DVD/streaming debut for João Moreira Salles' IN THE INTENSE NOW, a quiet yet rhapsodic look at revolution, politics, marketing, culture and home movies

It's hard to describe the spell cast by IN THE INTENSE NOW (No Intenso Agora), the 2017 documentary by João Moreira Salles that had its U.S theatrical debut a few months ago and hit DVD and streaming this week.

Although the film deals primarily with the students' and workers' revolution in France back in 1968, it also expands its view to the ill-fated Prague Spring of the same year, and other sort-of revolutions of similar hope, at the same time detailing bits and pieces of the filmmaker's own mother's trip to China and then to Japan -- and what these excursions meant to her.

If this sounds a bit all-over-the-place, the film actually coheres quite beautifully, thanks to Salles' visuals and narration -- the filmmaker, shown at right, who both wrote and directed the documentary, is brother of another noted Brazilian movie-maker, Walter Salles (of Central Station) --  which combine to create a kind of poetry, as well as yet another version of "people's history" (as opposed to what you'll find in most school textbooks).

Though often dealing with violence, trauma and intensity, the movie's overall tone is one of quiet intelligence and thoughtful conclusions, while offering some extraordinary (often actually conflicting) views about events that those of us old enough to remember may find troubling and/or surprising.

Salles is especially good at demonstrating the ways in which politicians, media and ad men can turn just about everything and anything into marketing. Yet he does this in such quiet tones and humble demeanor that, instead of becoming at all hostile to his words and pictures, you'll likely stop, think, and then agree.

The film is full of "home movies" taken at the time of the events that are not what most of us actually saw at the time. Early on Salles tells us that home movies often show us so much more than the filmmaker may have intended, and then proceeds to some fine examples of this, one after another.

My favorite scene in the film (perhaps Salles' too, since he comes back to a still shot of this at his finale) is of a young woman (above) working in the office of the demonstrators during the French upheaval. She is trying her best to allay the fears of the mother of one of the demonstrators who did not come home the preceding night. It's one of the loveliest and most different scenes of this sort I've ever viewed, showing the human side of a would-be revolution in all its glory.

There is so much to see, hear and experience in this 127-minute documentary that I hope you will available yourself of the opportunity. In the Intense Now, from Icarus Films, hit the street on DVD and streaming (via Amazon and iTunes) this past Tuesday, April 2.

On DVD and Amazon streaming: first-time film-maker George O'Barts' PIZZA SHOP THE MOVIE

Time to view and cover another of those movies in which a query arrives via email asking "Would you watch my film?" This time the request comes from a new filmmaker named George O'Barts who is based (or at least his film was shot there) in the Phoenix, Arizona area -- making this the second film of the week to take place in Phoenix. (See Underwater Dreams, for the first.) I've had to say no to more of these requests than I've said 'yes' to over the past few years, so I hope those other filmmakers will forgive me. There's just way too much on all of our plates these days.

Mr. O'Barts, shown at right, has put together a odd little film, super raunchy and semi-barf-inducing at its beginning and end. As the movie's tag line (shown above) has it That's not just sauce on your pizza. Clearly taking its lead from that incident that happened at the diner in the movie Road Trip, O'Barts goes for the gold by retrieving the magic ingredient from the toilet bowl, mixing it with some actual pizza sauce in the blender, and then spreading it over the pie of a guy who refuses to tip. That's the beginning. The ending practically blinds us, as this same non-tipper does some projectile shitting directly at the camera's lens. Erich Rohmer is probably spinning in his grave, thinking, Why didn't I try that?" Still, as an advertisement for a certain cigarette used to tell us: It's what in between that counts.

So how does the remainder of PIZZA SHOP THE MOVIE hold up? Not as bad as you might imagine. For the most past it places those big-time gross-out effects only at the beginning and end. The middle is a kind of late-in-life coming-of-age comedy the takes our hero, a 39-year-old pizza delivery man named Pete (Robert Bielfelt, shown above, far left), and forces him to confront who he is and how he appears to his co-workers: a by-the-book, goody-two-shoes who makes those co-workers feel bad about themselves. Consequently, they get their revenge in various ways, the funniest of which has to do with Pete's previous relationship with a serial killer.

Along the way we get to know a few of the Pizza Shop's leading customers, including the usual misogynistic use of women characters. The one female on-staff is Jenny (Chelsea Breibart, above), a young woman given to tantrums, whose favorite trick is to knee her boyfriend in the balls. What a gal!

Also in the cast are a set of twins who, except for their haircut, look little alike (I'm not sure if this is meant ironically or exists simply for budgetary reasons); Jason, the movie's prime asshole; the Pizza Shop owner and his two wives (below); and his second-in-command, who mostly stands by the phone and takes orders. For the most part the dialog sounds rehearsed rather than lived, and the timing of its delivery is almost always just one beat off for maximum comic effect.

At 97 minutes, the movie is at least 20 minutes too long. Still, there are some laughs to be had here -- particularly for those looking for the grossest kind of humor -- and Mr. Bielfelt's performance is actually pretty good. When the worm finally turns, you'll have sympathized enough to turn along with him.

Initially, the DVD of Pizza Shop The Movie, was available for purchase only at $20 a pop -- a price that I could not countenance having my readers plunk down for something like this. Fortunately, the film is now available for rental via Amazon Instant Video for just $2.99 -- a cost much more in keeping with our trying economic times. 

OUR NIXON: A really odd walk down memory lane -- from Penny Lane

Whew! This is one bizarre documentary, particularly for folk like me who lived as an adult through the Nixon years, often kicking and screaming. (It is made further strange for me by the connection with the bizarre Christian Science religion that I shared with some of Nixon's top staff -- Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Egil Krogh -- though I had left the faith by the point in time that this documentary covers.) What makes OUR NIXON strangest of all is its style: Collected here are what looks like a bunch of home movies, often made by the people at and in the Nixon White House, so that these snippets most resemble the kind of thing that you and I and our own families might have put together. Except, of course, that front and center is -- not granny or your favorite uncle, but instead Richard Milhous Nixon and his parade of (what he would surely want us to imagine as) world-shattering events.

Director and co-producer (with Brian L. Frye) Penny Lane (shown at left) has contrived to give us many of the typical events and usual suspects but not from the usual viewpoint we received at this time from newspapers or the nightly news. Instead we get the view as though it were via the one big happy family that served its master and just happened to film it all. All this functions in a couple of ways: defusing, at least somewhat, much of what many of us feel about this 37th President of the U.S. and at the same time giving us a look at things from a perspective we have not seen. The effect is bracing, often disorienting -- and undeniably weird.

Though maybe it will all seem much less strange to dyed-in-the-wool Republicans. Here it all is: the Pope arrives; there goes John Mitchell (but where is some wonderful footage of his Martha?!); Nixon blathers as men walk on the moon; we get a look at the very early Barbara Walters (above, center, right) as Nixon "opens" China; wow--a visit from Romania's Ceaucescu and his wife (the USA always did -- still does -- love those dictators!); the "Don't tell Henry" moment (gosh, the petty jealousies between Nixon and Kissinger!); and of course Watergate and so much more. There's even a song (below): "Nixon Now for You and Me!")

If you are in any way political, you'll already know how you feel about all of this. Yet, as they say, time is a healer of sorts, so seeing it again via home movies does rather tamp down those angrier feelings. All-home-movies-all-the-time would require more narration, I suspect, so Ms Lane smartly includes quite a bit of official or news footage from the era, which has the effect of adding some professionalism into the mix, while helping keep us alert.

By the time we see "our Nixon" send packing his two right-hand men, Haldeman (above, quite the shutterbug!) and Ehrlichman (below) to prevent, the Prez hoped, his own resignation or worse, and then follow this with his sanctimonious "God bless America -- and every one of you," we're more than ready to bid this guy the long good-bye.

But don't leave your seat too soon. Stay for the end credits that fill you in on what happened and to whom -- as well as let you see the famously unbearable, and it turns out also un-airable, TV commercial for ice cream hawked by Mr. Ehrlichman in his post-administration days. This is a hoot-and-a-half.

Our Nixon -- from Cinedigm and CNN Films and running just 80 minutes -- opens theatrically this Friday, August 30, in New York City at the IFC Center, followed by a limited national rollout.

THE VICTIM: The Biehn family & friends' home movie opens at NYC's Quad Cinema

Written and directed by and starring Michael Biehn, produced by and co-starring his wife Jennifer Blanc, and making use of a number of family friends -- all of whom (including not just the cast, but most of the crew members, too) are generous-ly shown to us via photographs during the end credits -- THE VICTIM is a run-of-the-mill thriller with some interesting things on its mind, without the film-making skills to bring these to much semblance of life.

Mr. Biehn has shown his acting/
action chops a number of times in the past, from the original Terminator movie to the recent and under-rated apocalyptic thriller, The Divide. Here, saddled with writing, directing and acting chores, the load proves a bit too heavy, and the result seems more of a barely believable (and that's being gener-ous) exploitation flick than anything else. This may be exactly what the Biehns wanted to achieve, but even exploitation movies can be fun and fulfilling on certain levels, so I wish they'd done a better job.

Night scenes, which seem to comprise about half of the film, are muddy and difficult to see. Further, Biehn has a habit of introducing his heavy-handed flashbacks -- there are a lot of these -- with a blinding flash coupled with some camera effects (see above), both at their beginning and their end. We get a little sex  (the star still packs an impressive six-pack in the abs department, while Ms Blanc--also above--sports a very good body, too) and a whole lot of violence, from torture to bloody beatings to murder committed and attempted.

Biehn, above, also allows much of his dialog to be shouted rather than spoken, and a little of this goes a long way. The story has to do with a pair of good-time girls out on a double date with a pair of cops. Rough sex turns into accidental death and one of the girls goes on the run.

There is what might be called a "twist" at film's end, though it seemed to me that this had been telegraphed almost from the beginning. The cast, which includes Ryan Honey (above) and Denny Kirkwood (below) as the dirty cops,

and Danielle Harris (below) as the unfortunate victim, does its best with the material given it -- which occasionally rises to some interesting philosophy but at other times is so unbelievable as to border on camp.

The Victim , from Anchor Bay Entertainment, opens this Friday, August 24, in New York City at the Quad Cinema and will also play the UK Frightfest at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square, London, on August 24 and 26, as part of the fest's Discovery program.