life. In fact, he’s been an avoid-all-challenges type of guy. With the combination of sleepwalking and maybe a real-life dream, his career, about to come to realization, there’s no way to avoid or procrastinate any longer. As his career starts to zoom and he’s driving to one gig after the next, the dreams and sleepwalking get crazier and crazier. Hijinks ensue, as they say.

The Surf Channel Devoted to Beach, Water & Board Sports -  Launching September 2012

Steve Bellamy, founder of The Tennis Channel and The Ski Channel television networks announced today the launch of a third endeavor into targeted sports media with The Surf Channel. The Surf Channel launches in mid-September and will be a free to consumer, VOD television network on cable, satellite, telco and digital. The channel will launch in 20MM US households and early distribution partners include: Comcast, Cox Communications, DirecTV, Dish Network, Filmon.com and a preferred channel partnership with YouTube. Other distribution has been secured and will be announced shortly.

“Surf, its’ lifestyle and environment create

an unparalleled canvas for a television network... 

...The Surf Channel will be a sports channel, travel channel and lifestyle channel all in one. Viewers will go on the most expensive vacation of their lives, to the most remote and exotic destinations the planet has to offer. They will get to see some of the most incredible athletes pushing the human spirit and the boundaries of human capability to the furthest of limits,” said Bellamy.

Steve Bellamy, The Surf Channel

A full programming palette will be announced shortly, but the channel will kick off with the greatest surf and action sports film of all time, THE ENDLESS SUMMER. Said ‘Endless Summers’ legendary filmmaker Bruce Brown, “The Surf Channel is going to be one of the best things to ever happen to our industry. Giving 10's of millions of people living room access to the sport and culture of surfing is something we have never had before. I stand with the rest of the surf ambassadors to do everything to help this channel be successful!" 

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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: THE ISLAND PRESIDENT (Samuel Goldwyn Films).

See the latest Independent Movie On Demand (IMOD) Trailers here...

THE ISLAND PRESIDENT
The case of damn-good documentary filmmaking… and being in the right place at the right time…
By Cynthia Kane

I must disclose right away: this is not a review. I was not involved in this project, but because I also work for ITVS (Independent Television Service), who is one of the funders of THE ISLAND PRESIDENT, to write a review would seem biased and a conflict of interest. But I can share why I think one might want to see this film and some interesting anecdotes around it.

Director Jon Shenk (LOST BOYS OF SUDAN) and producer Bonni Cohen (THE RAPE OF EUROPA, WONDERS ARE MANY) are young, not-so-emerging, and I consider them their generation’s Steve James, Barbara Kopple, Errol Morris among others, meaning they’re two of the finest 30/40-something documentarians in the U.S. The Bay Area couple are both grads of Stanford University’s documentary program and now make films through their company Actual Films and as well as teach at UC Berkeley’s J-School. Jon is also one of the most sought-after cinematographers in the documentary world.

In short, the fact they made THE ISLAND PRESIDENT is one of the big reasons you should see this.These two have talent, lots of it.

But that’s not all. THE ISLAND PRESIDENT gives us extraordinary access to a man, Mohamed Nasheed who first fought to bring democracy to his country, the Republic of Maldives, then once that battle is seemingly won, finds he has an even bigger conflict on hand. Climatologists predict the Maldives will be underwater by end of this century, thus will no longer exist. It’s is an island nation made up of about 1200 atolls with a population of around 350,000 people, the smallest country in Asia as well as the lowest lying country on Earth, with an average ground level of about 4 feet above sea level.

The Maldives won their independence from the UK in 1965, but political infighting caused much unrest and the country found themselves under the dictatorship of Mautoom Abdul Gayoom for 30 years before our story begins. Our protagonist, Nasheed, affectionately known by his countrymen as Anni, was educated in Britain but returned to the Maldives to become a dissenter and journalist. An article in the opposition newspaper, Sangu, resulted in his arrest and detention leading to his being held in solitary confinement for 18 months. Over the next years he was arrested and detained again, tortured and finally exiled all for his criticism of the dictatorship. He formed the Maldivian Democratic Party and vigorously campaigned for change. Nasheed finally managed to topple Gayoom from his 30-year rule, he found the need to turn to the urgent environmental issues that threaten his homeland.

Mohamed Nasheed / THE ISLAND PRESIDENT (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

Shenk follows the newly elected Nasheed, a slight yet energetically articulate man, from the UN Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen in December 2009 to detail his subject's election and brief reign prior to the summit. He quickly found that the country that he now governed was threatened by much than Gayoom's administration; rising temperatures and an increase in erratic weather mean that the Maldives are being swallowed by the ocean that surrounds them.

From the moment he was elected, Nasheed dedicated himself to raising awareness of this and to trying to force some sort of forward movement in the battle against global warming at the Copenhagen summit. There are intimate inclusions of both joy and despair, along with hushed conversations between high-ranking officials from various countries as President Nasheed desperately attempts to motivate change with the facts proving the very serious and real danger facing his country. 

CABLE TV OFFERS STUDENTS A STRATEGIC GUIDE TO TAKING THE SATS

WITH THE NEW VIDEO ON DEMAND SERIES “MASTERING THE SAT”

The back to school season is upon us and for high school students wanting to go to college it also means preparing for the SATs. Those looking for aid are usually faced with preparing on their own or expensive classes or tutors. Students can now access "Mastering the SAT," a set of Video On Demand (VOD) programs via many cable providers. This comprehensive study method for the SATs is developed by educational programming producers Education In Demand and hosted by respected and successful tutor Daniel Fischer. There are six half-hour sections in the collection including two math, two reading and two writing. They are available starting now and throughout the school year. Each is available at $9.95 per show.

The shows include test-taking strategies created by Mr. Fischer based on extensive research of more than 40 recent published SAT and PSAT exams. By tracking the frequency and application of every rule, formula and question type, Mr. Fischer is able to give viewers crucial test-taking insights into how to become not only smart test-takers, but strategic test-takers. As a private tutor, Daniel Fischer’s students scores “generally” rise about 300 points (results variy by student). 

Daniel Fischer / Mastering The SAT (iN DEMAND)

The program is designed to be as interactive as possible, and mimics the one-on-one approach of an actual in-person tutoring session, rather than a lecture. This approach, along with the VOD technology which includes pause, forward, rewind and replay capabilities (as many times as viewers want within 24 hours), allows students to follow at their own pace and arrive at moments of discovery on their own. The result is a learning experience that customizes to students of all ability levels.

In addition to the video programs, "Mastering the SAT" includes free workbooks that match the syllabus of each video tutorial. Each workbook can be downloaded from www.educationindemand.com using a code that they will find once they purchase the video program. Students can then keep the workbooks for future reference and continue to reinforce these invaluable study tools.

Students, parents and educators can access these VOD shows anytime in preparation for any of the seven upcoming SAT test dates: Oct. 6, 2012, Nov. 3, 2012, Dec.1, 2012, Jan. 26, 2013, Mar. 9, 2013, May 4, 2013 and Jun. 1, 2013.

Viewers can locate the programs in the events-on-demand (EOD) categories* in the following providers: Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Cablevision, Bright House Networks, Bresnan, Metrocast, RCN and others.

 Each video consists of 20 or more essential key tactics for taking the SAT (approximately 100 total):

- Tackles the content areas that are worth the most points on test day

-  Explains how to handle all question types

-  Shows how to save time by understanding exactly what kinds of questions will be asked and detailing how to approach each type

-  Analyzes formats of questions – rules and formulas

-  Teaches how these rules can be hidden inside questions

-  Provides general test-taking know how: how to navigate sections, what to tackle first, when to omit, other time-saving short-cuts.

-  Saves time so students will have enough time to focus on the more difficult questions

* Viewers can find "Mastering the SAT" by checking the following VOD menus:

Ted Hope, one of the film industry’s most respected figures, has been named executive director of the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS), effective September 1, 2012. In a surprise move, the veteran film producer will embark upon a new chapter in his professional life, leaving New York City, where he produced independent films through his companies Good Machine, This is that corporation and Double Hope Films, to lead the Film Society into the future. - SFFS.

On Demand Weekly's Editor-In-Chief, Britt Bensen spoke to Ted by phone.

Film Festival Spotlight: Ted Hope - San Francisco Film Society’s New Executive Director
Ted Hope discusses film in the Bay Area, scarcity of control and VOD

On Demand Weekly (ODW): Why did you join the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS)?
Ted Hope (TH): The San Francisco International Film Festival is much more than just a film festival. It is the San Francisco Film Society. Other than perhaps Cannes, Venice, Berlin, I don’t think if someone had called me to come work at their film festival I would have done that. I had been impressed with what has happened with the (SF) Film Society over the years under Graham Leggat, from the oldest in the Americas to giving out artist grants and participating in many forms of education.

Graham Leggat (SFFS)

After Graham passed away, they then brought in Bingham Ray who I had collaborated with and admired his rabble-rousing for independent cinema. Meanwhile, for the last 3 – 5 years, I had been climbing up on my soap box saying to folks in the indie film realm, it’s got to change. We have to take charge of what we’re doing. We have to experiment more and broaden the definition of what cinema is and how we create, submit and appreciate it. I started some initiatives on that front, but it’s really slow going.

Bingham Ray (SFFS)

I joked with friends that my profession is independent film producer,

but my hobby is trying to build a better mouse trap of independent films.

How can we make sure that good films get seen? Cause we’re now living in a time that there is no guarantee they will.

When I had my first discussion with SFFS about what I envision as a present day modern day film society to be, they appreciated what I had to say and they asked if I wanted to build it in concert with them. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. How often do you get that mission to work with somebody to build better together? To try to save independent film, help it rise.

Ted Hope (SFFS)

It was about 10 years ago I sold my first company, Good Machine, to Universal. I very much like the idea of big challenges. We aren’t always invited to confront those. It was the right time. I was very receptive to the possibility of the move.

ODW: Where do you see the SF Film Society’s presence in the Bay Area beyond the film festival, including the Sundance Kabuki and the New People’s?
TH: I think it is important to bring year-round programming that is distinct and not available elsewhere. But that is not the only way to serve a community of artists and those who appreciate and support them. I think what has been done at the Kabuki and the New People’s is great, but it’s not a model that is fully working. It’s very hard to program a single screen. It’s also a question of cost and benefit.

New People's (SF)

Can we come up with solutions to bring ambitious, diverse and excellent cinema to the Bay Area?

I can’t claim to begin to say what makes most sense at this time. I need to dig down and speak to the various stake holders and give it a careful look. The festival is in great shape, but trying to figure out the year-round programming compliments is something that needs a much deeper look.

ODW: In the current digital era, do you think a film festival (society) can have a beneficial presence that is not a physical event?
TH: It’s everybody’s responsibility who makes, loves, and earns a living in the film world to look at the challenge that we face: the film business in general is designed around concepts that no longer apply to the world we’re living in. There is the Hollywood system, then the American independent system, that is the most dependent system that one can imagine. I base around the concept of scarcity of control. Can we control an impulse? The scarcity of content, the control of where we access it and the impulse of consumption.

The reality of the world we live in now is one of super abundance, a plethora of great titles generated globally on an annual basis. Some say 50,000 titles. The US is only able to handle 500. It would take the US, the top consumption market in the world, an entire century to consume the annual supply. It’s not something that can be controlled. It’s available everywhere. However you want it. Anytime.

The only reasonable way to deal with it is educated and informed choice. I think that’s what a film society’s goal really is. Not just how we curate the content, but curate the community so they can gather and make known what content most appeals to them. There is a tremendous amount of work the film society can do in that regard for the artist, the investors and those who appreciate it.

Our film culture is entirely market driven.

It requires the creators a level of self-censorship because they want their movies to sell. There is a different way we can start to work to serve the audiences. It opens us up to more diverse subject matter, such as BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD. Folks who are looking at the different values the film would bring to the world other than monetary and profit. As a result they made a film that was incredibly distinct and very ambitious and also succeeded in the marketplace Trying to find how we can continue to make that call to action for ambitious, diverse work is what the film society is all about.

ODW: SFIFF is usually in the spring. Is there anything coming up in the meantime?
TH: When I have something I will make sure you know. I have produced a great deal of movies (ex: AMERICAN SPLENDOR) and started a few businesses. 

American Splendor (Fine Line)

I like to get things done. And yet in calling around to my friends who run other film festivals in America for advice they say. ‘Ted, be willing to go slow. Don’t make too many changes right away’. And I think that is excellent advice. I want to learn the community and organization. We have a great team already in place. I want to take stock of what we have.

ODW: How do you see VOD changing the film landscape, from film festivals using technology to engage film goers to filmmakers taking non-theatrical distribution deals at film markets?

On October 4, 2011, Mark Duplass (DO-DECA PENTATHLON, YOUR SISTER'S SISTER) began tweeting daily movie recommendations available on Netflix (#netflix365). 365 days later, the daily tips from one of today's funniest and candid talents in front of and behind the camera concluded. For someone who wrote, starred, co-directed in multiple films and FX's "The League," where did he find the time?

See the latest Independent Movie On Demand (IMOD) Trailers here...

We salute Mark's effort with his Top 10 List. Let's hope he finds a new interest to cover soon (music, beer, antibacterial soaps, breaking down on set feuds #Marino #Kroll).

 
@MarkDuplass:

Only 10 more @netflix recs before my full year of #netflix365 is up... gonna do a top ten list for the last 10 days...

#10: OLD JOY. Set in the Oregon Cascades, this lyrical, nostalgic tale of old friendship is heartbreaking. #netflix365

#9: HOOP DREAMS. 2 boys want to be NBA stars. Quite possibly the greatest sports doc of all time. #netflix365

#8: HALF NELSON. Ryan Gosling becomes a great actor in this moody drama about a drug-addicted teacher. #netflix365

#7: THE HORSE BOY. A couple journeys to Mongolia to help their autistic son in this beautiful/inspiring doc. #netflix365

#6: BUFFALO '66. Vincent Gallo wants to kill former Bill's kicker Scott Wood. Sad. Unique. Funny as hell. #netflix365

#5: MAN ON WIRE. In 1974, Philippe Petit walked a high wire bw NY's Twin Towers. Stunning, inspired doc. #netflix365

#4: KRAMER VS KRAMER. Streep/Hoffman in their prime as a divorced couple fighting for custody of their son. #netflix365

#3: THIS IS SPINAL TAP. Mockumentary brilliance from Chris Guest and company. This one goes to 11. #netflix365

#2: ROCKY. An underdog southpaw from Philly just wants to go the distance with the champ. Noble. Inspiring. #netflix365

and... the final #netflix365 of 365 days worth of @netflix recommendations is... drumroll...

#1: THE BIG LEBOWSKI. Bc the Coen Bros r an American treasure + the dude is my hero + the film is perfect. #netflix365

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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: HOTEL NOIR, available on only on cable movies on demand.

See the latest Independent Movie On Demand (IMOD) Trailers here...

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By Chris Claro