Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to PBS’s American Experience in two parts, today, Monday, May 4 and tomorrow, Tuesday, May 5:
GEORGE W BUSH

Director:
Barak Goodman

World Premiere:
American Experience (May 2020)

About:
A two-part biography on the life and career of the 43rd president of the United States.

Part of the storied PBS program’s ongoing series of presidential profiles, director Barak Goodman’s portrait chronicles Bush’s life and unlikely ascendancy to the White House, telling the story of a maverick seeking to come out from the shadow of his father and to assert the legitimacy of his uniquely contested election even as he was forced early in his term to turn from domestic matters to international concerns following the 9/11 attacks. While Bush, his family, and most of his close associates do not participate in the biography, Goodman does secure notables including mastermind Karl Rove. While not as critical of the administration as some viewers might wish, the portrait does confront its various controversies, outright lies, and blunders, often rightly placing the blame on the Commander in Chief, while still making an argument for the complexity of Bush’s presidency.

Coming to virtual theatrical today, Friday, May 1:
CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Director:
Justin Pemberton

World Premiere:
Sydney 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Melbourne, New Zealand, Jerusalem, Hamburg

About:
An adaptation of the unexpected international bestselling economics book.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Based on economist Thomas Piketty’s groundbreaking New York Times bestseller, this accessible and enlightening adaptation explores the history of wealth, power, and inequality from the French Revolution to the present day. Is today’s ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor an aberration, or just the way capitalism is meant to work? Drawing on experts, historians, and even THE SIMPSONS, Justin Pemberton’s film offers a thought-provoking reframing of global economics and a caution for the future.

New to Netflix this week:
A SECRET LOVE

Director:
Chris Bolan

World Premiere:
SXSW 2020 (cancelled)

About:
A portrait of a lesbian couple facing aging and change after six decades together.

Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel met in 1947, beginning a lesbian relationship in a dangerous pre-Stonewall world that necessitated secrecy in public. In private, however, they cultivated a rich social life with other gay people in their home in Chicago, the Canadian couple having relocated there to enable Donahue’s career in the All-American Girls Baseball League – her own A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN story, too briefly touched upon here. Living together through the decades, family members largely accepted that the two women were good friends and roommates, not learning the truth about their love until relatively recently. Filmmaker Chris Bolan, Donahue’s grandnephew, reveals the story of the women’s longstanding relationship against the backdrop of a more contentious development – Bolan’s mother, Diana – Donahue’s favorite and most supportive niece – is on a mission to bring the couple back to Canada to enter an assisted care facility to better handle their health issues, an idea to which Henschel is extremely resistant. This central conflict tellingly reveals the tensions often felt between queer and biological families, though it’s notable that no one here is painted as a villain. Ultimately, Bolan’s film is a sweet, poignant, and affecting tribute to Donahue and Henschel’s enduring love.

Coming to DVD/VOD today, Tuesday, April 28:
DENNIS AND LOIS

Director:
Dennis Scholl

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018

Select Festivals:
BAFICI, Manchester, Long Beach, Garden State

About:
A portrait of a pair of live music superfans.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Dennis and Lois met in 1975 at legendary rock club CBGB, bonding over a shared passion for music. More than 40 years later, these aging super fans are still going strong, befriending their favorite musicians, selling band merchandise as volunteers, housing touring rockers in their toy museum-like home, and traveling all over to catch live shows. Chris Cassidy’s upbeat portrait is about enjoying life at its fullest, with a punk-rock edge.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, April 28:
WHEN LAMBS BECOME LIONS

Director:
Jon Kasbe

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2018

Select Festivals:
Sheffield, New Orleans, Mountainfilm, Denver, Zurich, Planet in Focus, San Diego, Movies That Matter, Docs Against Gravity, Budapest Docs, Wild & Scenic, Washington DC Enviro, Philadelphia Enviro, Indie Grits

About:
A complex exploration of ivory hunting, from the perspectives of ranger and poacher.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to Netflix this week:
CIRCUS OF BOOKS

Director:
Rachel Mason

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Traverse City, Hamptons, Camden, London, Frameline, Outfest, Sidewalk, Atlanta Jewish, GlobeDocs

About:
The filmmaker reveals how her unassuming Jewish parents came to run a legendary gay adult bookstore.

Growing up, filmmaker Rachel Mason and her two brothers knew that her parents, Karen and Barry, ran a bookstore in West Hollywood, but, not unlike other kids, they had no idea of the specifics of the family business – beginning in 1982, the Masons owned Circus of Books, an adult bookstore primarily frequented by gay men. The outgoing Karen, devoutly religious, kept quiet about her business, fearing the response of her Jewish community, while the quieter Barry would later find out the serious risks of peddling “smut” in the Reagan/Bush era when he was threatened with federal obscenity charges. As her parents face the long-in-coming reality that the store must close, a victim of the ubiquity of free online porn, and gay cruising apps, Rachel mines family history to explore how her parents became the unlikely largest distributor of gay porn in the US, while also addressing the contradictions that came with such a profession. Notably, despite catering to a gay clientele and employing many gay men, Karen had serious issues with homosexuality, influenced by her religion. While her views have evolved – she’s become a longtime, ardent PFLAG member – this came only after the very difficult coming out experience of one of her sons, related at length here. As with any portrait made about family members, the personal can dominate the proceedings, and that’s occasionally the case in Rachel’s film, which might have found a bit more balance through more stories about the importance and impact of the store for the community, but the filmmaker’s focus is understandable. As a whole, she has constructed an affectionate and often very funny piece of LGBTQ history that otherwise might have been lost with the shuttering of Circus of Books.

Coming to Discovery in commemoration of Earth Day, tomorrow, Wednesday, April 22:
THE STORY OF PLASTIC

Director:
Deia Schlosberg

World Premiere:
Mill Valley 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Springs Doc, Wild & Scenic, Annapolis, Mountainfilm

About:
An in-depth look at America’s perpetually increasing plastic pollution problem.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Plastic, a seemingly indispensable product, has wrought all sorts of innovations, but at what cost? The plastic industry’s success depends on consumers discarding the product and purchasing new items, creating an endless supply of litter that lingers forever. Filmmaker Deia Schlosberg’s incredibly detailed investigation into the plastic-production pipeline will shock, horrify, and forever change your perception on recycling. Timely and critical, this film is a must-see for anyone who uses this infamous product.

Now available on VOD:
THE LEGEND OF SWEE’ PEA

Director:
Benjamin May

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2015

Select Festivals:
Big Sky Doc, Atlanta, deadCENTER, Flyway, Maryland, Minneapolis-St Paul, Portland, Milwaukee

About:
The rise and fall of a would-be basketball superstar.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Lloyd Swee’ Pea Daniels was a legend on the highly competitive playground basketball courts of NYC, and one of the top college basketball recruits of the late 1980s. Before he was able to play a single game at UNLV, a drug bust ended his college career. But this was far from the end of his story. Benjamin May recounts the unexpected twists and turns in the life and career of the flawed but ever-charismatic sports prodigy in this engaging portrait.