Tag: Documentary

2019 Oscar Nominated Film Shorts Programs

Once again the general public will have to opportunity to view something that was a regular part of the movie experience for many decades, the short subject. Throughout the “Golden Age” of Hollywood, the studios produced these smaller films (generally under an hour) that were usually shown in between two films (the great double feature). There were the cartoons made by the studio animation departments (Bugs Bunny from Warners, Tom and Jerry at MGM, and so forth), and the live-action shorts, often comedy (Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges) mixed with some closer to documentaries like the newsreel (pre-TV filmed events) and the travelogue (a film tour of world locales). With the advent of TV, most theatres stopped showing them and the major studios closed their divisions. The shorts then became the primary domain for independent filmmakers and continued to vie for Oscar nominations. Now, with the increasing streaming platforms and cable outlets, shorts are becoming more accessible now than in many years. Still, big screen programs, aside from film festivals, is a real rarity. With the Oscar ceremony just weeks away, film fans can indulge in a “cinema smorgasbord” and indulge in a buffet from three categories.

The most popular may be the films selected as Best Animated Short, though, like their live-action narrative brethren, most of these films share a theme, call it “parents and children”. Well, there one exception, of course, that would be the witty entry from the National Film Board of Canada (producer of many wonderful award-winning animated films for nearly 70 years) called “Animal Behavior”. Rendered in a magazine (New Yorker mainly) style, it looks at a group therapy session (chairs in a circle) for animals (a pig, a leech, a praying mantis, etc.) with a dog in charge trying to deal with a new member, an annoyed gorilla. The rest fit squarely in the “theme”, the best known being “Bao” which did run in theatres last Summer paired off with INCREDIBLES 2 (Pixar nearly always runs a short before each new feature). It’s a fable (the only one in the group told in rounded 3D CGI style) in which a lonely woman is stunned when a dumpling she has prepared for Dinner, suddenly springs to life. Naturally, she raises it as her child (a son), and we see them dealing with the whole maturing cycle from infant to teen. A very different look at parenting is shown in “Weekends” in which a grade-school aged boy lives with his harried single mom during the week and is picked up on Friday by his fun-loving pop and whisked away to his high-rise apartment/funhouse. There’s almost no dialogue and the art has a “scratchy” rendering looking like ballpoint pen scribblings in a school notebook. The program’s two highlights are “Once Small Step” which begins with a young Asian-American girl watching that famous newcast, fueling her dreams of exploring space. The dream is encouraged by her single dad who works below their home as a shoe repairman (hmmm, another fairy tale nod). Again no dialogue, but with slick multicolored outlined characters that seem right out of a polished children’s’ book. The parent/child roles are flipped in the final entry “Late Afternoon” which centers on an elderly woman enjoying her visit from a caregiver (but is she more than that). While the lady sips from her tea, each image around her triggers distant memories (running along the beach, writing in the sand,etc.) until her fog is lifted in the heartwrenching final moments. The art is a lively mix of simple line drawings, bright vibrant colors, and gorgeous watercolor-like backdrops. Each film has something to entertain and recommend (I’d have a tough time choosing if I were in the Academy).

For the Best Live Action Shorts, the previous theme is a twisted variation, you could say (with a nod to the classic Who rock anthem) “The Kids are Not All Right”. Indeed they are in dire, deadly danger in all but one entry. that one is the sweetly nostalgic “Marguerite”, Like “Late Afternoon”, it’s a French-Canadian tale of an elderly woman and her visiting caregiver/nurse. Their conversations sparks her mind to recall a forbidden, unrequited love from long. long ago, reminding us that the “good ole’ days” were not so “good” for so many. Now, on to the “rough stuff”. From the same land comes “Fauve” about a lazy day in the country (climbing an old train car. running around a construction site) turns into a race against doom for two pre-teen boys. Speaking of a “race to doom”, that sums up most of the Spanish entry “Madre”. As the title infers, the main subjects are mothers (yes, the plural). The main setting is an apartment where a woman and her mother pop in to bicker and change for Lunch. Things take a turn when the home owner’s six-year-old son makes a frantic phone call to her, which puts both mother and grandmother nearly into hysterics. Like the recent films LOCKE and THE GUILTY, the story is told via one part of the phone conversation (leaving us to imagine the caller’s dire straights just as the main characters). But where’s the USA, why represented by “Skin”, which centers on a young boy of eight or nine, the only son of a young couple who are, as said in LADY BIRD, from “the other side of the tracks”. Though they dote on the lad, we soon find out that the couple (the dad particularly) are violent racists. After a horrific attack ( a true hate crime), a “Tales From the Crypt”-like revenge plot is put into motion, resulting in an “O Henry” twist at first funny then whiplashing into true tragedy. The real standout of this batch comes from Ireland. “Detainment” is the controversial docudrama whose dialogue is directly taken from Police interview tapes of the two ten-year-old suspects in the infamous 1993 “Baby James” crime in Bootle, England. Though difficult to watch (I can’t imagine a full-length feature). the film hits with the impact of cinematic sledgehammer aided in great part by the two young lead actors: Ely Sloan as the emotional, terrified Jon and Leon Hughes as the cold calculating Robert. Never exploitive of the crime, the film is a testament to the police officers quest to learn the truth while having to deal with the parents , who were required to be on hand for the questioning (it’s quite the tightrope walk as they must navigate carefully). All of these films are compelling, even as the viewer is put through the “emotional ringer”.

Finally, the Best Documentary Shorts also share a theme (well four of the five) as they profile people battling against overwhelming forces, in short, “struggle”. Most unusual may be the entry from India, with a title ripe with many meanings, “Period. End of Sentence”. It begins with an overview of a subject not really discussed in that society: menstruation. Interviews bring home the lack of knowledge (it’s a mystery to most men on camera) and the problems facing young women. The film shifts gears as we meet a man determined to bring hygiene to the villages via sanitary pad vending machines by hiring local women to produce the pads and be traveling suppliers. It’s an engaging look at a culture that’s finally changing. The majority of this program comes from the USA. “Lifeboat” follows a German barge that helps rescue fleeing refugees at sea (many don’t survive on the makeshift rafts, barrels, and tubs). There’s a message of hope despite the near unending stream of desperate, nomadic peoples. Those rescue crews are heroes, as much as the staff of the Zen Hospice Project we meet in “End Game” as they ease terminal patients into their last days. We meet four or five of these residents, but the film’s heart may be with one that decides to stay in the hospital, in hope of new treatments. The intimate scenes of Mitra with her family (her husband and mother often clash) and doctors are quite moving. A brief (seven minutes) history lesson shines a light on a now unthinkable incident from 1939. “A Night at the Garden” documents (using black and white home-movie-like footage and audio recordings) a pro-Nazi rally attended by 20,000 in New York City (the title “Garden” is Madison Square). Though touted as a night celebrating “American patriotism”, there are lots of swastikas on stage (on both sides of Old Glory) to frame the speakers spewing anti-semitic rhetoric. Hatred is a big topic in the most compelling of the program, UK’s “Black Sheep”. In stark close-up, Cornelius Walker tells the story of his Nigerian family who moved from their London high rise apartment (after the high-profile murder there of a schoolboy from their homeland) to one of the”safer” remote villages. Walker relates his shock at the casual bigotry he faced, which led to a brutal beating by a local teen gang. With great emotion, Walker then tells us of his shocking response. Rather than retaliating, he believed that in order to survive he needed to join them, even bleaching his skin, spiking his hair, and wearing bright blue contact lenses. The tale is both compelling and heartbreaking, with Walker’s monologue illustrated with dream-like recreations. All five are engrossing while sharing a similar spirit among different times, locales, and subjects.

Any or all of these programs are well worth any film fan’s time.

The 2019 Oscar Nominated Short Films Programs are screening in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre

THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD – Review

A restored and colorized image showing a moment from Peter Jackson’s acclaimed WWI documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

When director Peter Jackson, the director and visual effects wizard behind the LORD OF THE RINGS series, was asked by the folks at the British Imperial War Museum if he could do something with old archival footage of World War I to mark the 100th anniversary of the war’s end, Jackson was unsure what he could do. Everyone was familiar with the grainy, sepia toned images of what was then called “the Great War” so what could he add. But he told the historical foundation he would try to come up with something. Boy, did he!

That “something” was the documentary THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD, an eye-popping, brilliant cinematic exploration of ordinary British soldiers’ experience of the war, which Jackson created through a magical transformation of old faded, scratchy black and white images into glorious 3D color images with sound. The images that bring back to vivid life the British soldiers pictured in these mix of home movies and newsreel footage. The transformation is so remarkable that the documentary has become a huge popular hit in Britain, and plans are developing to bring it across the pond to us.

You really want to see this remarkable documentary in 3D and on a big screen, as that is part of the “wow” in seeing Peter Jackson’s brilliant magic with this old archival footage. I took a couple of friends to a preview of the film, friends who were not sure they were interested in seeing a film about WWI. Both came away impressed and big fans.

Part of the reason is that Peter Jackson tells this story as “one non-historian to another.” There are no dates, no list of battles, no experts talking. Instead the film focuses entirely on the experience of ordinary British soldiers. The only voices we hear are theirs, from recordings made around the 1960s, so that the voices, of men in their 50s and 60s, still sound strong.

The film is both technically impressive and emotionally moving. Jackson points out that while we are used to seeing silent black and white images of the war, these young men did not live in a silent black and white world. THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD goes far beyond colorized black and white film. Jackson lets the audience see enough of the un-restored film footage that when he makes the switch, to full-color, sharp, 3D sound film, there are gasps. Jackson used his considerable technical resources, the ones used to create the “Lord of the Rings” movies, to update the old film footage. He corrects the exposure of too-light or too-dark film stock, cleans up and restored scratched images to create sharp, clear images. He also found the right running speed for the film, which was variable in that early time of hand-cranked cameras. That step eliminates the too-fast or too-slow movement one often sees in old silent footage, so that the movements become natural and realistic like modern film. He colorized the footage, but went to extreme steps in doing so, matching the color of actual uniforms and even the tones of local foliage. Then, he further transformed the film to 3D and added dialog. Yes, the soldiers speak, thanks to lip-readers and actors reading the transcribed text in the correct regional accents.

We see the world of these ordinary young Brits from shortly before the war begins until shortly after. One of the most striking details is how young they were, as many of the speakers enlisted underage, even as young as sixteen. We hear them joke and kid around as they describe training and how they kept themselves amused in long days in the trenches. But the film does not shy away from the brutality of war, with emotional descriptions of lost comrades and stark footage of war’s carnage.

THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD was shown last month at special Fathom Events screenings around the country. In addition to this astounding film, there was the added bonus of a short “making-of” documentary, which Jackson reveals his production tricks and all the other amazing historical touches he added to make these long-gone soldiers spring back to life in the muddy trenches of France and Belgium. Unfortunately, this new theatrical run does not include the excellent “making of” feature, but you are going to want to seek it out after you see this amazing film, because you will wonder how Jackson did that. However, don’t wait for a DVD or online release to see this film. This is the kind of 3D film that demands a big screen, as well as being one of the best uses of 3D seen in years.

Even if you don’t think you are a WWI buff, this remarkable film is an experience you do not want to miss. THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD opens Friday, Feb. 1, at Marcus’ Ronnies, Des Peres, and Chesterfield Galaxy, AMC’s Chesterfield and Creve Coeur, Regal’s Gravois Bluffs, and B&B’s Wildwood and Wentzville Tower.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

 

THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD to Return for an Additional Fathom Event January 21st

On the heels of its already record-breaking release, and in response to popular demand, a third Fathom Events date has been added for Warner Bros. Pictures’ much-heralded WWI documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old,” from Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson.  The film will be screened at more than 1,000 locations in the U.S. on Monday, January 21, 2019, taking advantage of the holiday weekend.  The announcement was made today by Jeffrey Goldstein, President, Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events.

“They Shall Not Grow Old” debuted in North America at 1,122 locations on December 17, 2018, taking in an impressive $2.327 million.  As anticipation grew for the second Fathom Events release date, on December 27, several locations were sold out more than a week in advance.  Playing on 1,007 screens, the film earned an astounding $3.375 million for a record-shattering two-day total of $5.702 million.  It is the highest-grossing U.S. cinema event to date, for both Fathom Events and the event-cinema industry.

In making the announcement, Goldstein stated, “The response to ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ has been overwhelming.  Peter Jackson’s documentary is a towering achievement of film restoration that has conquered the ravages of time and stands as a fitting tribute to all those who fought and died in what was then called ‘the war to end all wars.’  We are so proud to be part of bringing this film to audiences across the U.S. and Canada.”

“This project has been a historic and record-setting journey for Fathom, Warner Bros., our exhibitor partners and the event cinema industry,” said Fathom Events CEO Ray Nutt.  “We are honored to give audiences another chance to experience this groundbreaking documentary as it should be seen — in 3D and on the big screen.”

Tickets will be available soon at www.FathomEvents.com and participating theater box offices.

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson (“The Lord of the Rings”Trilogy, “The Hobbit” Trilogy) comes the groundbreaking documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old,” presented on the centenary of the end of the First World War.

Applying state-of-the-art restoration, colorization and 3D technologies to century-old footage — carefully chosen from hundreds of hours of original Great War film held in the archives of the Imperial War Museum (IWM) — Jackson has created an intensely gripping, immersive and authentic cinematic experience. The only narration comes from Great War veterans themselves, selected from over 600 hours of BBC and IWM archive interviews, resulting in a gripping account of “The War to End All Wars,” told by the soldiers who experienced it.

By restoring the original footage to a standard never seen before, the human face of WWI emerges with vivid clarity through the fog of time. Jackson captures the day-to-day experience of its soldiers and reveals the reality of war for those on the front line: their attitudes about the conflict; their camaraderie and their need for humor amidst the horror; the functions of daily life in the trenches; and what their lives were like during periods of rest.  Using cutting-edge techniques to transform the images of a century ago into footage that could have been shot today, Jackson both remembers and honors a generation changed forever by a global war.

“They Shall Not Grow Old” was directed by Peter Jackson and produced by Clare Olssen and Jackson, with Ken Kamins, Tessa Ross, Di Lees and Jenny Waldman serving as executive producers.  The film was edited by Jabez Olssen.  The music is by David Donaldson, Janet Roddick & Steve Roche.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Wingnut Films Production, co‐commissioned by 14‐18 NOW and Imperial War Museum in association with BBC. This film has been rated R for disturbing war images.

 

THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD – Review

A before-and-after shot from Peter Jackson’s WWI documentary THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD. Courtesy of Fathom Events and Warner Bros.

When director Peter Jackson was asked if he could do something with old archival footage of World War I to mark the 100th anniversary of the war’s end, the visual effects wizard behind the LORD OF THE RINGS series was unsure what he could do. He told the historical foundation he would try to come up with something. Boy, did he!

That “something” was the documentary THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD, an eye-popping documentary about the ordinary British soldier’s experience of the war, through the transformation of old faded, scratchy black and white images into glorious 3D color images with sound. The images that bring back to vivid life the British soldiers pictured in these mix of home movies and newsreel footage. The transformation is so remarkable that the documentary has become a huge popular hit in Britain, and plans are developing to bring it across the pond to us.

Local audiences will get a chance to see this miraculously transformation in 3D at a special Fathom Events encore screenings on Dec. 27 at AMC Chesterfield, West Olive, Creve Coeur and Edwardsville, IL at 1pm and 4pm. A regular theatrical run is also planned for later in January. Tickets are available through FathomEvents.com. You really want to see this remarkable documentary in 3D as that is part of the “wow” in seeing Peter Jackson’s magic with this old archival footage.

This goes far beyond colorized black and white film, and Jackson lets the audience see enough of the unrestored film that when he makes the switch, there are gasps. Jackson used his technical resources to correct the expose of too-light or too-dark film stock, clean up and restored scratched images. He also found the right running speed for the film, which was variable in that early time of hand-cranked cameras, a step that eliminates that too-fast movement one often sees in only silent footage, so that the movements become natural. He colorized the footage, matching the color of uniforms and even local foliage. Then, he transformed the film to 3D and added dialog. Yes, the soldiers speak, thanks to lip-readers and actors reading the transcribed text in the correct regional accents.

The film is astounding, but be sure to stay after the film for Jackson’s making-of short documentary, which reveals his production tricks and all the other amazing historical touches he added to make these long-gone soldiers spring back to life in the muddy trenches of France and Belgium. Even if you don’t think you are a WWI buff, this remarkable film is an experience, one you do not want to miss.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

MARIA BY CALLAS – Review

Maria Callas. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

In many ways, American-born soprano Maria Callas’ life was operatic, with plenty of triumph and tragedy. Early in MARIA BY CALLAS, we see Maria Callas being interviewed by television host David Frost, as she describes her life being divided into two parts, a professional self she calls Callas and a personal self she calls Maria. Maria Callas was a fabulously famous opera star and icon of the mid-20th century who embodied the word diva, and also an intriguing international celebrity avidly covered by tabloid media. MARIA BY CALLAS allows the singer herself to set the record straight on personal and professional gossip.

Maria Callas was the most acclaimed soprano of her time but she was nothing like the stereotype of an opera singer – you know, the heavy woman in elaborate costume standing stiffly while singing. Tall, slim, with large eyes and strong regal features, Callas moved and emoted as she sang, in that golden voice that needed no amplification. Her performance style, stage presence and glorious voice brought her legions of fans. But Callas also was a jet-set celebrity, famously linked with Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis, who left Callas to marry Jackie Kennedy and then returned to her after the marriage broke up.

Director Tom Volf’s MARIA BY CALLAS offers a personal view of the legendary singer, more an introductory sampling of her work and life than a definitive, exhaustive biography. MARIA BY CALLAS captures a sense of the time period, as well as letting the singer tell us about her life and her work in her own words. For fans who know her work well, the best parts of this film are the performance segments, which are plentiful.

With her large eyes, strong features and tall slim figure, Maria Callas looked the part of a diva, as well as having the golden voice and technical skills to thrill audiences. In MARIA BY CALLAS, the singer herself speaks about her life and career in a series of interviews, supplemented with performance footage, adoring fans speaking about her, and news coverage of this celebrated star whose fame transcended the world of opera. Anyone even a little curious about this icon of her era should enjoy this warm, well-made film, as will opera fans.

This enjoyable documentary skips both the usual narration and talking head expert interviews to let the singer tells us directly about herself, with only a couple of title cards to set the stage. This very intimate approach is effective, drawing us into her world in a warm manner.

One need not be an opera fan to enjoy this documentary but it holds particular delights for those who are. Opera is bold, melodramatic and demands big, beautiful voices that need no amplification, and Callas had the goods. Not only did she have the voice and training, she brought acting skills to her singing, enhancing the vocal fireworks by “selling the song” dramatically, instead of just standing and singing as some opera singers do. The film features archival clips of Callas singing some of the most famous arias from “Carmen,” “Madame Butterfly,” “La Traviata,” and others. The performance footage is presented in an unusual way, as if we are peering through the back of a movie projector, seeing the black-edged square of the individual frame, as well as portions of the frames above and below and the sprocket holes or sound strip running along side. The result is an unexpected image that keeps you focused on the singing itself. Other archival footage dispenses with that technique, allowing us to concentrate on Callas remarkable acting skills as she sang.

MARIA BY CALLAS gives us home movies, news footage, and plenty of interviews. Callas talks about growing up in New York as part of a Greek-American family, her mother’s drive to make her daughter an opera star, her own work ethic and commitment to her career at the cost of a family life. She talks about her failed early marriage, her never-fulfilled longing for children, and about her famous long-running affair with Aristotle Onassis.

Callas was as famous in her era as a jet-set celebrity as a opera star. While adoring opera fans lined up for hours to get tickets to her performances, others eagerly snapped up tabloid papers to read about her love life or tales of temperamental behavior. Callas herself explains the latter as more a consequence of her exacting professional standards in her work than moodiness or temper. The film also delves into lesser known details of her life, such as her dabbling in film acting.

MARIA BY CALLAS paints a warm, touching portrait of the legendary Maria Callas, as a person as well as offering a sampling of her work and an overview of her career. This delightful film should please her fans as well as offer a warm introduction to non-fans. MARIA BY CALLAS opens Friday, November 30, at Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

FREE SOLO – Review

Free solo climber Alex Honnold on the rock face of Yosemite’s El Capitan, in National Geographic’s FREE SOLO. Photo courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films (c)

Climbing a sheer mountain face is scary enough, but imagine doing it without even a rope. FREE SOLO follows just such a daring feat, as Alex Honnold scales Yosemite’s El Capitan…. without a rope. This National Geographic documentary offers breath-taking, dizzying views as the climber tackles the peak.

Yosemite’s daunting 3,000 foot high El Capitan rock face had never been climbed free solo when Alex Honnold set his sights on it. The documentary follows Honnold as he becomes the first person to climb it with no ropes or other safety gear, perhaps the greatest accomplishment in rock climbing history.

FREE SOLO follows Alex Honnold over about two years as he prepares for this never-before feat. The documentary was the winner at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival 2018 for the People’s Choice Award for Documentary, and it is easy to see why. The film not only gives viewers those thrilling mountain vistas and nail-biting climbing footage, but goes beyond covering the technical details of Honnold’s preparations for the monumental task. It also takes us into his personal life, what makes him take such risks and his unique story. We end up as charmed and intrigued by him as we are impressed with his climbing prowess and icy nerves.

It isn’t just the rope that this remarkable athlete does without – it is all climbing safety equipment, apart from special shoes. Just the climber and the mountain. There is a purity in that, as strange as it seems to us ordinary folks.

The documentary is more than climbing footage, offering a range of interviews with friends, family, and film crew that give us insight on climbing and how the film was shot. The film features interviews with other climbers including Tommy Caldwell and Peter Croft, plus commentary from filmmaker Jimmy Chin, cameramen /climbers Cheyne Lempe and Mikey Schaefer, Alex’s girlfriend Sanni McCandless, and Alex’s mother Dierdre Wolownick.

Alex. Honnold also speaks about climbing, offering a bit on why he pursues such a dangerous avocation. No, not avocation, but profession, as Honnold also is an author, writing about his exploits, funding the next climb. Of course, there is no equipment to buy for Honnold.

Honnold left home at 19 after his dad died to become a climber, living in a van he purchased while he traveled around climbing.. His parents sent him to an international school, and apparently he is quite bright although he tells us he was always shy and a bit of a loner. As soon as he discovered climbing, it was all he wanted to do, and with his solitary tendencies, free solo climbing felt natural.

Although Honnold still lives in a van at the beginning of the film, he has a new girlfriend Sanni McCandless, a budding romance we watch grow as the film unfolds.

Honnold has a reputation for focus and for fearlessness. Some of his famous climbs include Moonlight Buttress at Zion National Park and Half Dome at Yosemite. Alex asserts he feels no fear despite the obvious danger of free solo. He contends it is safe, despite how it looks, because he knows what he is doing and is thoroughly prepared for each climb. Interestingly, the film includes a segment where an MRI confirms his lack of fear.

While Honnold isn’t afraid to climb sheer rock faces without a rope, even he considers Yosemite’s El Capitan scary, due to the pure difficulty of it. Honnold calls El Capitan “the most impressive wall on earth.” Nobody had ever free soloed it for good reason.

As he prepares for the El Cap climb by tackling other peaks, workouts and repeatedly climbing El Cap itself with ropes, we get to know Alex. He is brutally honest yet has an appealing, open personality. He is a quirky character who lives to climb but has a surprising boyish charm.

Climbing El Cap with ropes, over and over, is key to learning the rock face to free solo it. Alex picks the route known as Free Rider as the best one to climb El Cap. He is joined by one of his childhood idols, climber Tommy Caldwell, as he practices for the ascent. Caldwell offers some of the film’s best observations on the upcoming challenge, as well as a professional and personal perspective on Alex.

The climbing challenge is unique and so is the film-making. No Go Pro here. Filmmaker Jimmy Chin is a climber too, which is necessary in order to get the best shots. At the same time, they do not want to get in Alex’s way, and certainly not endanger him. Free soloing is a solitary thing and takes concentration, and there is concern that the presence of a camera crew could distract Alex and endanger him by some accidental slip. The camera crew, all climbers themselves, as also concerned about interfering with Honnold’s enjoyment of the unique historic experience, and discuss how best to ensure that and his safety.

While Honnold is fearless about free soloing, it is obviously the most dangerous kind of climbing. Many famous climbers have fallen to their deaths, and the risk of seeing someone die is a reason some of the camera men hesitated to join the project.

The film culminates with bracing, harrowing and glorious footage of Alex Honnold’s historic ascent, capping to documentary with a thrilling moment.

Whether one cares about rock climbing or not, FREE SOLO is a thrillingly entertaining film, filled with unexpected set-backs and triumphs, as well as an appealing personal portrait of a rare and supremely gifted human being.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

SCIENCE FAIR – Review

Students entering International Science and Engineering Fair at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Photo courtesy of Univision and National Geographic

SCIENCE FAIR is a crowd-pleasing, entertaining look at a group of high schoolers competing for the top prize in an international science fair. And forget that baking soda “volcano” from grade school science fairs. These kids are doing real science, with research projects on real-world topics like the tackling the Zika virus, creating an improved stethoscope, and developing innovations in aeronautics.

Not kidding about the crowd-pleasing: SCIENCE FAIR won the Audience Choice Awards at both Sundance and SXSW. SCIENCE FAIR The film is a celebration of science kids, of geek culture in all its quirky and funny glory, but also of the smart kids who know how to work hard and will go on the have a real impact on out world.

The National Geographic documentary has a similar structure others about student competitions, for spelling bees or choirs or dance troupes, following a selection of young people as they prepare and finally participate in a top competition. Neither the audience nor the filmmakers know if the likable, talented kids they are spotlighting will win in the end, which is part of the excitement of these films. SCIENCE FAIR has an extra element that makes it even more intriguing: these young people are doing real science research and preparing for careers that can impact society directly. Spelling is important but it is hard to top finding a vaccine against the Zika virus.

It is that real world application that sets science fairs apart, and makes the kids featured so interesting. SCIENCE FAIR follows nine teenagers from diverse backgrounds, including two from other countries, as they work towards competing in the International Science and Engineering Fair. As smart, hard-working and creative as these kids are, there can be only one winner for Best in Fair.

Emmy-nominated filmmakers Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster selected an intriguing group of nine young people set on winning and fascinated by science and engineering. Some students submit projects as part of a team and others individually, and the film follows both teams and individuals. And of course, these are teens, so there is all the drama, rivalries and hormones of that age. The documentary also spotlights an inspiring teacher, Mrs. McCalla, who serves as a coach to several science fair hopefuls.

Anyone who as even gone to one of these high school science fairs know that these budding scientists are doing serious work, with months of experimental research represented in the small display space allotted to them. As the teens themselves explain, it is not just the research and analysis that matters but how that is presented.

Not surprisingly, students who attend high schools that specialize in science and engineering have an edge. The documentary follows two projects from one such school in Kentucky, one by a team of three boys and another by a determined young woman.

Anjali is kind of the veteran of the documentary, having entered science fairs before and strategizing her campaign like a general. A child prodigy who scored a perfect 36 on the ACT as a 13-year-old freshman, sophomore Anjali has a sparkling, outgoing personality and is working on an arsenic testing device, addressing a threat that can be found in some drinking water.

Ryan, Harsha and Abraham are seniors who has banded together to create what they hope will be a science fair winner, an electronic stethoscope that connects to a database of heart sounds, an advance on the traditional doctor’s instrument.

Other students come from schools with little or no interest in science, and have to work more on their own. Kashfia is a Muslim girl at a South Dakota high school that is much more about sports than science. The daughter of immigrants, she is socially isolated at school but a strong and self-reliant person focused on her educational goals. She finds unexpected ally in the football coach, who becomes her sponsor for the fair, and her well-educated immigrant parents provide the support and encouragement she needs.

Robbie is another student out of place, and one of the most interesting kids in the documentary. Living in West Virginia, he stands our like a giraffe in a herd of cows in his poor, rural community. A socially easy-going, mathematically-gifted computer whiz with quirky taste in clothes, Robbie finds little to interest him at his public school that is totally unprepared to educate gifted students like him. There is a heart-breaking scene where his math teacher tells about how he would ask her questions about advanced mathematical concepts, to which she responded by telling him to just focus on his homework. Not surprisingly, his grades are low even though his test scores are high, the hallmark of a gifted-student not challenged by an inadequate school. While his parents are emotionally supportive and committed to backing his ambitions but they lack the educational background and experience to do much more than cheer him on.

The three international students featured are a study in contrasts and must win their country’s science fairs to reach the International Science and Engineering Fair. One is a German boy, Ivo, with an enduring interest in aeronautics whose supportive parents and country provide him all the resources he needs for his project to redesign and improve an old single-wing aircraft. The other two are a team from Brazil, Myllena and Gabriel. The film focuses mostly on Myllena, a girl from a little rural village in an area of Brazil hard-hit by the Zika virus, Myllena’s family are poor farmers but they and her cash-strapped school do what they can to support her, as she and Gabriel work on their science project researching a solution to combat Zika.

SCIENCE FAIR is a total winner. We get wrapped up in the stories of these likable, brilliant kids, and cannot help but root for all of them, both at the science fair and in life. So often it is the athletes who get all the attention so it is a treat to see the smart kids get their chance to shine. The documentary opens Friday, Sept. 28, at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. – Review

She’s the rapper that flipped off the camera at the Super Bowl. She’s the political activist that is critical of America. She’s the pop star that had a hit featuring kids singing the chorus layered over gunshots and a sample of The Clash’s “Straight to Hell.” Music critics and fans knew of M.I.A. starting with her breakthrough album Arular in 2005, but it wasn’t until her song “Paper Planes” was featured in the 2008 film SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (it went on to win Best Picture) that the general public became aware of the Sri Lankan artist which led to an unconventional radio hit. And with that came a series of controversial performances, music videos, and interviews, that all culminated in a 2012 Super Bowl halftime show alongside Madonna. Yet, for all of the headlines, articles, and think-pieces labeling the artist as an enfant terrible, many were more obsessed about the nature of her actions instead of listening to what she was saying.

In the years that followed that performance, M.I.A. released albums that pushed her mix of electronic hip-hop, African dance-hall beats, and tribal drums, into more experimental territory with mixed results. Whether intentional or not, her name disappeared from the media in recent years. As a result, this new documentary feels like a look back at a long-lost pop icon as well as a film that doesn’t feel as urgent as it might have been 4 or 5 years ago.

Ironically, MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. has been in development for years. Director Steve Loveridge was given over 700 hours of footage chronicling the journey of a young girl who wanted to be a rapper and then a documentary filmmaker (going on tour with Britpop band Elastica) and then a singer and producer. How he was able to edit that down into a clear and cohesive 96 min narrative is an accomplishment in and of itself. Yet, it’s also an engaging portrait that shows how someone’s identity isn’t easily defined. So much ground is covered in this film – hence, the three names she goes by that are featured in the title – that you feel like you’re seeing multiple sides of an individual, which is uncommon in most documentaries. The cut and paste approach to the film presents the subject as if you are watching her life unfold naturally. The fact that it’s all told from and filmed (mostly) from her perspective gives us a chance to see Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam in a raw and unfiltered light. Albeit, a light very much controlled by the subject.

Loveridge serves more as a conduit for M.I.A. compared to the typical documentary filmmaker. He isn’t the provocateur asking questions, but given the footage, he has assembled intriguing pieces where we can see the foreshadowing of a young artist that saw the power and responsibility of being handed a microphone. Her escape from a civil war and her father’s position within that war bears a heavy presence on her mind and becomes a crucial part of her music. In the film, it becomes just as important to the narrative as her Super Bowl fallout (though the events of that day and the aftermath might be focused on a little too heavily).

What’s most intriguing is that following the documentary’s premiere at Sundance earlier this year, M.I.A. expressed disinterest in the film, going so far as saying that the director removed her “cool” element. Watching the film with this knowledge adds another layer to the outspoken performer and activist. If the film paints a portrait of an artist that is heavily inspired by the Sri Lankan civil war and the treatment of refugees in England and America, what is the “cool” side of the performer that we’re not seeing? If the title refers to a woman exploring her identity through three different personas, perhaps there is a fourth somewhere among the hundreds of hours of footage that we haven’t met. In the end, it’s hard to compartmentalize one’s life, and maybe that’s the point.

 

Overall score: 3.5 out of 5

MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. opens in select theaters Friday, September 28th, 2018

LOVE, GILDA – Review

With the year’s end “light at the end of the tunnel” in sight, 2018’s parade of distinguished feature documentaries marches on with another “crowd-pleaser” bringing up the rear. Cinemas have been host to truly exceptional works of non-fiction filmmaking. This week’s release joins the impressive list of the “celebrity showbiz profile” sub-genre that includes the box office hit WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR along with WHITNEY, MCQUEEN, and QUINCY. Though music doesn’t play as big a role in this subject’s life as in several of these films, she made her greatest cultural impact on television, just as NEIGHBOR’s Fred Rogers. Oh, and her works were much more “adult” in nature, While Rogers was a daytime TV king to countless kids, she was the first real “queen of late-night TV comedy”. And while she’s been gone for nearly three decades, her influence seems to be felt now, more than ever. This film profiles Ms. Radner, the superstar who ended nearly all her writings with two simple words: LOVE, GILDA.

The film begins with footage from the show that made her famous, with Gilda commanding everyone’s attention at a trendy “watering hole”. It then backtracks over twenty years with snapshots and jittery old 8mm silent home movie footage of plump-cheeked little Gilda, perhaps 6 or 7 years old, her eyes darting about in search of the camera, ready to perform a dance or make a funny face. Older brother Michael tells us of the food issues that started very early, and how her mom got “diet pills” (speed, basically) prescribed for the out-going, “zaftig” ten-year-old. Then her journals and diaries are brought out. When Gilda’s own voice isn’t availible, several current comic actors are enlisted to provide the audible. Many are connected to Gilda’s TV alma mater “Saturday Night Live”. Frequent “guest host” and current “queen of movie comedy” Melissa McCarthy, current SNL cast member Cecily Strong, and SNL vets Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, and (token fella’) Bill Hader read different passages (Hader seems like Indiana Jones finding a long-hidden treasure, stifling a plea that “These belong in a museum!”). We’re told of Gilda receiving love from an elderly nanny named “Dibby” while poppa and mama were too busy with business and high society in Detroit. When she left home for the University of Michigan, Gilda continued to search for love, amassing many boyfriends, before following one, a sculptor, to Canada. When that romance fizzled, Gilda plunged into the theatre scene, and became part of the Toronto cast of “Godspell”. Show creator Stephen Schwartz, piano accompaniest Paul Shaffer, and fellow castmate, and former beau, Martin Short share their memories, along with a funny audio recording. We see Gilda jump from the stages of the Toronto Second City to the NYC sound booth of the National Lampoon as part of their radio show and comedy album ensemble (and her first encounter with John Belushi). After a couple of NatLamp stage shows, Lorne Michaels signed her up (really, Gilda was the first to be hired) for a new live weekend late night comedy/music NBC show. Michaels is interviewed along with fellow SNL-ers Chevy Chase and Laraine Newman, and writers Anne Beatts, Rosie Shuster, and Alan Zweibel. The filmmakers provide us with a refresher course on the many characters Gilda inhabited during her five year run on the show, all while still searching for her soul mate (much is made of the long affair with Bill Murray), and battling various eating disorders. We’re treated to several behind-the-scenes videos from her Broadway show (turned into the feature film GILDA LIVE!), and see her cavorting with future husband, guitarist G.E. Smith. When her stint at SNL ended, Gilda was adrift until landing a movie role in the film HANKY PANKY opposite movie “comedy king” Gene Wilder. After divorcing Smith, she married Gene, then signing letters with “love, Gilda Radner-Wilder”. This should have been her “happily ever after”, but several failed pregnancies eventually led to the discovery of Ovarian cancer. The film then chronicles Gilda’s health struggles, her remission, an attempted comeback via TV’s “It’s Gary Shandling’s Show”, and the disease’s final fatal return. Aside from her TV comedy legacy, several cancer screenings programs bear her name along with many cancer-affected family support centers around the world bearing her name and image, “Gilda’s Club”.

First-time feature director Lisa Dapolito has done a terrific job of wrangling the massive amount of archive footage while eliciting funny, honest responses from her interview subjects. While viewers might wish for more complete SNL sketches (the inspired Fellini parody “La Dolce Gilda” would have best illustrated her complex, conflicting thoughts on fame), but we get enough of on insight on her many recurring characters (a taste of Emily Litella, Roseanne Roseannadanna, etc.) to grasp her importance on the show’s infancy. And some still living folks are sorely missing from the “talking heads” clips. The third of “Chevy’s Angels”, Jane Curtain might have some great backstage stories. And any comments from Bill Murray would have been a major coup (doubtful of that ever happening, since Gilda barely mentioned him in her memoir, “It’s Always Something”). I was hoping to know a bit more about the time just after SNL. No mention of THE FIRST FAMILY, Gilda’s first big-time feature film, post-SNL, which bombed. Nor do we hear of her part in Jean Kerr’s play “Lunch Hour”, which bounced around to several theatres to little fanfare. This would help explain those limbo years, the very early 1980’s, in which the studios had no idea how to capitalize on her incredible popularity. It’s a great choice to have much of Gilda’s written thoughts interpreted by several members of the exclusive comedy club she helped establish. The stars bring the prose to life along with graphics that highlight passages for dramatic effect. And the early childhood home movie footage bookended with the jumpy video-cam shot scenes of domestic bliss with family and friends at Casa de Wilder give the film an extraordinary intimacy. The comic icon morphs into a warm, sympathetic human being. While many big fans (myself very much included) bemoan some exclusions, the rarities included, particularly the awkward spot with Tom Snyder on “Tomorrow” and the chaotic live prime time New Orleans SNL special (in which the cast realized that they were akin to rock stars), more than make this a pop culture event. Though the tale comes to a real tragic conclusion, the film is a real celebration of a remarkable talent who truly reached through the TV screen and grabbed the public by the “funny bone” and the heart. All those touched by her story should love LOVE, GILDA.

4.5 Out of 5

LOVE, GILDA opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas

 

SWIMMING TO FERGUSON – Review

Henry Biggs attempts his marathon swim at Catalina Island.

If Henry Biggs were really swimming to Ferguson, he would have started in the Mississippi and made his way up Maline Creek, although he would have had to walk part of the way to get there.

What Henry Biggs is really doing is swimming around Manhattan Island. Although more a runner than a swimmer, Henry planned to swim 28.5 miles around Manhattan. It isn’t just the distance that makes this hard but the fact that he is swimming against current, tides and in areas more accustomed to seeing boats than swimmers.

This open-water marathon is an impressive swimming challenge but what does that have to do with Ferguson? Biggs says he was deeply affected by what happened in Ferguson in 2014, after unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot by white policeman Darren Wilson, and he is using his athletic feat to raise money and awareness for Ferguson. The fundraising is admirable and doubtless Biggs is sincere. but it seems like people are already pretty aware of what happened in Ferguson, so it feels a bit more like Biggs is using Ferguson to draw attention to his swimming feat than the reverse.

Part of the problem is that title. While one can easy accept that Henry Biggs was moved by what happened in Ferguson and wanted to do something to help, what does ultra-marathon swimming really have to do with Ferguson?

Well, nothing really, which leaves director Derek Elz with the problem of figuring out how to link the two topics. The documentary tries to solve this by moving back and forth between spotlighting Henry Biggs and his swimming challenge, and a discussion of what happened in Ferguson.

To its credit, when the documentary focuses on Ferguson, it mostly features people who were there or have an real connection to events, rather than just outside experts and pundits. Among those featured are Michael Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr., a voice less often heard than the teen’s mother McSpadden The documentary also strives for some degree of balance in viewpoints, although everyone agrees that events escalated out of control and that it sparked a national conversation.

The documentary is very polished and professional, following the usual format of on-camera interviews, archival stills and footage, including some of the swimmer training, promoting his fundraiser before crowds and then the marathon swim itself.

Henry Biggs seems like an interesting character, a middle-aged white man who comes across as a colorful character with diverse interests and apparently a lot of money. Biggs also seems very well-connected. Among the people who speak about his planned swimming marathon are sportcaster Joe Buck and a host of champion marathon swimmers.

The personal side of Henry Biggs is covered by friends and family. Henry’s wife Theresa, an adjunct professor of Italian at St. Louis University, describes her husband when she first met his as a kind of scruffy, disheveled “dude,” but that dude earned a PhD, an MBA, a law degree and a Masters in computer science. He also participated the Boston Marathon and Iron Man. Other interviewees include a pair of African American friends, Henry’s “Little Brother” from Big Brothers, Jamyel Collins, now CEO of JDC Vending, and an assistant dean at Washington University (where Biggs works), Dr. Harvey R. Field, Jr.

Biggs himself says he wants to raise funds for educational initiatives in Ferguson, particularly mentoring programs, inspired by his 30 plus years working with Big Brothers Big Sisters. To prepare, Biggs swam six hours a day, in pools or open water.

As part of the swimming section, the film briefly gives some background on marathon open-sea swimming, focusing on feats like swimming the English Channel, and covers the unique challenges of those kinds of athletic attempts. Among the difficulties swimmers face with the English Channel are the cold water temperatures as well as waves and weather. One marathon swimmer described the channel as “the Mount Everest of open-water swims.” Still Henry was among those who swam it as a young man.

Actually, Henry takes the swimming challenge a bit further, when he learns that Manhattan Island and the English Channel are two of the three legs in the open-water “Triple Crown,” and he decides to try to swim the third one, around Catalina Island, also as a fundraiser for Ferguson. It is footage of this swim that is presented in the documentary, rather than the swim around Manhattan.

In the Ferguson sections interspersed throughout, the documentary does feature people close to the events in Ferguson, including Michael Brown Sr. talking about hearing his son was laying in the street bleeding. Many people in the St. Louis region watched in horror and embarrassment as authorities engaged in a series of bad decisions, at the local, regional and state level, that led to escalating violence, as the whole nation and even the world watched.

Besides members of Michael Brown’s family, those offering commentary on what happened are include by Captain Ron Johnson, the black Missouri Highway Patrol captain who was appointed commander of the police response as things began to spin out of control. Johnson attempted to de-escalate tensions between police and protesters by changing the tone of police interactions and backing off the paramilitary approach, but he arrived too late to turn the tide. Other voices offer another perspective, defending Darren Wilson’s actions as a judgment call or the authority’s responses. Among the voices are Ferguson mayor James Knowles II, who says that events in Ferguson were “a spark that set off the emotions of people who hadn’t been heard. There were so many people there for so many different reasons, and it became a situation where people who were there to protest peacefully were now intermixed with people there to do harm.” an insight authorities at the time did not grasp until it was too late. “Water finally boiled out of the pot.” as Capt. Johnson put it.

The discussion on Ferguson is thoughtful and well-balanced, and its greatest strength is that is it the people involved who speak, not outside pundits. Still, what is discussed perhaps does not really add much to what has already been said about what happened or its significance for the country.

Throughout, the film feels like two different documentaries mashed together: one a thoughtful discussion on events in Ferguson by the people who witnessed it, and the other a personal profile of an accomplished middle-aged man attempting a daunting athletic feat. What happened in Ferguson launched the Black Lives Matter movement and a national conversation on race and police, as well as some elected officials losing elections and an increase in black political participation in in the St. Louis region. That is serious stuff compared to one man preparing for a marathon swim, and the documentary really does struggle to connect the two. It really does not, and instead focuses on each story, the swimming challenge and Ferguson, by turns. Even the tone does not match, as the Ferguson section is serious and socially reflective, while the swimming portion feels more personal and lighter, no matter how difficult the marathon swim.

These subjects would have been better served by two separate documentaries. This awkward combination, however well-meaning it may be, makes this film an oddity that might have a fairly narrow audience.

SWIMMING TO FERGUSON opens Friday, Sept. 14, at the Tivoli Theater.

RATING: 2 out of 5 stars