Life And Debt

Amazon.com

Set to a beguiling reggae beat, Life and Debt takes as its subject Jamaica's economic decline in the 20th century. The story has reverberations in the plight of other third-world nations blindsided by globalization, like Ghana and Haiti. After England granted Jamaica independence in 1962, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) stepped in with a series of loans. These loans came with strings attached--the kind that would eventually plunge the country $7 billion into debt, stranded without the resources to dig themselves out. Although IMF officials get the chance to have their say, it's clear where filmmaker Stephanie Black's sympathies lie--with the country's underemployed farmers and sweatshop workers. Jamaica Kinkaid (A Small Place) penned the narration, while the soundtrack features some of the "imports" with which this island nation remains mostly closely associated: Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Mutabaruka, who performs the title track. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

An Interesting Topic, But a Superficial Movie.......2007-07-31

There's a great documentary to made about the impact of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on the Third World. Unfortunately, this isn't it. While many documentaries are one-sided, Black doesn't seem to have understood the possible responses to her apparent position well enough even to bother making a case against them. The strength of her argument suffers as a result. (An example: farmers complain about the high nominal interest rates of their loans, but the rates actually seem extremely reasonable given Jamaica's high inflation rate.) Nevertheless, the film may be worth watching simply to hear the perspectives of native Jamaicans, especially the interview with former Prime Minister Michael Manley (presented more fully in the bonus section of the DVD). Listening to the director's commentary may also provide valuable information that might have been better included in the movie, in place of the poetic-but-unpersuasive narration.

a powerful prerequisite for anyone planning a trip to Jamaica (or anyone else, for that matter!).......2007-05-29

LIFE & DEBT, a brilliant documentary by Stephanie Black, takes a cautionary look at the bleak state of the small island nation of Jamaica. Based on a piece written by Antigua-bred writer, Jamaica Kincaid, this film is beautifully narrated by Belinda Becker. What's more, it is greatly benefited by an evocative musical score that includes such musicians as Ziggy Marley, along with an original score by Mutabaruka. The story juxtaposes news reels, candid interview with farmers, former Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley, Deputy Director of the IMF Stanley Fisher, and President of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide (among others), as well as very graphic and honest footage of Jamaican slum life. You can almost smell the rot coming from the garbage dumps children and families must live close to, on a daily basis, because they simply have no other choice.

LIFE & DEBT takes a very sobering look at the effect of twenty-five years of assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), what resulted from this relationship (including the increasing weakening of Jamaican currency, in favor of the American dollar and an increasing struggle for local farmers, as more and more imported produce found its way onto the shelves and into the bellies of Jamaicans and tourists to Jamaica). Throughout the story, we hear "If you come to Jamaica as a tourist, this is what you will see..." LIFE & DEBT makes an especially strong appeal to anyone who arrives in the island nation, and the way in which people tend to appropriate the beauty of a culture (beaches, corn-rowed hairstyles and local food), while turning a blind eye to the stark reality of those who must survive from day to day. The narrator paints the picture of a "typical" tourist. This person is a wealthy American who has the means to come and go from Jamaica, sees the rolling beaches, delicious local cuisine and warm weather. They also see the Jamaican natives, and imagine their life to be quite laid back and worry free. However, the reality is quite the opposite, since most of the poor subsist on less than the equivalent of one American dollar (once numerous taxes take a considerable bite out of their paycheck).

This film is beautiful, on so many levels. Stephanie Black made a bold and beautiful choice in the direction she took with her cinematography. The combination of beautiful and colorful footage of sunsets, and gorgeous flora and fauna, along with black and white montages (to depict the colonialized "past" in contrast with present day Jamaica) was really powerful. What's more, this is the first time I have seen someone respectfully acknowledging the great detrimental effect the WTO (World Trade Organization) and IMF (International Monetary Fund) has had on smaller, greatly disadvantaged nations that have been wrongfully exploited. I commend Stephanie Black for having the guts to bring LIFE & DEBT to the screen. It is as powerful today as it was when it was originally released in 2001.

Another Shame of the American Power Structure.......2007-05-13

Basically, "Life and Debt" concerns the World Bank's, International Monetary Fund's, and other entities' involvement in the economics of Jamaica's and other former colonial nations' ecenomics. Whatever side of the fence you're on concerning America's meddling and stranglehold on other nations, this film is worth watching. It is truly an eye-opener and will hopefully allow you to form an informed opinion.

great documentry.......2007-03-09

i watched this documentry in my urban sociology class. at the end of the semester what my professor said was to go out in the real world and let people know what i have learned. it was pretty inspiring. i bought this movie and showed it to my friends and family. it is extremely realistic and depicts what happened to this beautiful caribbean country. thanks to usa. everyone should watch it especially if you are an american or you live in america. guess american have something to be really proud of. and by the way my professor is an american, a white male.

Worth seeing but..........2007-02-25

In watching this one sided documentary you can't help but be impressed with the excellent quality of the cinematography, the sound track and the touching way individuals speak about the effect that the governments policies have had on their lives. By constantly editing back and forth from local poverty and riots to white tourists enjoying the natural splendor of Jamaica with all the comforts of home, the director establishes a powerful separation of wealth and class. It makes you feel that these tourists are part of the problem and how dare they enjoy their vacation while there are social injustices and poverty that needs to be dealt with in Jamaica. Although a very effective editing tool, it is an unfair use of tourism as tourism is one of the bright lights of the Jamaican economy and is responsible for an ever increasing percentage of the total economy.

The film further goes on to blame the plight of impoverished Jamaicans on the International Monetary Fund, the USA and on big business through the use of interviews with local farmers and factory workers that have been dramatically impacted by the policies that the Jamaican government imposed to get IMF help and foreign investment. The clear message of the film is that the IMF and large corporations are at fault for destroying paradise in the name of greed and globalization, however, I can't help but feel that this would be a more convincing film if they had explored the role of the Jamaican government and the policies that led up to the need for outside investment and loans. Ultimately the Jamaican government made the decision to get in bed with the IMF and this film leaves me with the one question of why?

Encounter in the Third Dimension (3-D) (Large Format)

Average customer rating:

The world of 3d.... impressive
Best 3D IMAX Film
A fantastic encounter!
BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yawn!

Encounter in the Third Dimension (3-D) (Large Format)
Starring: Stuart Pankin , Cassandra Peterson , Harry Shearer , and Andrea Thompson
Director: Ben Stassen , and Sean MacLeod Phillips
Manufacturer: Sling Shot
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005QCWW
Release Date: 2001-10-16

Amazon.com

Without question, 3-D technology has come a long way since the days of red and green cardboard glasses, and Encounter in the Third Dimension is ample proof. This half-hour feature--also available in The Ultimate 3-D Collection, which includes two other films and the H3D "i-glasses" hardware needed to generate the 3-D imaging--tells the story of three-dimensional cinema, in the process showing off a lot of what the technology can do. Elvira's presence is largely incidental; the best section by far is a dramatic tour through an otherworldly chasm. The film's sense of depth is astoundingly convincing, especially during the many point-of-view sequences; crags and dinosaur limbs seem to jut halfway between the screen and your viewing position. The disc's image and color resolution are not as good as we've come to expect from DVD, however.

Originally produced to showcase "large-format" 3-D (i.e., a towering IMAX screen), Encounter features fun snippets of old films and even a few stereographic still photos. Sadly, none of these fills the screen or lasts very long, and the process reverts to standard 2-D imaging in pause mode. The sound is well above average, enhancing the sense of depth with a seamless DTS surround mix that works well even in headphones. --Michael Mikesell

Customer Reviews:

The world of 3d.... impressive.......2006-11-03

First of all, even if the movie is available in 2d and 3d...hum...this is
definitively a 3d movie experience.. worth 4 stars and only 2 stars if
you watch it in 2d. So get your special flicker glases and enjoys those
things that like to come out from your tv.

Best 3D IMAX Film.......2005-12-09

"Haunted Castle" and "Alien Adventure" are great, but the concept and dimensional enjoyment of "Encounter in the Third Dimension" makes it better than the other two. The film is an excellent way of showing how 3D started and how it works with lots of prime examples thrown in, other than the entire movie itself. I do wish the mine ride was longer though (the one which ends with the big, round, stone ball slamming into the tunnel) and there was more shown of the T3 Experience. Sure, the Jules Verne "Journey to the Center of the Earth" ride certainly makes up for it, but the effects in the shorter example were awesome, like the bats. Best of all, the film doesn't look all that dated CGI wise for a 1998 production. Now I've definitely got to get the sequel "Misadventures in 3D" DVD. Noticed something stupid in the credits for "Encounter". Instead of saying "Cassandra Peterson as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark", it redundantly reads, "Elvira as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark". Unlike the other 3D IMAX films, this one is good either in stereo depth form or 2D wise. Of course, the best is 3D since that is the whole point of the story anyway. I highly recommend this movie to all 3D collectors.

A fantastic encounter!.......2005-07-13

"Encounter in the third dimension" contains a pretty neat concept......

Let's film a 3-D documentary IN 3D about the history of 3D and 3D movies, throw in some clips of classic 3D movies and mix them with the latest and greatest in computer animated 3D virtual reality! AWESOME!

The movie has some great old footage, and is very informative while being consistently entertaining. A nice job all the way through- even though Elvira is grossly underused!! I can not wait to see what else NWAVE pictures has up their sleeve. They are definitely on the cutting edge of 3D home entertainment. I have yet to see anything that rivals "Encounter", "Alien Adventure" or "Haunted Castle" on the 3D market!

Very well done!

Do not watch this in 2D, howver; highly recommended for 3D lovers!!!

BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2004-01-19

3-D is WONDERFUL!!!!!I love Encounter In The Third Dimension!!!! I got it with the Ultimate 3-D Collection.

Yawn!.......2003-10-04

The obvious attitude of the producers of this mess was clearly one of superiority. I mean, "After all, we're shooting in IMAX 3D instead of the nefarious over/under format!" Well, whoopdeedoo! I'll take THE BUBBLE, METALSTORM, or AMITYVILLE 3D any day over this. There is some nice computer graphics work here, but there's really no story to speak of. And their so-called "history of 3D presentation" is superficial at best. While surely impressive in Imax, ENCOUNTER looks stupid on your TV screen 'cause everything is covered in a long shot or a medium long shot. Yes, that may work on the giant behemoth Imax screen, but reduce it in size to your TV (even my big 36-inch JVC) and it's pretty unimpressive. Not only that, but if you're watching it in alternating-field 3D with liquid crystal glasses, then you're watching it in half the normal resolution you normally see on your NTSC screen -- so there's next to NO picture detail. If you want a good 3D DVD movie, search the web for one of the alternating field DVD's of something like IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, HOUSE OF WAX, or DIAL M FOR MURDER (sadly only available in 3D via pirated editions because the US distributors don't care enough to bother -- so were only left with legit DVD's of crap like ENCOUNTERS and amatuer videos of murderous clowns on the rampage). I would have given this two stars because it features (very briefly) Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson -- BUT THEY COVERED HER ONLY IN LONG SHOT TOO! They were REALLY stooopid, so they get one star. Boo!

Great Conductors of the Third Reich: Art in the Service of Evil

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Great Conductors of the Third Reich: Art in the Service of Evil
Starring: Leo Blech , Karl Böhm , Wilhelm Furtwängler , Clemens Kraus , and Herbert Von Karajan
Manufacturer: Bel Canto Society
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007NFLYK
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Description

GREAT CONDUCTORS OF THE THIRD REICH includes stunning newsreel footage showing that BÃ¶hm, FurtwÃ¤ngler, Karajan, Knappertsbusch and Krauss, among others, turned themselves and their art into Nazi propaganda. The Nazis wanted to be perceived as men of culture, so they crowned many of their victories with concerts, which they sometimes filmed. "We are bringing the world the greatest art," was their message.

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