Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, September 10:
ECHO IN THE CANYON
Director:
Andrew Slater
Premiere:
Los Angeles 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Berkshire, Santa Barbara
About:
A look back at the 1960s Laurel Canyon music scene.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Photo courtesy Library of Congress
Director:
Randall MacLowry
World Premiere:
American Experience (September 2019)
About:
An in-depth look at the legendary conflict between the Hatfields and the McCoys.
The feud between the rural West Virginia/Kentucky clans long ago entered into the popular consciousness, so much so that the families’ names are now synonymous with long-lasting rivalries. At the same time, the way their story has been told has had a lasting, deleterious impact on stereotypical perceptions of Appalachian mountain residents as uneducated, violent, and vengeful people. Director Randall MacLowry’s informative, if somewhat staid, profile, stands as a corrective, contextualizing the feud within the far more complex backdrop in which it developed – a story of industrialization and corporate landgrabbing that threatened the Appalachian way of life.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, September 9:
GRIT
Directors:
Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander
World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Full Frame, Hamptons, Big Sky Doc, Bergen, One World, Mill Valley, GlobeDocs, Hawaii, Movies That Matter, Ashland, Doc Edge, Salem, Atlanta, Environmental fests in Washington DC, Princeton, and Yale
About:
In East Java, Indonesia, a mother and daughter battle a corporation over a man-made catastrophe.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
In 2006 a rush of molten mud exploded in East Java, Indonesia, flooding 16 villages and displacing more than 60,000 people; 12 years later the hot sludge is still flowing. Grit profiles one girl’s awakening to activism as her family campaigns against the corporation responsible for the man-made catastrophe. Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander spent six years capturing the unworldly reality of East Java’s ecological disaster with breathtaking cinematography and a patient eye for the youth coming of age amid the mudflow.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Starz and to DVD/VOD today, Monday, September 9:
OUT OF OMAHA
Director:
Clay Tweel
Premiere:
DOC NYC 2018
Select Festivals:
Big Sky Doc, IFF Boston, Omaha
About:
An intimate coming of ager about twin brothers in North Omaha.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Friday, September 6:
I’M LEAVING NOW (YA ME VOY)
Directors:
Lindsey Cordero and Armando Croda
Premiere:
Hot Docs 2018
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, DocsMx, Morelia
About:
An undocumented Mexican immigrant faces the limits of self-sacrifice.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD and VOD today, Friday, September 6:
93QUEEN
Director:
Paula Eiselt
Premiere:
Hot Docs 2018
Select Festivals:
San Francisco Jewish, Marfa, Charlotte Jewish
About:
A driven woman faces controversy when she sets out to form the first all-female Hasidic EMT corps.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 6:
SUPER SIZE ME 2: HOLY CHICKEN!
Director:
Morgan Spurlock
World Premiere:
Toronto 2017
About:
The director takes on fast food once again, opening up his own chicken restaurant.
Nearly 16 years ago, director Morgan Spurlock turned himself into a human guinea pig to demonstrate the unhealthiness of a fast food diet in SUPER SIZE ME, and in the process launched a successful career as a playfully investigative documentarian. Shortly after this, his latest feature, launched in Toronto two years ago, Spurlock published an account of his sexual misconduct over the years, resulting in the shuttering of his production company and the relegation of this doc into limbo until now. Though billed as a sequel to his debut film, this project is in many ways more similar to his self-reflexive look at branding and advertising, POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD. The conceit here is that Spurlock decides to open a chicken restaurant, even raising his own chickens, but, in the process, he reveals the hidden side of industrial food production, and how marketing has been employed to try to convince consumers they’re making healthier choices. The culmination of his efforts is the launch of his restaurant in Columbus OH, with its walls festooned with slogans demonstrating the absurdity of ad-speak, and menu items showcasing transparent techniques to win over the customer, like a fried chicken sandwich with painted-on grill marks. Though the film won’t win over viewers who take issue with Spurlock’s brand of filmmaking, It’s a watchable and often amusing bit of manufactured theatre.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Friday, September 6:
BLUE NOTE RECORDS: BEYOND THE NOTE
Director:
Sophie Huber
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2018
Select Festivals:
IDFA, CPH:DOX, Palm Springs, Vancouver, Sound Unseen, SF Jewish
About:
A look back at the influential jazz label.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to theatres this Friday, September 6:
LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE
Directors:
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2019
Select Festivals:
Provincetown, AFI Docs, Atlantic
About:
A look back at the celebrated pop artist’s career.
Singer Linda Ronstadt emerged in the folk music scene of the 1960s, but, as shown in directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s loving, if somewhat conventional, biopic, she never let a specific genre define her. Over the course of her long career, which ended just a few years ago in 2011 when she retired due to Parkinson’s, Ronstadt continually challenged the music industry – and herself – by tackling a wide range of styles, not in desperate attempts at reinvention, but instead because she had a genuine interest in everything from classic Mexican ballads, opera, rock, and jazz – and she could sing them all beautifully. This aspect of her career, as well as the singer’s candid insight into the male-dominated world of 1970s rock culture in which she made her mark as a best-selling artist, helps elevate this project and reminds viewers of her impact in entertainment.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
photo by Robert Bedell
Director:
Janice Engel
World Premiere:
Sundance 2019
Select Festivals:
SXSW, San Francisco, AFi Docs, Seattle, Full Frame, Minneapolis-St Paul, 51 Fest
About:
An appreciation of the late liberal Texas journalist and personality.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
what (not) to doc 