On Demand Weekly

SHOCK DOCTRINE - On Demand Direct from the Sundance Film FestivalFebruary 04, 2010

Sundance Selects

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The Sundance Selects film label as part of the Direct from the Sundance Film Festival initiative chose three films being screened at the festival that simultaneously became available nationwide On Demand. "The Shock Doctrine" was one of them and made its North American premiere at Sundance and simultaneously On Demand January 28, 2010.

Directed by Mat Whitecross and Michael Winterbottom, based on the best-selling book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein, this documentary seeks to illustrate the central thesis of the book: that the embrace of Milton Friedman's free market economic theories, mainly by the right has led to increasing exploitation of crises for profit by big business and governments in a manner analogous to insidious "shock therapy treatment."

The filmmakers put forth that followers of Friedman's ideas are very aware of the "utility of crisis." That is, shocks (war, natural disasters, etc.) make for a perfect environment to install free market policies where they were having trouble before.

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THIS MOVIE IS BROKEN Is A Great Fix On DemandMarch 28, 2011

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: THIS MOVIE IS BROKEN (FilmBuff).

THIS MOVIE IS BROKEN Is A Great Fix On Demand

By Adam Schartoff

A hybrid of concert film and narrative film, Bruce McDonald’s THIS MOVIE IS BROKEN does suffer a bit from that bifurcation but ultimately succeeds through sheer youthful enthusiasm.

The band Broken Social Scene (aka BSS), a Toronto-native musician collective, is the perfect choice for a concert film. Like their Montreal neighbors, Arcade Fire, BSS’s music is big and lush with somewhere between 15 and 20 band members.

That there are so many instruments being played at once can obscure the underlying simple melodies, something that makes the music ultimately accessible. While you may not necessarily remember all of the hooks, you’ll leave wanting to see them in a setting as inviting as Toronto’s Harbourfront Amphitheater.

The film’s narrative strain involves a handsome young man named Bruno (Greg Calderone) who, when the film begins, has finally consummated his long lasting crush on Caroline (Georgina Reilly). After a night of lovemaking on his rooftop, Bruno realizes that he is in love with Caroline. Caroline is steely determined to see through her plans to leave for Paris the following day despite Bruno’s earnest appeal for her heart.

That leaves them roughly 24 hours of time together. When the two venture out for breakfast, they run into Bruno’s pal Blake who mentions that BSS has a concert that very evening. After some bragging goes wrong, Bruno and Blake must now come up with back stage passes. A plan is set in motion to go the concert that night after the guys get off from work.

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