Category Archives: Releases

New to DVD this week:
BOTERO

Director:
Don Millar

World Premiere:
Morelia 2018

Select Festivals:
Palm Springs, Seattle, Miami, Montevideo

About:
A tribute to the popular Colombian artist.

Known for the plus-sized figures who inhabit his paintings and sculptures, Fernando Botero is one of the most recognized and popular artists living today. Don Millar’s film provides an introductory and easily watchable survey of the octogenarian’s life and career, touching on his impoverished background and family tragedies that have informed his work, including the death of his young son. For the most part, however, the portrait features Botero’s family as they praise him and the success of his work, resulting in an overall hagiographic tone to the project. This lack of true critical engagement, combined with a relentless score and tendency toward montages, makes Millar’s profile far more suited to arts television programming than the cinema.

New to VOD this week:
AMERICAN DHARMA

Director:
Errol Morris

World Premiere:
Venice 2018

Select Festivals:
Toronto, New York, IDFA, Chicago, Sidewalk, Denver

About:
A conversation with Steve Bannon.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to VOD this week:
BAREFOOT: THE MARK BAUMER STORY

Director:
Julie Sokolow

World Premiere:
Heartland 2019

Select Festivals:
Washington DC Environmental, Omaha, Rhode Island, Cinequest, Byron Bay, Tallinn Black Nights

About:
An activist attempts to walk barefoot across America to raise awareness about climate change.

As the US presidential election was heating up in 2016, Mark Baumer, a young artist/poet and climate change activist living in Providence RI decided to try to get attention for the serious threat of climate change through a sacrificial barefoot walk across America. With self-deprecating humor, he made short videos about his experience on a blog, acting crazy, showing off the wear and tear on his feet, interacting with people along the way. Intercut with his videos are developments in the election as he goes along his journey, with Mark responding to Trump’s win and horrible cabinet choices for energy and chief of staff. On the day of the presidential inauguration, the 100th day of Mark’s journey, he was killed by a driver who swerved into the shoulder where he was walking. Sokolow benefits from Mark’s self-documentation – though his videos are annoying and a little of them go a long way. While Mark’s story is tragic, it’s also fairly straightforward and, as a result, it struggles a bit to sustain feature treatment.

New to VOD this week:
NOMAD: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BRUCE CHATWIN

Director:
Werner Herzog

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Telluride, Sheffield, Vancouver, Rome, Doclisboa, Rio, Palm Springs

About:
A personal reflection on the master filmmaker’s friendship with the late English travel writer and adventurer.

I previously wrote about the doc here.