Category Archives: Recommendations

Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, December 16: DREAMS REWIRED

Manu Luksch, Martin Reinhart, and Thomas Tode’s exploration of 21st century hyper-connectivity through the history of 20th century technological innovations had its world premiere at Rotterdam at the beginning of the year. Its fest circuit has also included Seattle, Jerusalem, Milan, Message to Man, Hamburg, Jihlava, CPH:DOX, Kansas, and Tehran’s Cinema Verite.

Working from the premise that the roots of our modern technological- and information-focused age may easily be found in the advances made in the early part of the previous century, Luksch, Reinhart, and Tode’s essay film offers a whimsical look at the impact of the telephone, radio, and especially cinema on our imagination, interactions, and aspirations. Assembling a selection of clips from both classic early cinema – Vertov, Marey, Edison, Melies, Keaton, and Eisenstein, among them – and much more obscure industrial and experimental material, the film underscores how this technology and other 20th century innovations offered us a new way to view the world, each other, and, recursively, the technology itself. In a welcome instance of a celebrity narrator lending something more than substantial than simple name recognition to a work of nonfiction, Tilda Swinton here offers intriguing commentary and often funny, cheeky dialogue imaginings that underscore the modernity of the decades-old clips employed, suggesting connections between on-screen utilizations of then-new telephony and radio to today’s online sphere and our immersion within it.

Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, December 16: THE WINDING STREAM

Beth Harrington’s look at the influence of the Carter and Cash families on country music bowed at SXSW last year. Further fest play included Cleveland, Nashville, Atlanta, the Southern Circuit, Woods Hole, Sound + Vision, DokuFest, Hot Springs Doc, New Orleans’ filmOrama, Galway, and St Louis, among others.

Harrington’s history lesson begins in the late 1920s at the dawn of modern country music, when the fledgling music industry sought to record Appalachian musicians as a source for new albums. Responding to the advertisements was AP Carter, who convinced his wife Sara and his sister-in-law Maybelle to travel from their rural mountain home to Bristol VA to perform for the big city music producer. As a result, the Carter Family was born, with AP also inspired to seek out other old Appalachian songs to add to their repertoire. As royalties from their recordings came in, they began to tour and amassed an appreciative audience via medical quack John R Brinkley’s powerful XERA radio station (Brinkley’s own bizarre story is the subject of upcoming Sundance documentary NUTS!). Among the listeners was Johnny Cash, appearing here in a 2003 interview just before his death, who would later go on to marry Maybelle’s daughter June. The charismatic June had joined her mother together with her two sisters in a permutation of the Carter troupe, further extending the family’s domination of the burgeoning music genre. Harrington weaves in the stories of these two families and their offspring – incorporating generous amounts of music, from old archival recordings to new renditions by the likes of Sheryl Crow and George Jones – to create an affectionate and often compelling tribute that’s accessible to both longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 15: DIVIDE IN CONCORD

Kris Kaczor’s look at local activism debuted at Hot Docs last year. It went on to screen at Nantucket, DOC NYC, Martha’s Vineyard, Traverse City, Portland, Planet in Focus, Big Sky, Cleveland, Princeton Environmental, Washington DC’s Environmental, UK Green, and Wild & Scenic, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket, saying:
The residents of Concord, Massachusetts take pride in their town’s role in the American Revolution and celebrate direct democracy at annual town meetings where all citizens may propose and vote on bylaws. Jean Hill knows the process well – for two years running, the feisty octogenarian, concerned about the environmental impact of our disposable culture, has unsuccessfully lobbied to ban the local sale of plastic bottled water. She’s giving her bylaw one last try, facing off against her nemesis, celebrity publicist turned pundit Adriana Cohen, who balks at having her freedom encroached upon. Kris Kaczor’s film is an engaging and humorous exploration of participatory democracy and the power of individuals to enact change.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 15: TOP SPIN

Sara Newens and Mina T Son’s profile of teenage ping pong players debuted at DOC NYC last year. Other fests included Big Sky, Salem, CAAMFest, Am Doc, TIFF Kids, Nashville, IFF Boston, LA Asian Pacific, Montclair, and SF Docfest, among others.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, December 14: VERY SEMI-SERIOUS: A PARTIALLY THOROUGH PORTRAIT OF NEW YORKER CARTOONISTS

Leah Wolchok’s look at the storied magazine’s inimitable cartoons had its world premiere at Tribeca this Spring. Other fests included San Francisco, Seattle, Montclair, AFI Docs, and Traverse City.

I previously wrote about the film here.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Friday, December 11: JOBRIATH AD

Kieran Turner’s portrait of a would-be glam rock star made its debut at the BFI London LGBT fest in 2012. Other screenings included Florida, Don’t Knock the Rock, Provincetown, Frameline, Outfest, and a host of other LGBT fests, including Seattle, Vancouver, Copenhagen, Portland, and Toronto. While previously only available in a deluxe edition with an accompanying LP, the DVD is now being released in a stand-alone version.

In the early 1970s, Jobriath was touted as the “next Bowie,” an heir apparent who pushed the theatricality of glam rock to the next level and who eschewed suggestions of hip bisexuality for unequivocal proclamations of an effeminate gay male sexuality. Partnered with Carly Simon’s former manager, Jerry Brandt, in a pseudo-Elvis and the Colonel arrangement, the young singer-songwriter secured a two-album deal with Elektra Records, the first such contract for an openly gay performer, and was at the center of an extensive media campaign that included a gigantic Times Square billboard, bus-side advertisements, and talk of an extravagant upcoming Paris Opera show. The only problem? Though receiving some good reviews, his album tanked. His contractual follow-up fared no better, and his rock star dreams faded, to be replaced, years later, with a go as a cabaret piano player and frustrated playwright, under the names Cole Berlin and Bryce Campbell before becoming part of the first wave of NYC gay men to die from AIDS-related complications. This intriguing excavation of pop culture history benefits from the presence of Brandt, who unconvincingly explains away every bad decision he made in Jobriath’s career, recounted by the performers friends, fellow performers, and family members, and by some creative animated sequences. Turner is somewhat hampered by a lack of much archival footage of Jobriath himself, and what is on display frankly doesn’t immediately convince the viewer that he actually was an unparalleled musical genius or performer – perhaps a simpler explanation for his failure to live up to his hype machine than what is otherwise offered here.

Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, December 8: THE BARKLEY MARATHONS: THE RACE THAT EATS ITS YOUNG

Annika Iltis and Timothy Kane’s chronicle of one of the world’s hardest ultramarathons made its world premiere at Austin last Fall. Since then, the film has also screened at Hot Docs, Nashville, Kansas City, Sidewalk, DocUtah, and Rocky Mountain Women’s, among other fests. Gravitas Ventures now releases the doc on VOD platforms including iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, VHX, Google Play, Playstation, and Cable Video On Demand.

An annual event since 1985, the titular Tennessee race has proven to be one of the most elusive and demanding on the ultramarathon circuit, one created to mock the ill-fated escape of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassin, James Earl Ray, from the nearby Brushy Mountain State Penitentary in 1977. Deliberately kept from becoming too widely known through a confounding application process and via the whims of its founders, the pseudonymously known Lazarus Lake and Raw Dog, the event still manages to attract takers who pay the $1.60 fee, complete a written exam, and provide the stipulated gifts, which range from out-of-state license plates to flannel shirts. Of these, forty runners are selected, including one who Lake knows has no chance of ever completing the punishing course, which consists of five loops of approximately 20-26 miles, making the total somewhere between 100-130 miles in length. With a variable course, no GPS allowed, and stark elevation shifts, the Barkley is so intentionally difficult that only ten people completed it in its first 25 years. While Iltis and Kane tend to rely a bit too much on the conventions of the competition doc to structure their film, the race is so uniquely peculiar – as is Lake – that they generally get away with it, making for an enjoyable look at an offbeat subcultural event.

Coming to DVD/VOD today, Tuesday, December 8: LUCKY

Laura Checkoway’s nuanced profile of a tattooed aspiring model had its world premiere at Hot Docs in 2013. It also screened at DOC NYC, BAFICI, Urbanworld, and Atlanta, among other fests. In addition to its DVD release, the doc will be available on VOD platforms including Vimeo on Demand, iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon.

I previously covered the film out of Hot Docs here.