Category Archives: Releases

New to VOD this week:
DO YOU TRUST THIS COMPUTER?

Director:
Chris Paine

Premiere:
Regency Village Theater, Westwood (April 2018)

Select Festivals:
CinemAmbiente

About:
An exploration of the current and potential impact of artificial intelligence on the world.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, August 21:
WE’RE STILL HERE: JOHNNY CASH’S BITTER TEARS REVISITED

Director:
Antonino D’Ambrosio

Premiere:
Austin 2015

Select Festivals:
IDFA, Big Sky Doc, Biografilm, Belfast, Martha’s Vineyard, Noise Pop, Red Nation, American Indian Film Festival

About:
A reflection on Johnny Cash’s controversial 1964 concept album in support of the struggles of Native Americans.

D’Ambrosio’s midlength documents the recording of 2014’s Look Again to the Wind: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited, a tribute album on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Cash’s Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian. But beyond the standard behind the scenes footage and recording sessions that will primarily appeal to fans of the participating musicians and Cash adherents, the film also provides the fascinating, insightful, and troubled history of the original project, broadening the scope and audience for D’Ambrosio’s doc. Cash’s Bitter Tears marked a departure for the country singer, taking on an explicitly political topic in the form of a concept album – a form not fully appreciated at that point in time – that addressed the historical and ongoing oppression of Native people. As present-day musicians put their own spin on the album’s eight songs, their meaning and the reaction to the release is recounted, from outrage from fans accusing Cash of turning away from his country root to embrace folk activism, to outright censorship from the music industry who seemed deadset to deny the promotion of Native American issues.

Coming to PBS tomorrow, Tuesday, August 21:
BETTY WHITE: FIRST LADY OF TELEVISION

Director:
Steven J Boettcher

Premiere:
Oriental Theatre, Milwaukee (August 2018)

About:
A celebration of the pop culture icon and her nearly 80 years in television.

Filmed over the past decade, Boettcher’s profile is a love letter to Betty White, whose career stretches from television’s earliest years to the present day. Different generations of viewers will undoubtedly have distinct associations with her roles and appearances over the decades: As the star of the 1950s sitcom LIFE WITH ELIZABETH, serving as a celebrity guest on 1960s game shows like PASSWORD, the two-faced Sue Ann Nivens on 1970s staple THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, the loveable dimwit Rose Nylund on THE GOLDEN GIRLS and its short-lived spin-off THE GOLDEN PALACE in the 1980s and ’90s, Elka Ostrovsky from 2010s series HOT IN CLEVELAND, and, of course, the resurgence of her appeal over the past decade that saw a fan-driven campaign to have her host SNL and led to additional commercial and film work. PBS’s tribute touches on all of these aspects of White’s career – plus her dedication to her late husband, Allen Ludden, and to her work as an animal advocate – but unfortunately attempts to do so in just under an hour, resulting in something of a missed opportunity, and some strange choices. Jennifer Love Hewitt takes up valuable minutes talking about White’s dramatic turn in a Hallmark TV movie that it’s unlikely most viewers ever saw, and the star’s arguably most popular show, THE GOLDEN GIRLS, is given surprisingly short shrift compared to the far less successful HOT IN CLEVELAND, over-represented here by gushing co-star Valerie Bertinelli. Still, Boettcher’s portrait succeeds in reminding the audience how much we love Betty White.