Category Archives: Releases

New to Netflix this week:
CIRCUS OF BOOKS

Director:
Rachel Mason

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Traverse City, Hamptons, Camden, London, Frameline, Outfest, Sidewalk, Atlanta Jewish, GlobeDocs

About:
The filmmaker reveals how her unassuming Jewish parents came to run a legendary gay adult bookstore.

Growing up, filmmaker Rachel Mason and her two brothers knew that her parents, Karen and Barry, ran a bookstore in West Hollywood, but, not unlike other kids, they had no idea of the specifics of the family business – beginning in 1982, the Masons owned Circus of Books, an adult bookstore primarily frequented by gay men. The outgoing Karen, devoutly religious, kept quiet about her business, fearing the response of her Jewish community, while the quieter Barry would later find out the serious risks of peddling “smut” in the Reagan/Bush era when he was threatened with federal obscenity charges. As her parents face the long-in-coming reality that the store must close, a victim of the ubiquity of free online porn, and gay cruising apps, Rachel mines family history to explore how her parents became the unlikely largest distributor of gay porn in the US, while also addressing the contradictions that came with such a profession. Notably, despite catering to a gay clientele and employing many gay men, Karen had serious issues with homosexuality, influenced by her religion. While her views have evolved – she’s become a longtime, ardent PFLAG member – this came only after the very difficult coming out experience of one of her sons, related at length here. As with any portrait made about family members, the personal can dominate the proceedings, and that’s occasionally the case in Rachel’s film, which might have found a bit more balance through more stories about the importance and impact of the store for the community, but the filmmaker’s focus is understandable. As a whole, she has constructed an affectionate and often very funny piece of LGBTQ history that otherwise might have been lost with the shuttering of Circus of Books.

Coming to Discovery in commemoration of Earth Day, tomorrow, Wednesday, April 22:
THE STORY OF PLASTIC

Director:
Deia Schlosberg

World Premiere:
Mill Valley 2019

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Springs Doc, Wild & Scenic, Annapolis, Mountainfilm

About:
An in-depth look at America’s perpetually increasing plastic pollution problem.

The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Plastic, a seemingly indispensable product, has wrought all sorts of innovations, but at what cost? The plastic industry’s success depends on consumers discarding the product and purchasing new items, creating an endless supply of litter that lingers forever. Filmmaker Deia Schlosberg’s incredibly detailed investigation into the plastic-production pipeline will shock, horrify, and forever change your perception on recycling. Timely and critical, this film is a must-see for anyone who uses this infamous product.

Now available on VOD:
THE LEGEND OF SWEE’ PEA

Director:
Benjamin May

World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2015

Select Festivals:
Big Sky Doc, Atlanta, deadCENTER, Flyway, Maryland, Minneapolis-St Paul, Portland, Milwaukee

About:
The rise and fall of a would-be basketball superstar.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Lloyd Swee’ Pea Daniels was a legend on the highly competitive playground basketball courts of NYC, and one of the top college basketball recruits of the late 1980s. Before he was able to play a single game at UNLV, a drug bust ended his college career. But this was far from the end of his story. Benjamin May recounts the unexpected twists and turns in the life and career of the flawed but ever-charismatic sports prodigy in this engaging portrait.

Now available on DVD/VOD:
ROMANTIC COMEDY

Director:
Elizabeth Sankey

World Premiere:
Rotterdam 2019

Select Festivals:
SXSW, CPH:DOX, Sheffield, AFI Fest, Hamptons, Göteborg, Glasgow

About:
An essay film exploring the romantic comedy film genre.

Like any genre, the romantic comedy trades on audience comfort and familiarity, recycling tropes, stock character types, situations, and, in most cases, a happy ending that usually involves marriage for its female protagonist. Recently married herself, filmmaker Elizabeth Sankey approached the genre wondering why this is the end goal, and how this – and its representation of women and men -informs viewers’ ideas about gender and relationships in real life. To explore these questions, she assembles a supercut of clips from more than 160 films, going as far back as the 1930s, accompanied by close readings and commentary in voiceover from Sankey, filmmakers, critics, and others, parsing unrealistic portrayals of women, borderline psychopathic behavior by their suitors, the denigration of women’s careers in favor of relationships, and limited or stereotypical inclusion of non-white, non-heterosexual characters. Sankey makes many valid arguments, and, by the nature of the project, brings a level of scholarly insight and validation to a genre that is often too-quickly dismissed, but she also makes some missteps. A digression about GOD’S OWN COUNTRY doesn’t really belong – while a romance, it is in no way a comedy – and she purposefully ignores or simplifies the occasional film plot to fit her thesis, as in her discussion about the explicitly anti-rom-com 500 DAYS OF SUMMER. Despite this, she has crafted a thoughtful project that is also thought-provoking, one that both serves as a tribute to the genre and points to how it could and should evolve.

Coming to “virtual theatrical,” partially benefitting participating record stores and movie theatres, tomorrow, Friday, April 17:
OTHER MUSIC

Directors:
Puloma Basu and Rob Hatch-Miller

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Montclair, Maryland, Calgary, Vancouver, Nashville, Cork, St Louis, Sound Unseen, Cleveland

About:
A love letter to the now-shuttered NYC record store institution.

In 1995, three co-workers at East Village staple Kim’s Video left to found their own alternative music store, brazenly picking a storefront right across the street from Tower Records in the East Village. Distinguishing itself as a site to discover an eclectic range of genres – alternative, electronic, avant garde, you name it – the store managed to develop a symbiotic relationship with its neighbor, outlasting it by several years. But as digital music changed the landscape for music consumption, Other Music could only hold on for so long. Filmmakers Puloma Basu and Rob Hatch-Miller chronicle the store’s history and impact on music culture as it approaches its closing in 2016, speaking with owners, employees, and customers, as well as several musicians it helped champion or otherwise influence. At once a celebration and a sentimental eulogy, their film captures the spirit that ingratiated the store to its die-hard supporters, while also revealing the too-cool-for-school aura that proved off-putting for others. But even if its employees could rightfully be accused of music snobbery, they brought a distinctive ear to their storied recommendations that distinguished Other Music and fostered a unique community that has been lost in an era of algorithmically-driven online culture.