Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to VOD this Friday, December 1:
MADDMAN: THE STEVE MADDEN STORY

Director:
Ben Patterson

Premiere:
University of Michigan (October 2017)

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC

About:
About the successful shoe designer, before and after prison.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Ben Patterson tells the unlikely rags to riches story of Steve Madden, who went from selling shoes out of the trunk of his car to becoming the mogul of a billion-dollar designer footwear empire. Then, at the height of his success, he was sentenced to prison because of his entanglement with Jordan Belfort, the infamous “Wolf of Wall Street,” as recounted in the Martin Scorsese film. This candid film offers a look at how the colorful, genuine Madden rebuilt his empire and his life following his release.

Coming to theatres this Friday, December 1:
32 PILLS: MY SISTER’S SUICIDE

Director:
Hope Litoff

Premiere:
Hot Docs 2017

Select Festivals:
AFI Docs, Provincetown, Biografilm, San Francisco Jewish, Woodstock, Denver, Cork, Rocky Mountain Women’s, Boston Jewish

About:
A filmmaker confronts her grief over the loss of her sister.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Years after the suicide of her sister Ruth, a talented but troubled artist, director Hope Litoff tries to make sense of her loss. Renting a studio, Hope begins a meticulous forensic investigation of the belongings Ruth left behind, filling the space with her artwork, diaries, datebooks, and a pharmacy’s worth of prescription-drug bottles. Confronting her grief yields no simple answers and instead threatens to lead Hope on a precarious collision course with her own inner demons.

Coming to Starz tonight, Monday, November 27:
WOMAN ON FIRE

Director:
Julie Sokolow

Premiere:
DOC NYC 2016

Select Festivals:
Thessaloniki Doc, Atlanta, Bentonville, Kansas City, Oxford, Florida, Workers Unite, Frameline, LGBT fests in Boston, Toronto, Austin, Seattle, Memphis, Fresno, Chicago

About:
A profile of a pioneering transgender firefighter.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, November 27:
METH STORM

Directors:
Brent Renaud and Craig Renaud

Premiere:
SXSW 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Nashville, Geneva

About:
A candid, on-the-ground exploration of Arkansas’s meth epidemic.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
In the Renaud brothers’ compelling look at the dark realities of America’s war on drugs, DEA agents face the Sisyphean task of curbing the influx of Mexican ice, a more potent form of meth, into poor, rural communities in Arkansas. On the other side of the law, the film profiles Veronica, a longtime user, as well as her addict sons, providing unforgettable, candid insight on the devastating personal impact of addiction.

Coming to PBS tomorrow, Saturday, November 25:
THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK – THE TOURING YEARS

Director:
Ron Howard

Premiere:
London (September 2015)

About:
A look back at the heyday of Beatlemania.

Taking on an iconic band about which virtually everything already has been uncovered and dissected in countless books, articles, films, and television programs, Ron Howard inevitably will not please all viewers. As clearly signaled by its title, his film is limited in scope to a few short years, 1962-1966, which saw the Fab Four move beyond the UK and take America, and the rest of the world, by storm, until the chaotic nature of their live performances proved to be too much for the band. As an official Apple Corps project, Howard benefits by being able to use notoriously difficult to license music and footage, but also understandably avoids any real controversy with which die-hard Beatles fans – the primary, nostalgic audience here – are already very familiar anyway. What the film does, and does well, is serve as an engaging and enjoyable reminder of the scale of Beatlemania and its unprecedented impact on popular culture.

Coming to NYC theatres tomorrow, Friday, November 24, for a qualifying run before opening early next year:
THE FINAL YEAR

Director:
Greg Barker

Premiere:
Toronto 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, London, IDFA

About:
An inside look at US foreign policy in the last year of the Obama administration.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
During 2016, filmmaker Greg Barker gained access to key members of outgoing US President Barack Obama’s administration – Secretary of State John Kerry, Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, confidant and speechwriter Ben Rhodes and others – for an unprecedented look at the shaping of US foreign policy. While TV shows from THE WEST WING to MADAM SECRETARY have invented dramas from this milieu, never has a documentary captured the real players so much in the moment. The globe-trotting journey makes stops on multiple continents. Rhodes, who’s described as sharing a “mind meld” with Obama, joins the President on historic visits to Saigon, Hiroshima, and Havana. Power seeks to put ordinary people at the heart of foreign policy in Nigeria and Cameroon. Kerry negotiates at the UN for a Syrian ceasefire and bears witness to global warming in Greenland. Every move they make stirs reactions from the media, Congress, and the public. While history books will be better equipped to explore political complexities, Barker’s film excels at showing us the humanity of these policy makers in times of breakthroughs, setbacks, and tragedies. This perspective would be remarkable in any year. But 2016 stands out since US foreign policy changed dramatically under a new administration. The contrast is clear in every minute of the film. As we gain distance from the Obama era, the film will serve as a vital document of that time.

Coming to Netflix tomorrow, Friday, November 24:
CUBA AND THE CAMERAMAN

Director:
Jon Alpert

Premiere:
Venice 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC

About:
Cuba since the Revolution, captured by an American filmmaker over four decades.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
With a career spanning several decades, Jon Alpert now delivers a film that draws upon footage he shot in Cuba for over 40 years. Starting in the 1970s, Alpert’s pioneering work as an independent video journalist won the attention of Fidel Castro, who granted him unique access. Alpert makes repeated visits to the country chronicling its changes, from Havana to the countryside, in this illuminating profile.

Coming to theatres this Friday, November 24:
ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS

Director:
Lili Fini Zanuck

Premiere:
Toronto 2017

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Camden, IDFA

About:
An intimate, revealing musical odyssey on the life and career of the guitar legend, told by those who have known him best.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Over a five-decade career, Eric Clapton has proven himself to be a guitar virtuoso, creating rock music deeply influenced by the blues. In Zanuck’s documentary, he reflects candidly on how his life experiences were channeled into music. The film traces his career through The Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos, and his solo years, telling the stories behind hits like “For Your Love,” “Layla,” and “Tears in Heaven.” Filmmaker Lili Fini Zanuck draws from an extensive archive of performances and home movies to construct the film. Accompanying the footage are illuminating audio interviews with Clapton and people who played central roles in his life, including his grandmother Rose Clapp, George Harrison, Ahmet Ertegun, Steve Winwood, and his former wife Pattie Boyd.