Coming to theatres today, Thursday, March 12:
HUMAN NATURE
Director:
Adam Bolt
World Premiere:
SXSW 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Hot Docs, Full Frame, AFI Docs, CPH:DOX
About:
An exploration of the potential implications of a major DNA technology.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD and VOD this week:
STUFFED
Director:
Erin Derham
World Premiere:
SXSW 2019
Select Festivals:
Seattle, Woods Hole, Vancouver, Nashville, Maui
About:
An exploration of the misunderstood world of taxidermy.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
5B
Directors:
Dan Krauss and Paul Haggis
World Premiere:
SFFILM Doc Stories 2018
Select Festivals:
Cannes
About:
At the dawn of the AIDS crisis, nurses and caregivers defied fear and stigma to establish the world’s first AIDS hospital ward.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD this week:
RECORDER: THE MARION STOKES PROJECT
Director:
Matt Wolf
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, AFI Docs, London, New Orleans, Melbourne, Montclair, Maryland, SF DocFest, Sidewalk, Heartland, Antenna
About:
The story of a woman who recorded television news around the clock for thirty years.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, March 10:
LIFELINE/ CLYFFORD STILL
Director:
Dennis Scholl
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2019
About:
An in-depth exploration of the life and work of the American Abstract Expressionist artist.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Clyfford Still’s striking compositions and idiosyncratic personality made him one of the preeminent figures of the American Abstract Expressionist movement. Through interviews and previously unreleased recordings, Still’s artistic philosophy and his relationships with contemporaries Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock are revealed. After his death, the legacy of the enigmatic artist faces further uncertainty, as museums vie to be the permanent home of the Still collection—if they can meet the strict demands of his will.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, March 10:
COLOSSUS
Director:
Jonathan Schienberg
World Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
Select Festivals:
St Louis
About:
A US-born teenager copes with the deportation of his undocumented family members.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
The personal impact of America’s immigration policies on families is deeply felt in this intimate portrait of 15-year-old Jamil Sunsin and his family. Jamil, born in the US, only finds out his parents and older sister are undocumented when they are deported to Honduras following a routine traffic stop. Traumatized by violence there, Jamil returns to Jersey City to stay with relatives and seek a better life, but this imposed separation weighs heavily on all members of the family.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD via Hulu today, Friday, March 6:
HILLARY
Director:
Nanette Burstein
World Premiere:
Sundance 2020
Select Festivals:
Berlin
About:
A revealing portrait of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
I profiled the docuseries before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, March 6:
THE BOOKSELLERS
Director:
DW Young
World Premiere:
New York Film Festival 2019
Select Festivals:
St Louis, Miami Jewish, RiverRun, Sebastopol Doc, Victoria
About:
An affectionate portrait of NYC’s community of rare book dealers and collectors.
In an age of ebooks and eBay, rare book collecting seems doomed – but there’s still room for hope in DW Young’s loving look at the antiquarian trade. When NYC once boasted hundreds of bookstores, there are now fewer than 80 left, and those who attempt to make a living as bibliophiles face more of a struggle when competing with the instant gratification of online book searching and shopping. The industry has certainly contracted, becoming decidedly more niche in recent decades, but there are still stalwart book dealers trudging along, helping collectors find their treasured tomes, and encouraging younger people to pursue the thrill of the hunt, sometimes in surprising directions. Young’s film may not be the flashiest, and prone to digressions of varying interest, but this fits its general milieu – older, white, rarefied – though an attempt is made to showcase a slow diversification of the field, from more women claiming prominence (they were always in the business, but often sidelined), to people of color and younger individuals carrying on the torch or blazing their own trail. Despite whatever minor shortcomings the film may have technically or structurally, it succeeds in capturing the love of books with infectious charm.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
New to DVD and VOD this week:
SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
Director:
Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen
World Premiere:
Cleveland 2019
Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Fantastic Fest, Milwaukee, Sidewalk, Inside Out, Image+Nation, NewFest, Outfest, Frameline, LGBT fests in Portland, Dayton, Copenhagen, and Pittsburgh
About:
A look back at a horror sequel through the eyes of its closeted young queer star.
Following the runway hit A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET in 1984, New Line Cinema quickly released a sequel the following year, subtitled FREDDY’S REVENGE. While successful enough at the box office, it had vocal detractors who took issue with its homoerotic/homophobic subtext, though this has, in recent years, also resulted in a resurgence of interest in the film as a queer horror cult classic. Directors Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen explore this transformation in the sequel’s reception to some extent, but the focus of their workmanlike doc is squarely on its young lead actor, Mark Patton, the first male “final girl” – the object of the horror film villain’s wrath and its ultimate hero. Like many actors of the time, Patton was not open about his sexuality professionally, and though he saw FREDDY’S REVENGE as his big break, he blamed the film for, essentially, outing him and making him unemployable. While this doesn’t always gel with the history provided here – he did land acting roles after the film, and left acting after his lover died from AIDS complications, and he himself became HIV+ – the sequel has become an albatross. Though he came out of retirement several years ago to participate in fan events, he remains resentful that the film’s gay subtext has been blamed on his performance rather than then script by David Chaskin, and he wants the screenwriter to acknowledge his own role in how the film was received. This hang up at times crosses the line into petulance and takes up too much screen time, unfortunately, detracting from a more interesting look at the reception of the film by queer viewers.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD and VOD today, Tuesday, March 3:
1275 DAYS
Directors:
Katie Green and Carlye Rubin
World Premiere:
Heartland 2019
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC
About:
An exploration of the impact of juvenile incarceration and harsh sentencing laws.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
In Elkhart IN, 16-year old Blake Layman attempts to rob a home, only to see his friend and accomplice, Danzele, lose his life to the homeowner’s gun. Even though Blake did not pull the trigger, he faces a 55-year prison sentence under the felony murder rule. Directors Katie Green and Carlye Rubin chart the unwavering efforts of Blake’s mother and his devoted girlfriend to appeal his conviction so that he doesn’t spend a lifetime behind bars for one bad decision.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 