Robert Seidman Movies
Filmmakers Arnie Reisman and Ann Carol Grossman collaborate on this documentary detailing the stories of Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein, who became the first highly female entrepreneurs in America by creating the global cosmetics industry. In the early 20th Century, make-up was worn almost exclusively by performers and prostitutes, and considered taboo for the average female. Enter Arden and Rubenstein, two immigrants who arrived in the United States without a dollar to their names, and created what would eventually become a $150 billion global health and beauty industry. Though both women lived and worked only blocks apart in New York City for over half a century, their paths would never cross as they competed to become the biggest cosmetics suppliers in the country. The advertising and marketing techniques they developed would become the cornerstone of the industry, transforming both women into household names while elevating their products from merely respectable, to absolutely indispensable. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Robert S. Levi writes and directs this Emmy Award-winning documentary focusing on the life of pioneering gay composer and jazz musician Billy Strayhorn, whose compositions for Duke Ellington included such timeless classics as "Satin Doll" and "Take the A Train". The driving creative force behind the Duke Ellington Orchestra from the 1940s through the 1980s, Strayhorn produced a staggering body of work that included everything from jazz greats to orchestral suites and even film soundtracks. Though historians and scholars alike are quick to single out Strayhorn as one of the most woefully overlooked American composers in history - he was a virtual unknown when he succumbed to throat cancer in 1967 - his influence lives on even at the dawn of the 21st Century. With this film, Levi offers a comprehensive view of who Strayhorn really was as both a person and a musician, while simultaneously exploring why he remains a relative unknown even to ardent jazz enthusiasts. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1997
- Add A Life Apart: Hasidism In America to QueueAdd A Life Apart: Hasidism In America to top of Queue
With deeply ingrained moral codes based on traditions that date back to the 18th century, practitioners of Hasidic Judaism stand apart from mainstream modern socieities, making the one of the most misunderstood sects of the Hebrew religion. The sect had its origins in Central Europe and did not really establish communities in the U.S. until after the Nazis invaded their homelands. This insightful documentary profiles some of those American communities and the effect they have on their neighbors as well as the way the outside world affects them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This stylishly photographed drama is set in the Lower East Side area known as "Alphabet City." There 19-year-oldJohnny has become a drug lord in charge of the neighborhood gangs and pushers. Unfortunately, he too has a boss and when he asks Johnny to burn down the tenement building that houses his mother and sister, the boy refuses and decides to go straight for the sake of his wife and child. This doesn't set well with his boss who sends gangsters out to kill him. Of course, the gangsters have to catch Johnny first. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Spano, Michael Winslow, (more)
- 1984
- PG
This rather dull thriller has the look of contemporary film noir but none of its depth. As the story begins, desperate-for-cash saxophonist Harry Baranski (Patrick Duffy) decides to rob a house. There he meet its owner, Diane (Catherine Hyland) and begins a rather unusual ménage-à-trois. The story is contrived, and the mediocre direction by Frederick Keller and lackluster performances by the entire cast, makes Vamping a not-very-thrilling thriller. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Duffy, Catherine Hyland, (more)
