An Honest Liar tells the incredible story of the world-famous magician, escape artist, and world-renowned enemy of deception, James 'The Amazing' Randi. The film brings to life Randi's intricate investigations that publicly exposed psychics, faith healers, and con-artists with quasi-religious fervor. A master deceiver who came out of the closet at the age of 81, Randi created fictional characters, fake psychics, and even turned his partner of 25 years, Jose Alvarez, into a sham guru named Carlos.
Sleight of hand magician Ricky Jay blends light comedy and close-up magic to entertain a live audience. He discusses everything from the birth of the classic cup and balls trick to 14th century poetry.
A feature length documentary which invites the viewer to rediscover an enchanted cosmos in the modern world by awakening to the divine within. The film examines the re-emergence of archaic techniques of ecstasy in the modern world by weaving a synthesis of ecological and evolutionary awareness,electronic dance culture, and the current pharmacological re-evaluation of entheogenic compounds.
In his most revealing performance yet, the one-hour special features an exploration into Blaine’s trademark style of street magic as he once again stuns his audience.
Described as "Houdini with a sunnier disposition," illusionist Lamont Ream extends his magic beyond cards and coins to his work as a live-in caregiver.
Documentary examining the medieval myth of the Philosopher's Stone, a Holy Grail-type relic which supposedly held the key to alchemy and immortality. Many noted alchemists and adventurers searched obsessively for the artifact hoping to learn its powerful secrets, a quest which allegedly drove some to madness and others to celestial encounters.
A kaleidoscopic road trip through modern mystical Americana, revealing the hidden magic that’s happening all around us. A living tribute to the glimmering pockets of light beneath the crumbling facade of the American Dream, inviting viewers to slow down and engage with the unseen.
A two-hour special compiling and ranking 50 of the greatest magic tricks ever seen on TV.
An anthropological study of a cargo cult in a fictitious self-marginalized commune, which existed next to the Moscow Ring Road - a highway that marks the boundaries of the Russian capital - and survived mainly on roadside trash. Although the road provided for their basic needs, the existence of the commune was extremely precarious and highly dependent on the roadway's fluctuations. This dependency led them to develop a cargo cult of the road.
A thrilling journey through legends, belief and folklore, this film goes behind the scenes with the British Library as they search to tell that story through objects in their collection, in an ambitious new exhibition: Harry Potter: A History Of Magic. J.K. Rowling, who is lending unseen manuscripts, drawings and drafts from her private archives (which will sit alongside treasures from the British Library, as well as original drafts and drawings from Jim Kay) talks about some of the personal items she has lent to the exhibition and gives new insight into her writing, looking at some of the objects from the exhibition that have fired her imagination.
One-off documentary in which Britain's best-known magician tries to hit the big time in the United States. Beginning in Illinois, Daniels must rely on the skills acquired during 30 years of performing to build a new career in just four weeks. Narrated by Graham Norton.
Always Amazing is the story of The Amazing Johnathan’s storied career as a comedian/magician, the unlikely friendship that was cemented after meeting a 12-year-old boy while on tour in Australia and the unfortunate terminal diagnosis that brought them back together for one last run of shows.
Jack Parsons: Jet Propelled Antichrist is a story about one of the fathers of modern rocketry and a founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) which as part of NASA still leads the way in the development of rockets and the exploration of space. He was also an occultist, a sorcerer and a magus. The infamous magician Aleister Crowley the self-proclaimed Great Beast called him son. He called himself ‘The Antichrist’ and was repeatedly investigated by the FBI. At the age of 38 Parsons died in a mysterious explosion that made headlines around the US. Officially it was a tragic scientific accident — other interpretations of the event persist to this day.
Filmed at the Piff the Magic Dragon Theatre at the Flamingo Casino and on location in and around Las Vegas, this is Piff's debut hour starring Mr Piffles, Jade Simone, Francis the Squire and Penn Jillette as Pop the Magic Dragon.
Magic & Me is a Hong Kong Documentary starring Jackie Chan
High-tech magician Rudy Coby aka (Labman) and his sidekick Atom serve up a strange brand of Magical science, as they cut off their limbs with a chain saw, shrink themselves, and fix their robot girl.
Amanda Montejo is a trans woman, make up artist, Guadalupana and a witch. This documentary portrait explores different facets of her spirituality and fragments of her past, revealing the duality of her being.
MAXIMÓN - Devil or Saint is a documentary about the controversial Maya deity, also known as San Simon or the drinking and smoking saint of Guatemala. He is a mixture of ancient Maya beliefs and Christianity. The movie concentrates on the people who surround Maximón with their strong personalities, opinions and faith. The documentary gives us a rare view into the rituals and fiestas honoring Maximón. The cult of Maximón is flourishing because he performs miracles. He is also feared and despised because he is used to cast curses that can result in death. Ultimately, Maximón transcends the duality of good and evil, reflecting the Maya cosmovision in which everything in the universe co-exists.
Introduces the historical background necessary for understanding the progenation of John Dee's Enochian system of Theurgy into the world. This video covers the social context of Elizabethan-era England during the lifetime of Dr. Dee. compares the Sigilum Dei Aemeth, as it was used by John Dee, to the Alberti cipher disk, a poly-alphabetic encoder. Dee's version of the Sigilum incorporated both letters and numbers as a means of describing rotation of the disk (or of its elementary components) either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Examines the method of skrying Dee used, a form of crystal-ball gazing, to create his more complex system of Enochian magic.
In this visually compelling and thought-provoking documentary, author, scholar and modern-day Indiana Jones, Jay Weidner uncovers some of the deepest secrets of the ancient western tradition of Alchemy - the knowledge of the fatal season of the apocalypse, the end of time and the great and imminent transformation of humanity. Using the work of the mysterious twentieth century French Alchemist, Fulcanelli, as his foundation, and his discovery of a three hundred fifty year old Alchemical Cross in the South of France, Jay Weidner describes the experiences, insights and powerful evidence that opens the door to a new view of the intimate relationship between myth, history, science and the true destiny of humanity. In doing so, he reveals the ultimate meaning underlying the resurrection of Christ, the message of the Book of the Revelations, the vision of Ezekiel and the Kabbalistic concept of the "Restoration of the World."