Category Archives: Releases

TREAD

Director:
Paul Solet

World Premiere:
SXSW 2019

About:
The bizarre tale of a vengeful man with a bulldozer run amok.

On June 4, 2004, after years of persecution and slights by well-connected rivals and the local government of small town Granby CO, Marvin Heemeyer, a welder and owner of a muffler shop, took his revenge on the community – or so the audience of Paul Solet’s at times absorbing film are initially led to believe. Heemeyer’s familiar, underdog origin story seems to, in part, justify his brazen plan – the demolition of several buildings with a bulldozer that the intrepid citizen customized into an impenetrable tank, represented here through overly slick recreations, audio recordings of Heemeyer’s grievances, and interviews with sympathetic friends. Eventually, however, the director reveals his would-be anti-hero to be instead more of a delusional, sociopathic super-villain, his unreliable version of the events contradicted by the facts. Solet relies far too much on re-enactments to tell the story, veering into awkward docudrama territory, but the sheer strangeness of the incident still makes the film a worthwhile watch.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 25:
AFTER PARKLAND

Directors:
Emily Taguchi and Jake Lefferman

World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Traverse City, Denver, Camden, Martha’s Vineyard, AFI Docs, Key West

About:
A profile of several survivors and family members as they reckon with the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

New to DVD this week:
STRAIGHT/CURVE: REDEFINING BODY IMAGE

Director:
Jenny McQuaile

World Premiere:
June 2017 (EPIX broadcast)

Select Festivals:
Julian Dubuque, Gold Coast

About:
An exploration of the impact of unrealistic standards of beauty on perceptions of body image.

As suggested by the title of Jenny McQuaile’s documentary, her focus on body image is intimately connected to the fashion industry, where “straight” refers to industry standard-sized models – unrealistically thin but supposedly aspirational for the everyday person – while “curve” denotes models outside of this range and closer to the body type of most people. Size itself, however, is not the only industry-wide standard of beauty, of course, as people of color and older individuals have also tended to be excluded. Combined, this extremely limited definition of acceptable beauty has contributed to feelings of inadequacy and worse for those who don’t seem to fit the model, particularly young women whose inculcated insecurities drive multibillion dollar industries of weight loss, cosmetic surgery, and fashion. McQuaile assembles a range of experts, from fashion industry insiders and academics to non-standard-sized models and other advocates, to weigh in on the damaging impact of these unrealistic standards, and, importantly, to fight back with an empowering message of diversity, countering the flood of harmful images with a celebratory fashion shoot and exhibition deliberate in its inclusivity. While addressing a familiar issue, the film offers refreshing positivity and energy that helps to set it apart.