R mpaa Special Interest DVDs & Videos - Browse DVDs & Videos at bizrate for the holidays

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After focusing on the decadent club scene of the 1980s with their film PARTY MONSTER, filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato travel further back in time for this documentary on the cultural impact of the '72 movie DEEP THROAT. When director Gerard Damiano unleashed the film--a witty, yet explicit X-Rated movie starring Linda Lovelace as a fellatio-crazed woman with a clitoris located in her throat--audiences flocked to it in droves. The film was a cut above standard adult fare, and attracted an unusually high percentage of female viewers who reveled in seeing a female character attain sexual satisfaction in the male-dominated world of adult films. With the public's interest piqued, controversy followed, and a court case against the movie prompted the government to try to ban the film outright. This only drew more people to it, and its combined box office is estimated at $600 million--an incredible return on the original $25,000 investment. Or was it? Damiano never made a cent from the film, while Lovelace and co-star Harry Reems made $1450 between them. Lovelace complained bitterly about her treatment on the set in her memoir--the appropriately titled ORDEAL--and Reems had to go through his own obscenity trial, during which he succumbed to the temptations of alcohol and narcotics. Damiano and Reems return to talk about their experiences here (Lovelace passed away in 2002), while the indelible impression the film left on a shocked early-'70s society is fleshed out by comments from Hugh Hefner, Germaine Greer, Camille Paglia, and many others. A truly arresting film, INSIDE DEEP THROAT offers a fascinating lesson about how little the world has changed in regard to pornography and censorship in the 33 years that have passed between Damiano's movie and this documentary.

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Super Size Me

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Super Size Me

In this hilarious yet informative documentary, debut director Morgan Spurlock makes himself the victim of a cruel experiment: he puts himself on a 30-day diet of nothing but McDonald's food. Eating three meals a day exclusively from McDonald's, Spurlock's health quickly deteriorates. The film documents the process from beginning to end, with Spurlock and his doctors making observations and monitoring the changes to his energy level, moods, liver and kidney function, and obviously his weight. As viewers might predict, Spurlock gains weight at an alarming rate, and during this process he offers a shocking lesson about the serious problem of obesity in America. Clearly McDonald's receives the brunt of the blame, as Spurlock shows how the fast-food restaurant directs its advertising at small children, who are converted into faithful consumers of the brand--and its free toy giveaways, bright colors, and Ronald McDonald clown--for life. Spurlock also examines the quality of the food itself, showing the processes by which favorite products like McNuggets are made. He also shows the proliferation of McDonald's chains both in the U.S. and worldwide. Meanwhile, Spurlock's girlfriend--a vegan chef--observes Spurlock's experiment with disgust and disdain, providing one of many comic elements to the film. Educational, fun, and at times downright gross, SUPER SIZE ME takes a different approach to illustrating America's obsession with fast food.

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$4

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Murderball

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$7

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Murderball

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$7

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Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room [Bl...

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Available at 14 stores

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Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room [Blu-ray Disc]

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$15

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Super Size Me

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Available at 10 stores

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$4

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Super Size Me

In this hilarious yet informative documentary, debut director Morgan Spurlock makes himself the victim of a cruel experiment: he puts himself on a 30-day diet of nothing but McDonald's food. Eating three meals a day exclusively from McDonald's, Spurlock's health quickly deteriorates. The film documents the process from beginning to end, with Spurlock and his doctors making observations and monitoring the changes to his energy level, moods, liver and kidney function, and obviously his weight. As viewers might predict, Spurlock gains weight at an alarming rate, and during this process he offers a shocking lesson about the serious problem of obesity in America. Clearly McDonald's receives the brunt of the blame, as Spurlock shows how the fast-food restaurant directs its advertising at small children, who are converted into faithful consumers of the brand--and its free toy giveaways, bright colors, and Ronald McDonald clown--for life. Spurlock also examines the quality of the food itself, showing the processes by which favorite products like McNuggets are made. He also shows the proliferation of McDonald's chains both in the U.S. and worldwide. Meanwhile, Spurlock's girlfriend--a vegan chef--observes Spurlock's experiment with disgust and disdain, providing one of many comic elements to the film. Educational, fun, and at times downright gross, SUPER SIZE ME takes a different approach to illustrating America's obsession with fast food.

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$4

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Fahrenheit 9/11 [DVD]

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Fahrenheit 9/11 [DVD]

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Mr. Untouchable [DVD]

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Mr. Untouchable [DVD]

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Nanking [DVD]

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Nanking [DVD]

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Skid Row [DVD]

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Skid Row [DVD]

This hard-hitting documentary goes inside L.A.'s violent Skid Row neighborhood to show the life of the homeless. Using surveillance equipment, Pras Michel (member of the Fugees) documents his experience living as a homeless man for nine days on the streets of Los Angeles.

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Decade Under the Influence

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Decade Under the Influence

Examining the 1970s, the decade that has come to be seen as North American cinema's most revolutionary and experimental, this reverent documentary directed by Richard LaGravenese and the late Ted Demme interviews a handful of the key players and survivors of that fertile time. Beginning with EASY RIDER (1969) and other offshoots of producer/director Roger Corman's virtual training ground for young directors at b-movie studio American International Pictures, DECADE traces the trajectory of filmmakers such as Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, William Friedkin, and Paul Schrader. With clips from TAXI DRIVER, SHAMPOO, MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER, THE GODFATHER, and many more, the film conveys the richness of talent that the 1970s film world possessed. But the birth of the blockbuster (namely JAWS and STAR WARS) raised the studios' expectations for financial performance in the industry, virtually killing the chances of riskier productions--a development which gave birth to the thriving independent scene we know today. While even the filmmakers go out of their way to point out that their film is by no means all-inclusive, A DECADE UNDER THE INFLUENCE is flashy and informative, a trip well worth taking for both the novice cinema-goer and film scholar alike.

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Unzipped [DVD]

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Available at 15 stores

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Unzipped [DVD]

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Hitchhike to Hell/Kidnapped Coed [DVD]

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Hitchhike to Hell/Kidnapped Coed [DVD]

Two mondo films from the famed Box Office International exploitation film company are compiled on this campy two-pack. In 1977's HITCHHIKE TO HELL, a strange older man who still lives with his mother loves to pick up young female hitchhikers and then kill them. Unfortunately for him, a police captain named Shaw (GILLIGAN'S ISLAND's Russell Johnson) is onto his dirty addiction. In 1985's KIDNAPPED COED, a rich young woman named Sandra is taken hostage by another screwed up mama's boy.

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Letter to the President [DVD]

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Letter to the President [DVD]

Thomas Gibson's insightful, prescient documentary frames current political and social issues in a dynamic way, targeting an audience mostly neglected by current discussions: Black youth. A hip hop FAHRENHEIT 9/11, LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT traces our current repressive government to Ronald Reagan's time in office, when rap music shifted into more political realms as it began to be a hot topic on the Senate floor. Gibson also provides startling links between the government and the sale of crack cocaine in the ghetto; ultimately, the film examines the myriad ways the current administration functions as a repressive agent of control within the Black community. Gibson incorporates interviews with average people as well as countless celebrities, including 50 Cent, KRS-1, Mystic, Amiri Baraka, Ghostface Killah. Narrated by Snoop Doggy Dog, the film also features appearances by Democratic presidential nominee Dennis Kucinich, social commentator Michael Eric Dyson, Larry Flynt, and Damon Dash.

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Manson Family

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Manson Family

This dramatization of the notorious hippies-gone-wrong saga of the Manson Family was 15 years in the works. Directed by underground cult auteur Jim Van Bebber, it is an unflinching, accurate, and original presentation of the familiar, brutal tale. Marcel Games delivers a believably seductive portrayal of the cult leader, blithely easing a group of love generation teens into a life of acid-soaked orgies, gang rape, and ultimately murder. Audiences glimpse the methods by which all outsiders were made to seem less than human, and thus murder victims on the path to spiritual salvation. Van Bebber frames the story through a documentary being put together by a trashy television journalist, so that the story unfolds through interviews with home movie footage; present-day interviews with former cult members; and dramatization to tell the story. The result is an unremitting and unforgettable horror that manages to be strangely beautiful and totally trashy at the same time. Gritty and confrontational, the complete investment and vision of the director is in evidence at all times.

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Standard Operating Procedure [Blu-ray Di...

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Standard Operating Procedure [Blu-ray Disc]

Master filmmaker Errol Morris turns his keen eye to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in this intense and provocative documentary. Using interviews with the soldiers that appeared in the now infamous torture photos, Morris strings their stories together with vivid reenactments and striking digital technology for a wrenching look at the events at the prison. With his trademark straight-into-the-lens interview style, it is chilling to see the familiar faces of Lynndie England and Sabrina Harmon as they try to articulate their experiences. The lawlessness and confusion in the prison quickly become evident, and as their stories unfold, the film slowly strips away the many puzzling questions that surround the incidents, exposing a much larger truth about corruption within the US military, corruption that appears to reach far beyond the handful of soldiers that took the fall for the scandal. Morris's reenactments are extremely vivid, and often shot in a beautifully cinematic style. While these techniques make for riveting filmmaking, they are sometimes considered controversial by documentary purists, and some might criticize his detailed recreations of such deeply disturbing events. However, others might deem the reenactments necessary to really bringing home the reality of what happened. Regardless of his methods, Morris does a masterly job of untangling such a complex, twisted story. He shines a glaring light on one of America's most shameful moments and, more importantly, exposes how little we truly know about our military's methods.

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Hearts and Minds (Criterion Collection) ...

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Hearts and Minds (Criterion Collection) [DVD]

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Searching for Debra Winger

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Searching for Debra Winger

Actress Rosanna Arquette directs this insightful documentary in which she interviews dozens of actresses in their thirties and beyond about they pressures they face in an industry which seems to provide fewer and fewer roles for women beyond their twenties. With commentary from women such as Salma Hayek, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave and more, SEARCHING FOR DEBRA WINGER is a revealing look at an issue that often goes unaddressed within the film community.

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Grizzly Man [DVD]

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Grizzly Man [DVD]

Werner Herzog's persistent inquiry into the motivations of human obsession focuses this time on the self-proclaimed "kind warrior" Timothy Treadwell. A passionate wildlife preservationist and grizzly bear devotee, Treadwell lived unarmed among the grizzlies in a remote section of Alaska for 13 summers, and eventually died in a bear attack. He filmed his experiences during his final five years, and Herzog makes use of this footage in a posthumous portrait of a complex, intriguing character. A youthful blond actor turned nature lover, Treadwell is revealed over the course of the film to have been a troubled soul who found solace in the wild, and the existential questions and difficulties he faced in the world were, fascinatingly, worked out on film. Deftly interweaving Treadwell's quiet moments of nature appreciation with meandering introspection and alarmingly hostile rants, Herzog masterfully captures the enigma of the dead man. Herzog has a genuine appreciation of Treadwell's films, as well as sympathy for Treadwell's apparent unease with the world. Much of GRIZZLY MAN's complexity comes in our growing awareness of Timothy's apparent naivety, his need to see himself as a savior, and his sentimentalizing of nature. However, we are left with the impression of someone unafraid to follow his heart and go to any extreme--even death--in search of peace.

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