Category Archives: Releases

New to VOD this week:
HILLEMAN: A PERILOUS QUEST TO SAVE THE WORLD’S CHILDREN

Director:
Donald Rayne Mitchell

Premiere:
Scinema 2016

Select Festivals:
American Documentary, New Hope

About:
A profile of Dr Maurice Hilleman, credited with developing most childhood vaccines.

Mitchell’s film follows the now-familiar conventions of the unheralded hero profile – “the most important X the public has never heard of” – and in this case positions Hilleman as “the greatest scientist of the 20th century” for his pioneering work in eliminating many childhood diseases via vaccines. Responsible for the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, as well as those addressing a host of other diseases, from hepatitis B to the flu, there’s reason to recognize the microbiologist’s achievements in the same way that Salk and Sabin are celebrated for their polio vaccines. Mitchell constructs a fairly conventional, overly narrated biographical portrait more suited to PBS than to theatrical, drawing from archival material as well as more recent interviews with Hilleman before he passed away.

New to VOD this week:
I AM THE BLUES

Director:
Daniel Cross

Premiere:
IDFA 2016

Select Festivals:
SXSW, Hot Docs, Pan African, Raindance, Salem, Docs Against Gravity, IndieBo

About:
An ethnomusicological tour of the American South.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 1:
HIRED GUN

Director:
Fran Stine

Premiere:
SXSW 2016

Select Festivals:
Noise Pop, Calgary, Melbourne

About:
20 FEET FROM STARDOM for unsung session musicians.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 28:
TURN IT AROUND: THE STORY OF EAST BAY PUNK

Director:
Corbett Redford

Premiere:
SF DocFest 2017

About:
An exhaustive chronicle of three decades of punk in California’s Bay Area.

Redford’s film is clearly both a love letter to and an attempt to cement the importance of the Northern California scene to the larger world of punk rock. Running at nearly three hours, however, it tests the patience of anyone who wasn’t already part of or at least aware of that scene. The filmmakers seem unwilling to leave anything out, making the whole film feel ultimately insider and leaving little room for the casual viewer to gain entry. In addition to telling the story of the undeniable breakout success from this world – Green Day, who executive produce here – Redford profiles seemingly every single super-obscure band that ever played at the scene’s hub, 924 Gilman. While this DIY, volunteer-run performance space is an intriguing subject, it gets drowned out in a parade of anecdotes about and appreciation for musicians very few people have ever heard of, yet which are spoken about here with a sense of universal familiarity. While there’s a selective audience who will still seek out this sprawling, punk tribute to the East Bay, some judicious trimming might open up the story to a broader curious viewership.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 28:
THE LAST DALAI LAMA?

Director:
Mickey Lemle

Premiere:
Maui 2016

Select Festivals:
Mill Valley, Illuminate, Brisbane, Cleveland, Woodstock

About:
An intimate portrait of the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

Despite its somewhat hokey punctuated title, Lemle’s film only addresses the question of whether there will be a 15th Dalai Lama relatively late in its running time, a response to the Chinese government’s announcement that it intends to play a major role in locating and raising his new incarnation. Lemle, who previously profiled the spiritual leader in 1992, instead takes a (perhaps too) broad look at both his history and present day concerns as he enters his 80s, from work with neuroscientists to map emotions like compassion to visits to classrooms that have adopted mindfulness techniques. Family members and religious and political leaders – including a surprisingly genuine George W Bush, who shows off a portrait of His Holiness he painted – sing the Dalai Lama’s praises, celebrating his influence and wisdom. While the film lacks a sense of focus, the viewer is still likely to be charmed by its beatific subject.

New to VOD this week:
THE LIBERATORS

Director:
Cassie Hay

Premiere:
SXSW 2016

Select Festivals:
Dallas, St Louis, Flatland

About:
The story of how stolen German cultural treasures worth millions were recovered from a Texan town in the late 1980s.

Hay’s film reveals how Willi Korte, a German who has become a specialist in recovering lost or stolen art, teamed up with New York Times reporter Bill Honan to locate the fabled Quedlinburg Treasures, religious artifacts lost at the end of WWII. Korte’s detective work tracks the items to a small Texan town, Whitewright, and the family of Joe Meador, a WWII soldier who helped himself to the treasures when he discovered them hidden in a cave. Mailing them home piece by piece as the spoils of war, despite strict prohibition from doing so, Meador held on to the treasures for decades, bragged about them to friends, and used them to lure younger men for sex. After he died, his family started to inquire about selling them, and this led to a face off with Korte. The family eventually makes out handsomely despite the illegality of the way they acquired the items, and with questions lingering as to their potential knowledge of the location of still missing pieces. While the film lacks a certain dynamism, both in its over-reliance on talking heads and its wholly retrospective telling, there remains here the hints of an interesting story about the dubious ethics of its central figure that one wished were more fully teased out.