Fred Peabody's THE CORPORATE COUP D'ÉTAT makes home video debut on DVD and VOD

If only the noted documentary filmmaker Fred Peabody had stuck more closely to his titular theme of THE CORPORATE COUP D'ÉTAT, this 2018 documentary might have been a more important contribution to the field. As it is, the film mostly tells us what we've already known from countless other docs and/or from simply paying attention to the news: that corporate power has taken control of the political process in the USA (and, for that mater, throughout much of the rest of the world).

Mr. Peabody, shown at left, begins with an interview with philosopher John Ralston Saul (shown at bottom of post) who first warned us of this takeover a quarter century ago.

From there we move to historians, economists and current journalists such as Lee Fang and Matt Taibbi who are trying to keep us abreast of the continuing sellout of our government to corporations and their lobbyists.

Watching Mr. Fang follow one of those politicians down a hall and around corners, trying his best to get her to answer even a single simple question is to experience such frustration and anger that you may come close to having your very own mini-explosion. (That's writer/activist Maude Barlow, below)

The documentary's biggest problem crops up when it gets to the subject of Donald Trump. Granted, that's when practically any and every problem -- country-wise, climate-wise, economy-wise, you name it -- crops up. And while uber-twat Trump would indeed seem the expected outcome of greed and inequality on a scale not seen since the Gilded Age, do we really need to spend so much time having those who voted for this congenital liar explain why they did so? We've read and/or heard all this before, and it seems less germane here than sticking to the original subject would have been .

On the plus side, journalist/activist Chris Hedges  (above, left) and philosopher/activist Cornell West (not shown) both seem more toned down but as intelligent as ever. Hedges takes us to what are called "sacrifice zones" -- places such as Camden, New Jersey, that capitalism has destroyed for profit -- and the view is appalling.

We meet an angry, well-spoken homeless woman (above) who fills us in on hers and her husband's history, view snippets of the 1976 Chayefsky/Lumet movie, Network (also corporation-prescient), and hear Mr West opine that "We're a prisoner of hope," even as he explains that "There's a Donald Trump inside every American. But I also hope and pray that there's a Martin Luther King inside them, too." Amen to that.

Even if half of this documentary seems too far off-subject, what's there is still plenty interesting. And it'll leave you feeling that investigative journalists like Lee Fang are major assets to our crumbling democracy. From First Run Features and lasting just 90 minutes, The Corporate Coup d'État hits the street on DVD and VOD this coming Tuesday, November 12 -- for purchase and (I hope) rental.

Arrow's Blu-ray debut of Billy Wilder's THE APARTMENT proves a multi-faceted delight

TrustMovies had not seen THE APARTMENT -- the multi-Oscar-winning and now classic Billy Wilder movie -- since 1960, the year of its initial release. He was 19 at the time and far too untutored in life to begin to appreciate the film's unusual mix of compassion and cynicism that marks it, even today (hell, especially today), as something rather special. To say that this movie "holds up" is putting it far too mildly. In our current times of me2 and the off-the-charts political correctness that makes an intelligent person want to stop the world and get off, the film is like a slap in the face that wakes you and sets you back on course.

That said, its cynicism -- about male prerogative and the role of women in the workplace back in mid 20th Century America -- still startles.

Mr. Wilder (shown at left), who directed and co-wrote the film with his long-time collaborator, I.A.L. Diamond, pulls no punches in his depiction of the ways in which the male corporate executive treats the female as chattel/accessory -- and worse, how totally accepted all this is by both sexes.

It's the latter, however, that will probably raise viewers' pulses and redden their faces. Come on now, was it ever really like this? Yes, dears, it was.
And kind of still is. For the most wealthy and powerful.

That Wilder was able to make to make both a comedy and a love story from material that ought to creep us out was just part of his skill set. His and Diamond's attention to detail and just the right amount of repetition (to remind us but not club us senseless) plus their ability to set up situations, surprises, jokes and emotions in a manner in which they eventually coalesce and pay huge dividends down the road is, I think, unequalled in American movie history.

The film stars two of the most talented and popular actors of the day -- Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine (above, right and left, respectively) along with an impressive third wheel, Fred MacMurray (below left), playing against his usual happy-family-man type (though some moviegoers will recall his work in Wilder's Double Indemnity).

The tale tells of a corporate schlub (Lemmon) who is good enough at his accounting work but is "getting ahead" by allowing his married corporate bosses to use his apartment as a sex pad for their assignations with their mistresses. Maclaine plays one of the elevator operators in the corporate building who seems to have managed to keep herself aloof from these predatory males.

Much of the comedy arises from the bone-deep hypocrisy and denial of the males, as well as from the enormously adept stars, who make almost everything we see and hear both comic and sad. Even the film's "happy ending," while delicious enough, comes slightly curdled if you allow yourself to consider the character of its protagonists.

He is all too willing to bow to power for a little recognition, while she's ready to use suicide as a way out of a failed romance. Sure, maybe they've changed a bit along the way, and we do get the clinch and the kiss at the finale. But tomorrow? Better not think about that. Yet Wilder has built all of this right in.

The filmmaker is both compassionate enough to see these folk as fallible humans and cynical enough to know how little real long-term change is likely to happen.

Filmed in widescreen black-and-white, the movie's a pleasure to view and hear in this new 4K restoration from the original camera negative, with original uncompressed PCM mono audio. As usual with Arrow Video, the Special Features are many and wonderful. Especially good is The Key to The Apartment, a new appreciation of the movie by film historian Philip Kemp.

From Arrow Academy (released here in the USA by MVD Entertainment Group) and running exactly two hours, the new Blu-ray disc is available now -- for purchase and (I would hope somewhere) for rental.

Streaming sleeper: the Johnston/Mason/Boyes ultra-timely thriller, NOT SAFE FOR WORK

How rare is it to discover a suddenly streamable genre movie that's first-rate yet never even received a theatrical release? Very. Which makes NOT SAFE FOR WORK (TrustMovies has finally learned what the Internet acronym NSFW actually means!) pretty much a must-see, especially for fans of sharp, tight, cat-and-mouse thrillers, of which we see damned few good ones anymore.

As directed by the capable-in-many-genres Joe Johnston, (shown at right) from a smart screenplay by Adam Mason and Simon Boyes, this little movie lasts only 74 minutes, yet for most of its running time is one of those eyes-on-a-screen-from-which-you-cannot-look-away endeavors. It's that tight and exciting.

Best of all, this is a film that relies not upon near-constant special effects but is instead concerned with clever plot mechanics, a very good script and smart dialog to whisk it along, abetted by the kind of direction that knows where to put the camera when and how to cut for maximum speed and intelligibility (the editing's by Rick Shaine).

Add to this a situation that puts you in the midst of Big Pharma, a major corporation, the Mafia and a large law firm -- yes, all of our favorite kinds of people, even though one of these turns out to be a red herring -- and you have a recipe for fast-moving, top-notch entertainment. All the more so for the movie's being near-completely unknown to most movie-goers.

Another smart move: making its hero nothing like a superman (he actually does some dumb things along the way) yet proves someone who, when severely tested, can rise to the occasion. As played by the excellent Max Minghella (above, who it is nice to see in a lead role), this guy is fun to be around, never more so than when he's playing for very high stakes.

The heroine is a pretty and bright secretary (Eloise Mumford, above), and the villain a very smooth-talking fellow (played by JJ Feild, below), who gives his character a most interesting spin.

The major supporting roles are played by Christian Clemenson (below), as the boss of the law firm;

Tom Gallop, as Minghella's co-worker (gasping, below) and Alejandro Patino (shown at bottom) as the building's kindly janitor.

Every cast member nails it. As does this juicy little out-of-nowhere movie. The film's ending has evidently proven problematic for some audiences. Too bad. Considering all we know these days, what happens here could hardly be more on the mark.

In retrospect you may have a few logic questions, but while it's moving along, Not Safe for Work is mostly riveting. It's available now via Netflix streaming, Amazon Instant Video, and on DVD.