D.Film, Volume 1

Legendary French filmmaker Jean Cocteau once said that "film will never truly be an art form until it is as accessible as a pencil and paper." Well, thanks to the advent of digital technology, power filmmaking tools have now trickled down into the mainstream, and anyone with a reasonably fast computer and some spiffy software (even robust freeware and low-cost shareware) can be a bona fide auteur. Ranging from the experimental (such as the high speed visual onslaught of the opening short "Nova Espresso" or the impressive cut-out animation adaptation of "Somebody Goofed," an ultra fundamentalist Christian comic book) to the fairly traditional ("Naked Pavement" a short documentary on photographer Joshua Tunick, best known for his group nude shots on the streets of New York; or "Tattooine or Bust," a collection of soundbites from Star Wars fans around the country waiting in movie lines), D.Film, Volume 1 is--like most compilations--a mixed bag. Of the 10 titles featured on the tape, roughly half are worth the watch. Recommended, with reservations. [Note: a pair of 3-D glasses are "required" for one of the shorts; however, the 3-D effects are so wimpy that the loss of the glasses would not seriously affect the value of the program.] Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)