Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, August 3:
RBG
Directors:
Betsy West and Julie Cohen
Premiere:
Sundance 2018
Select Festivals:
Miami, Cleveland, San Francisco, Montclair
About:
A portrait of legendary, outspoken US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, August 3:
SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD
Director:
Matt Tyrnauer
Premiere:
Toronto 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Palm Springs, Rome, BAFICI, Provincetown
About:
The tell-all story of the man who catered to the sexual desires of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Scotty Bowers is an unsung Hollywood legend, known for catering to the sexual appetites of celebrities – straight, gay, and omnivorous – for decades. Filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer captures Scotty in his 90s as he delivers the ultimate counter-narrative of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Prepare yourself for a different take on Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner… the list goes on. Tyrnauer’s portrayal has a touch of GREY GARDENS as Scotty copes with hoarder tendencies to uncover buried secrets.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, August 1:
CALLING ALL EARTHLINGS
Director:
Jonathan Berman
Premiere:
Illuminate 2018
Select Festivals:
Maui
About:
The mysterious story of a man who claimed to talk to aliens and those who try to preserve his legacy.
In 1953, George Van Tassel, an aviation engineer who had worked for Howard Hughes, purportedly encountered an alien who shared plans for a device to generate unlimited energy and work scientific miracles. Van Tassel constructed the Integraton, a flying saucer-shaped building in the desert, but died unexpectedly just before it was to be activated. This, of course, fueled conspiracy theories that he was assassinated by dark forces that didn’t want him to share his secrets with the world. However, as shown in Berman’s very loosely constructed film, Van Tassel has amassed his share of acolytes, many seemingly more eccentric than the inventor himself. Some share stories about the man, others have taken over the stewardship of the remains of the Integraton (after much of its inner workings were stripped by vandals), while still others maintain the most tenuous connections to the subject. While there’s some intriguing history here, its presentation is all over the place, stopped and started in favor of introducing more and more figures who are often barely provided the space to be developed fully, resulting in a fairly messy, and not particularly satisfying, surface exploration of what could have been an out of this world topic.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, July 31:
TOMMY
Directors:
Erin Leyden and Gentry Kirby
Premiere:
ESPN (September 2017)
About:
The rise and fall of a heavyweight boxing champion.
This 30 for 30 project looks back at the troubled life and career of Tommy Morrison, who, as a young, up and coming boxer, was spotted by Sylvester Stallone and cast in ROCKY V. Within a few years of that spotlight grabbing opportunity, Morrison faced off against George Foreman, beating the legend during his comeback, and claiming the heavyweight title for himself. While this was short-lived, Morrison’s star was on the rise until he tested HIV positive in 1996, derailing his career and contributing to an addiction-fueled downward trajectory. Despite a somewhat unsympathetic subject, Leyden and Kirby effectively chronicle Morrison’s sad story, which included multiple denials of his HIV status before he finally succumbed to AIDS in 2013.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to NYC’s Film Forum this Wednesday, August 1:
THE ATOMIC CAFE
Directors:
Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader, and Pierce Rafferty
Premiere:
Film Forum (March 1982)
Select Festivals:
SXSW 2018 (restoration premiere)
About:
A compilation of clips from the first decades of the nuclear era reveal an undercurrent of denial and anxiety.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, July 31:
LARGER THAN LIFE: THE KEVYN AUCOIN STORY
Director:
Tiffany Bartok
Premiere:
Hamptons 2017
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Full Frame, Cleveland, Edinburgh
About:
A portrait of a too-soon-departed fashion world pioneer.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC, saying:
Moving to New York City from small town Louisiana in the early 1980s, Kevyn Aucoin found acceptance as a gay man and success in the fashion world. Developing an often overlooked profession into an influential art form, Aucoin became the go-to makeup artist for – and fast friends with – supermodels and celebrities until his tragic death at the age of 40. Tiffany Bartok offers an intimate look at a legendary figure who made people beautiful.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Starz this coming Monday, July 30:
LOVE & BANANAS: AN ELEPHANT STORY
Director:
Ashley Bell
Premiere:
Washington DC Environmental 2018
Select Festivals:
Sedona, Earth Focus Environmental, International Wildlife Missoula
About:
An elephant conservationist sets out on a mission to rescue an Asian elephant in Thailand.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
Coming to PBS’s POV this coming Monday, July 30:
WHOSE STREETS?
Director:
Sabaah Folayan
Co-Director:
Damon Davis
Premiere:
Sundance 2017
Select Festivals:
True/False, San Francisco, Encounters, Sheffield, BAMcinemaFest, Seattle, Montclair, Maryland, Full Frame, RiverRun, Outfest, Provincetown, Atlanta
About:
An on-the-ground immersion into the Ferguson uprising.
My pre-Sundance profile of the doc may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, July 27:
FAR FROM THE TREE
Director:
Rachel Dretzin
Premiere:
DOC NYC 2017
Select Festivals:
Montclair, RiverRun, GlobeDocs, Documentary Edge, IFF Boston, Hawaii
About:
A film essay and career retrospective examining society’s preoccupation with materialism.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to Netflix tomorrow, Friday, July 27:
THE BLEEDING EDGE
Director:
Kirby Dick
Premiere:
Tribeca 2018
Select Festivals:
Seattle
About:
An exposé about the largely unregulated, untested medical device industry and the harmful effects of its products on patients.
Dick, joined by his longtime producer Amy Ziering as well as producer Amy Herdy, presents a jaw-dropping look at the dark side of the $400 billion medical device industry. While acknowledging the many benefits technology has brought to medicine, the film focuses on several devices that have had a disastrous impact on their recipients, including birth control device Essure; vaginal mesh, commonly used in gynecological surgery; the hysterectomy-performing da Vinci robot; and cobalt orthopedic replacements. The project is particularly effective in its use of archival and medical films, but otherwise follows the fairly conventional approach that Dick’s films typically take, with patient profiles and expert talking heads dominating. While not likely to have the same incendiary potential of his most recent films, it serves as an effective – and disturbing – awareness-building tool to expose dangerous devices and shady practices enabled by the regulatory capture of the FDA, which works to benefit the medical device industry rather than safeguard the hgelth of patients.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
what (not) to doc 