Category Archives: Releases

Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, January 28: LAST WOMAN STANDING

Juliet Lammers and Lorraine Price’s portrait of two boxers contending for a sole Olympic spot made its debut at Hot Docs last year. It went on to screen at Big Sky, Hot Springs, and other events. It now comes to iTunes, Amazon, Movies on Demand, PlayStation, Google Play, Vudu, CinemaNow, and XBOX via FilmBuff.

Lammers and Price initially set out to track world champion Canadian boxers and friends Ariane Fortin and Mary Spencer on their way to the London Olympics, the first time women’s boxing was included as an official category. When they discover that there is only one spot open, the athletes find that they must compete against one another to have a shot at Olympic gold, putting a strain on their friendship and costing one her dream of victory on the international stage. The film offers insight into the minds and personalities of the determined and affable athletes, but unfortunately sometimes gets bogged down in the minutiae of the qualification process, which likely won’t be of much interest to anyone aside from Canadian boxing fans. Still, in its portrait of perseverance, the doc succeeds in demonstrating its subjects’ athleticism and discipline.

Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, January 27: THE STATE OF ARIZONA

Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini’s exploration of Arizona’s divisive immigration legislation has participated in various community screenings in the lead up to its national broadcast tonight.

Taking a wide-ranging approach, Sandoval and Tambini offer both macro and micro views of the controversy, contextualizing the extreme steps the state has taken within a larger discourse around federal immigration and border policy, while also checking in on major and minor players on a local level, from Governor Jan Brewer, State Senator Russell Pearce, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, all very vocal supporters of the Draconian laws under debate; to their opponents in grassroots groups like Puente, represented here by Carlos Garcia; as well as everyday individuals drawn into the controversy on both sides, woven through intermittently. While successful in providing a surprisingly comprehensive overview, this expansive focus allows the viewer to get only a surface glimpse rather than a deeper, more intimate appreciation of the impact of either the influx of undocumented individuals on the community or of the harsh laws that opponents say are based on harassment and racial profiling.

Coming to HBO tonight, Monday, January 27: HERBLOCK: THE BLACK & THE WHITE

Michael Stevens’ love letter to the influential editorial cartoonist debuted at Tribeca last year. Other festival berths included AFI Docs and Martha’s Vineyard.

I included the film in my AFI Docs coverage here.

Coming to PBS’s American Masters next Tuesday, January 21: SALINGER

Shane Salerno’s investigation into the famously reclusive shy author of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE debuted at Telluride last year just days before its theatrical release via The Weinstein Company. It also screened at Toronto and IDFA.

When Salerno’s film was announced, speculation ran rampant regarding its contents. Early teasers framed the doc as a mystery, and insiders wouldn’t confirm or deny if the filmmaker had managed to secure an interview with his eponymous subject before the latter’s death in 2010 (spoiler: he did not). Upon its world premiere at Telluride, critical response was decidedly mixed to negative, with many reviewers likening the film to the “phony” world that Salinger’s famed protagonist Holden Caulfield railed against. Nearly a decade in the making, Salerno’s doc aims to make sense of the author, who retreated from public life half a century ago, never publishing another novel, and to uncover what he’s really been doing in smalltown New Hampshire ever since. Salerno’s hardly the first to try – he interviews others here who felt compelled to seek an audience, strangely convinced that in his refusal to be in the public eye, Salinger perversely coveted their attention and would offer them great truths, when in fact, the man just wanted to be left alone and to avoid the kind of bombastic hype that is in evidence in Salerno’s own film. Beyond this paparazzo-like fetishization, where it really goes wrong is in its parade of CATCHER admirers, none adding much of substance, its over-the-top score and stylized re-enactments, and Salerno’s over-psychologizing the impact of WWII combat on the author. What are more successful, and intriguing, are the stories of those closest to Salinger – much younger women like Jean Miller and Joyce Maynard, featured here, with whom he was in relationships – or Salinger’s neglected wife and daughter. As a whole, while watchable, the film unfortunately too often feels more like a special edition of UNSOLVED MYSTERIES than a nuanced exploration of Salinger’s work, its cultural impact, or the pressures and pitfalls of fame.