Home Media Magazine - February 23-March 1, 2009 - (Page 12) PRODUCT GUIDE DOCUMENTARY Edited by Kyra Kudick www.homemediamagazine.com MVD Bows Two-Disc Music Docs By Billy Gil arch 10 MVD Entertainment Group will release three new music-themed documentaries based on three very different, beloved artists. Linkin Park: Coup D’Etat Unauthorized includes two DVDs: a recut of Linkin Park: Conspiracy Theory in addition to a new film about the band. The $26.95 set covers the span of the rap-metal band’s struggle to get a record deal to its current stance as one of the most popular rock bands in the world. It features rare footage of the band and interviews with the band and journalists, while bonus features include a digital photo gallery, an interactive discography, extended interviews and more. March 10 also sees the release of Morrissey: From Where He Came to Where He Went Unauthorized ($26.95). The two-DVD set houses two programs about the legendary singer, who fronted The Smiths in the 1980s and went on to a successful solo career: Morrissey: The Jewel in the Crown and The Smiths: Under Review. The Morrissey set includes rare footage, musical performances from The Smiths and Morrissey, archival interviews, and interviews with producers, journalists, Tony Wilson of Factory Records, Durutti Column’s Vinni Reilly and more. Special features include extended interviews, the “Hardest Smiths Quiz Ever,” contributor biographies, a digital discography and an interactive gaming feature. Morrissey recently released his ninth solo album, Years of Refusal, on Lost Highway in the United States, to largely positive reviews. Also streeting March 10 is Dee Dee Ramone: History on My Arms, which includes Lech Kowalski’s 2002 documentary Hey! Is Dee Dee Home? about the late Ramones bassist who penned many of the group’s well-known songs. The $19.95 DVD set includes new bonus short films and a bonus CD. “Whether it’s a documentary or a live piece, it’s an abstract equation of what the collectability, the cult status, the subject matter, what kind of frequency of home video releases the artists has had [that determines] what the content is like,” said Ed Seaman, COO of MVD, of what titles the distributor releases. M Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected New Doc Examines Palin, Obama and the Effect of the Media By Erik Gruenwedel epending on which side of the political aisle you stand, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is either an incompetent shill or a genuine populist. To filmmaker John Ziegler, a former conservative radio talk show host at KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles, the Alaska governor is the nicest, most sincere D and seemingly honest person he has ever interviewed. In his new documentary, Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected, Ziegler exhaustively presents the argument that Palin (and GOP presidential candidate John McCain) never stood a chance in the 2008 election since the mainstream media had already anointed Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States. “This was a great injustice that was done, both in the whitewashing of Obama’s [political] record and his reality, and the targeting of Palin to destroy her credibility and assassinate her character,” Ziegler said. The DVD focuses on several infamous episodes that dogged Palin’s campaign, including her unmarried teen daughter’s pregnancy, foreignpolicy comments, lifestyle and questions about her sources for news that Ziegler contends were purposely misreported. “This movie seeks to correct the historical record and also seeks to provoke some kind of accountability for this atmosphere of ridicule and contempt,” he said. Ziegler admitted Palin’s unusual syntax helped compound her rhetorical mistakes, though, he said they were no more egregious than similar missteps by Obama and running mate Joe Biden during the campaign. In the revealing Katie Couric interview in which Palin appeared at a loss when asked where she got her news and what she read, Ziegler said the doc provides a “very plausible” explanation to candidate’s non-responses. He said Couric had shown herself to Palin to be untrustworthy and had on numerous occasions during the interview tried to trap the governor with hot-button questions. He said that ultimately the inquiries became insulting and solely aimed at eliciting mocked responses. “It wasn’t that she didn’t know what she reads, or doesn’t read, it’s that as a conservative, [Palin faced] a reporter that clearly had an agenda,” Ziegler said. Ziegler said he understood — to a point — the public’s reaction. The filmmaker believes Palin will run (and receive the GOP nomination) for president in 2012, but he advises the governor to wait until 2016. “I think she would have a heck of chance once Obama is gone,” Ziegler said. The DVD, which is authored, replicated and distributed by RightReel.com, is available Feb. 23 for $19.99 at www.howobamagotelected.com, with subsequent availability at Netflix, Blockbuster, Amazon and Overstock.com, according to Ziegler. The 115-minute doc contains two bonus features: The complete 43minute Sarah Palin interview with Ziegler in January at her home in Wasilla, and a 10-minute segment showcasing comments from Obama supporters during 2008 election-day interviews. Both the Palin interview and Obama supporter clips have generated considerable media attention, including 2 million views on YouTube, according to Ziegler. He is slated to appear on “The Today Show” Feb. 23 to discuss the film. 12 Home Media Magazine February 23–March 1, 2009 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.howobamagotelected.com http://www.Overstock.com http://www.microcinema.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.