Tag: Documentary

Were You a Kid in the 80s? Kid 90 Might Be Your Deal.

Part of the poster for the film Kid 90, showing 90s teen stars.

Kid 90

?Directed by Soleil Moon Frye?

The review:

A slight documentary, and your interest will vary depending on your exposure to the kid actors who populated your 80s and 90s television and movie screens* and how interested you are in learning about that transition from being a kid actor to an adult. Because Soleil Moon Frye has hours of VHS video and cassette tapes, plus her copious journals, we get at-home glimpses of a bunch of child stars that you may or may not have had crushes on.** There are a lot of scenes that depict drug use,*** and Frye’s eye is constantly turning toward another yet another boy**** while letting us in on some negative experiences.*****

The verdict: Good

(If you were a teenager in the 80s and 90s.)

Cost: Disney+ Hulu bundle monthly charge ($12.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

  • Kids
  • Dazed and Confused
  • A bunch of 80s television shows

Further sentences:

*I watched Soleil Moon Frye in Punky Brewster on prime time network television, so that’s exactly me.
**And then you get to see some of them as they look now. Back in 1990, my heart tripped over Balthazar Getty in Young Guns II. Now, he looks like a youthful middle-aged man.
***So much so that it felt cliched.
****If I had captured my teenage years with a video camera, the result would have been the same.
*****There’s a sexual assault recorded in her journals that wasn’t in the forefront of her memory. Her first sexual experience she seems happy with, though the age difference had me squirming.

Questions:

Was this navel gazing or interesting insight into a unique experience?
What would your video camera have captured in your teenage years?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Soleil Moon Frye spent four years going through footage she had shot, diaries, and voicemails from when she was a teenager in the 1990s.

Other reviews of Kid 90:

Orange background with a white frame. Text: I think it's fascinating to be able to go back and have a true chronological blueprint of what it was like to grow up as a teenager in the 90's. —Kid 90. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

The Lovefest that is 21 Years: Richard Linklater

A depiction of a reel of film with the faces of Matthew McConaughey, Jack Black, Keanu Reeves, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Billy Bob Thornton

21 Years: Richard Linklater

Directed by Michael Dunaway and Tara Wood

The review:

A lovefest about the first segment of Richard Linklater’s career which takes us through the Before movies, but cuts off before Boyhood .* It’s mostly men talking** but a lot of good stories are told and many of them are animated in an amusing style.*** Aside from hearing new things about movies that I love, I felt by the end that I had a greater appreciation of the variety of films Linklater makes.

The verdict: Good

Assuming 1) You are familiar with most of Linklater’s films, and 2) You like them.

Cost: free via Kanopy
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

  • If you like Tarantino there’s a 21 Years retrospective of his work by Tara Wood, one of the directors: QT8: The First Eight

Further sentences:

*Which they were still calling the twelve-year project.
**This makes sense given that most of his films focus on the male experience, but I could have used more from Julie Delpy (probably quoted the most) Parker Posey, and Joey Lauren Adams. Or, how about instead of the Duplass brothers, Kevin Smith, and Jason Reiteman (as much as I enjoyed them) interview some female directors to hear how Linklater’s films influenced them.
**Ethan Hawk knows how to tell a story as do Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, and Billy Bob Thornton.

Questions:

  • What’s your favorite Linklater film?
  • What do you think is his most offbeat offering?

Other reviews of 21 Years: Richard Linklater

Half the Picture is a Full Portrait of Discrimination

Colorful pictures of eyes with movie reels in them. Text: The women behind the camera. The stories behind the women.

Half the Picture

Directed by Amy Adrion

The review:

The talking heads in this movie are all women* and all are talking about how hard it is to get a job as a director in Hollywood. Various areas of discrimination are covered** as many directors get to talk about what they love about directing and what keeps them from their love. One thing I learned: it’s just as hard to break into directing TV episodes as it is to direct feature films.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: free via DVD from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home

Further sentences:

*Nearly all are directors, but there’s a woman from the Sundance Institute who pops in now and then, plus a few academics and a reporter who notes that she’s written the same article about the lack of women directors nine or ten times.
**Directing is “too hard” for women. What about their families? Crews don’t like to listen to women. Women can’t direct action/horror/war/most things. Male critics tend to not “get” movies made by women. Things made by women aren’t as good as things made by men.
***This was interesting to me because I’ve noticed that most women feature film directors intersperse directing films with directing TV episodes. It turns out that if you haven’t directed TV, the powers that be aren’t convinced you can direct it, even if you’ve directed entire movies.

Questions:

  • What do you think the solution is to get more women behind the camera?
  • Who is your favorite woman director?

Other reviews of Half the Picture:

Text: I think people have the impression that being a director is like an athletic weightlifting sport, when actually so much of it is about intimacy and connection and things that women are naturally gifted at. I think so many women feel like they need to take on a persona in order to be able to direct…and that’s just not necessary.—Lena Dunham. Half the Picture. Read the three sentence movie review at 3SMReviews.com

Catfish: Untangling What’s True and What’s False

Picture of Nev Shulman next to a portrait of Nev Shulman.

Catfish

Directed by Henry Joost, Ariel Shulman

Pre-review note: some people have questioned if this is a documentary or a pseudo-documentary. I’m in the camp of: Really Happened But Also Footage Recreated.

The review:

It’s quite handy when your good-looking brother provides you with the setup for an interesting documentary; in this case the brother, Nev, received a painting by an eight-year-old of a photo he’d taken. Back before the internet, perhaps a written correspondence might have developed, but in 2010* Nev connected with the girl’s mother on Facebook, and subsequently became online friends with the entire family. The strength of this documentary is not just that it coined a now-common term,** but the humanity in which all parties are portrayed.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Further sentences:

*When watching it’s important to transport yourself back to 2010, when we were just starting to talk about how accurate the online profiles of people are.
**Seemingly accidentally, as it’s an ancillary character telling a story that introduces the term.
***The confrontation scene in this movie could have been handled a number of ways: anger, villification, outrage. Instead it was done with compassion and resulted in an honest story that was the selling point of this film for me.

Questions:

  • What was your favorite scene in this film? (I enjoyed the reading aloud of text messages.)
  • Do you think anything good came of this incident?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

As of August 2011, the film has been hit with two lawsuits and, according to Catfish distributor Relativity Media, the film has an unrecouped balance of more than $8.5 million and will not likely ever become profitable. Both of these lawsuits have to do with songs used within the movie not being attributed to their creators.

(It’s important to do your due diligence with permissions.)

Other reviews of Catfish:

Orange background with black text: And there are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes. They keep you guessing, they keep you thinking, they keep you fresh. And I thank god for the catfish because we would be droll, boring and dull if we didn't have somebody nipping at our fin. —Catfish. Read the three sentence movie review. 3SMReviews.com

We Are Freestyle Love Supreme Highlights Early Talent

Chris Jackson and Lin-Manuel Miranda in 2005
Is that, George Washington? But younger? And Alexander Hamilton, but younger and with shorter hair? Indeed! It’s Chris Jackson and Lin-Manuel Miranda in 2005. Which is only part of the charm of this documentary.

We Are Freestyle Love Supreme

Directed by Andrew Fried
Written by Brian Anton, Peter Curtis

The review:

The main draw to this documentary is to see Lin-Manuel Miranda in 2005, back before he was Lin-Manuel Miranda,* but what ended up hooking me was this story of an improv group doing full shows in hip-hop freestyle rhyme.** It’s fun to see shows from both 2005 and 2019 and to hear the participants talk about how important the group was to their lives. With this many people the narrative spreads thin and it felt like a lot of things got skipped, but overall, this was fascinating to watch.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: Hulu monthly fee ($12.99 in combo with Disney+)
Where watched: at home

Further sentences:

*I recognized Miranda, but then the name Thomas Kail sounded familiar. “Wasn’t that the director of Hamilton?” I asked myself. It was. Then someone else looked familiar. “Is that the George Washington guy from Hamilton?” Yes it was Chris Jackson. Matt wandered in and said, “I recognize that Utkarsh guy.” He was the boyfriend in Brittany Runs a Marathon.
**I’m always up for the creativity of improv, this added a new level. Also, as a person who’s knowledge stops with Yo! MTV Raps, I have no idea if “hip-hop freestyle rhyme” was the best way to describe what they do. Am I saying the same thing three times?
***It was good insight into where the torrent of words from Hamilton came from. Stephen Merchant was my stand-in, asking questions of the troupe as to how they manage to think of the rhymes off the top of their head.

Questions:

  • What was your favorite word that was used for freestyle improv?
  • Aside from Lin-Manuel Miranda, who do you think has had the most success in the group?

Other reviews of We are Freestyle Love Extreme:

Orange background with text: I think we decided to get back together because it's probably the purest expression of joy that any of us have ever felt in doing a show. —We Are Freestyle Love Supreme

Athlete A Gets an A+

A picture from the movie Athlete A

Athlete A

Directed by Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk

The review:

The rise of the tiny gymnast has run parallel to my time on earth, and I’ve kept tabs from on the Olympic branch of the sport since the 80s* including Larry Nassar’s arrest, trial, and the 100+ victim statements.** While we follow the reporters recounting their efforts to break the abuse story, directors Cohen and Shenk use gymnasts, parents,*** lawyers, and trainers to highlight the many things wrong with USA Gymnastics.**** The use and discarding of these girls is hard to watch, but it’s worth every minute of your time.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Further sentences:

*Béla Károli hugging Mary Lou Retton after her perfect vault is one of my earliest Olympic memories, though I gave up watching the Olympics after Atlanta when the commentary became unbearable. (“What a terrible tragedy! You can see how disappointing it is that she won bronze!”)
**That Nassar’s plea bargain allowed so many women to speak was perhaps the most powerful moment in a long history of women speaking up and being ignored. (Or worse.)
***Maggie Nichols’s parents are particularly good at simply stating the many outrageous things that were going on.
****I’d like to start talking about making sure Olympic athletes meet minimum age requirements, for one.

Questions:

  • How many other sports organizations do you think need the same level of scrutiny as USA Gymnastics got?
  • What was the most moving moment in the film for you? Or the most maddening.

Other reviews of Athlete A:

Text: We love winners in this country. This is a competitive country. We consider ourselves the best in the world at everything, right? But this notion that we would sacrifice our young to win I think disgustes us a little. —Jennfier Say. —Athlete A. Read the three sentence movie review 3SMReviews.com

13th Shows Exploitation

13th

13th

Directed by Ava DuVernay
Written by Spenser Averick, Ava DuVernay

The review:

DuVernay lays out a convincing case that exploitation of a phrase in the amendment that abolished slavery (except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been convicted) has continued to enslave Black people in the US since the amendment was adopted. It’s a stylish documentary, with great graphic design* and camera angles of talking heads that aren’t just static head shots. But it also packs a repeated punch** and leaves a lot of room for thinking.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It looks like old-timey posters
**For me the dialog of the current occupant of the White House overlaid with footage from the Civil Rights Movement was particularly striking. Also, the point that was made that you can talk about the lives of many white leaders without discussing the FBI, but this is impossible to do for Black leaders.

Questions:

  • What needs to be dismantled or rebuilt first?
  • What was something that struck you in this film?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The filming locations and production design of the interviews, with brick walls and industrial equipment represent labor that, according to DuVernay, “has been stolen from black people in this country for centuries.”

(I was particularly taken with the building where Angela Davis was interviewed. What was that gorgeous decaying space? I watched the Oprah/Ava conversation (available on Netflix) and learned it was an abandoned train station in Oakland, California.)

Other reviews of 13th:

13th

Becoming Captures a Time

Becoming

Becoming

  • Directed by Nadia Hallgren

The review

Nadia Hallgren takes us along on Michelle Obama’s book tour in Becoming, a movie that is both a nostalgic trip back to 2008–2016 and an illustration of why so many people admire the former first lady.* For a ninety-minute film it packs in a lot: the planning of and excerpts from her tour, behind-the-scenes footage of her daily life on tour,** discussion of her life before politics, her role as a politician’s wife, and even short bios on a few of the teenagers who participated in chats with Obama while on tour. The pacing drags near the end, but for anyone interested in Obama’s life, or how intelligent and graceful women live their lives, this is a must-see film.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Further sentences:

*There was a lot to like in this film, but I think my favorite parts were watching the audience reactions as she talked.
**Favorite scene: when her brother asked about the placement of her belt. It was a great illustration of what fashion means for men vs. for women. Also: funny.

Questions:

  • Did seeing this film change how you thought of Michelle Obama?
  • What was the most interesting behind-the-scenes moment?

Other reviews of Becoming:

Becoming

20 Feet From Stardom: Pain and Refracted Glory

20 Feet From Stardom

The review:

Morgan Neville’s 20 Feet From Stardom brings light to that visible but invisible maker of music: the backup singer. As we follow the careers of singers from the 1960s onward, we see the pleasure and pain that comes of lending your talents to music that becomes famous while only sometimes crediting your work. Given the stories of the backup singers,* this could have been a depressing catalog, but the film is celebratory and hopeful; still, it left me wondering how a woman would have captured the dismissal of such talented women.**

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home

Further sentences:

*While Darlene Love’s story starts as gaspingly awful, she seems to have come out of it okay. Whereas Claudia Lennear’s career trajectory caused both myself and the boyfriend (who was only partially watching) to make audible noises of protest.
**”There can be only one Aretha, only one Whitney.” A lot of backup singers swinging for stardom ran into that sentiment. But why can there only be one woman, when there can be so many men?

Questions:

  • Do you think we’re yet past the “there can only be one” sentiment when it comes to women artists?
  • Which was your favorite story?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The film has been compared to the similarly themed book The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Best-Kept Secret, which chronicles the stories of uncredited studio musicians.

(Pssst. It’s also a 2008 documentary: The Wrecking Crew!)

Other reviews:

20 Feet From Stardom

Everything is Copy Shows that it Wasn’t

Everything is Copy

The review:

In Everything is Copy, Nora Ephron’s son Jacob Bernstein along with co-director Nick Hooker explore the life of the talented writer-director. There are one-on-ones with people you will and won’t recognize,* there are famous women reading Ephron’s words, clips of her movies, and Ephron herself in interviews.** It’s a grand combination of celebration, and loss, and the enigma: Ephron couldn’t bring herself to talk about the illness that was killing her.***

The verdict: Good

Cost: Free from Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences

*The interviews with people who knew her were my favorite part. It was easy to see how much she is missed.
**I feel as though I got a good sense of the good and bad of Nora Ephron. It wasn’t an overly fawning portrait.
***Everything is not copy, in the end.

Questions:

  • Would you want your son to make a documentary about you after you died?
  • What would be the advantages and disadvantages of making everything in your life up for publication?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Both Max Bernstein (Nora Ephron and Carl Bernstein’s younger son; director Jacob Bernstein’s brother) and Nicholas Pileggi (Nora Ephron’s widower) declined to appear in the documentary for different reasons. In a New York Magazine interview, Jacob Bernstein explained that both Max Bernstein and Nick Pileggi both felt that the grief they felt at the loss of Ephron was “still too raw for them” to be able to talk about her on camera. Bernstein also said that Max’s relationship with their mother had been much more private and personal than his own. Pileggi and Max Bernstein did express support of the making of the documentary in other ways—both have viewed the finished film and attended public events promoting it.

Other reviews:

Everything is Copy