Category Archives: Releases

Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Friday, February 5:
MORE THAN MIYAGI: THE PAT MORITA STORY

Director:
Kevin Derek

World Premiere:
Flathead Lake International Cinemafest 2021

About:
A biography of the late Oscar-nominated actor.

Best remembered as the characters “Mr Miyagi” from the KARATE KID movies and “Arnold” from HAPPY DAYS, the late Pat Morita was one of few Asian Americans to find success in an entertainment industry that often traded on racial stereotypes. Despite his nomination for an Academy Award, however, Morita faced typecasting, limiting his career prospects. Filmmaker Kevin Derek, using the actor’s unfinished memoir as spine for this portrait, aims to celebrate Morita’s life and career, and to demonstrate that his talents and range extended far beyond a single character. Morita’s own words, supplemented by interviews with family, friends, castmates, and other industry professionals, reveal the struggles he went through, from a painful childhood spinal condition to internment in Japanese American camps with his family during WWII, and how these experiences influenced his eventual career as a stand-up comic and later actor. Derek spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on Morita’s familiar roles, dipping too much into fanboyish nostalgia, but does provide more compelling considerations of the obstacles Asian American performers like Morita faced, from racist depictions by white performers to stereotypical roles and audience and industry resistance to non-white leads – as Morita experienced in his short lived sitcom and drama projects. The emotional core of the film comes from Morita’s widow, Evelyn, who relates her husband’s long struggle with alcoholism, which accelerated his death.

New to VOD this week:
ON THIN ICE

Director:
Keli Price

World Premiere:
VOD release (Feb 2021)

About:
A look at athletes how have faced inequalities in competitive sports.

Filmmaker Keli Price’s great-grandfather, Jack Brooks, was a speed skater who was barred from competing for the US in the 1932 Winter Olympics because he was Jewish, as related at the beginning of this doc. Perhaps recognizing that there wasn’t a feature in that story, Price broadens his scope to look at other instances of athletes who had to break barriers to make for a more equitable playing field. To that end, he references historical examples, like Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics, but primarily focuses on more modern day examples, including Michael Sam as the first openly gay pro football player; Bonnie Blair, a female speed skater; Robbie Rogers, an openly gay pro soccer player; Greg Louganis, on confronting homophobia during his time as a pro diver; among others. The result is an earnest, but workmanlike, talking heads-focused project that unfortunately is so wide-ranging that it can’t help but become a vague survey.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 2:
THE LAST BLOCKBUSTER

Director:
Taylor Morden

World Premiere:
BendFilm 2020

Select Festivals:
SF DocFest

About:
A nostalgic look at the rise and fall of Blockbuster Video.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to virtual cinemas today, Friday, January 29:
THE REUNITED STATES

Director:
Ben Rekhi

World Premiere:
Woods Hole 2020

Select Festivals:
Nashville, Cinequest, United Nations Association, Milwaukee

About:
A profile of individuals attempting to bridge divides in an increasingly polarized America.

Inspired by Mark Gerzon’s similarly titled THE REUNITED STATES OF AMERICA, filmmaker Ben Rekhi follows five Americans in their missions to find common ground between seemingly intractable sides. David, a former Republican strategist, and his wife Erin sells their Texas home to travel with their kids to all 50 states to listen to the stories of strangers, primarily confronting the idea of white privilege in the process. Similarly, Susan, who became an activist after the murder of her daughter, Heather Heyer, in Charlottesville in 2017, seeks to prevent other violence while also acknowledging the role Heather’s race played in garnering media attention in contrast to countless deaths of people of color each year. More explicitly taking on the limitations of a two-party system are Greg Orman, an independent gubernatorial candidate in Kansas; and Steven Olikara, the founder of the Millennial Action Project, a coalition to strengthen bipartisan communication and cooperation among younger politicians. The film is a well-intentioned project, and one meant to inspire hope that our nation can work past division, but with so many subjects and concerns to juggle, it struggles to find a clear and sustained focus and ends up feeling too episodic as a result.

Coming to Hulu and VOD tomorrow, Friday, January 29:
NOTTURNO

Director:
Gianfranco Rosi

World Premiere:
Venice 2020

Select Festivals:
Toronto, IDFA, New York, London, Reykjavik, AFI Fest, Chicago, El Gouna, Busan

About:
An atmospheric immersion into life in the shadow of ISIS.

I previously wrote about the doc here.