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Eye in the sky

'SHOULDN'T DEATH BE a swan dive, graceful, white-winged, and smooth, leaving the surface undisturbed?" This question is posed more than once during Johan Grimonprez's Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y (Other Cinema DVD, $24.95). The first time, it's paired with what seems like typical landing-strip footage of a plane's descent. But eventually – in lovingly sustained slo-mo – this particular white-winged bird crashes and explodes. Tongues of flame lick the lens. Bits of debris hit their marks. Plumes of smoke engulf the camera.

Incendiary? Yes. Grimonprez's sniper's-eye chronicle of hijacking and skyjacking played the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1998, even if Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y 's mordant perspective on societies of spectacle truly accrued prophetic meaning a few autumns ago.

It's no mere "accident" when, as one of Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y 's many mock-tabloid intertitles announces, "TERRORISM PEAKS!" a little more than midway through Reagan's presidency. He needed terrorism – the same way his approval ratings needed a bullet in the left lung. Once that unforgettable, unforgivable man donned a cowboy hat to warn, "You can run, but you can't hide," he set the stage for the patronizing patriotism of an even stupider Oval Office ranch hand to make Grimonprez's film even more relevant today.

Telemedia sure loves a showdown. But Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y 's collection of outtakes and not-sanctioned-for-prime-time discards reveals the stories behind the stories that are coffin-boxed between ads. For example, Grimonprez gives the distaff sides of photogenic politics the close-ups they crave. They're more than ready. The first transatlantic hijacker, Vietnam vet Raffaele Minichiello, was matinee idol material. The Amelia Earhart of sky terror, Palestinian freedom fighter Leila Khaled, prepared for her second hostage-taking mission by getting a face-lift. Red Army guerrilla Kozo Okamoto was a hottie.

Since the Ed Herlihys of yesterday are the Bill O'Reillys of today, Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y adopts a more detached, multifaceted perspective regarding political violence. Relating passages from Don Delillo's Mao II and White Noise via voice-over, the movie laments the fact that terrorists now outpower novelists in their "raids on human consciousness." Still, skyjackings weren't required for the novel to become antiquated, and even Grimonprez's film upholds the primacy of visuals over the written word. Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y 's bracing images ricochet between extremity (a woman shrieking for her baby at JFK Airport; pools of blood being mopped off a terminal floor) and absurdity (Soviet-approved bears on unicycles; Boris Yeltsin partying with Daddy Duck) to create a repetitive bitch-slap effect.

The archival mania here possesses a reach and breadth similar to the movies of OCD's Craig Baldwin, and Grimonprez shares Baldwin's irreverent spirit, whether matching another flameout with Van McCoy's "The Hustle," or sharing a especially choice post-Lockerbie account via intertitle. "I was watching This Is Your Life when the plane crashed through the roof, knocking me straight into the TV," Bobbie Miller of Scotland says. Watch Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y and you'll know how she felt. Oh, the humanity. (Johnny Ray Huston)

Sugar and spice and everything tight

As a culture, we share a long history of masturbating to workout videos. But other than Jane Fonda's buttock tucks, few exercise routines for home use are as distinctly sexy as Sweetmoves (www.sweetmoves.com; $19.95), the sex-positive, bun-crunching "bedroom rockstar workout." Four trained instructors lead a series of short routines designed to heat you up, aerobically supercharge your hip swivel, strengthen your yoga stretch, and kegel your way to longer lovemaking and better orgasms.

Creative force Tess Sweet and fellow fit nonathletes "the hot gay guy" and "the hot straight guy" target every muscle in the waist-to-knee zone most critical for sexual stamina. And best of all, they do it in fabulous costumes, from ostrich-feather bikinis to spandex hot pants and body glitter galore. The instructors help keep you motivated ("Slap your ass if you want to!") and provide workout tips ("This one is really good when you have your lover seated behind you"). The accompanying graphics celebrate various body types and sexualities, having fun in the process.

The Sweetmoves DVD is fun to watch, a potential party hit, and a creative idea that our lively San Francisco pervert community will likely embrace. But as real workouts and lifestyle tools, the routines don't always seem thorough enough, nor is there enough instruction regarding how often one should practice to see results. And while the instructors strive to keep the tone carefree, sometimes they're too light with the directions for a beginning bedroom athlete. As foreplay for you and a lover, the workout makes a great addition to the toolbox. But as a regular form of exercise? Believe that you're already a starlet in the sack and keep practicing the real thing. (Karen Solomon)



 
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