Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to MUBI today, Thursday, August 9:
THE STAIRS

Director:
Hugh Gibson

Premiere:
Toronto 2016

Select Festivals:
Mar del Plata, Jeonju, Maryland

About:
An intimate portrait of drug addiction.

Over the course of five years, Gibson profiles three individuals who are in recovery, but always contending with their drug addictions. Roxanne details harrowing episodes from her time as a sex worker and worries about the impact of her addiction on her son, Greg still struggles with crack even as he seeks justice for a case of police brutality during an arrest, and Marty, the most talkative of Gibson’s subjects, shares all sorts of stories, including one about an altercation that threatens the progress he’s made in working in harm reduction programs to help other addicts. Shot in a decidedly no-frills style, focused on talking heads telling often too long stories, there’s a rough, almost old-fashioned feel to Gibson’s project that suggests it could have benefited from some tightening. At the same time, this looseness perhaps encourages the deep intimacy that’s achieved with his subjects, an intimacy that’s reflected in the candor they share with the filmmaker and which ultimately proves so compelling for the viewer.

Coming to Logo TV tomorrow, Thursday, August 9:
WHEN THE BEAT DROPS

Director:
Jamal Sims

Premiere:
Miami 2018

Select Festivals:
Frameline, Outfest

About:
A celebration of a Southern African American underground dance subculture.

Sims, an acclaimed choreographer, makes a fitting directorial debut with this loving look at bucking, a dance style developed by African American gay men as an homage of sorts to the cheerleading dance teams of historically black colleges and universities. Celebrating flamboyancy, with teams typically dressed in majorette inspired outfits, bucking is a high energy, athletic dance that has proven an outlet for creativity and a refuge for African American gay men to find a community and alternate family. The film profiles several dancers, but its heart is Anthony, one of the pioneers of the subculture, who heads up Atlanta’s legendary Phi Phi team. Phi Phi, long the rulers of the bucking scene, transitioned to serving as organizers for competitions, but the film culminates in the team staging a comeback, even as dancers relate some of the struggles they still face due to homophobic responses to their participation.

Coming to Investigation Discovery tonight, Monday, August 6:
SUGAR TOWN

Director:
Shan Nicholson

Premiere:
Investigation Discovery (August 2018)

About:
An investigation into the suspicious death of a young African American man while in police custody.

Long known for its sugar cane production, the town of New Iberia LA found itself the subject of national news and federal scrutiny following the 2014 death of Victor White III. Police claimed that the 22-year-old African American man committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest while under police custody, despite his arms being handcuffed behind his back after being searched for weapons. Faced with this preposterous story, White’s family spoke out, eventually triggering a larger investigation into a disturbing pattern of racially-biased policing under the command of the well-connected Sheriff Louis Ackal. While hewing close to true crime investigative conventions, Nicholson’s film proves both compelling and disturbing as it digs deep into the circumstances behind both White’s murder and the larger inquiry into Ackal’s office, culminating in a truly unsettling display of arrogance and presumed impunity by the sheriff during a tense deposition performed by the White family’s attorney.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 3:
KING COHEN

Director:
Steve Mitchell

Premiere:
Fantasia 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Fantastic Fest, Fright Fest UK, Vienna, Glasgow, Florida, Belfast, Cinedelphia

About:
A portrait of a master exploitation filmmaker.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Known as “the John Cassavetes of exploitation,” filmmaker Larry Cohen is responsible for such 1970s cult hits as IT’S ALIVE, BLACK CAESAR, and HELL UP IN HARLEM. Steve Mitchell’s rollicking tribute revisits the heyday of guerrilla filmmaking, when Cohen would shoot car chases, shootouts, and fight scenes without a permit on busy Manhattan streets, with the public none the wiser. Featuring interviews with admirers, including Martin Scorsese, JJ Abrams, John Landis, and Joe Dante, this portrait celebrates a true maverick of American filmmaking.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 3:
SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD

Director:
Matt Tyrnauer

Premiere:
Toronto 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Palm Springs, Rome, BAFICI, Provincetown

About:
The tell-all story of the man who catered to the sexual desires of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Scotty Bowers is an unsung Hollywood legend, known for catering to the sexual appetites of celebrities – straight, gay, and omnivorous – for decades. Filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer captures Scotty in his 90s as he delivers the ultimate counter-narrative of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Prepare yourself for a different take on Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner… the list goes on. Tyrnauer’s portrayal has a touch of GREY GARDENS as Scotty copes with hoarder tendencies to uncover buried secrets.