As the dissociated convenience of the Internet and globalized corporate culture continue to shut down brick-and-mortar video stores, what will happen to the longstanding, local hangouts with their rugged individuals known as clerks and the communities who love them? Videosyncracy follows three very different video rental stores as they negotiate their survival in three distinct Los Angeles neighborhoods: Old Bank DVD in the Downtown arts district, Vidiots in sunny seaside Santa Monica, and Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee in bustling North Hollywood. Their stories chronicle not only the birth and twilight of a particular kind of corner store, but also decades of personal lives intertwined with those of their communities, the new challenges and facilities of a rapidly changing world, and an enduring love of the movies, a slice of Americana on the brink of disappearance yet defiant to the end.
Using testimonies by pioneers and witnesses of the times, delve into the feverish visual culture the media generated – with far-fetched examples of canine television games, seduction manuals, aerobics class while holding a baby, among others.
Filmmakers and collectors lift the curtain on their manic media obsession that is not only a huge part of their lives, but the lifeblood of their existence!
Baltimore-based drag queen Shaunda Leer (Scott Murdock) discusses why she's chosen to perform in drag for over ten years. She also recounts several stories about her family relationships and concerns about her physical safety as a member of the GLBTIQ community.
This lively documentary explores the rise and fall of physical media from the origin of film all the way through the video store era into digital media, focusing on B-movie and cult films. With icons like Joe Bob Briggs (MonsterVision), Lloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger), Greg Sestero (The Room), Debbie Rochon (Return to Nuke 'Em High), Deborah Reed (Troll 2), Mark Frazer (Samurai Cop), James Nguyen (Birdemic) and many others.
A short documentary about the final weeks of an independent video store in Woodbury, CT.
Tempe Video presents 20 unique, easy-to-apply makeups, all created from materials found around the home and in local costume shops. Professional Hollywood makeup artists introduce you to some of their secrets, explained in easy to understand, step-by-step detail! Don't settle for the same old boring Halloween masks - impress your friends and be the life of any costume party! Makeups include: Zombie, Pumpkin-Head, Lizard, Witch, Cat, Exorcism Victim, Vampire, Alien, Burn Victim, Frankenstein's Monster, Mummy, Creature, Old Man, Phantom, Gargoyle, Robot, Swamp Creature, Evil Clown, Dracula and Ghastly Ghoul.
Megumi Odaka (小高恵美) idol VHS tape, Megumi the Campaign - Idol Roke Zenkoku Jyuudan, 1989. She is best known for the role of Miki Saegusa in six Godzilla films from 1989 to 1995.
Hip-Hop Culture and Graffiti Video Magazine
In late eighties, in Ceausescu's Romania, a black market VHS bootlegger and a courageous female translator brought the magic of Western films to the Romanian people and sowed the seeds of a revolution.
my birthday wish
This MGM short film highlights the work of master make-up artist William Tuttle. As the head of MGM's make-up department, Bill Tuttle has been involved in many of MGM's best known productions. He shows how they make masks of actors' faces that allows them to work on make-up, particularly prostheses or appliances, without the actor having to spend hours in the make-up room.
Equal parts personal essay, intense rumination, and playful satire, this movie laments the death of the American Video Store while it searches for the missing human element in today's digital landscape.
Unleashed from the video vaults of the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA), AGFA MYSTERY MIXTAPE #3: SEQUELITIS is a brand new compilation of the most electrifying found footage mayhem that you’ll see this week. For our third tape, we’re diving into the most controversial, hotly debated topic of all time: HORROR SEQUELS! Thank you for your generous support during these difficult times. And remember: “This makes Guns N’ Roses look like THE BRADY BUNCH.”
Two women in a living room: smoking, playing cards, listening to the radio. As often in Dwoskin’s films, the use of masks, make-up and costumes allows the characters to playfully transform themselves. Shot in colour film, C-film exuberates swinging London energy. In the second part of the film, the women appear to be watching the rushes of the film on an editing table. ”We are making a movie” we hear them say. As Dwoskin points out, “C-film asks how much is acting acted”, an ongoing question in Dwoskin’s cinema. Produced by Alan Power, with Esther Anderson & Sally Geeson.
A feature length documentary shot over 9 months taking a look at the explosion of movies that became available on VHS in the UK.
The team of smart-talkin' toddlers known as Everything Is Terrible! have once again emerged from their VHS cocoons to conjure a jam on culture so culture-jamtastic that we're sorry we can't be there to hold your hand as you watch in dazed amazement. Thousands of hours of brain-boiling footage have been concentrated into an impenetrable jewel of an experience, teach us once and for all that loving well is the best revenge.
After the release of his debut film, documentarian Richard Chase journeys down a rabbit hole to uncover the lost second episode of his initial film's subject: Wise Guys.
Unleashed from the video vaults of the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA), AGFA MYSTERY MIXTAPE #2: LATER IN L.A. is a brand new compilation of the most electrifying found footage mayhem that you’ll see this week. For our second tape, we’ve returned to the hallowed halls of “behind the scenes” horror for another hour-long joyride of F-U-N. Thank you for your incredible support during these difficult times. And remember: “Do what your spirit tells you.”
An experimental journey into nostalgia, media, and ownership.