what (not) to doc

Coming to theatres this Friday, August 18:
WHITNEY. “CAN I BE ME”

Directors:
Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Nantucket, AFI Docs, Sydney, Karlovy Vary, Documentary Edge, Los Angeles, Galway

About:
An intimate reassessment of Whitney Houston’s life and career.

I previously wrote about the doc for Nantucket’s program, saying:
Whitney Houston was one of the most successful female recording artists of all time, counting six Grammys among more than 400 awards earned in her lifetime, more consecutive number one hits than The Beatles, and international crossover appeal to rival that of Michael Jackson. Despite her decades of success, she is best remembered for her troubled marriage to fellow singer Bobby Brown – memorably documented on his reality show, BEING BOBBY BROWN – her struggles with addiction, and her tragic death at the age of 48 in 2012. Acclaimed documentarian Nick Broomfield and iconic music video director Rudi Dolezal issue a corrective in the form of a compelling and sensitive portrait that explores Houston’s success and the confluence of factors that contributed to the talented performer’s fate.

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, August 15:
BETTING ON ZERO

Director:
Ted Braun

Premiere:
Tribeca 2016

Select Festivals:
Hamptons, Montclair

About:
An investigation into Herbalife’s business model in the wake of a hedge fund’s attack on the company.

Braun’s entry into this examination of the mammoth multi-level marketing corporation is Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital, who shorted Herbalife several years ago and frequently defends his assertion that the company will fail because of illicit practices. While critics charge that Ackman has a vested financial stake in bringing Herbalife down, he counters that he’s doing this on ethical grounds, and that’s generally the view that Braun follows. While the film does briefly explore the antagonism between Ackman and rival Carl Icahn, who takes the opportunity to double down on Herbalife, Braun wisely expands from this specific financial world focus to take a closer look at Herbalife’s alleged pyramid scheme and those who have suffered serious consequences from becoming involved in the company – in recent years, the Latino community in large numbers. Using a fairly conventional approach, including some weak narration and excessive, repetitive graphics, the filmmaker nevertheless presents convincing, damning arguments that Herbalife’s model is less about selling its products and more about recruiting gullible distributors, tellingly substantiated by company executives in clips from insider celebrations/motivational events, and, more importantly, by Federal Trade Commission investigation findings. At the same time, by taking Ackman’s unfulfilled crusade as its structuring device, the film remains slightly unsatisfying, never reaching the hoped for conclusion signaled by its title.

Coming to theatres this Friday, August 18:
CALIFORNIA TYPEWRITER

Director:
Doug Nichol

Premiere:
Telluride 2016

Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Denver, Cleveland, Nashville, Big Sky Doc, Mill Valley, Documentary Edge, Woods Hole, SF DocFest

About:
An appreciation of a bygone but once ubiquitous technology.

I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Named for one of the last remaining typewriter repair shops in the US, Doug Nichol’s crowdpleasing film celebrates the design, tactility, and permanence of the typewriter. As the shop struggles to survive, devotees including Tom Hanks, John Mayer, and Sam Shepard weigh in on their deep love for the machines. For those beyond repair, artist Jeremy Mayer lovingly repurposes their parts to create elegant sculptures. Nichol’s crafts an entertaining ode to a technology that most find obsolete and disposable but which some still joyously embrace.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, August 11:
THE FARTHEST

Director:
Emer Reynolds

Premiere:
Dublin 2017

Select Festivals:
Tribeca, Edinburgh, Seattle, AFI Docs, Sydney, New Zealand, Telluride Mountainfilm

About:
A comprehensive history of the Voyager mission, from inception to execution to the present day.

Reynolds assembles an impressive collection of archival material, new animation, and interviews with scores of NASA scientists, engineers, and analysts to recount the story of the monumental Voyager project. Relating its history while contextualizing the mission with changes to presidential administrations and the impact of the Challenger disaster on the US space programs, the film offers a privileged look at the planning, preparation, launch, troubleshooting, and media attention afforded the probe and its pioneering images of the solar system. Reynolds also devotes significant attention to the fascinating Golden Record carried within both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 – an eclectic recording of sounds and images meant to provide a sense of mankind’s existence to whatever extraterrestrial intelligence might happen upon the vehicles, and which became the first manmade object to leave the solar system and travel into interstellar space in 2012. While providing an engaging look at a major achievement of NASA’s past, Reynolds’ film also might just re-awaken viewers’ curiosity about the future of space exploration.

New to DVD this week:
HELL ON EARTH: THE FALL OF SYRIA AND THE RISE OF ISIS

Directors:
Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested

Premiere:
Tribeca 2017

Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Greenwich, Provincetown

About:
A comprehensive exploration of the conflict in Syria and the origins of the Islamic State.

I previously wrote about the doc here.