Cinema Cycle - LD45

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

SYNOPSIS: Audio and video segments that appear to be for use in a large public showing, such as a planetarium.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Archival stuff of the American Space Race to the Moon.

PROS AND CONS: I don’t know where I got this disk. Probably a .99 cent auction on eBay or something. This is not a film, but a data disc used for some type of presentation on the Apollo Moon missions.

Much is only audio, with no video present, some is archival footage taken from inside the Apollo Moon lander. All this appears to be produced by NASA or some other government agency.

The entire disc is in CAV format and is only one-sided, hence the running time of under 30 minutes.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - License to Drive

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

SYNOPSIS: A young tween worries over his ability to obtain a drivers license and thereby obtain the girl of his dreams.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Upper-middle class 1980’s adolescent male fantasy about cars and sex.

PROS AND CONS: The production value of this film is not half bad. Camera work, staging, action all come off pretty well. However, unless you are just ‘starting’ to go through puberty, this film will be a chore to watch.

A fascinating window on a time in media, before network streaming, when films such as this were cranked out by studios to be shown in multi-plexes at the mall to throngs of young affluent slacker kids.

The concept is a capitalist marketeers dream, focusing on the desire for mobility (a car) which will lead to everything that is desirable in life, including status, sex and admiration.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - War and Peace in the Nuclear Age - Vol 7

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

SYNOPSIS: The status of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States, circa 1980.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: The concept of global politics in the nuclear age and the art of brinkmanship.

PROS AND CONS: This viewing encompassed the last two episodes of the series; “Carter’s New World” and “Visions of War and Peace”.

Interesting enough, this series appears to be available for online viewing for free at the WGBH website.

I have seen this series several time in the past and it only gets better with age. It hammers home the point, that politics and global tension are an ongoing thing, with more twists and turns than we can ever hope to remember. Nothing really changes, except the technology.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - Jenny McCarthy

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

SYNOPSIS: Promo reels for a modeling agency, strung together with titillating interludes.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Lets all ‘like’ Jenny, she is so perfect. Basically a love-fest reel for Ms. McCarthy to show to agents and promoters.

PROS AND CONS: You WISH pornography evolved to this level and stayed there, but alas it didn’t. This is dated material, since most Gen-Xers and Millennials would find little in common with Ms. McCarthy in these video vignettes.

She is cute and spunky to be sure, but also a bit to innocent and overproduced. After 50 minutes of ‘heated’ cycling, what I came away with was a sort of “Harvey Weinstein” moment, where I was auditioning some young starlet for a movie roll in the most lurid way.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

SYNOPSIS: Boy Wizard / Bad Wizard / Plot Twists / Franchise Milking.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Apparently, the current state of mid-adolescent fantasy circa 2005.

PROS AND CONS: First off, this is a truncated review, since there were problems with the disc while viewing the film. That said, I have seen this ‘installment’ before, so I wasn’t missing much.

This is upper crust / slick film making and J. K. Rowlings knows how to weave an interesting (if not labored) storyline. But after this (truncated) viewing I walked away with something else.

This is adolescent fantasy that shows a dark side. A dark side of; secrets, distrust of authority figures, dysfunctional family relationships and ‘hidden’ abilities. Not really the kind of moral compass I would want my child growing up with.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - Glenn Gould - Vol 1

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

SYNOPSIS: Musical performances that are so mechanical and preceice that robots would have a hard time playing them.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: If I could juggle bowling pins, converse in Latin and dance a jig all at the same time, I would feel right at home with Mr. Gould.

PROS AND CONS: I have reviewed several in this series of Laserdiscs, so I am getting pretty accustomed to Mr. Gould’s eccentricities.

He was a genius for sure, but he would drive me nuts after five minutes of conversation. Normal human brains don’t function like his. While he was discussing musical theory with Yehudi Menuhin after playing an elaborate duet by Beethoven, it seemed that I was trying to decipher Aristotle and Plato arguing in ancient Greek.

After watching several of these discs, it becomes apparent, that Glenn Gould was the Lawrence Welk of Canadian Television in the 1970s and 1980s. It seems that the Canadians were a bit past the polka phase back then.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - Suds

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

SYNOPSIS: An impish laundry girl in 1890 London fantasizes about her prince charming.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Historical reference and research. A period piece in cinema’s infancy.

PROS AND CONS: This is archival footage that has been painstakingly restored, with an impressive organ soundtrack. But regarding story and acting it is pretty primitive.

Screenwriting had really not come into an art form for cinema at this point, since the dialog is on title cards (which are lavish is some cases). So what you end up with is a pretty slow paced picture show fantasy.

Two things stand out. This is a period piece shot in the early 1920s, so much of what you see is real for the time period. The viewer quickly realizes that it would be almost impossible to recreate this level of detail with special effects. Also, Mary Pickford, comes off as an almost impish Carol Burnett in this film. Not how I have seen her in other silent classics.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - Tommy

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

SYNOPSIS: A traumatized young boy becomes a cult figure through sensory deprivation and playing pinball.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: 1960s excess in cinema. Visual stunning, but lacking in almost all other categories.

PROS AND CONS: I have always considered Quadrophenia as the premier Rock Opera by Pete Townsend. I have always had issues with the plot and arc of Tommy and it’s attempt to skure modern cult society.

It is a fascinating film to watch as Ken Russell takes what appears to be a large budget and make a visually stunning work, especially for it’s Peter Max look.

Sadly, the music really lacks in this production. The resounding driving rock of the album is not transferred to the film with many of the performances falling flat.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - Sex and the City S1 E10

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

SYNOPSIS: (from Wikipedia)
The four women attend a baby shower for their one-time wild-child friend Laney in her new buttoned-down Connecticut-suburb environs. Carrie is forced to think about motherhood by her late period. Miranda regards the other guests as part of the cult of The Motherhood. Still-single Charlotte fears her dreams of being a wife and mother are slipping away. Samantha throws a "no-baby shower" in response to the one the four women attended.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Woman acting the way all men assume they act when they are only around other women.

PROS AND CONS: (I love this series, nothing else needs to be said. Excellent acting, writing, production, soundtrack, plot)

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.