No Other Land

Last night I went to see the Academy Award winning documentary No Other Land at the Broadway and, no matter where you stand on the conflict between Israel and Palestine, you cannot help but feel devastated and heartbroken after seeing firsthand the fate of people who have been displaced from land owned by their families for generations and who now have no place to go.  In 1980 the Israeli government declares that Masafer Yatta, a collection of 20 rural villages on the southern edge of the West Bank, will now be used for military training.  After a protracted legal battle fighting against expulsion, the Israeli high court rules against the villagers and the army begins demolishing homes with bulldozers.  Basel Adra, inspired by the activism of his parents against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, decides to to start documenting the destruction in 2019 with the hope that people might be moved by what they see and do something to help.  He gains the attention of an Israeli journalist named Yuval Abraham, who disagrees with what the Israeli government is doing in the West Bank, and together they shoot footage with Hamdan Hallal, a Palestinian filmmaker, and Rachel Szor, an Israeli cinematographer and editor.  The images they capture are visceral and very difficult to watch.  I was in tears when a mother begs the soldiers to stop the bulldozers from tearing down her house because her two daughters are still inside and they tell her that they don't care, when the soldiers shoot a man because he won't give them his generator, when the mother of this man tearfully wishes that he would die because she doesn't have a house in which to care for him now that he is paralyzed, and when a family goes looking for any of their chickens that might still be alive after the soldiers bulldoze their chicken coop but the scene that affected me the most is when a group of crying children watch their school bulldozed to the ground.  I was really struck by the attitude of the Israeli soldiers, which ranges from callous indifference to outright cruelty, towards the villagers in the name of following the law.  However, I was also struck by the growing friendship between Basel and Yuval, contemporaries who have very different lives simply because they were born 30 miles apart, in scenes where they discuss the ongoing conflict because it gives some hope that Israelis and Palestinians might eventually be able to work together for peace despite the events of October 2023 depicted in the epilogue.  This is one of the most powerful and important documentaries I've seen and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to see it (it still does not have a distribution deal in the U.S. so independent theaters like the Broadway are screening it on their own).

Sundance Film Festival 2025

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival concluded last night and I had the best time!  I got the Salt Lake City Pass again and I was able to see 28 films (which is the most I've ever seen at the festival).  I enjoyed most of what I saw but I especially loved reconnecting with friends who come to the festival every year as well as making a few new ones.  My first film was Jimpa.  Hannah (Olivia Colman) travels with her nonbinary teenage daughter Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) to visit her gay father Jim (John Lithgow) in Amsterdam.  When Frances wants to stay in Amsterdam with Jim to escape the provincial attitude towards queer people back home, Hannah must reconcile her feelings about being abandoned by Jim for the same reason during her teenage years.  This is an emotional portrait of a family with lovely performances from Colman and Lithgow.  My second film was the documentary One to One: John & Yoko.  This covers the 18 months that John and Yoko lived in a Greenwich Village apartment.  Excerpts from their One to One benefit concert are interspersed with archival footage from that time period to provide context for the songs. The music sounds amazing (it was mastered by Sean Lennon) and this actually made me feel more sympathetic towards Ono (although I still say that she can't sing).  My third film was the documentary Folktales.  This focuses on three students, Hege, Bjorn Torne, and Romain, at the Pasvik Folk High School located above the Arctic Circle in Norway.  The students learn wilderness survival skills and are paired with a dog for sledding while studying Norse mythology.  I really loved this because it was heartwarming to see the transformation in the students and the dogs are adorable (lots of oohing and aahing from the audience). My fourth film was the documentary It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley.  I am a huge fan of Buckley (I love his voice) and I enjoyed this because it includes lots of never-before-seen archival footage, voicemail messages left to the people closest to him, and his journal entries.  My fifth film was Bubble & Squeak.  Declan (Himesh Patel) and Delores (Sarah Goldberg) are on their honeymoon when they are detained and then relentlessly pursued by a border agent named Shazbor (Matt Berry) for smuggling cabbages into the unnamed Slavic country.  I was expecting this to be a lot funnier for such a bizarre premise (the funniest scene involved a hilarious cameo from James Franco).  My sixth film was the documentary Come See Me in the Good Light.  This profiles poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley and their love story as they navigate the former's terminal cancer diagnosis.  It is incredibly moving and whenever I wasn't crying I was laughing out loud.  It features a beautiful song called "Salt Then Sour Then Sweet" performed by Sara Bareilles with lyrics by Gibson and music by Bareilles and Brandi Carlile.  My seventh film was All That's Left of You and it is one of my favorites from the festival.  It depicts three generations of a Palestinian family displaced from their home in Jaffa by the creation of Israel.  It culminates with the difficult decision to donate the organs of a teen after he is shot by an Israeli soldier only to discover that his heart went to an Israeli child.  It is incredibly moving with a powerful message that all life is precious.  My eighth film was Atropia and, because it was one of my most anticipated films of the festival, I was a bit disappointed because it is just okay.  Fayruz (Alia Shawkat) is an Iraqi actress unable to find work in Hollywood so she takes an acting job in a fake town used by the military to simulate conditions during war before troops are deployed.  It is funny (a cameo from Channing Tatum as an actor doing research for a war movie made me laugh out loud) but the themes that are initially developed go nowhere. My ninth film was the documentary Free Leonard Peltier.  This profiles the indigenous activist who has been in prison for nearly 50 years after being convicted of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation as well as the attempts by a new generation of activists to get his sentence commuted.  This was very eye-opening for me because it makes a pretty persuasive argument that he was falsely convicted so the FBI could save face.  My tenth film was the documentary Selena y Los Dinos.  I already knew a lot about Selena Quintanilla but this provides insights from her family, her husband, and other members of her band so I found it very compelling.  My eleventh film was The Ballad of Wallis Island.  After winning the lottery, Charles (Tim Key) arranges for musician Fred McGwyer (Tom Basden), of his favorite folk duo McGwyer Mortimer, to come to the remote island where he lives to perform a concert just for him.  However, unbeknownst to Fred, Charles has also invited Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) and this brings up tensions stemming from their personal and professional break-up.  I am a huge fan of British humor and this delightful comedy had me laughing out loud from start to finish.  My twelfth film was Ricky.  After being incarcerated at age 15, Ricky (Stephan James), now age 30, is out on parole but he has difficulty adjusting to life on the outside and in meeting the demands of his tough-as-nails parole officer Joanne (Sheryl Lee Ralph).  James gives a highly sympathetic performance (one scene in particular had me in tears) and I loved the message that everyone deserves a second chance.  My thirteenth film was Oh, Hi!  Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) go away for a romantic weekend in the country and, while Iris hopes that this is the beginning of a committed relationship, Isaac just wants to have a good time.  Iris eventually goes to great lengths to convince him that he loves her.  This is really funny with a hilariously unhinged performance from Gordon and, even though it starts to run out of steam, it has something interesting to say about the travails of dating.  My fourteenth film was The Thing with Feathers.  After the sudden death of his wife, a father (Benedict Cumberbatch) struggles to care for his two sons (Richard and Henry Boxall) so the Crow (voiced by David Thewlis), a character from his graphic novel, comes to life as the manifestation of his grief in order to help him.  I wanted to like this more than I did but, despite a committed performance from Cumberbatch, it doesn't really work as a horror film because it is not scary and it doesn't work as psychological character study because there isn't much of an arc for the father.  My fifteenth film was the documentary Life After.  Director Reid Davenport, who suffers from cerebral palsy, uses a right to die case brought by a disabled woman named Elizabeth Bouvia in the 1980s to begin a powerful discussion about why some disabled people might feel that medically assisted suicide is their only option.  I have very strong opinions about assisted suicide and this thought-provoking documentary challenged many of them.  My sixteenth film was Peter Hujar's Day.  This recreates an actual conversation recorded in 1974 by Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) in which she interviews photographer Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw) about one day in his life. I loved the performances and the 1970s production design but, in my opinion, this is not compelling enough to warrant a full-length film and I was often bored.  My seventeenth film was Magic Farm and this was the worst film I saw at the festival (it is one of the worst films I’ve ever seen). A film crew for a series about unusual global trends mistakenly arrives in a rural town in Argentina (the mistake stems from the fact that most Latin American countries have a town called San Cristobal).  They wreak havoc on the locals while trying to manufacture a trend that they can film.  It has an intriguing premise (which is why I picked it) but I didn't find it even remotely funny and none of the sub-plots go anywhere.  My eighth film was Touch Me.  Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) and Craig (Jordan Gavaris) are co-dependent friends suffering from trauma and mental illness who bring out the worst in each other.  They meet up with a track-suit wearing alien named Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci) and eventually fight over him because his touch silences the voices inside their heads. This is absolutely wild (the sex scenes feature tentacles) but it has a lot to say about the nature of addiction and I really dug it.  My nineteenth film was Plainclothes.  Lucas (Tom Blyth) is an undercover police officer involved in sting operations in bathrooms conducted to apprehend gay men for indecent exposure in the 1990s.  He is struggling with his sexuality and this is further complicated when he is attracted to one of his marks, a pastor named Andrew (Russell Tovey).  They begin a secret relationship which puts Lucas in jeopardy as a police officer but Andrew ultimately ends it because he also cannot risk being found out.  This gives Lucas the courage come out to his family because he refuses to hide any longer.  I was impressed by Blyth's quietly powerful performance and I also loved the theme of identity.  My twentieth film was Lurker.  After a random encounter with the pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe), Matthew (Theodore Pallerin) ingratiates himself to him and is soon part of his entourage.  However, when Oliver's attention turns to the next sycophant, Matthew is willing to do anything to keep his proximity to the musician.  This is definitely about obsession but I was really struck by the idea that fame can be alienating.  Madekwe and Pallerin do a great job portraying the power struggle between the two characters and I loved the ending.  My twenty-first film was Kiss of the Spider Woman which was my most anticipated film of the festival and I absolutely loved it.  This is an adaptation of the 1992 musical and is set in an Argentinian prison during a military dictatorship.  A hardened leftist revolutionary named Valentin Arregui (Diego Luna) shares a cell with Luis Molina (Tonatiuh), a gay window dresser, and they escape from the harsh realities of prison when Molina recounts his favorite musical starring Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez).  Art imitates life when the themes of the musical begin to mirror what is happening to Valentin and Molina.  Lopez is absolutely brilliant but I was especially impressed with Tonatiuh (his rendition of "She's a Woman" is beautiful).  I loved the juxtaposition between the dark and drab prison and the technicolor dream world of Molina's fantasies which evoke the Golden Age of Hollywood.  My twenty-second film was Sorry, Baby and this is another favorite.  It is a meditative, and often humorous, portrait of how a young graduate student named Agnes (Eva Victor) tries to move on after a sexual assault by her professor.  I loved how her relationships, with her best friend (Naomi Ackie), a jealous colleague (Kelly McCormack), and a neighbor (Lucas Hedges), show her that she is stuck rather than help her become unstuck.  Victor (who also wrote and directed) gives a performance that is absolutely stunning (one that I won't soon forget).  My twenty-third film was Twinless.  After losing his twin brother Rocky, Roman (Dylan O'Brien) meets Dennis (James Sweeney) at a twin bereavement support group and they become unlikely friends.  This takes a wild turn, that I was not expecting but absolutely loved, and it is one of the few comedies at Sundance that is funny and has something to say (about the grieving process).  My twenty-fourth film was Opus which had a lot of buzz but proved to be disappointing.  Ariel (Ayo Edibiri) is a relatively inexperienced journalist who is invited by the legendary pop star Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich) to his isolated compound to listen to his first album in thirty years.  She soon finds herself among a cult of sycophants who do Moretti's bidding but she is even more horrified to discover that she has become one of them herself.  This had so much potential to say something of substance about the dangers of celebrity worship but it is derivative and shallow.  Watching Malkovich sing and dance while wearing one elaborate costume after the other makes this bearable but only just.  My twenty-fifth film was Rebuilding.  After he loses everything when a devastating fire destroys his ranch, Dusty (Josh O'Connor) finds himself after reconnecting with his young daughter Callie Rose (Lily LaTorre) and discovering a community with others who also lost everything.  I loved O'Connor’s sensitive, yet powerful, performance and the cinematography is beautiful.  My twenty-sixth film was the documentary Middletown.  In 1991 a group of students in Middletown, New York are inspired by their English teacher Fred Isseks to investigate toxic waste in the local landfill and expose wrongdoing within corporations and local government.  Thirty years later the students involved revisit their experience.  As a former English teacher I really loved hearing about how one teacher was able to give real world learning experiences to his students but I am now even more anxious about the possibility that regulatory agencies that guard against things like toxic waste might be eliminated by this current administration.  My twenty-seventh film was Last Days.  John Chau (Sky Yang) is idealistic and yearns for adventure so he rejects the life his father (Tony Leung) has planned for him to become a missionary.  He eventually becomes obsessed with converting an isolated tribe on North Sentinel Island while a police officer (Radhika Apte) in India tries to stop him.  This is a lot more compelling and suspenseful than I was expecting but the message is muddled because I am still not sure if John was really devout or just lost.  My twenty-eighth and final film was Didn't Die.  Two years into a zombie apocalypse, Vinita Malhotra (Kiran Deol) travels the country recording her podcast for everyone who didn't die but things don't go according to plan when she decides to return to her hometown to record the 100th episode.  I liked the black and white cinematography (an homage to Night of the Living Dead) but there are jarring tonal shifts and, like many of the films this year, none of the ideas really come to fruition.  Whew!  I am absolutely exhausted but I had so much fun and am already looking forward to seeing some of these films again when they get a wide release.

Merchant Ivory

The second documentary in my double feature at the Broadway last night was Merchant Ivory and, as someone who absolutely loved their movies as a teen and young adult in the 1980s and 90s, I found it to be fascinating.  This is a very straightforward look at the professional and personal partnership between director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant and how they, along with regular collaborators screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, composer Richard Robbins, and costume designers Jenny Beavan and John Bright, revitalized the costume drama with some of the most acclaimed movies in cinematic history.  Despite being obsessed with A Room with a View, Howards End, and The Remains of the Day, I didn't really know very much about the filmmakers who made them so I enjoyed the discussion about the yin-yang dynamic in their partnership with Ivory being calm, cool, collected, and dedicated to the purity of his artistic vision while Merchant was loud, bombastic, passionate, and determined to work faster and cheaper.  I also loved the discussion about how most of their movies have subversive themes about the hypocrisy found in polite society juxtaposed with gorgeous production design.  It was fun to see all of the behind the scenes stills and footage from my three favorites but it was also really interesting to learn about the difficulties in making their earlier movies (I now want to watch Shakespeare Wallah after learning that they only had enough film for one take in the final climactic scene) and to see how different perceptions impacted their later films, particularly with Jefferson in Paris.  My favorite aspect of this documentary is all of the contemporary interviews with many of the actors they worked with, especially Rupert Graves, James Wilby, Hugh Grant, Samuel West, Vanessa Redgrave (who is an absolute hoot), Emma Thompson, and Helena Bonham Carter.  A common theme in these interviews is how difficult it was to work on one of their movies because of the limited budget (at one point Merchant was catering the food for the cast and crew himself) but they were always lured back to make another one because of the final product.  I definitely enjoyed this and recommend it to fans of Merchant-Ivory movies.

Will & Harper

I don't see a lot of documentaries but there are two currently playing at the Broadway that piqued my interest so I decided on a double feature last night.  I started with Will & Harper because I missed it at Sundance this year and, just as I had heard from so many people at the festival, it is equal parts funny, heartwarming, and powerful.  Writer Andrew Steele and actor Will Ferrell are close friends dating from their days together on Saturday Night Live but, when Steele sends an email coming out to him as a trans woman after living for years in the closet, she wonders if their friendship will be the same (and she wonders if she will feel comfortable going to all of the places she once enjoyed as a man).  Ferrell suggests that they take a 16-day cross-country road trip together so that he can learn the best way to support her and so that he can act as a buffer when she interacts with new people who might not be accepting of her.  There are lots of really funny moments as these two friends who have known each other for decades bounce off each other (my favorites were a recurring bit involving Pringles and an attempt by Ferrell to go incognito in Las Vegas).  However, what really resonated with me was how much genuine emotion this trip elicits from Ferrell, especially when he realizes how much Steele suffered when she was forced to live an inauthentic life and when he sees first hand how dangerous it is for her to simply exist in some parts of the country (a scene in a Texas steakhouse is especially difficult to watch).  Ferrell is very curious about Steele's experience and asks her lots of questions ranging from what it feels like to have boobs, to how she chose her new name, to how she might navigate a romantic relationship in the future (as well as if she thinks she is now a bad driver because she is a woman) and his empathy and compassion set an important example for mainstream audiences, especially for those who are uncertain about how to interact with trans people, to follow.  This begins streaming on Netflix September 27 and I highly recommend it for everyone.

Songs of Earth

Taking a cruise to see the fjords while on a trip to Norway is one of my very favorite travel experiences so as soon as I saw the trailer for the documentary Songs of Earth (it was Norway's entry for the Best International Film at the Academy Awards this year) I immediately wanted to see it.  I had the opportunity last night at the Broadway and it is stunning!  Filmmaker Margreth Olin returns to her childhood home in Oldendalen in Western Norway, where generations of her family have lived dating back to the 1600s, to spend a year with her father Jørgen Mykløen in order to experience all four seasons with him and to explore his deep connection to nature.  This features absolutely gorgeous aerial shots of the Oldeeva river valley, the Nordfjorden fjord, the steep mountains surrounding the Jostedalsbreen glacier at one end and the Myklebustbreen glacier at the other end, and the Oldevatnet lake as well as close-up shots of the wildlife (the owls were my favorite).  I especially loved an extended shot that follows the progression of a stream as it becomes a river, a lake, a waterfall, a glacier, and then, finally, the top of a mountain peak.  The camera also follows Jørgen as he walks through the valley, hikes the mountain, canoes on the lake, skates on the ice, and ruminates on the importance of being present as one experiences nature.  He speaks about the lessons one can learn from nature when he finds a small flower that has survived by growing from the rock at the top of a mountain peak and he describes the connection he feels to his ancestors when he sees a spruce tree planted by his grandfather in 1900 (there is a lovely scene in the epilogue where he plants a spruce tree to continue his connection with future generations).  This is very slow and meditative but that is the point because, as Jørgen tells us, we need to slow down and really look at nature in order to learn the lessons it has to teach us.  I highly recommend this beautiful documentary!

Sundance Film Festival 2024

I was so happy to be back at the Sundance Film Festival again this year!  Just like last year I got a Salt Lake City pass and I recognized quite a few pass holders from last year!  I'm usually really wary of talking to people I don't know but, for some reason, I love talking to people at Sundance about independent film and I had so much fun!  I was able to see 21 films (which beats the record of 18 set last year) and I liked almost all of what I saw (I only disliked one).  My first film was How to Have Sex which was one of my most anticipated films because I had heard so much about it.  It begins as a fun and lighthearted look at three young girls on holiday in Greece after taking their exams but then it suddenly becomes more sinister as it explores themes of peer pressure and consent.  I was very impressed with Mia McKenna-Bruce's performance because it is so raw and powerful.  My second film was Eno, an innovative documentary (it uses an algorithm to change the sequence of scenes and the footage used so every screening is different) about the innovative record producer Brian Eno.  I loved the deep dive into his creative process and, as a huge fan of U2, I especially enjoyed his discussion about producing the song "Moment of Surrender" (Bono also wrote about recording this song in his memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story).  My third film was Frida.  This documentary about the painter Frida Kahlo is incredibly compelling because her own words from letters, interviews, and diaries are used to tell her story and I loved the beautiful animations created from her paintings.  My fourth film was Out of My Mind which, as a former teacher, I absolutely loved!  Melody Brooks (Phoebe-Rae Taylor) is a non-verbal sixth-grader with cerebral palsy who fights to be placed in a mainstreamed classroom because, even though she cannot speak, she has a lot to say.  This is such a powerful film that, in my opinion, should be seen by every educator because more often than not the education system fails students who are different.  Taylor, who has cerebral palsy, gives an authentic and affecting performance that moved me to tears at times.  The audience gave her a standing ovation when she appeared on stage for the Q & A after the film!  My fifth film was The Greatest Night in Pop which is a behind the scenes documentary about how some of the greatest pop stars of the day came together to record "We Are the World" to aid those suffering from famine in Africa during the 80s.  I remember when this song was released so this was very nostalgic for me.  I especially enjoyed the contemporary interviews with some participants, such as Lionel Ritchie, Huey Lewis, Bruce Springsteen, and Cyndi Lauper, because they all mention feeling intimidated by all of the talent in the studio!  My sixth film was Thelma and it is both delightful and heartwarming!  When 93-year-old Thelma Post (June Squibb) is scammed out of $10,000 by someone impersonating her grandson, she is inspired by the Mission: Impossible movies to go on a quest to get her money back!  Squibb (who is 94) is so charming as an unlikely action hero and the packed crowd at my screening howled with laughter at her antics!  My seventh film was Love Me, which was another one of my most anticipated films (I’m a big fan of Kristen Stewart).  After humanity has been annihilated, a smart buoy and a satellite make contact and interact as Me (Stewart) and I Am (Steven Yuen).  As they get to know each other, they access the internet to learn what it means to be human and adopt the personas of Deja and Liam, a popular influencer couple, but in order to love each other they both must eventually learn to be their authentic selves.  It features live action, motion capture performances, as well as animation and I think it is incredibly clever.  It meanders a bit but I really dug it!  My eighth film was The American Society of Magical Negroes and this satire is hilarious but also very thought-provoking!  A mild-mannered Black artist named Aren (Justice Smith) is recruited by Roger (David Alan Grier) to be a member of a secret society dedicated to making white people comfortable around Black people (referencing the "Magical Negro" movie trope involving a Black character who only exists to advance the arc of a white character).  However, it is only when he realizes that he has been doing this his whole life that he begins to assert himself.  I was a bit uncomfortable because I recognize the reality being satirized but there were lots of moments when I laughed out loud!  My ninth film was Sasquatch Sunset which I found strangely compelling.  It chronicles a year in the life of a Sasquatch family (portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, David Zeller, and Christophe Zajac-Denek who are very expressive even though they are covered in makeup and fur) as they eat, vomit, defecate, urinate, copulate, give birth, and die (very realistically).  They periodically encounter civilization as man encroaches on their environment and the film ends with a powerful visual.  It was weird (is it even Sundance if you don't see something really out there?) but I couldn't look away.  My tenth film was Presence which is another film I was eagerly anticipating because it is directed by Steven Soderbergh.  A family in turmoil, including Chris (Chris Sullivan), Rebecca (Lucy Liu), Chloe (Callina Liang), and Tyler (Eddy Maday), moves into a suburban house hoping for a new start.  However, their chaotic relationships with each other are not improved when Chloe begins feeling a presence in the house.  This is more of an atmospheric psychological thriller than the horror movie I was expecting (a good thing) and I loved all of the camera work because it shows the POV of the ghost for the entire film.  My eleventh film was Winner which tells the true story of how Reality Winner (Emilia Jones) leaked information about Russia's involvement in the 2016 election to an online publication.  I've seen several versions of this story before but I really liked the use of dark humor in this one.  My twelfth film was Love Lies Bleeding which was the one I was most hyped for because, as a fan of director Rose Glass and of Kristen Stewart, I was excited to see a collaboration between them.  Jackie (Katy O'Brian) is an ambitious bodybuilder who stops in a small town in New Mexico on her way to a competition in Las Vegas and becomes involved with Lou (Stewart), the manager of a gym.  Her life becomes increasingly chaotic when Lou introduces her to steroids and to her dysfunctional family, including her gunrunning father (Ed Harris) as well as her sister (Jena Malone) and her sister's abusive husband (Dave Franco).  This is sexy, violent, and absolutely bonkers and I loved it but not as much as I thought I would because the ending didn't quite work for me.  My thirteenth film was Between the Temples and it was my only big miss at the festival.  Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman) is a grief-stricken cantor who is brought back to life when his former grade school teacher (Carol Kane) comes to him for instruction before her bat mitzvah.  I liked the story and the performances but I hated how it was shot and edited because all of the extreme closeups are incredibly jarring.  My fourteenth film was A Real Pain and I really loved it!  Two cousins, outgoing and charismatic Benji (Kieran Culkin) and uptight and reserved David (Jesse Eisenberg), take a guided tour through Poland to see where their grandmother, a Holocaust survivor who has recently died, came from.  They come face to face with the tragedy of the Holocaust (scenes where they visit a concentration camp are incredibly poignant) but they also feel the pain of realizing that, even though they were once close, they have drifted apart.  Kulkin gives a brilliant performance that made me laugh out loud but a monologue by Eisenberg had me in tears.  This was definitely my favorite of the festival.  My fifteenth film was DEVO and, while it is pretty straightforward documentary, I did learn a lot about a band I loved in my youth.  They formed during the aftermath of the Kent State massacre in an attempt to combine music, performance art, and their philosophy about the de-evolution of mankind and unexpectedly rose to prominence with the song "Whip It" which they say was misunderstood.  My sixteenth film was Your Monster and this screening was the most fun I had at Sundance!  Laura Franco (Melissa Barrera) is an actress in the middle of a cancer diagnosis when her boyfriend Jacob (Edmund Donovan) breaks up with her and gives the part in a Broadway musical that he wrote for her to another actress.  As she wallows in self-pity, the monster (Tommy Dewey) she banished to the closet in childhood appears again to help her find love, and revenge, again.  I laughed and laughed at this musical theatre, romantic comedy, and horror mash-up and so did the entire audience (much to the delight of the producers who were there for the Q & A).  My seventeenth film was Girls State which is a documentary about a program run by the American Legion Auxiliary for high school girls to participate in a week long immersive simulation to learn about the workings of government.  It follows several girls from Missouri and I found all of their stories to be compelling but my favorite was about a girl who investigates the disparity between Boys State and Girls State (Fun fact: I applied to participate in Girls State when I was in high school but I wasn't selected and I am still bitter!).  My eighteenth film was Super/ Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.  I didn't necessarily learn anything new about the actor but I liked the structure because it emphasizes that Reeve became Superman when he was cast in a movie but he became a real superhero after his paralysis.  It includes lots of footage from his personal home movies and it is incredibly moving (lots of people near me were wiping tears from their eyes throughout).  My nineteenth movie, Hit Man, was another one I was really hyped to see!  Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) is a mild mannered psychology professor and amateur bird watcher who sometimes provides technical support for the police.  He is roped into going undercover as a hit man during a sting operation and, because he uses psychology to appeal to the would-be criminal (and some hilarious disguises), he is very successful.  Complications ensue when he falls for a woman who hires him (Adria Arjona).  This is wildly entertaining and I predict it will be a big hit when it streams on Netflix.  My twentieth film was The Outrun which was another one I was excited to see because I am a huge fan of Saoirse Ronan.  Rona (Ronan) is an alcoholic who attempts to get sober by returning home to the Orkney Islands where she is inspired by the beautiful but wild landscape.  The non-linear narrative didn’t always work for me but Ronan gives a brilliant performance.  My twenty-first (and final) film was My Old Ass which I decided to see because I am a fan of Aubrey Plaza.  Eighteen year old Elliott Labrant (Maisy Stella) is restless and eager to leave her small rural town for the big city but, when she is visited by an older version of herself (Plaza), she learns to appreciate the life she has now.  This is a fun YA romantic comedy and I really loved the message about labels.  Whew!  I loved every minute of Sundance this year and I am already looking forward to next year!

The Disappearance of Shere Hite

One of the things I especially love about the Sundance Film Festival is the opportunity to talk to people about all of the films being screened.  Last year many of those I spoke to mentioned The Disappearance of Shere Hite as one of their favorites so I was excited to see it yesterday afternoon at the Broadway.  I thought it was an interesting and compelling portrait of a fascinating woman who was denied her rightful legacy.  While Shere Hite was a graduate student at Columbia University in New York City during the early 1970s, she was inspired by participating in the burgeoning feminist movement to create and distribute a questionnaire about women and sexuality.  She used the results of her study to write a groundbreaking book that became a best-seller despite facing backlash from those who feared the implications of some of her conclusions.  This documentary features lots of archival footage of Hite's many appearances on news programs and talk shows defending her results and methodology and it becomes more and more uncomfortable to watch as she is viciously attacked (an ambush by Maury Povich is especially egregious).  She eventually flees to Europe and dies in relative obscurity after being rejected by the publishers who initially profited from her books.  This documentary suggests that her treatment was scurrilous and that she deserves more recognition for her work.  It also suggests that the erasure of her work has led to the regression of attitudes towards women's sexuality.  I found Shere Hite to be an incredibly vibrant woman ahead of her time and I particularly enjoyed the voice-over narration by Dakota Johnson, which is taken from her writings, because it really brings her to life very vividly.  I enjoyed this thought-provoking documentary and would highly recommend it.

The Last Rider

My sister Kristine has always been a fan of the Tour de France but my whole family eventually became invested in the 1989 race because of her excitement over Greg LeMond and his underdog story.  When I saw the trailer for The Last Rider, which chronicles LeMond and his uphill journey (both literally and figuratively) to win that race, I knew she would love it!  We both went to see it at the Broadway yesterday afternoon and to say that she loved it would be an understatement (I loved it, too).  The documentary briefly describes his childhood in Lake Tahoe, his beginnings in cycling as a way to train for skiing in the off season, his early successes in the sport, his pro contract with a European team, and his Tour de France win in 1986.  Then the narrative delves into the near fatal hunting accident in which LeMond was shot by his brother-in-law.  He was hit by approximately 60 pellets and suffered a collapsed lung and extensive internal bleeding.  Because of the location of some of the pellets an estimated 30 of them had to be left in his body and his recovery was long and painful and he was dropped by his racing team.  He eventually gets back on his bike and, after joining a less competitive team and riding in a few European races, he decides to enter the Tour de France without any realistic prospects of winning.  The rest of the documentary incorporates thrilling footage from the 1989 race as LeMond, two-time winner Laurent Fignon, and the heavily favored Pedro Delgado battle for the yellow jersey with interviews with LeMond, his wife Kathy, Delgado, and his former coach Cyrille Guimard interspersed.  I am a huge fan of feel-good sports stories and, even though this is a very conventional documentary, it is one of the most compelling ones I've seen!  I knew the outcome of the race and I was still on the edge of my seat at the beginning of the final stage along the Champs-Elysees (the filmmakers do a great job of building suspense by emphasizing the rivalry between LeMond and the trash-talking Fignon) and I even cheered out loud at the finish line!  Fans of cycling are sure to love this but I think it is accessible for everyone because of the inspiring story and I highly recommend it!

Note:  I was in France right before the 1990 race (which LeMond also won) and my sister asked me to try and find her some merchandise.  I couldn't find anything until I was on a coach on the way to the airport to come home.  I saw a store window full of Team Z (LeMond's team) jerseys but I couldn't stop to get one for her!

Sundance Film Festival 2023

I am so happy that I got to attend the Sundance Film Festival in person this year!  I really missed the excitement of seeing a film on the big screen with a large and enthusiastic crowd as well as all of the wonderful conversations with people who love independent film as much as I do!  I was able to see eighteen films (at the Grand Theatre and the Rose Wagner Center for the Performing Arts) which is my record for in-person screenings!  My first film was Sometimes I Think About Dying.  Fran (Daisy Ridley) is a lonely young woman in a mundane job who struggles to make connections with people because she thinks that her life isn't interesting enough.  To compensate for her boring existence she has elaborate daydreams about dying.  She eventually finds a reason to engage with life when she meets a new co-worker (Dave Merheje) but can she overcome her anxiety to have a relationship with him?  I loved Ridley's restrained, yet highly nuanced, performance and I laughed out loud at Fran's awkwardness because it is such a realistic portrayal of an introvert.  My second film was the psychological thriller Run Rabbit Run.  Sarah (Sarah Snook) is disconcerted when her daughter Mia (Lily LaTorre) turns seven and seems to become possessed by Sarah's sister who mysteriously disappeared when she was seven.  Mia's behavior brings up a repressed childhood trauma for Sarah and, eventually, the audience is left to wonder if she needs protection from Mia or if Mia needs protection from her.  There is such a sense of foreboding (the sound design is brilliant) but the filmmakers can't seem to commit to it because just when the tension is at its peak it is dialed back and I found that incredibly frustrating.  My third film was The Pod Generation where a couple (Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor) living in the near future decide to have a baby using an artificial womb.  I loved the world-building (especially the A.I. psychologist) and the message about becoming too reliant on technology but it does go on a bit.  My fourth film was Other People's Children.  A 40-year-old teacher named Rachel (Virginie Efira) fears that she is running out of time to have a child but things become complicated when she grows attached to her partner's four year old daughter.  I really loved Rachel's character arc (especially since I am a teacher and an aunt who doesn't have children) as well as Elfira's luminous performance.  My fifth film was Magazine Dreams, which was one of my most anticipated because I really like Jonathan Majors.  After surviving a childhood filled with violence, Killian Maddox (Majors) channels all of his obsessive energy into bodybuilding and his highest aspiration is to be on the cover of a magazine so he will be remembered.  However, anger management issues, setbacks in his personal and professional life, and disillusionment after meeting his bodybuilding hero cause Maddox to contemplate another way of achieving fame.  This has some really heavy themes that won't be for everyone but Majors delivers a brilliant performance. My sixth film was Birth/Rebirth which is a horror film based on Frankenstein involving a pathologist (Maren Ireland) and a labor and delivery nurse (Judy Reyes) who conspire to bring a child back to life.  Both Ireland and Reyes give captivating performances that explore the lengths to which one will go for science and the other for the love of a child.  It is plenty gory but I also enjoyed the dark humor.  My seventh film was Theater Camp and this screening was the most fun I had at the whole festival!  This is a feel-good mockumentary about saving a theater camp after the owner has a seizure and her clueless son takes over.  It stars Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, and Noah Galvin who give hilarious performances.  The audience in my screening laughed out loud through the whole thing!  My eighth film was The Deepest Breath which was my first documentary of the festival.  This is about the extreme sport of freediving which follows Alessia Zecchini and Stephen Keenan in their quest for her to complete a notoriously dangerous dive.  I found it interesting, engaging, and emotional with stunning underwater photography.  My ninth film was the noir thriller Eileen.  A repressed young woman named Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) becomes infatuated with the new psychologist, Rebecca Saint John (Anne Hathaway), at the prison where she works.  They begin a relationship but the balance of power shifts in one of the wildest third act twists I've seen!  It is stylish and atmospheric with fantastic performances from McKenzie and Hathaway.  My tenth film was Infinity Pool which was the film I was most excited to see when the festival program was announced and the late night crowd was absolutely wild!  While on vacation at an exclusive resort located in a developing country, a wealthy couple (Alexander Skarsgard and Cleopatra Coleman) discovers that the consequences of their actions can go away for the right price but this discovery leads the husband on a path to hedonism, violence, and, eventually, madness (with the help of an unhinged Mia Goth).  It is shocking and disturbing (I've heard that the theatrical release has been cut) but I really dug it!  My eleventh film was You Hurt My Feelings which is a light and breezy comedy about the little white lies we tell people to spare their feelings.  It is pretty insubstantial but I did laugh out loud many times and the cast is great, particularly Julia Louis-Dreyfus.  My twelfth film was My Animal which blends the coming of age genre with horror.  Heather (Bobbi Salvor Menuez) is an outsider in her small town but her secret is harder to hide when she becomes infatuated with Jonny (Amandla Stenberg).  The werewolf mythology is just a metaphor for Heather's sexual awakening but I wanted a bit more bite in the third act after all of the build-up.  My thirteenth film was It's Only Life After All, a documentary about the Indigo Girls that details how Amy Ray and Emily Saliers became one of the most influential folk-rock duos despite the backlash about their gender, sexuality, and political activism.  I am a casual fan but I loved this intimate, and often humorous, portrait (I had to laugh when Ray gets embarrassed by the angst in “Blood and Fire” because I love that song).  My fourteenth film was Shortcomings which was another one of my most anticipated.  Ben (Justin H. Min) is an aspiring filmmaker who is forced to recognize his insufferable behavior when he loses his job and his girlfriend Mika (Ally Maki) and best friend Alice (Sherry Cola) move to New York.  Despite a few *ahem* shortcomings, I enjoyed the commentary on race and identity as well as the humor.  My fifteenth film was Past Lives and I really loved it because it struck a chord with me.  Childhood friends Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) are separated when her family emigrates from South Korea to Canada.  Twelve years later they reconnect on Facebook but lose touch again and move on with their lives.  After another twelve years, Hae Sung visits her in New York and they speculate about what their lives would be like if she had stayed in South Korea or if they had kept in touch.  This film is about idealized memories of people and places and I could really relate to this theme as someone who left a childhood friend behind after emigrating to the U.S.  This is my favorite film of the festival and will probably be one of my favorites this year!  My sixteenth film was the hip romantic comedy Rye Lane.  Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah) meet and spontaneously spend the day walking through various London neighborhoods while commiserating about their recent break-ups and helping each other get revenge on their exes.  There are lots of fun and surrealistic flashback sequences and some great cameos.  My seventeenth film was Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie and I really enjoyed this documentary about Fox's rise to fame and diagnosis with Parkinson's Disease.  Archival footage and reenactments are edited together very effectively and I loved the needle drops.  My eighteenth and final film was Flora and Son and I definitely picked a good one to end with!  This is another feel-good movie about the power of music from John Carney (the director of Once and Sing Street) with a great performance from Eve Hewson as a single mom trying to find a connection to her delinquent son (Oren Kinlan).  I loved the chemistry between Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who plays her guitar teacher) and the original songs are fun and catchy.  There you have it!  I declare the festival a success because I had so much fun watching some great films and meeting some wonderful people!

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I Am Here

Last night I went to my favorite art house theater to see the documentary I Am Here and I found it to be incredibly inspiring.  On the occasion of her 98th birthday, Ella Blumenthal gathers her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren around her in order to tell them the story of her survival during the Holocaust for the first time.  Through interviews in the present, archival footage, and animation sequences, she describes the German occupation of Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and the horrors of the Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belson concentration camps.  She also recounts her guilt at being one of only two survivors in her family, meeting her husband Isaac Blumenthal, starting her own family, and her decision to remove her tattoo and put her experiences behind her.  Blumenthal is incredibly vibrant and charismatic and her story is very affecting.  I was particularly struck by the use of animation to tell the darker aspects of the story because, in my opinion, it made the images more palatable without taking away from the impact.  The symbolic use of blue butterflies, which represent rebirth, is incredibly effective in portraying her fight to survive, especially during a scene where she returns to Warsaw after the war and confronts all of the damage to the city.  I also really enjoyed her message of forgiveness and that one should not return hate with hate because that does not solve the problems found in the world today.  She wakes up every morning with gratitude for every day that she is allowed to live and that is such a lovely attitude, especially after everything she has gone through.  My only disappointment is that a letter by Blumenthal to a Holocaust denier offering compassion and conciliation introduced in an opening montage about the rise of hate crimes around the world is never referenced again (I was waiting through the whole film for this to be explored more fully).  Nevertheless, Blumenthal's story is a powerful one and I highly recommend this documentary.

Flee

I had heard so many great things about the documentary Flee so I was really excited to finally be able to see it at the Broadway last night.  It is even better than I anticipated!  Jonas Poher Rasmussen interviews his friend Amin Nawabi about his harrowing escape from the civil war in his home country of Afghanistan, his years in exile in Russia, an ill-fated attempt to escape only to be sent back, and finally claiming asylum alone in Denmark.  Nawabi relates his experiences so that he can make peace with his past, especially the guilt he feels for abandoning his family and the pressure he feels to succeed to compensate for it, in order to have a future with his partner Kasper.  Amin's story is incredibly poignant, particularly the scenes of him and his family trying to leave Russia, but what makes this documentary even more compelling is that it uses animation to tell the story to preserve his anonymity.  I have never seen anything like it before and I was really struck by the different types of animation employed in order to convey different emotions.  When Amin is being interviewed by Rasmussen, he is shown lying on a couch with an overhead shot so that the audience is looking down on him.  To me, this feels like we are looking into his soul as he reveals his deepest secrets for the first time.  The scenes showing his happy childhood in Kubul and his interactions with Kasper in present-day Copenhagen are very bright and colorful whereas the scenes in Moscow are dark and dreary to depict his state of mind.  Many scenes of terror, including the capture of his father and his sisters' escape on a container ship, are shown in black and white with indistinct and chaotic line drawings as if the memories are too painful to remember clearly.  Archival footage of actual events in Afghanistan and Russia is used very effectively to establish the veracity of Amin's account and the haunting score filled with plaintive violin solos does much to enhance the traumatic nature of Amin's memories.  This documentary, which highlights the power of storytelling as a way to heal, is something really special and I highly recommend it.

Sundance Film Festival 2022

I didn't participate in the Sundance Film Festival last year because it was completely virtual and I prefer seeing films on the big screen and I really enjoy interacting with film aficionados from all over the world.  When I heard that the festival would be in-person this year, I immediately bought a Salt Lake City package which entitled me to ten tickets rather than access to every film screened in SLC as in year's past.  It seemed like a lot of money for only ten tickets but I eagerly selected my films and began anticipating an experience that I really love.  Then came the disappointing news that, due to the surge in Covid cases from the Omicron variant, the festival was canceling all in-person screenings in order to be completely virtual once again.  I assumed, incorrectly, that refunds would be issued to those who didn't want to watch films on their computers but festival organizers insisted that all packages were non-refundable and refused.  I was really angry about this but, since my only other option was to donate the cost of the tickets to the festival, I decided to make the best of it and I eventually picked 21 films.  My first film was The Princess and I was really excited about this documentary because I have been fascinated by Diana ever since I got up early to watch her wedding.  This is a story that has been told many times but the use of archival footage without any narration or contemporary interviews provides an intriguing new take on the Princess of Wales and I really enjoyed it.  There was even footage that I, a self-avowed expert on the Royal Family, had never seen before!  My second film was The Worst Person in the World and this was, without a doubt, my most anticipated film of the festival (it will have a wide release in theaters in a few weeks and I will definitely be seeing it again).  Renate Reinsve is incredibly appealing as an aimless young woman who drifts from relationship to relationship, first with Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie) and then Eivind (Herbert Nordrum), in order to discover that you don't need to have life figured out yet.  As someone who does not even remotely have life figured out yet, I loved this film!  My third film was Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and, even though it was not at all what I was expecting (I thought it would be a lot funnier), I loved Emma Thompson's brilliant, and incredibly brave, performance as a widow who has a sexual awakening after hiring a male prostitute.  I also loved her chemistry with Daryl McCormack.  My fourth film was Summering, a coming of age story about four girls who have an unexpected adventure the weekend before they start middle school.  It reminded me of Stand By Me but it wasn't nearly as endearing.  I enjoyed the magical realism but the story doesn't really go anywhere with too many unresolved plot points.  My fifth film was A Love Song.  This is a subdued (maybe too subdued?) but moving portrait of grief and loneliness with fantastic performances from Dale Dickey and Wes Studi as former high school sweethearts who meet each other once again.  My sixth film was Emergency and it is another festival favorite for me.  Two Black college students, along with their Latino roommate, are forced to take racism into account when deciding how they will respond to an emergency.  It brilliantly combines comedy, suspense, and biting social commentary to create a thought-provoking and entertaining film that I absolutely loved!  My seventh film was FRESH and it gives new meaning to the term "meat market."  Daisy Edgar-Jones plays a woman fed up with dating apps and Sebastian Stan is the charming but psychotic man she falls for after meeting him in the produce section.  It is a gruesome dark comedy but I loved the killer soundtrack.  My eighth film, 892, was another one of my most anticipated.  It is a tense and heartbreaking true story about a former marine who holds up a bank for the $892 disability check that is owed him but is caught up in the bureaucracy of the VA.  It features a riveting and powerful performance by John Boyega.  My ninth film was Living and I selected it because it stars Bill Nighy and I will see anything he is in!  He plays a paper-pushing bureaucrat in post-war London who decides to live a more meaningful life after receiving a terminal diagnosis.  It is very slow but charming and features a lovely performance by Nighy, especially in a scene where he sings on a playground swing that he helped build.  My tenth film was Call Jane, the first of two films I saw about a real-life underground collective that helped women have access to abortions in the late 1960s.  This is a fictionalized account about a suburban housewife (Elizabeth Banks) who finds the group when she needs a life-saving abortion and the hospital refuses to perform it.  The lighthearted tone didn't quite work for such an important and timely subject, although I really enjoyed Sigourney Weaver's irreverent performance.  I got a last minute ticket to my eleventh film, After Yang, because it received such glowing praise and it definitely didn't disappoint.  When an android companion malfunctions, his owner accesses his memories and they cause him to reevaluate the nature of humanity.  This is beautiful, contemplative, and moving with lovely performances from the whole cast.  I loved it!  My twelfth film was Master which follows the recent trend of using the horror genre to explore the theme of racism.  A young Black student at an elite New England college is haunted by an incident from the past and plagued by an ongoing problem in the present.  In my opinion the social commentary works better than the supernatural elements do but they both contribute to a very palpable sense of dread.  My thirteenth film was Dual and I chose it because I absolutely loved The Art of Self-Defense and was eager to see another film by Riley Stearns.  I am a huge fan of dark absurdist comedies and this is a fantastic satirical exploration of identity in which a woman is forced to fight her clone in a duel to the death.  Karen Gillan's deadpan delivery as both characters really worked for me because it emphasizes the dehumanization they both experience.  My fourteenth film was Resurrection and I don't know what this says about me because it is absolutely bonkers but I loved it.  Rebecca Hall is brilliant as a woman who comes undone when an emotionally manipulative former lover suddenly reappears in her life and it is her committed performance that makes the bizarre twist in the third act seem completely plausible.  My fifteenth film was Lucy and Desi, a touching portrait of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz that emphasizes their enduring legacy.  It is a very straightforward documentary but it is at its best when it utilizes their own voices culled from hours of audio tapes provided by their daughter Lucie Arnaz.  My sixteenth film, Cha Cha Real Smooth, was one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the festival and I was lucky enough to snag a ticket when more were released.  This is a heartfelt and charming coming of age story about a recent college graduate trying to navigate life and love and features incredibly appealing performances from Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson.  Even though I am a bit older (ahem) than the target audience I really related to the main character because I also felt completely lost during this period in my life.  I loved everything about this film!  My seventeenth film was Brian and Charles and this put a huge smile on my face.  It is a hilarious mockumentary about an eccentric inventor in Wales who builds a robot to be his friend and it reminded me of the British comedies I loved as a teenager.  My eighteenth film, Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul, was another mockumentary this time about a pastor of a megachurch and his wife as they attempt to rehabilitate their tarnished image after a scandal.  It is laugh out loud funny but it is also a scathing indictment of the hypocrisy so often found in the megachurch culture.  Regina Hall is fantastic, especially when the cameras stop rolling and the mask drops.  My nineteenth film was LAST FLIGHT HOME and it was incredibly difficult for me to watch having recently lost my own father.  This documentary is a beautiful and moving tribute from a daughter to her extraordinary father as he ends his life on his own terms.  I cried through most of it.  My twentieth film was The Janes and I was really eager to see this having watched Call Jane.  This documentary explores the same underground collective that helped women gain access to abortions in Chicago during the late 1960s but it is much more compelling because it puts the real names and faces to the characters in the fictionalized story.  My final film was the funny and delightful Am I OK?  I loved this story about friendship and self-discovery with yet another fantastic performance from Dakota Johnson.  It was nice to end on such a lighthearted note after so much heavy content.

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The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52

I have been able to go whale watching twice (in Alaska and Australia) and seeing a whale breach is one of the most exhilarating experiences I have ever had.  I think whales are absolutely fascinating so I was intrigued by the trailer for The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 and I even drove about 45 minutes out of my way to see it at the only theater that is screening it in my area yesterday.  At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. Navy developed classified methods to listen underwater for Soviet submarines.  However, it was difficult to distinguish the sounds of submarines from those of marine life so an oceanographer, Dr. William A. Watkins, was enlisted to help classify the sounds.  In 1989 he discovered a single whale that broadcast at a 52 hertz frequency.  No other species of whale broadcast at that frequency so he started tracking the signal until his death 2004.  He was never able to see it or discover another whale who broadcast at the same frequency so it was dubbed "the loneliest whale in the world" and it gained a certain notoriety because people related to its outsider status.  This captured the imagination of filmmaker Joshua Zeman, who believes the ocean is a mysterious environment where unknown discoveries are still possible, and he assembled a team of scientists to try and locate the loneliest whale.  Interspersed between images of their search are discussions about the mythological characteristics of whales, the history of the whaling industry, the discovery that whales use sound to communicate with one another, the origins of the movement to save the whales, the disruption of whale communication by shipping traffic, as well as the social nature of whales and whether this solitary whale would experience the emotion of loneliness.  I found all of this to be very interesting but the footage of the whales encountered during the expedition is absolutely breathtaking, especially the images from trackers placed on the whales because they are so immersive!  I enjoyed this documentary very much but, honestly, I don't think it needs to be seen on the big screen (it will be available on VOD starting July 16).

The Sparks Brothers

The main reason that I wanted to see The Sparks Brothers, the documentary by Edgar Wright about the rock and pop duo Sparks, is because Ron and Russell Mael wrote the music for the upcoming movie Annette.  I have been anticipating this movie, a rock opera starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, since I first heard about it several years ago and I have become obsessed with the first single,"So May We Start," because it is absolutely brilliant.  I didn't really know anything else about the band.  However, while watching the documentary last night, I was quite surprised to recognize so many songs, particularly "Angst in My Pants," "Cool Places," and "Music That You Can Dance To," because I had no idea that they were by Sparks.  I found it fascinating that I pretty much conform to Wright's thesis that Sparks is one of the most influential and innovative bands in the business that nobody knows about!  The film chronicles Ron and Russell's youth in southern California (everyone thinks they are British), their college days at UCLA, their early influences (including the bands from the 1960s British invasion and the films of the French new wave), their early collaboration with Todd Rundgren (who was their first producer), and the making of each of their 25 albums (for which they reinvented themselves and their sound without regard to sales or critical response).  There are interviews with Ron and Russell (whose deadpan wit and back and forth banter had me laughing out loud) as well as what seems like hundreds of musicians, actors, directors, and comedians who all profess their love of and devotion to the band.  I especially loved it when members of Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and Erasure talked about how much they were inspired by Sparks.  Interspersed between the interviews (which are in black and white) is archival footage (in color) spanning 50 years of creative and dynamic performances.  Wright also employs several different quirky animation techniques to highlight key moments in their career and this is incredibly effective at portraying Sparks' unique visual style.  I really enjoyed this documentary and I have now become a huge fan of the band (I love people who are unapologetically themselves without regard to public opinion).  I highly recommend it even if you don't know anything about Sparks!

Note:  My friend didn't know anything about Sparks either and only wanted to see this because he loves Edgar Wright!  I suspect that he has also become a fan of the band because he kept getting out his phone to download songs throughout the whole film (I downloaded "When Do I Get To Sing My Way," "The Number One Song in Heaven," and "My Baby's Taking Me Home").

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

I have lots of memories of watching Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood when I was a little kid.  After finishing each episode I would immediately watch it again dubbed in French on the French channel (I grew up in Canada) because I loved both shows so much.  Since I enjoyed Won't You Be My Neighbor?, I was really excited to see Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street yesterday.  Like the former, this documentary about the making of the iconic children's show brought back so many childhood memories and I absolutely loved it!  In the late 1960s most of the programming for children was made to sell products to the white middle class parents of the children who watched it and it was also an era when many children were spending most of the day in front of the television while their parents worked (one study showed that even very young children could recite all of the words to a jingle for a beer commercial).  Because many low-income minority children were educationally behind when they started school, a television executive named Joan Cooney had the idea that a television show could use the same principles of advertising to teach letters and numbers to these children to compensate for the deficit.  Writer and director Jon Stone was recruited to develop a show and he had the idea to use an authentic neighborhood street to appeal to the target audience of inner-city children.  Puppeteer Jim Henson was recruited to help the show capture and retain the attention of the children with his puppets.  Composer Joe Raposo was recruited to write catchy songs to reinforce educational concepts (I remembered every word to every song featured in this documentary even though it has been almost forty years since I heard them).  This extraordinary collaboration resulted in one of the most groundbreaking shows in television history which has had a profound impact on generations of children.  Archival footage and contemporary interviews with many involved with the show, including the actors who played the beloved characters Gordon, Susan, Bob, Luis, and Maria, provide a fascinating look behind the scenes and I was especially interested to learn about how intentional each episode was with very specific cognitive and affective goals.  Big Bird is one of my favorite puppets (I was deeply offended as a child when no one would believe Big Bird about the existence of Mr. Snuffleupagus) and I love that his character was developed in order to learn along with the children.  The most poignant learning opportunity was when the characters tell Big Bird that Mr. Hooper has died in order to teach the audience about death.  I had a few tears in my eyes but I also laughed and laughed at the puppet blooper reel.  This was a delightful journey back to the street where I spent much of my childhood and I highly recommend it!

Dolphin Reef

This year there are two Disneynature documentaries to celebrate Earth Day in April and, as someone who loves these documentaries, I am here for it!  In addition to Elephant, Disney+ is also streaming Dolphin Reef which I really enjoyed!  The underwater cinematography featuring a beautiful and dynamic coral reef in Polynesia and all of the fascinating animals who live there is simply stunning.  The main narrative revolves around a young and easily distracted bottlenose dolphin named Echo as he is weaned from his mother Kumu.  He has a few adventures, such as swimming with a humpback whale who has migrated from the north to give birth to her calf in the warm water, and a few close calls, such as an incident with some tiger sharks and getting lost with a turtle in a deep underwater cavern, as he learns to survive on his own.  We are also introduced to many of the other animals who are vital to the symbiotic relationship in the reef ecosystem and my favorite is the peacock mantis crab who is portrayed as an OCD neat freak (this, like most Disneynature documentaries, features narration that is very anthropomorphic).  I feel you, mantis crab!  There is a message about doing our part to protect the delicate balance in nature to keep the coral reefs around the world thriving but I didn't find it to be heavy handed.  What I liked most about this documentary, aside from the breathtaking visuals, is that I actually learned quite a bit about dolphins that I didn't know, such as synchronized sleeping and the unique ways they catch fish.  I enjoyed Natalie Portman's lighthearted narration and I also really liked the score.  If you are a fan of the Disneynature documentaries, this is a spectacular entry in the canon that I would definitely recommend!

Note:  In addition to the premiere of Elephant, Disney+ is also steaming the 2019 Disneynature documentary Penguins which is a lot of fun.

Elephant

I am a huge fan of Disneynature documentaries and, since elephants are my favorite animal, I have been looking forward to Elephant for months.  Is there anything cuter than watching a baby elephant frolic in a watering hole?  I submit that there is not so I thoroughly enjoyed all of the spectacular footage of one herd's epic migration across the Kalahari Desert from the Okavango Delta to the Zambezi River when their watering hole dries up.  The narrative focuses on an elephant name Shani, her boisterous calf Jomo, and the matriarch of the herd Gaia.  Shani must protect her calf and learn from her mentor how to lead the herd as they face brutal temperatures, dwindling food sources, and dangerous predators.  What I really love about elephants is how tender they are towards their calves and how protective they are of each elephant in the herd.  There is a powerful scene of a mother trying desperately to free a calf from the mud, a dramatic scene as the elephants circle to protect a calf from a group of lions, and an incredibly poignant scene of the herd's reaction to a death (I may or may not have had a tear in my eye).  I loved the time-lapse photography showing the changing seasons in the Okavango Delta and the Zambezi River, particularly when a waterfall slows from a torrent to a trickle.  As with many Disneynature documentaries, the narration is very anthropomorphic and I thought it was adorable when Jomo wanted to go and play with a baby cheetah and when he was jealous of the attention paid to a new calf in the herd.  The narration is by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and many have been critical of her performance.  While I don't care for her personally, I think she does a pretty good job balancing the emotional and playful tones of the narrative (aside from an inconsistency in her pronunciation of Shani).  This is a compelling look at some of the most intelligent and majestic creatures on Earth and I highly recommend it.  Elephant is now streaming on Disney+.

Note:  One of the greatest experiences of my life was being able to see elephants on safari in Kenya and Tanzania.  I got to see two baby elephants frolicking in a watering hole and it was exactly like what was depicted in this documentary.  It brought back many wonderful memories!

Sundance Film Festival 2020

The 2020 Sundance Film Festival has concluded and, even though I am incredibly sleep deprived, I had such a great time!  I was able to see 16 films in 10 days at five different venues and I really enjoyed all of them.  My first film was The Perfect Candidate which was filmed in Saudi Arabia.  Despite many restrictions on her freedom, a young woman (Mila Alzahrani) practices as a doctor in a small clinic but access is difficult because the dirt road leading to it frequently floods.  She tries to get the road paved but no one pays attention to her.  When she accidentally signs up to run in a municipal election, she decides to pursue it, against all odds, in order to get the road paved but, instead, she earns the respect of everyone in her life.  I thought this film was a very charming story of female empowerment and I really enjoyed the amusing scenes where her sisters help her with her campaign.  My second film was Worth which is a true story about the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.  Kenneth Feinberg (Michael Keaton) is a powerful New York lawyer tasked with assigning a value on the lives lost in the 9/11 terror attacks for compensation purposes to keep families from suing and potentially crippling the U.S. economy.  At first he uses an actuarial formula and then he realizes that he needs a more personal approach when he begins meeting with the families.  Keaton gives a very affecting performance, especially when he is sparring with Charles Wolf (Stanley Tucci) who lost his wife in the attacks.  My third film was Promising Young Woman which I really liked.  Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is a med school drop-out who now lives with her parents and has a dead-end job in a coffee shop.  When a former classmate (Bo Burnham) comes back into her life, he stirs up memories of the incident that derailed her and awakens a need for revenge.  The ending is not at all what I was expecting but it had the crowd at my screening cheering out loud.  It is a quirky and subversive take on the traditional revenge story and, even though it has some bizarre tonal shifts, it is fantastic.  My fourth film was Dream Horse with my students (go here for my review and here for a review written by one of my students).  My fifth film was Surge which was difficult to watch but, upon reflection (and a Q&A with the director Aniel Karia), I have decided that it is brilliant.  Joseph (Ben Whishaw) is an airport security officer who lives alone in London.  Living in an urban environment has anesthetized and isolated him and, after an incident with his parents and an incident at work, he experiences a psychotic breakdown in which he wanders the city without inhibition.  The tension builds and builds with hand-held camera work, pulse-pounding sound design, and a frenetic performance from Whishaw (it reminded me of something the Safdie Brothers would do).  My sixth film was the documentary Time which tells the heartbreaking story of a woman named Sibil Fox Richardson who fights for over twenty years to get her husband released from a life sentence in prison (it is implied that the excessive sentence was imposed because he is black and poor).  Home videos of family life recorded for her husband over twenty years are interspersed with her tireless crusade to free him.  The interviews with their six sons are incredibly poignant, especially since they all grew up to be stellar young men despite their hardships.  At first I felt like Sibil was playing to the cameras but a moment of vulnerability after a court clerk informs her that a judge hasn't had time to write the decision brought me to tears.  My seventh film was the documentary Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind.  This is a loving tribute by Natasha Gregson to her mother with newly discovered home videos and interviews with close friends and family members.  Both her personal and professional lives are explored and the overwhelming message for me was that her death left an incredible void in the lives of those who knew her best.  My eighth film was the documentary Coded Bias and I was able to take my nephew Sean to see it with me.  Joy Buolamwini, a woman of color, was working on a project at MIT and discovered that the facial recognition software she was using had difficulty recognizing the faces of females and people of color.  Upon further investigation, she discovered that many algorithms used as "gatekeepers" for getting approval for a loan, applying for college, or getting an interview for a job are similarly biased and, even worse, erroneously track people perceived to be a threat.  This documentary is incredibly thought-provoking and a little unsettling.  My ninth film was another documentary called Spaceship Earth.  This tells the story of the Biosphere 2 experiment where eight scientists attempted to live in a self-sustaining environment for two years with the hope of possibly using these structures in space.  I found it fascinating how a group of idealistic people came together to try to improve the world and how they were undermined by their own publicity.  My tenth film, Nine Days, was definitely my favorite of the festival.  It is a beautiful and thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be human.  On another plane of existence (an isolated house in a desert), a man who was once alive (Winston Duke) interviews a group of souls given temporary existence over a period of nine days in order to choose one of them for the privilege of being born.  He tests them to see if they can handle the pain and sorrow of life but he is ultimately reminded by one of the candidates (Zazie Beetz) that there is also happiness and beauty to be found in life.  I loved this film so much and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it!  My eleventh film was The Glorias which I also really enjoyed.  It is a biography of the feminist Gloria Steinem but what sets it apart is that there are four actresses who portray her at various times in her life (Ryan Kiera Armstrong as a child, Lulu Wilson as a teenager, Alicia Vikander as a young adult, and Julianne Moore as an older adult) who frequently interact with each other while traveling on a Greyhound bus through her memories.  The inside of the bus is filmed in black and white while the world outside is in color (an homage to The Wizard of Oz).  I think this motif works very well and I was captivated by the performances of Vikander and Moore.  My twelfth film was Sylvie's Love, a lovely old-fashioned movie about a romance between a woman engaged to someone else (Tessa Thompson) and a Jazz musician (Nnamdi Asomugha) in the 1950s.  They go their separate ways but, when they are unexpectedly reunited later in life, they realize they still love each other.  Thompson and Asomugha have great chemistry and the soundtrack is fabulous!  My thirteenth film, Tesla, was my most anticipated film in the festival because I find Nikola Tesla to be endlessly fascinating and I was excited to see Ethan Hawke portray the enigmatic genius.  It begins by telling the same story as The Current War, but from Tesla's point of view, and then it portrays his obsession with developing wireless technology and even inserts smartphones and google searches to emphasize that he had envisioned the future we live in now.  It gets pretty weird (Tesla sings a karaoke version of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears) with dramatic low lighting, theatrical backdrops, and a narrator (Eve Hewson) who breaks the fourth wall but I found it intriguing and I suspect it will become a cult classic.  My fourteenth film was The Go-Go's, a very straightforward biopic about the first all-female band to play their own instruments and have a number one record (this is mentioned multiple times), including their meteoric rise, pressure to duplicate the success of their first record, drug addiction, and squabbling over publishing rights.  As a child of the 1980s, I loved the Go-Go's and it was very nostalgic hearing this music (I tried not to sing) once again.  They've still got the beat!  My fifteenth film was Ironbark, a true story about a Soviet spy starring Benedict Cumberbatch.  Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) is a high-ranking science officer in the Soviet Union who is horrified by the build-up of nuclear weapons and wants to give classified information to the West.  Because Penkovsky is so prominent, the CIA and MI-6 don't want to compromise him by using known agents so they recruit businessman Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch) who knows very little about spy craft.  It is very atmospheric with lots of Cold War intrigue and Cumberbatch gives a riveting performance.  I am a fan of spy thrillers so I loved it!  My sixteenth and final film was the Taylor Swift documentary Miss Americana.  I am a huge fan of Taylor Swift and, even though this was already streaming on Netflix by the time of my screening, it was so much fun to watch this with a large and rowdy crowd!  This documentary chronicles a transformative period in Swift's career in which she sheds her "good girl" persona, makes her voice heard about social and political issues, and writes the music for her album Lover.  I really loved the image of a 13-year-old girl squaring her shoulders to walk out on to a stage for the first time at the beginning juxtaposed with her confident return to the stage after the album release at the end.  Whew!  It was a crazy ten days but I loved seeing movies that might not necessarily get made without this festival and I loved talking about these movies with people from all over the world (I talked to a family from London while in line for Ironbark!).

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