Like many, my introduction to reggae music came in the form
of Bob Marley’s Legend album, of
course, and then a high school friend who peddled a much deeper discography of
the genre. I grew to really dig the music, if not always the personal hygiene
habits of those who most embraced it. Still, in the early 1990s, I must confess
I wasn’t really aware of Apache Indian, one of Great
Britain’s most eclectic and electric reggae
performers. At the time I was more into singer-songwriters of a certain stripe,
as well as straight rock ’n’ roll; for a full 18 months or so I was rightfully
under the sway of U2’s Achtung Baby,
my mind completely blown. Then Dr. Dre’s The
Chronic blew up, fusing gangsta rap with catchy neo-funk.

Through embracing his East Indian heritage and its emphasis
on traditions, Apache Indian developed a unique brand of music heavily
influenced by the bhangra style. The emergence of his cross-cultural fusion
sound brought new fans into the reggae fold, and this concert disc from 2006 —
along with The Reggae Revolution, lauded backing band for Sting, Pato Banton, Gregory
Isaacs, Musical Youth, Half Pint and more — celebrates Apache Indian’s canon in
fine fashion.

Recorded on October 21 at the Musicport World Music Festival
in Whitby, North
Yorkshire, Time for Change
Tour runs just over an hour, and finds the charismatic Apache running
through a solid set of call-to-arms grooves against the backdrop of a simple, primary color lighting design. “Tere Toor” kicks things off,
followed by the trumpet-inflected, Hare Krishna-touting “Don Rajah,” a real
up-tempo crowd-pleaser. Next up are “Movie Over India” and “Chok There,” followed
by new tune “Everyday,” which manages to flog a nice melody over some well-worn
traditional lyrics. “Shackle & Chain” slows things down, bleeding into “No
War” and “Om Numah Shivaya.” A two-and-a-half-minute dholo percussion freestyle
summons up amusing recollections of Venice Beach drum circles before giving way
to “Hey Baba,” “Arranged Marriage,” “Ragamuffin Girl” and “Israelites.” There
are “way-o!” shout-outs and calls for rah-speck aplenty, and the band is great,
with guitarist Vince Mills, saxophonist James Renford and keyboardist Mikey
Nanton all superbly aiding Apache’s gifted flow.

Housed in a regular Amray case and presented on a
region-free disc, this DVD comes with a PCM two-channel stereo track and a
Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound track. The former is vastly superior to the
latter; it seems mixed higher and it covers a higher register too. The picture
is fairly clear, and the direction — while full of some kinetic cuts to match
the call-and-resposne of the music — doesn’t overwhelm the material. There are
no supplemental features on the disc, alas. B+ (Concert) C (Disc)

It’s with great admiration and a tip of the hat to its
marketers that I note Primeval
arrived in theaters earlier this year without me actually knowing it was in
fact about a killer crocodile.
Its distributor, Touchstone, you see, sold the movie as a sort of serial killer
safari tale set in a faraway land — all quick cuts, splashed water and ominous
narration. It was a ploy that probably worked out OK, all things considered.
Opening in just over 2,400 theaters the second weekend in January, the movie rang
up $6 million on its way to $10.5 million overall; not at all a big hit, certainly,
but brutal honesty likely wouldn’t have netted Primeval any more lucre. Now with the proper word out, however, the
movie will find its more natural niche audience on DVD… which is to say adolescent-skewing
fans of creature-feature schlock.

Based on the true tales of an African killer crocodile, Primeval follows the African adventures
of disgraced TV reporter Tim Manfrey, played by Dominic Purcell (Prison Break),
who treks to the Dark Continent with hopes of launching a career comeback on
the strength of a story about a 20-foot beast, nicknamed Gustave, with more
than 300 human kills on his resume. It seems a nice investigation on a corrupt
Congressman or pedophilic priest wouldn’t really do the trick, I guess.

The film’s croc is CGI, but Purcell gets up close and personal with an
intriguingly blended human cast, including Orlando Jones (above) as his wiseacre
cameraman Steven Johnson and Brooke Langton as Aviva Masters, a local tour guide and fellow newsie. (Jurgen Prochnow also
costars, for those looking for a connection between this movie and Das Boot.) Unfortunately the characters
are pretty thinly sketched, and director Michael Katleman, a television helmer
making his feature film debut, doesn’t have the means to pull off huge set pieces.
The digital rendering of his “villain” isn’t the best, so he tries to go the cloaked-in-shadow
route, which becomes an exercise in both obviousness and tedium. The aforementioned leading players wring some interesting moments out of their interplay (Jones is always fun to watch), but otherwise Gustave has
only really three big moments in the sun — including one quite literally. The rest of co-writers
John Brancato and Michael Ferris’ material, though, including a local warlord angle, seems
nakedly like what it chiefly is, namely arbitrary padding.

Packaged in an Amray case in turn stored in a cardboard slipcover
with raised effect, Primeval’s DVD release
is packed with some nice bonus features, many of which include puns! Leading
that hit parade is a 10-minute making-of piece, Croc-umentary: Bringing Gustave to Life, which delves into
the computer rendering of its slithery killer. There are also three deleted scenes with
overlaid commentary by Katleman, and a feature-length audio commentary track with
Katleman and visual effects supervisor Paul Linden. Presented in 2.35:1
anamorphic widescreen that preserves the aspect ration of its original
theatrical exhibition, the movie comes with a solidly mixed Dolby digital 5.1 surround
sound audio track — full of naturalistic ambient noise — and optional Spanish, French
and English subtitles. D (Movie) B- (Disc)