Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, March 19:
ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER

Director:
Rebecca Miller

Premiere:
Telluride 2017

Select Festivals:
New York Film Festival, Woodstock

About:
An intimate portrait of the filmmaker’s famed playwright father.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to PBS’s Doc World on the WORLD Channel this Sunday, March 18:
ARMED WITH FAITH

Directors:
Geeta Gandbhir and Asad Faruqi

Premiere:
Sheffield 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Atlanta, Vancouver, Salem

About:
A profile of members of a bomb squad on the Afghan-Pakistani border.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
After 9/11, Pakistan, an American ally in the global war on terror, is plagued by both homegrown and international terrorism. The small yet heroic Pakistani Bomb Disposal Unit is on the frontline of defense, defusing bombs, navigating land mines, and grappling with suicide bombers, all while dealing with financial hardship and familial pressure. Harrowing and suspenseful, Geeta Gandbhir and Asad Faruqi’s compelling film takes us on the ground with this dedicated squad of men who risk their own lives every day for their country.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, March 16:
WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, LOU DIMAGGIO?

Director:
Brad Kuhlman

Premiere:
Santa Barbara 2017

Select Festivals:
Nashville, Beverly Hills, Woodstock Comedy

About:
A former stand-up comedian attempts a comeback.

In the 1980s and ’90s, Lou DiMaggio was a regular performer at Manhattan’s Catch A Rising Star, the same comedy club that helped launch legendary figures like Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Larry David, among many others. After leaving NYC for the lure of Hollywood, DiMaggio soon stopped performing in favor of comedy writing gigs, even winning an Emmy for WIN BEN STEIN’S MONEY. Kuhlman follows DiMaggio as he sets out to return to the stage, twenty years later, and filmed with trepidation that today’s young audience will care what he has to say. To psych himself up, and simultaneously indulge in some enjoyable and often funny nostalgia, the comic visits with old friends from the comedy club circuit, including Larry David, Colin Quinn, Howie Mandel, Susie Essman, and a candid Jeff Garlin, who warns him away unless he absolutely has to perform. When DiMaggio finally does make an awkward attempt, he bombs horribly, but doesn’t let that stop him. While Kuhlman’s largely talking heads-oriented film breaks no new ground, there’s an odd appeal to his protagonist and his fellow comedians’ frank dissection of the pain and work that go into their craft.

New to DVD this week:
LET THERE BE LIGHT

Director:
Mila Aung-Thwin

Co-Director:
Van Royko

Premiere:
SXSW 2017

Select Festivals:
IDFA, Hot Docs, CPH:DOX, Docs Against Gravity, Krakow, Zurich, Sarasota, Leeds, Tallinn Black Nights, Guangzhou, DOXA, Guanajuato, Fantasia, Camden, Bergen

About:
A group of international scientists and engineers attempt to harness the power of fusion.

Seeking solutions to the world’s dependence on fossil fuels and the environmental pollution and devastation that often results from their exploitation, thinkers from around the globe are attempting to build complex machines like tokamaks and stellarators – “artificial suns” which could provide clean and affordable energy via nuclear fusion. Aung-Thwin and Royko profile these efforts, focused largely on the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) tokamak, a massive project that likely won’t be completed until after its creators are long gone. Using creative animation to spruce up the science lesson, this appealing film succeeds in making the potentially offputting, educational-sounding subject matter palatable to a general audience.

New to DVD this week:
SPETTACOLO

Directors:
Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen

Premiere:
SXSW 2017

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Biografilm, AFI Docs, Provincetown, Melbourne, Cleveland, Dallas, Sarasota, Nashville, SF DocFest

About:
Italian villagers transform their lives into an annual play.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 13:
BRIMSTONE & GLORY

Director:
Viktor Jakovleski

Premiere:
True/False 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Sheffield, Docaviv, AFI Docs, Dokufest, DocuWest, Ambulante, San Francisco, Sarasota, Montclair, Guanajuato, Fantastic Fest, Margaret Mead, Antenna Doc, Philadelphia

About:
An immersion into Tultepec, a Mexican city known for its pyrotechnic festival.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 13:
FRANK SERPICO

Director:
Antonino D’Ambrosio

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Traverse City, Martha’s Vineyard, Poland’s American Film Festival, Athens, Vancouver

About:
A portrait of the famed 1970s police corruption whistleblower.

I previously wrote about the doc here.