Come Hell Or High Water: The Battle For Turkey Creek (2013/Bulldog Films DVD)/Cooking At World's End (2015/Film Movement/Omnibus Entertainment DVD)/The Girl From The Brothel (2017/Cinema Libre DVD)/Resistance (2011/Film Movement DVD)/Speed Sisters (2015/First Run DVD)

Picture: B/B-/B-/B-/B- Sound: B/B-/B-/B-/B- Extras: C-/D/C+/D/C Main Programs: B/B-/C+/C+/B

Come Hell Or High Water: The Battle For Turkey Creek

Leah Mahan's moving documentary Come Hell Or High Water: The Battle For Turkey Creek (2013) focuses on Derrick Evans, a Boston teacher, who moves back to his home in coastal Mississippi when the graves of his ancestors are bulldozed in order to build some commercial property in the city of Gulport. Over the course of a decade, Derrick and his neighbors stand up to powerful interests to stand up for their rights and their are consumed by the effort to protect the community where his great grandfather's grandfather settled as a former slave. Things finally start to look up but then when Hurricane Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast and everything changes.

Presented in standard definition with an anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo track, all of which sound and look fine for this nature of documentary film, comparable to what you would see on a streaming service. This is one of the best entries on this list.

A Trailer is the only Special Feature.

Cooking At World's End

Step into the cooking world with this interesting documentary about food that is set against the backdrop of Galicia's coastal provinces. I would suggest watching this on a full stomach, as some of the dishes made in this film are simply mouth watering to look at. Cooking is very much and art and these talented cooks give it their all and take extreme care when serving their guests.

Alberto Baamonde's well shot and cut documentary Cooking at the World's End (2015) follows nine young Chefs, who join forces and share knowledge to transform the cuisine of Galicia and make it a delicacy. Grupo Nove uses radical new techniques to develop an idea of cuisine that brings ties back to the land and tradition in this insightful journey that is about more than just food but of a way of life.

Presented in standard definition with an anamorphically enhanced widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and a nice sounding, lossy 2.0 Stereo Dolby Digital track, the film looks and sounds fine on DVD as it was obviously shot digitally and loses some detail that it would gain in HD.

There are sadlt no extras

The Girl From The Brothel

Ilaria Borelli's The Girl From The Brothel (2017) exposes the dark truth about children in brothels in foreign countries sold as sex slaves to the pedophile market. The film aims to raise awareness of this gross and serious topic, and does so with rich cinematic storytelling and great acting by Ilaria Borrelli, Philippe Caroit, Cannelle Helgey, and Seta Monyroth. However, due to this topic the film is kind of a one time watch for me, though for what it is well executed.

When a woman catches her husband cheating on her with a child at a brothel, she decides to take matters into her own hands and adopt the child and free her from the oppressed society she lives in. Soon, becoming responsible for several children, she finds herself on the run from the evil conspirators of the brothel who care more about prophet than humanity.

Presented on DVD in standard definition with an anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1 with lossy Diolby Digital 5.1 language tracks in English and Khmer. The transfer looks fine for DVD but this film is sure to shine brighter in 1080p. The film is short at 88 minutes in length, but moving pretty quickly and has an interesting soundtrack as well.

Special Features...

Behind the Scenes

''Moon Eyes'' Music Video

Trailer

Photo Gallery

Resistance

If you're a fan or scholar of movies about Nazis, scenic country sides, and characters that you love to hate, then Resistance (2011) might be a film for you! Starring two Game of Thrones actors, Iwan Rehon (one of the most hated characters in Thrones history) and Tom Wlaschiha, plus the always on-point Michael Sheen (Masters of Sex, Passengers, Frost/Nixon), the film isn't much new in the way of Nazi period piece dramas but hits the points that it aims for and features clean filmmaking, however, the pacing is painfully slow, which make deter some.

In 1944, the D-Day for the invasion of Normandy by the Allies has failed and Europe has not been released from their German foes. The men of an isolated Welsh village disappear and their wives believe that they have joined the resistance. Not too long after, German soldiers arrive at the village armed and ready. The farmer Sarah Lewis and the German Commander Albrecht befriend each other along the year despite the hell that is unleashing around them.

Presented in standard definition with an anamorphically enhanced 2.40:1 widescreen aspect ratio, lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track and 2.0 Stereo track as well, the overall presentation of the film on DVD is up to standards and lacks the detail that a 1080p transfer would solve. For a film of this scale, a lot of detail is lost in the compression with the quality comparable to streaming.

No extras.

Speed Sisters

Finally we have the Amber Fares documentary Speed Sisters (2015) for sports car nuts in particular, as it centers around members of the Middle East's first all-women racing team as they fast and furiously speed between the cities of the West Bank in high-octane car races. As mentioned in the doc, it is easy to race sports cars in most places of the world with the exception of Palestine, where the military checkpoints get in the way, and this presents these female races with a whole new challenge in this informative and entertaining documentary film.

In a male-driven sport such as this one in Palestine, it's interesting to see the dedication that these women have to their sport and some of the dangerous situations that they get themselves in. Aside from being beautiful, these women are fun to watch, as they go pull off some nail-biting stunts that racing fans (and feminists alike) will want to be sure to check out.

Presented in standard definition with an anamorphically enhanced widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo language tracks in both English and Arabic (with English Subs), the presentation here is pretty standard for DVD and works fine considering the subject matter of the film. As with anything originating in HD, a high def update would be nice.

Special Features...

- Listen to the official Speed Sisters Soundtrack.

- James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/