rolling documentary thread 2015

listen to me marlon was a slightly elevated clip reel, but still had some cool stuff in there

Think I liked In Jackson Heights even more than At Berkeley or National Gallery. (Not as much as Welfare, but there aren't 30 films I like as much as Welfare.) Hard to know which segments to single out, but I'd go with the 98-year-old woman (who doesn't look a day over 70; I don't mean that a joke), the class for prospective cab drivers, and a gay community group early in the film (an informal meeting to discuss a possible relocation). The last interested me as a teacher, and I'd love to show it to my class; 15-plus minutes long, maybe a dozen people speaking in succession, usually for over a minute each, and not a single person interrupts anyone at any point. We do a fair amount of group work, and trying to get 12-year-olds to learn to not talk over each other is a losing battle--I spend half my day nagging them about noise. I always love Wiseman's signature stylistic device where he pulls back from the non-stop talking and has silent, rhythmic shots around the neighborhood or building or whatever institution he's filming. I think that only happens in Welfare when one day turns into the next; he does it more often now. I didn't find every segment compelling; I agree with my friend that sometimes I found myself thinking, "Okay, move on." (A woman's 15-minute description of a border crossing felt twice as long.) But even there, where I stop focusing on the specifics of what's being said at a certain point, it's still part of the overall flow of words. Something that every reviewer will point out is unavoidable: the backdrop here (and this was undoubtedly intentional in a broad sense, but I'm sure Wiseman must have had this finished before Trump became the center of the universe) is what's going on in the Republican Party right now.

My one real point of contact with The New Yorker over the years was Kael (and, to a much lesser extent, the various people who inherited her post), and that may have been an advantage when watching Very Semi-Serious. Anyone well versed in the history of their cartoonists will have strong opinions on which ones should get the most time, and might be disappointed that there isn't more on the most famous names from the past. There's a fair amount on Mort Gerberg, but not a whole lot on Thurber, Adams, Arno, etc. Mostly the film's about Bob Mankoff, who I liked fine (he was funnier when he spoke after the screening). As someone who was a failure at freelance--who couldn't get past the foundational rule: don't personalize rejection--I found the film resonant on that front. Not that I learned anything I didn't already know, but when you watch Gerberg in his 70s getting a quick once-through from Mankoff at the weekly cattle-call, or see another guy (forget his name) who submitted stuff for 25 years before he got something into the magazine, you see that dynamic writ large. The cartoon department navigating its way through 9/11 was interesting, and I liked seeing this one James Thurber cartoon I've always loved.

http://www.improvisedlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Thurbers-seal-cartoon.jpg

oscar shortlist released; i'm of the opinion Wolfpack got jobbed but ymmv. glad to see miss simone in there.

“Amy,” On the Corner Films and Universal Music
“Best of Enemies,” Tremolo Productions and Media Ranch
“Cartel Land,” Our Time Projects and The Documentary Group
“Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” Jigsaw Productions
“He Named Me Malala,” Parkes-MacDonald and Little Room
“Heart of a Dog,” Canal Street Communications
“The Hunting Ground,” Chain Camera Pictures
“Listen to Me Marlon,” Passion Pictures
“The Look of Silence,” Final Cut for Real
“Meru,” Little Monster Films
“3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets,” The Filmmaker Fund, Motto Pictures, Lakehouse Films, Actual Films, JustFilms, MacArthur Foundation and Bertha BRITDOC
“We Come as Friends,” Adelante Films
“What Happened, Miss Simone?,” RadicalMedia and Moxie Firecracker
“Where to Invade Next,” Dog Eat Dog Productions
“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom,” Pray for Ukraine Productions

the backdrop here ... is what's going on in the Republican Party right now.

Don't get this re Jackson Heights, really. More relevant is our 'Sandinista' mayor turning out to be just as much a real-estate whore as the others. RIP working class NYC, BIDs continue to consume neighborhoods. Bipartisan class war.

I mostly enjoyed that Bobbito, (NYC hiphop, soul and sneakers nerd), directed movie doc --Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives...about their 1990s wee hours of Friday morning Columbia U WKCR radio show that featured Nas, Biggie and Jay-Z before they were stars...

Since he directed it, there's an autobiographical aspect to this rather a more objective one. But he does include folks who found the antics on their radio show misogynistic and juvenile. The movie does not put the program into context with whatever else was happening in music at the time, or include folks not partial to their brand of '90s hiphop nerd, but it does include old video footage of on-air freestyling, and impressive cassette demos plus Nas and Jay-Z and others listening now to those old tapes...

watched most of 'the seven five' - what a piece of shit, like 99% of the historical/surveillance footage is worthless and the rest of the time they just intercut the cops stories w/ stock footage couldnt believe how shameless it was, not even zero budget cable crime shows are this bad

dunkin donuts can not be pleased w how present it is in Heroin: Cape Cod, USA, including use of a DD rewards card to cut dope

Smiling Through the Apocalypse: Esquire in the '60s could have been a lot better--it was directed by Harold Hayes's son--but it's competent enough to more or less give shape to a great story. I know lots about the writers who made the magazine famous, and I've got a book of George Lois's iconic covers, but I knew very little about Hayes--he does seem to be somewhat forgotten.

http://www.georgelois.com/images/Esquire%20covers/Esquire_Nixon.jpg http://magazine.wfu.edu/files/2014/09/Harold-and-Tom-Hayes.jpg

Watched Cartel Land last night. For a topic that's been covered extensively in other docs (and narrative features), it remains deeply INTENSE. Some surprising twists and turns as well.

Oh God, I hated that one. But a lot of that probably comes from watching it deep into a festival, where a bunch of docs made up for their unoriginality by being INTENSE. It's prob good for what it is, but it was def not for me. Reminded me of Sicario, of course, which I hated as well.

I actually found the film itself to be very original, despite a familiar setting - I can't think of anything else that covers vigilantism *within* Mexico? I guess a handful of critics thought the film would have been better off without the American border guard guys, but I was pretty gripped by the parallels between the constantly moving morality of the central figures.

Which are some of the other films that struck you as unoriginal but intense (because if they're like this one I suspect I might like them!)

Well, come to think of it, I steered clear of most of them. Stuff with names like (T)Error and such. I did see A Good American, which was a load of crap wanting to be Citizen Four, but arguing that the government isn't spying on us enough, but too dumb to notice that that argument is quite weird.

I think my hatred was mostly from spending a bit too much time with directors such as Villeneuve, Bigelow, Greengrass, and especially Danish fraud Tobias Lindholm, who's A War is a fraudulent piece of crap of the highest order. Y'know, films that purport to be political, but in action-form, so you get stupid arguments BUT WITH GUNS!!! Best of both worlds.