Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker

— Some “mini series” are mini enough that they’re almost a feature film. With a bit of judicious editing, this could easily have dropped the “mini-series” moniker and been a little less scattered. Walker is known as the first female self-made millionaire in the U.S. The story’s fine and its hard to argue about the acting, but it seems like an unwieldy script, as though they worked too hard to make it fun and inspirational, perhaps at the expense of Walker’s historic value. I would have preferred to have eliminated the jazzed-up, fantasy segments that occasionally acted as transitions from one segment to another (they reminded me of the singing and dancing routines in TV’s quirky “Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist”). Even so, it didn’t stop me from watching all four, roughly 45-minute episodes and mostly enjoying them. Episodes 3 and 4, directed by DeMane Davis seemed to run a little less amok than Episodes 1 and 2, directed by Kasi Lemmons. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 189 min. Episodes 1 & 2 directed by Kasi Lemmons; Episodes 3 & 4 directed by DeMane Davis. Starring Octavia Spencer, Tiffany Haddish, and Carmen Ejogo.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/self-made-inspired-by-the-life-of-madam-cj-walker

The Last Thing He Wanted

— Anne Hathaway and Ben Affleck, along with Rosie Perez and Willem Dafoe? Based on Joan Didion’s novel? What could go wrong? Well, although Hathaway’s a good actor, it’s hard to make her look bad and that’s a problem for a reporter in Nicaragua who’s caught up in gunrunners, conspiracy and mayhem. It’s a confusing plot to follow, and just a little too fragmented for motivations to ever be clear. It’s hard to see the truth in most scenes, but maybe that’s half the intrigue. There’s an effort to add some clarity at the end for which I was grateful but, overall, this struck me as a complicated, multi-layered novel that just wasn’t well-suited to becoming a film at the hands of any but the most extraordinary scriptwriters. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 115 min. Directed by Dee Rees. Starring Anne Hathaway, Ben Afflect, Rosie Perez, and Willem Dafoe.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-last-thing-he-wanted-movie-review-2020

Spenser Confidential

— When a couple of cops are murdered, ex-cop Spenser (Mark Wahlberg) and an MMA (Winston Duke) fighter try to figure out who the real murderer is. Helping them along the way is gym owner Alan Arkin, doing his usual anxious, befuddled character. Wahlberg is always likeable, but he’s just going through the motions on this one, and Winston Duke may just be miscast. If you’re a fan of ‘40’s fiction or ‘80’s television, you might not even recognize Spenser as having originated in Robert B. Parker's novels or portrayed by Robert Urich in “Spenser: For Hire.” It’s mild entertainment but nothing special. [Netflix streaming.] 

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[2020. 111 min. Directed by Peter Berg. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke, and Alan Arkin.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/spenser-confidential-movie-review-2020

Dick Johnson Is Dead

— “Dick Johnson Is Dead” was shown at the 2020 True/False Film Fest and, for T/F festival films, I’m giving a general reaction to the viewing experience, followed by the film’s description as it appeared on the festival website.
      This is an unexpected blend of fiction and real life, making for a funny journey as father and daughter grapple with the father’s oncoming dementia. It helps that the daughter is the filmmaker and a pretty creative one at that. With humor and poignancy, she manages to get you thinking about the end we’ll all face eventually and the relationships we have. I liked the film a lot and it was recently picked up by Netflix.
      Description from the T/F website: “Every day we get older. We can’t stop time and beat death, but we can change the way we react. In the face of losing her father, Dick, to dementia, Kirsten Johnson takes her dad’s death into her own hands. Through a series of hilarious, heart-wrenching fake fatal accidents, action stunts, and macabre special effects, Johnson and her father collaborate in a grand exercise of cinematic shock therapy in order to confront the end together. Blending fiction (Dick is dead) and nonfiction (death itself), this colorful, wildly inventive follow-up to ‘Cameraperson’ (T/F 2016) plumbs the depths of disbelief and the heartache of grief by insisting on the now. A beautiful, deeply self-reflective film full of questions, anger, vulnerability, and laughter, ‘Dick Johnson is Dead’ will change the way you think about mortality, and bring you closer to the people you love.”

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[2020. 89 min. Directed by Kirsten Johnson.]
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/01/dick-johnson-is-dead-review-sundance-netflix-1202205541/

Mucho Mucho Amor

— “Mucho Mucho Amor” was shown at the 2020 True/False Film Fest and, for T/F festival films, I’m giving a general reaction to the viewing experience, followed by the film’s description as it appeared on the festival website.
      This was another of my festival favorites and it will be available on Netflix “later this summer.” I had no idea who Walter Mercado was, but I guess if you lived in Central and South America or watched Univision, you and 120 million other people didn’t miss his show. What makes it so surprising is that he’s something of a mashup of Joel Osteen, Liberace, and Elvis, having the popularity of a televangelist, the gender fluidity an occasional entertainer exudes, and the loyal following of a rock god. Even in his upper 80s, he could turn on the charm and light up the screen, gathering energy from and giving love and hope to his fans. It’s one of those success stories that’s hard to believe, that comes with a bit of luck and bit of disappointment. Even after his fame subsided, he remained loved and beloved. It’s a wonderful story and the film's well done with gorgeous images.
      Description from the T/F website: “For 15 years, Univision’s news show ‘Primer Impacto’ closed its report not with the weekend weather or local boy makes good but with Walter Mercado, a fabulous, gender-fluid Puerto Rican astrologer who read the stars and told the future to more than 120 million viewers across Central and South America every day. As he read each sign’s horoscope, he peered into their souls and gave them hope. A classically trained Flamenco dancer, medicinal healer, and devout religious syncretist, Walter’s sartorial statements were inspired by opulent Spanish divas and the occult. A pioneering queer superhero in a cape, Walter brought joy, positivity, and magic to everything he did. So why did he mysteriously disappear?”

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[2020. 96 min. Directed by Cristina Costantini and Kareem Tabsch.]
https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/mucho-mucho-amor-review-1203477886/

Crip Camp

— “Crip Camp” was shown at the 2020 True/False Film Fest and, for T/F festival films, I’m giving a general reaction to the viewing experience, followed by the film’s description as it appeared on the festival website.
      This was one of my festival favorites and it will be on Netflix starting March 25, 2020. It’s begins as a remembrance of a camp in the Catskills for teens with disabilities that, in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, looked more like a hippie commune than anything as its campers experienced the freedom to be themselves. The film eases into an exciting review of activities and protests that ultimately led to passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The personalities are captivating. The stories are amazing. The film is wonderful.
      Description from the T/F website: “Summer camp is where hijinks, freedom, sexual awakening, and self-discovery flourish. Director Jim LeBrecht uses hilarious and tender archival footage to bring us back to the summer of ‘69, in the leafy green Catskills where he first attended Camp Jened. More than just a traditional sleep-away camp, Camp Jened was a radical refuge for teens living with physical and developmental disabilities that became the springboard for an intersectional, intergenerational movement for civil rights. Set to the revolutionary soundtrack of Woodstock, ‘Crip Camp’ offers incredible access to the first protests, co-ops, and sit-ins that changed our nation. Together with co-director Nicole Newnham and a whole cast of campers, counselors, and activists, LeBrecht’s ‘Crip Camp’ is a powerful story of a revolution of the mind, of attitudes, and of the heart.”

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[2019. 107 min. Directed by Jim LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham.]
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/01/crip-camp-review-netflix-sundance-1202205370/

The Mole Agent

— “The Mole Agent” was shown at the 2020 True/False Film Fest and, for T/F festival films, I’m giving a general reaction to the viewing experience, followed by the film’s description as it appeared on the festival website.
      This was a perfect mix of humor and seriousness with an unlikely, likeable star, an 83-year-old gentleman who answered an ad to go undercover in a Chilean nursing home. The film’s pretty to look at, fun to watch, and still manages to keep a serious thread throughout, reflecting on old age, loneliness, and familial responsibility, and reminding us of the continued need for companionship, conversation, and caring as our bodies and emotions become more frail. This was one of my festival favorites.
      Description from the T/F website: “A woman hires a private detective to investigate rumors of elder neglect in her mother’s nursing home. The detective, in turn, enlists Sergio, a kindhearted recent widower, to infiltrate the facility and gather evidence. He learns how to operate spy cameras and moves into the home, where he quickly discovers he is one of only three men in this community ... and by far the most appealing bachelor. Director Maite Alberdi (‘Tea Time,’ T/F 2015) is there as well—she has convinced the nursing home to let her follow the new resident as he acclimates to his surroundings—as Sergio forges friendships, navigates the emotions of his suitors, and attempts to gain the trust of the client’s mother. This documentary spy thriller blossoms into a warmhearted consideration of how we treat one another.” https://filmmakermagazine.com/people/meredith-zielke-yoni-goldstein/#.XmFU6ahKg2w

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[2020. 90 min. Directed by Maite Alberdi.]
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/01/the-mole-agent-review-sundance-1202205522/

A Machine to Live In

— “A Machine to Live In,” directed by Yoni Goldstein and Meredith Zielke, was shown at the 2020 True/False Film Fest and, for T/F festival films, I’m giving a general reaction to the viewing experience, followed by the film’s description as it appeared on the festival website.
      I like architecture and am an Oscar Niemeyer fan, so I thought this film would be right up my alley. Not so. Brasilia’s architecture is featured as one view of utopia, but alongside other cult and mystical utopian structures and landscapes. There’s a blending of real and mythic with the film viewing Brasilia as a “generative domain for imagining alternative cosmologies” and creating individual utopia and new visions for the future. It’s all very mystical and a little hard to follow. Since it was a showing that started at 10:00 p.m. I gave up and left about an hour into it, before I was fully accepting of the possibilities.
      Description from the T/F website: “In this wildly inventive hybrid documentary, the feature debut from experimental film and installation artists Yoni Goldstein and Meredith Zielke, viewers are transported to the space-age city of Brasília. A modernist architectural marvel, the city is a sparkling wasteland of machine dreams and aging monuments to a utopian future. Highlighting the sacred geometry of triangles and symmetry of lines, this sci-fi flick interrogates the semiotic structures that undergird the Martian outpost. With striking visuals and a thumping, electronic soundtrack, ‘A Machine to Live In’ is a transcendent, transcendental voyage through Brazil’s cosmic capital.”

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[2020. 87 min. Directed by Yoni Goldstein and Meredith Zielke.]
https://filmmakermagazine.com/people/meredith-zielke-yoni-goldstein/#.XmFU6ahKg2w