Category Archives: Recommendations

On VOD: WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, LOU DIMAGGIO?

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.

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CPH:DOX 2018 Overview

Festival:
The 15th CPH:DOX

Dates:
March 15-25

About:
This distinctive Danish event presents over 160 new feature documentaries in addition to retrospective screenings, installations, and more. Continue reading →

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On DVD: LET THERE BE LIGHT

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.

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On DVD: SPETTACOLO

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.

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On DVD: BRIMSTONE & GLORY

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.

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On DVD: FRANK SERPICO

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.

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Special Screening & On VOD: WILD WILD COUNTRY

WILD WILD COUNTRY | Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Coming to NYC’s Stranger Than Fiction series tomorrow, Tuesday, March 13 (first two episodes) and to Netflix this Friday, March 16 (all six episodes):
WILD WILD COUNTRY

Directors:
Chapman Way and Maclain Way

Premiere:
Sundance 2018

About:
An Indian spiritual community attempts to take over a small Oregon town.

I profiled the docuseries before Sundance here.

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On TV/VOD: JANE

Coming to National Geographic tonight, Monday, March 12 and to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, March 13:
JANE

Director:
Brett Morgen

Premiere:
Toronto 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, New York, Mill Valley, London, Philadelphia, Chicago

About:
A poetic portrait of the life and work of primatologist Jane Goodall.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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On TV: THE DEPARTURE

Coming to PBS’s Doc World series on The WORLD Channel this Sunday, March 11:
THE DEPARTURE

Director:
Lana Wilson

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Sheffield, Bergen, Reykjavik, Vancouver, Mumbai, Moscow, Warsaw

About:
A Japanese priest who works as a suicide counselor must deal with the burden of his mission.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

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Miami 2018: Documentary Overview

Festival:
The 35th Miami Film Festival

Dates:
March 9-18

About:
The popular Floridian event presents nearly 100 features, among them 30 documentaries, and offers a distinctive focus on Ibero-American work. Continue reading →

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