In this brand new episode, master illusionist and showman Derren Brown plans to pull off the perfect crime. He’s bet renowned art collector Ivan Massow that he can steal a painting from right under his nose. In true Derren style, he will tell Ivan exactly which painting he plans to target – a work by Turner-nominated British brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman no less – as well as what time the theft will happen. He’ll even give him a photograph of the person that’s going to take it.
Join Harris, III (Harris "the third"), renowned magician and storyteller, as he explores the depths of deception we often mistake for truth, and discover an alternate life you may not currently be imagining.
The story of magic on TV, the challenges of performing illusions in front of the television cameras, the performers who inspired some of the most successful modern magicians and the celebrity magic fans.
A documentary film exposing the truth about psychics and fortune-tellers. All the ins and outs of magical TV shows and services of the most famous psychics with evidence, names and prices.
Illusionist Derren Brown concocts a psychological experiment in which he tries to manipulate an ordinary person into taking a bullet for a stranger.
Long Tack Sam was an internationally renowned Chinese acrobat and magician. He overcame isolation, poverty, cultural and linguistic barriers, extreme racism and world wars to become one of the most successful vaudeville acts of his time. His showmanship was unrivalled, yet he refused to appear in movies because of the way Chinese were portrayed at the time. A celebration of the spirit of Long Tack Sam's magic and art, this richly textured first person road movie is an exhilarating testament to his legacy and a prismatic tour through the 20th Century. It all begins in a small village in China... https://www.nfb.ca/film/the_magical_life_of_long_tack_sam/
Documentary examining the medieval myth of the Philosopher's Stone, a Holy Grail-type relic which supposedly held the key to alchemy and immortality. Many noted alchemists and adventurers searched obsessively for the artifact hoping to learn its powerful secrets, a quest which allegedly drove some to madness and others to celestial encounters.
International Magic Presents: The Derren Brown Lecture is an 80-minute lecture DVD of close-up mentalism and subsequent discussion of various aspects of Brown's performance. Again, this product is not intended for general consumption but is directed at magicians and mentalists only.
In addition to the insight provided by performers who knew Vernon, including Max Maven, Herb Zarrow, John Carney, Jackie Flosso, Ricky Jay, Steve Freeman and Persi Diaconis, it was an important opportunity for Vernon's children, Edward and Derek Verner, to share their own thoughts and feelings about their father, the magician. It also featured black-and-white silent footage of a younger Vernon demonstrating sleight-of-hand which we had converted and professionally retouched for the film. While the film was very well received, it was only available briefly for purchase as a VHS cassette, which was subsequently pirated. The film pops up regularly online, always low-quality copies of copies shared without any credit to those who made the project possible.
A feature length documentary which invites the viewer to rediscover an enchanted cosmos in the modern world by awakening to the divine within. The film examines the re-emergence of archaic techniques of ecstasy in the modern world by weaving a synthesis of ecological and evolutionary awareness,electronic dance culture, and the current pharmacological re-evaluation of entheogenic compounds.
Sleight of hand magician Ricky Jay blends light comedy and close-up magic to entertain a live audience. He discusses everything from the birth of the classic cup and balls trick to 14th century poetry.
David Blaine will redefine magic once again for an unprecedented live event at a time when the world could use a positive distraction.
Out of the spiritual chaos of the 1960s, more strange cults and unorthodox messiahs have emerged than ever. Charles Manson is seen as the annoying result of libertarianism of the 1960s - the Cain who murdered the Abel from The Love Generation. Or in the words of one commentator; "the Elvis of alienation."
An Honest Liar tells the incredible story of the world-famous magician, escape artist, and world-renowned enemy of deception, James 'The Amazing' Randi. The film brings to life Randi's intricate investigations that publicly exposed psychics, faith healers, and con-artists with quasi-religious fervor. A master deceiver who came out of the closet at the age of 81, Randi created fictional characters, fake psychics, and even turned his partner of 25 years, Jose Alvarez, into a sham guru names Carlos.
Anger discusses his Aleister Crowley-inspired theories of art: How he views his camera like a wand and how he casts his films, preferring to consider his actors, not human beings but as elemental spirits. In fact, he reveals that he goes so far as to use astrology when making these choices. This is as direct an explanation of Anger’s cinemagical modus operandi as I have ever heard him articulate anywhere. It’s a must see for anyone interested in his work and showcases the Magus of cinema at the very height of his artistic powers. Fascinating. (Dangerous Minds)
In his most revealing performance yet, the one-hour special features an exploration into Blaine’s trademark style of street magic as he once again stuns his audience.
Documentarian Karen Cruz profiles eight key players in the Magic: The Gathering scene on its twentieth anniversary in Denver, CO. One of the original fantasy collective card games, Magic has millions of players worldwide and is considered one of the most successful card games of all time.
A group of criminals kidnaps a teenage ballet dancer, the daughter of a notorious gang leader, in order to obtain a ransom of $50 million, but over time, they discover that she is not just an ordinary girl. After the kidnappers begin to diminish, one by one, they discover, to their increasing horror, that they are locked inside with an unusual girl.
Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people.
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.
Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.
After losing their academic posts at a prestigious university, a team of parapsychologists goes into business as proton-pack-toting "ghostbusters" who exterminate ghouls, hobgoblins and supernatural pests of all stripes. An ad campaign pays off when a knockout cellist hires the squad to purge her swanky digs of demons that appear to be living in her refrigerator.
In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization.
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
Light years from Earth, 26 years after being abducted, Peter Quill finds himself the prime target of a manhunt after discovering an orb wanted by Ronan the Accuser.
The story of the miraculous evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain, Canada and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk between May 26th and June 4th 1940 during World War II.
Led by Woody, Andy's toys live happily in his room until Andy's birthday brings Buzz Lightyear onto the scene. Afraid of losing his place in Andy's heart, Woody plots against Buzz. But when circumstances separate Buzz and Woody from their owner, the duo eventually learns to put aside their differences.
The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.
During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
When the creator of a popular video game system dies, a virtual contest is created to compete for his fortune.
In his second year of fighting crime, Batman uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family while facing a serial killer known as the Riddler.