Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres today, Friday, December 21:
THE LAST RESORT

Directors:
Dennis Scholl and Kareem Tabsch

Premiere:
Miami Jewish 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Virginia, Key West, Jewish fests in Toronto, Rochester, and Cleveland

About:
A revealing revisitation of Jewish life in 1970s Miami.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Escaping the harsh winters of the Northeast for the perpetual sun of Florida, Miami Beach became a regular vacation destination for New York’s Jewish community after WWII. By the 1970s, many retired there, transforming Miami Beach into a veritable shtetl. Dennis Scholl and Kareem Tabsch’s film revisits this sunburned paradise through the ambitious and captivating work of Andy Sweet and Gary Monroe, two young photographers who captured this aging population for a decade, even as Miami transformed around them.

TAKE LIGHT

Director:
Shasha Nakhai

Premiere:
Cleveland 2018

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Atlanta, Durban

About:
A ground-level look at Nigeria’s electricity crisis.

Despite its status as the largest producer of electricity in Africa, Nigeria struggles to provide power to more than half of its population, and, even for those with access, it’s severely limited and undependable. While the citizenry grows angry, blaming corruption and using illicit means to grab their share of energy at no cost, the government points to limitations in their infrastructure, making it impossible to keep up with the demand of the nation’s 200 million consumers. Nakhai capably if somewhat too cursorily explores this challenge of development and resources through several profiles of individuals connected to the issue, including an electrician who survived a dangerous electrocution, a bill collector faced with the unpleasant task of having to cut power to disgruntled customers who can’t or won’t pay their bills, and a pair of Youtubers known as Two Angry Men, who humorously complain about the state of affairs.

New to DVD this week:
TRANSFORMER

Director:
Michael Del Monte

Premiere:
Austin 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Big Sky Doc, Hot Springs Doc

About:
A portrait of a champion powerlifter as she struggles with body image issues during her transition to female.

For most of her life, Janae Marie Kroczaleski lived as Matt Kroc, achieving fame within the bodybuilding world with a world record in powerlifting before being publicly outed as transgender. Having bulked up to a 250-lb hypermasculine ideal, however, has left Janae conflicted about her ability to meet society’s standards of what a woman should look like, and what space there is for her in the sport to which she has devoted so much of her time and energy. This ambivalence around Janae’s physical transition – together with the refreshingly open and supportive relationship she shares with her teenage sons – helps differentiate Del Monte’s likeable project from the numerous overly familiar stories of transition that have emerged over the past couple of decades.

Coming to iTunes today, Tuesday, December 18:
MR. FISH: CARTOONING FROM THE DEEP END

Director:
Pablo Bryant

Premiere:
Austin 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, IDFA, Hot Docs, Slamdance, Big Sky Doc, Salem, Ashland, Florida

About:
A radical political cartoonist faces the possibility that he must compromise his values to sustain his art.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Mr Fish is a talented political cartoonist known for his subversive and often controversial art. But what happens to an outspoken artist when his once-supportive editors, faced with a vanishing industry, are no longer able to provide a forum for his sardonic take on the world? With a family to support, will Mr. Fish be able to stay true to his principles, or will he be forced to sell himself out in order to sell his art?

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, December 18:
FAHRENHEIT 11/9

Director:
Michael Moore

Premiere:
Toronto 2018

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Busan, London, Tokyo, Docslisboa

About:
Provocateur Michael Moore takes the temperature of America’s polarized political landscape.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
“One of Moore’s best and most incisively funny films” (Rolling Stone) seeks to understand the rise of Donald Trump and the resistance against him. The filmmaker employs his trademark satire to span multiple topics including the Flint water crisis and a stinging critique of corruption among both Republicans and Democrats. He shines a light on insurgent politicians such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib along with the youthful activism stirred by Parkland students.

Coming to Starz tonight, Monday, December 17:
FAIL STATE

Director:
Alexander Shebanow

Premiere:
Austin 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Big Sky, SXSW EDU, Cleveland, Nashville, Brooklyn

About:
An exposé of predatory for-profit colleges.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, December 17:
BLEED OUT

Director:
Steve Burrows

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018

About:
The filmmaker seeks justice for his mother, who suffers catastrophic complications after routine surgery.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US. Comedic director Steve Burrows’ mom is a victim of this sloppy medical system when a routine hip replacement surgery lands her in coma with permanent brain damage. Seeking justice, her son takes on the Goliath of corporate medicine in this legal drama meets medical mystery. The result is a cautionary tale about the future of our profit-driven healthcare system.