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Reviews
Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul (1993)
Very entertaining, engaging inside Hollywood tale
As Old Hollywood vanishes and the market-driven economy dictates more of what we see, this is an interesting film to see even if only to reflect on how different things were "back then;" but it's also quite watchable in its own right. For the student of film history, or the newcomer to the world of early Hollywood, this engrossing portrait provides plenty of memorable material, and archival footage that film buffs will eat up. When you know going in that the filmmaker is the grandson of the movie's subject, there is concern that this will be a fawning document of a superficially great man. But, Mr. Orr does a good job of balancing the profile of someone he knew with a sharp editorial eye. The narration is well-written. This is well worth seeing.
Alone (2004)
Heady, evocative exploration of the subconscious
The interior life of a lonely man is examined through the bizarre things that occur in his daily life, leading to a realization about his past. The depiction of his existence is authentically dream-like, yet encourages us to accept it all as reality, which makes this unique effort one of the more interesting short film efforts, with terrific performances by the leading actors. The film is also beautifully photographed, and contains odd and sometimes disturbing images which will remain in the viewers' subconscious well after seeing it. These "weird" images fit right in to the questions the film requires you to ask, such as: what is the human mind capable of experiencing, and how much of it is utterly real to everyone concerned?