Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, July 31:
TOMMY

Directors:
Erin Leyden and Gentry Kirby

Premiere:
ESPN (September 2017)

About:
The rise and fall of a heavyweight boxing champion.

This 30 for 30 project looks back at the troubled life and career of Tommy Morrison, who, as a young, up and coming boxer, was spotted by Sylvester Stallone and cast in ROCKY V. Within a few years of that spotlight grabbing opportunity, Morrison faced off against George Foreman, beating the legend during his comeback, and claiming the heavyweight title for himself. While this was short-lived, Morrison’s star was on the rise until he tested HIV positive in 1996, derailing his career and contributing to an addiction-fueled downward trajectory. Despite a somewhat unsympathetic subject, Leyden and Kirby effectively chronicle Morrison’s sad story, which included multiple denials of his HIV status before he finally succumbed to AIDS in 2013.

Coming to NYC’s Film Forum this Wednesday, August 1:
THE ATOMIC CAFE

Directors:
Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader, and Pierce Rafferty

Premiere:
Film Forum (March 1982)

Select Festivals:
SXSW 2018 (restoration premiere)

About:
A compilation of clips from the first decades of the nuclear era reveal an undercurrent of denial and anxiety.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, July 31:
LARGER THAN LIFE: THE KEVYN AUCOIN STORY

Director:
Tiffany Bartok

Premiere:
Hamptons 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Full Frame, Cleveland, Edinburgh

About:
A portrait of a too-soon-departed fashion world pioneer.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC, saying:
Moving to New York City from small town Louisiana in the early 1980s, Kevyn Aucoin found acceptance as a gay man and success in the fashion world. Developing an often overlooked profession into an influential art form, Aucoin became the go-to makeup artist for – and fast friends with – supermodels and celebrities until his tragic death at the age of 40. Tiffany Bartok offers an intimate look at a legendary figure who made people beautiful.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, July 27:
FAR FROM THE TREE

Director:
Rachel Dretzin

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2017

Select Festivals:
Montclair, RiverRun, GlobeDocs, Documentary Edge, IFF Boston, Hawaii

About:
A film essay and career retrospective examining society’s preoccupation with materialism.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to Netflix tomorrow, Friday, July 27:
THE BLEEDING EDGE

Director:
Kirby Dick

Premiere:
Tribeca 2018

Select Festivals:
Seattle

About:
An exposé about the largely unregulated, untested medical device industry and the harmful effects of its products on patients.

Dick, joined by his longtime producer Amy Ziering as well as producer Amy Herdy, presents a jaw-dropping look at the dark side of the $400 billion medical device industry. While acknowledging the many benefits technology has brought to medicine, the film focuses on several devices that have had a disastrous impact on their recipients, including birth control device Essure; vaginal mesh, commonly used in gynecological surgery; the hysterectomy-performing da Vinci robot; and cobalt orthopedic replacements. The project is particularly effective in its use of archival and medical films, but otherwise follows the fairly conventional approach that Dick’s films typically take, with patient profiles and expert talking heads dominating. While not likely to have the same incendiary potential of his most recent films, it serves as an effective – and disturbing – awareness-building tool to expose dangerous devices and shady practices enabled by the regulatory capture of the FDA, which works to benefit the medical device industry rather than safeguard the hgelth of patients.