When a DVD series kicks off its presentation with “Much of what you are about to see and here is graphic in nature, and may be disturbing to sensitive viewers”, you know you’re in for something that won’t leave you watching the clock. That’s just what we’ll get with The Third Reich, a copy of which the folks out at the History Channel sent out our way to review.

The Third Reich comes in a two disc package, taking up about three hours total. And in it, you’ll get two sides on those discs: The Rise, and then, The Fall. It will follow the German people, using their own film footage, as they found themselves in the midst of a horror partly of their own creation, asking questions that seldom get asked, like how and why a society would hand over power to a man like Adolf Hitler. And when you discover these answers–and while you discover them too–you will find they’re significantly more disturbing…and plausible…than you ever thought.

This is not the normal dose of History Channel–you won’t see a whole lot of one lone man screeching in German to crowds of adulating followers. What you will see is a lot of things you probably haven’t seen before. Some of what you’ll see is actually illegal to show in Germany, which is even more compelling.

And compelling really is the best way to describe these proceedings–downright frightful things will happen right in front of you. The whole thing looks like a train wreck that you can’t stop staring at, a train wreck you’ve seen before yet you know there’s no way to stop. And yet, viewed in this light, suddenly the whole Nazi regime makes a kind of dark, horrible sense. Looking at starving people living in the midst of horror makes it understandable–though not condonable–that they would turn to the direction they did.

You will see things here that are not only new, but alarming. You will see bodies in the streets, desperate people, small children surrounded by horror and all around it the darkly-tinged, comparative mania of people actually living a normal life, complete with dance contests and scenes from carnivals. They even have a term for it: howling with the wolves.

It’s dark, it’s terrifying, it’s scarier than most horror movies you’ll see in recent memory, and it’s all true. This is the power and the terror that is The Third Reich, and the History Channel has really knocked it out of the park with this one.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives The Third Reich a ten out of ten for being probably the most unique, and most disturbing, presentation the History Channel has put on to date.

Speaking here as an artist–and no matter what anyone tells you, writing is an art (even if it is perhaps the most craftsman-like of the art forms, and certainly among the least romantic)–I actually had a lot of respect for what was going on in Step Off, a copy of which the folks out at Lions Gate sent over for me to review. Art is not easy, and it’s seldom kind. But for those willing to stick with it through the thin times, you’ll discover a whole new realm of possibility. And Step Off might be one of the most inspirational movies of its variety for an artist, even if the premise is tired.

Step Off follows Rippa, a collegiate music producer who’s been trying to break into the big time. He’s got lots of problems in front of him–a student loan demanding payment, his baby’s mother constantly demanding payment, industry backbiting, theft, and even some infighting on top of it. But Rippa’s got a lot of heart, and he’s going to struggle his way through in a bid to get to the top.

See what I mean? Horatio Alger is spinning in his grave to know people are still pulling chunks of his work and putting them in whole new settings, but that doesn’t make the proceedings that much less inspirational. Admittedly, we’ve seen this before. Not quite in this fashion, but we’ve seen this before. However, cliches are cliches for a reason: their sheer accuracy. And watching Rippa and his cohorts struggle through their various issues gives all the young artists out there a little extra punch into their own artistic endeavors.

A story in which the new guy shows up, tears up the metaphorical pea patch and then becomes king of the universe isn’t much of a story at all. But a story where a new guy fights his way through a horde of troubles and then makes it big after seeing the bottom of the barrel and tearing his way up through the side of the barrel is a much more satisfying experience.

And yes, despite the cliched nature of Step Off, we’ve got a reasonably inspirational and fairly satisfying experience here. That was more than I expected going in, to be honest, but this came out nicely. There will even be some funny bits, as Rippa leases out his studio to some rappers who look very much like American Idol rejects along with a couple who can’t rap unless they smoke some weed first, and of course, some of Rippa’s competitors as he fights his way to the top of the rap game are interesting enough–you’ll enjoy the Beat Priest and Enigma especially.

The Screenhead Ten Scale rewards a job well done and hands Step Off, a  moderately satisfying performance, a seven out of ten for doing a passable job with relatively mediocre source materials. That this even worked at all is something of a minor miracle.

Screenhead ran a very exciting giveaway to promote Tom Shadyac’s upcoming documentary, I AM. We had an awesome prize pack available for the giveaway. Seven DVDs from Shadyac’s past movies, so you know that this guy can direct!

The lucky winner is Courtney S.  Congratulations Courtney!  We hope you enjoy your DVDs, all signed by Mr. Shadyac himself!

Accepted
Ace Ventura
Bruce Almighty
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Liar Liar
Nutty Professor
Patch Adams

His new movie is described as “a prismatic and probing exploration of our world, what’s wrong with it, and what we can do to make it better,” I AM recounts what happened to Tom after a cycling accident left him incapacitated, possibly for good.  Though he ultimately recovered, he emerged a changed man.

Written and directed by Shadyac  and armed with nothing but his innate curiosity and a camera crew, Shadyac embarks upon a journey to discover how he as an individual, and we as a race, can improve the way we live.

Appearing on-screen as character, commentator, guide, and even, at times, guinea pig, Shadyac meets with a variety of thinkers and doers–remarkable men and women from the worlds of science, philosophy, and faith–including such luminaries as David Suzuki, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lynne McTaggart, Ray Anderson, John Francis, Coleman Barks, and Marc Ian Barasch.

An irrepressible Everyman who asks many questions but offers no easy answers, he takes the audience to places it has never been before, and presents even familiar phenomena in completely new and different ways.

We’ve seen bits and pieces of History Channel‘s series The Universe here before. A season here, a couple of analogues...but for the first time right here, thanks to the History Channel (who sent out a copy for review), we get the whole thing. Because we’ve got The Universe: The Mega Collection to cover today, and it’s as impressive as you might think.

The Universe: The Mega Collection gives us all five seasons of History’s The Universe series, featuring dozens of episodes on a sixteen Blu-ray set, following things like ringed planets, how to destroy the planet Earth, the concept of parallel universes and the idea of a grand overarching multiverse, alien planets and more.

I don’t normally make specific recommendations about a movie, or TV show collection, before you go in, but this time I have to. One, if you’re not already at least passingly familiar with science, you’re probably not going to enjoy this much. They will get into some fairly deep physics at some points, including several motion laws, among other things.

Two, trick out your home theater system. The biggest screen you can get, the best sound system, because you will want it with this. They didn’t just put it on Blu-ray for the storage space (though that’s important too)–the sound quality and the visuals are downright unbelievable here, and History uses it to full effect, with planets crunching and grinding into each other and strange and miraculous vistas. You ever see what Saturn’s rings actually look like? They’re not just solid bands. They’re made up of hordes of individual particles that are constantly grinding together, crashing, reforming, and breaking apart. It’s amazing to watch, and this show will animate it in painstaking–not to mention breathtaking–detail.

So if you have a fondness for the sciences (at least sufficient to have some basic acquaintance with the source material–this isn’t a “Nobel Prize winners only need apply” sort of scenario, just be cognizant that you’re going to get some science here), and a fairly decent home theater system, you’re going to get the most out of The Universe: The Mega Collection. Even if you don’t, though, I still suggest you give it a try anyway, because it’s some deeply, deeply impressive stuff.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives the massive and ultra-complete presentation from the History Channel, The Universe: The Mega Collection, an eight out of ten. It’s fantastic stuff, though anything that requires prerequisites before watching can’t be perfect. Still though, History definitely has something to be proud of here.

The Troll Hunter is the story of a group of Norwegian film students that set out to capture real-life trolls on camera after learning their existence has been covered up for years by a government conspiracy.

Gary Costango and Dan Malenki are our winners for the giveaway to help promote an awesome new site called SundanceNOW. Gary and Dan are our lucky winners of a code that is good for one free movie on SundanceNOW.

Gary says, “I always watch Sundance on cable TV. It’s great.  Dan agrees, “[I'm] always willing to watch an indie flick.”

SundanceNOW offers you the choice to rent or own the best of independent cinema with the click of a mouse. The SundanceNOW library encompasses classic titles and the newest releases from around the globe.

I think this is an awesome opportunity for you to experience a new way to view independent and classic movies online.

The idea for SundanceNOW came from the lack of a single online destination where real independent film fans could find, watch instantly and discuss a broad range of independent, hard to find films from around the globe. We believe that SundanceNow fills that void by bringing hundreds of films to your computer screen. You can watch them immediately (and legally) and find several films from the same director or of the same genre quickly and easily. In addition, new films are constantly being added to the service so there’s always a reason to come back.

Sure, this isn’t a blockbuster nor an action-packed movie. To Catch a Dollar is a wonderful documentary that, hopefully, will enlighten people on a simple yet effective way to help those who are productive but are financial stricken. They just need a lucky break. On March 31, theaters across the country will host a special one night only film event featuring the educational and inspirational film To Catch a Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on American.

The film will introduce American audiences to the potential for microfinance in the United States, and the magic of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus’s Grameen Bank. The film chronicles the inspiring story of Yunus’ idea to bring his model of micro-lending to the United States and depicts the millions of lives it has changed in the process.

The special event will feature Suze Orman, Maria Bartiromo and Robert De Niro, and include special video appearances by Hugh Jackman, Matt Damon and more.

I thought I’d share this trailer with you in hopes it will help someone who deserves a decent break.

There are a lot of people out there who are big World War II buffs. And why not? This was a major portion of twentieth century history, a major portion that shaped the world for years to come even after its completion. This is where the twenty-first century got its start, and from the straightforward to the bizarre, World War II had everything a historian could ever ask for. So that’s why I was glad when the folks out at Entertainment One sent out a copy of their huge new box set, Apocalypse: World War II, for us to review for you guys fully a week before you can even find it in stores.

Apocalypse: World War II is the massive, three disc documentary that takes us through the second World War in all its many horrors and wonders. Using original footage–some of it not even seen on places like the History Channel–you’ll get a full, and occasionally downright horrifying, look at just what all was going on during those amazing, fascinating, and nightmarish times during one of the biggest events the twentieth century had to offer.

Seriously, this sucker’s a monster. This is a three DVD set, measuring in at just under five and a third hours. But at the same time, it’s a surprisingly well put together documentary–massive, well-edited, smoothly flowing. It covers huge amounts of material and presents it in an incredible fashion.

It’s powerful stuff, this is. Trying to watch it all at once may actually prove entirely too much for most people, and frankly, I don’t recommend you try.  It’s a really well put together documentary, but it’s just entirely too much to take on all at once. Split it up over a couple days, though, and you’ll do pretty nicely.

What’s particularly impressive about Apocalypse: World War II is the video quality. Considering you’re dealing with what amounts to recovered footage, there’s not a whole lot of it with artifacts in the video (at least not that I noticed) and precious little black and white. They even go so far as to tell you that the black and white film has been colorized, and maybe one time in a hundred, you can tell that some doctoring has occurred. Most of this film looks exceedingly natural. Old–it’s from seventy years ago, after all–but natural nonetheless.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives this impressive and extensive documentary of World War II a ten out of ten for taking found footage, cobbling it together, and still managing to produce an extensive and truly well done whole.

Morgan Spurlock’s docu-comedy Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold released a new official trailer on the cusp of the announcement that the documentary will open the 18th annual Hot Docs festival.

Pom Wonderful is scheduled for an April 22, 2011 limited North American release and was financed entirely by product placement, marketing and ads.

Variety reports that Hot Docs director of programming Sean Farnel noted the irony of movies high-profile slot. Every sponsor of the movie will be at the opening “It’s like an intervention.”

I love how Spurlock charges the ramparts and tackles brands to promote his film. Though, promotion is not new for Hollywood, it certainly is new territory for the documentary format. Spurlock exploits the phenomenon to new heights, with everything from branded pizza boxes and in-flight film promotions to branded-everything in-film.

Each of the brands represented in the film have sponsorship arrangements with Spurlock, placing him front and center in their brand campaigns and advertisements, both on and off-line. Partners have the unique right to promote themselves in association with Spurlock and the film as “The Greatest.” The agreements also stipulate that Spurlock maintains creative control of the film’s content and final edit.

Anyone else like cake?  That’s not exactly a difficult question, is it? Most people like cake, and that’s why today’s review is exciting. The folks out at TLC sent over a copy of Cake Boss: Season 3 for us to review, and it will be a wonderful mix of cake, comedy, and even a little drama.

Cake Boss: Season 3 will take us to Carlo’s Bakery, currently the purview of one Buddy Valastro and his rather extensive family, along with some extra employees, of course, some of which come and go throughout the season. And the crew out at Carlo’s Bakery will make some impressively involved pastries. But this won’t just be a cake experience; you’ll get to see how these cakes are assembled from start to finish, as well as some background information and the like. And then we’ll have family drama in there, as well as some good old fashioned comedy.

Cake Boss: Season 3 is a surprisingly rich and varied experience–sure, at the end of the day, it’s basically a lot of footage of cakes getting made–but despite the singular nature of what’s going on here, there are so many variations on the concept that it’s actually a big surprise to see what’s going to happen next. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a cake with plumbing before. Thanks to Cake Boss: Season 3, I will see just that.

And I said once already there will be a lot of laughs here. But even I didn’t think there would be quite so many. Sure, I had a couple good laughs in the beginning, but it kept right on going, and by the end of it all, I had laughed myself crazy.

This is almost a sitcom more than it is a documentary, but when you get this many laughs into a show about cake, and then top it off by making it an educational experience (yes, you will learn–they have a couple segments worth of cake history, how cake used to be done, what kinds of cakes were big back when, and so on), well, you’ve got something here of the kind of thing you don’t normally see on television. And the kind of thing that will be well worth your time to check out.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives Cake Boss: Season 3 a nine out of ten. Though it’s somewhat repetitive in nature–it’s all about cake, after all–they will find so many different ways to present the same thing that it seldom gets old. And that makes Cake Boss something downright delicious to watch from TLC.