Samsara is a word that describes the ever turning wheel of life. It is a concept both intimate and vast – the perfect subject for filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, whose previous collaborations include Chronos and Baraka, and who, in the last 20 years, have travelled to over 58 countries together in the pursuit of unique imagery. Samsara takes the form of a nonverbal, guided meditation that will transform viewers in countries around the world as they are swept along a journey of the soul. Through powerful images pristinely photographed in 70mm and a dynamic music score, the film illuminates the links between humanity and the rest of the nature, showing how our life cycle mirrors the rhythm of the planet.
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Pat Tillman never thought of himself as a hero. His choice to leave a multimillion-dollar football contract and join the military wasn’t done for any reason other than he felt it was the right thing to do. The fact that the military manipulated his tragic death in the line of duty into a propaganda tool is unfathomable and thoroughly explored in Amir Bar-Lev’s riveting and enraging documentary.
It’s 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the “Rumble in the Jungle” is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America’s top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.
Featuring never-before-seen home movies and photographs, musician Bill Wyman opens up his vast personal archives to share stories and memories of his three-decade stint as bassist of the Rolling Stones.
The Veterans in this film, different across race, class, and culture – men and women, African Americans and Latinos, gay and straight…flesh out our different storylines. Their differing backgrounds and experiences express the full range of combat soldiery. Challenged by unemployment, rape, child abuse, homelessness, suicidal ideation, drug and alcohol addiction and more, what we witness through them is an emotional hurricane. Though at times terrifying, shocking, and emotionally wrenching, their stories of transformation ultimately prove tremendously uplifting, filled with humor and spirit, buoyed all the more by the expansive hearts of the men and women who serve them.
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If Bugs Bunny were to direct his signature inquiry–“What’s up, doc?”–toward the modern-day Warner Bros. creative team, he wouldn’t be far off. For 1001 Rabbit Tales, they’ve doctored up a batch of classic cartoons featuring the carrot muncher and his bumbling comrades and bundled them, near seamlessly, into a feature-length film. Here’s the premise: Bugs and Daffy, both book salesmen, are competing to sell the most copies of a kids’ book. Instead of burrowing a beeline to his sales territory (he should have made a left at Albuquerque), Bugs ends up in the castle of Yosemite Sam, here a harem-leading honcho. Sam’s pain-in-the-spurs son, Prince Abalaba, needs somebody to read him stories; Bugs, who’d sooner take the job than suffer the alternative, that involving being boiled in oil, signs on.
America’s Blues takes a new angle on the Blues, focusing on, not only the musical impact it has had on all forms of Popular American Music, but also the influence it has had on art, fashion, language, film and racial equality.
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