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I've seen an awful lot of Holocaust documentaries (both for scholastic purposes and for writing research), and thought I'd seen everything that could shock me by now. Then I watched "Night And Fog." It's truly amazing how much poignant footage can be captured in a slight 31 minutes. Yes, there are plenty of familiar scenes for those of us who know our history (and who've seen the excellent BBC series like "Nazis: A Warning From History" and "Inside Auschwitz"), but there are moments in "Night..." that genuinely took my breath away, such as a lingering shot of a building whose sole purpose was to store the hair shorn from prisoners and later sold by the Nazis to wig makers and the like. That scene kicked me in the gut as hard as, if not harder than, the more familiar one we've seen of the warehouse full of shoes taken from prisoners before they went to their deaths.

Short, to the point, astonishingly well shot, and gut-wrenching. I agree with the other reviewers who've said this should be mandatory viewing in history classes. If more documentaries could pack the punch that "Night And Fog" has done, perhaps history would be less likely to repeat itself. A must-see.

I rented this doc after reading about it on the blog of a former Hollywood Blvd "character" (you can catch a glimpse of her as "Fiona," the princess from "Shrek," early in the film). This woman made life on the strip sound bizarre, fun, surreal, heartbreaking, beautiful, life-changing, dramatic...and this film backed up her claims. Most of us, as tourists, don't give a second thought to the costumed characters who pose for photos in the hope of getting tips, but once you see this film, that will change.

As the other reviews indicate, the main thrust of the story here centres around four of the most popular characters that haunt the Mann: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Hulk. Among the many things I wasn't expecting was how well these four performers seem to know each other; I guess I hadn't thought about how much bonding goes on when you're braving the crowds of tourists for several hours a day. It's interesting to see the filmmaker allow each performer to opine about the others, in addition to providing their own backstory and their reasons for how and why they ended up in a superhero costume.

The film is funny, touching, sad and eye-opening. I can't think of any demographic who wouldn't find these people and their lives - so different from what most of us know! - interesting to watch. The fact that the viewer gets emotionally invested in these characters' stories is a testament not only to the film but to the people themselves.

There are also some genuine surprises about the off-the-street lives of the four players, ranging from Superman's story about his movie star mom to the sordid pasts (violence, drug use, marital trouble, homelessness and more) they're all trying to escape. It's equal parts tragic and hopeful.

If you enjoyed this one, the same blog source who alerted me to its existence also recommended two others: "The Reinactors" (dir. David Markey), and "The Ambassadors Of Hollywood" (dir. Archie Gips & Matthew Hunt). Both apparently feature more of the Superman we met in "Confessions..." and also revisit the others, as well as introducing us to a few (like Jack Sparrow, Chewbacca and Elmo) of whom we only caught a glimpse this time around. I'm keeping an eye out for both documentaries, as "Confessions..." was decidedly compelling enough to make me want to know more about the folks behind the masks. See it for yourself and I suspect you'll agree.

This is one of the more bizarre movies I've ever seen, and that's saying quite a bit. As the blurb tells us, a group of rough-and-tumble college kids are out clubbing on Christmas Eve when they're persuaded to spend the holiday at the country house of a pretty girl; after getting ejected for a bar fight, they all pile into a car and off they go. Horror movie tropes tell us this isn't going to end well, of course, which is what keeps us at least mildly interested.

I won't say much more about the plot, as it's fairly self-explanatory as you watch things unfold (although the writers/directors don't seem to worry too much about making things make sense to the viewers - there's no backstory or explanation about the strange, creepy fringe characters, but perhaps it's not necessary). Vincent Cassel is nearly unrecognizable as Joseph, the insane-right-off-the-bat gardener, especially compared to some of his more recent roles (I'm thinking his suave, sexy ballet master in "Black Swan," or his Russian gangster in "Eastern Promises," for example), and he really makes this movie all on his own. His strange obsession with Bart, one of the college boys, is quite disturbing to watch, especially once we find out what his true intentions really are. You can't help but perk up with interest, dread and morbid fascination every time Crazy Gardener Joseph is on screen.

All in all: Not a great movie by any stretch, but passable as a creepy horror film, and Cassel is THE reason to see it. If you're already a fan of his, put this in your rental queue. If you're not, this role may repulse you enough to never want to watch him in anything else!