DOCUMENTARY APPRECIATION CLASS

WORKINGMAN'S DEATH

2009-10-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

(2005) Director: Michael Glawogger

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

In this film showcasing six of the most dangerous jobs on the planet, Mega Cities director Michael Glawogger travels the globe to turn his lens on the men who labor in these deadly but necessary jobs day after grueling day. Structured in six chapters that take the viewer everywhere from the Ukraine, where workers snake down a 16-inch tall mineshaft to collect coal, to Pakistan, where migrants disassemble oil tankers piece-by-piece with their bare hands, Glawogger’s film focuses on the ravages of manual labor on the human body and the determination of the men who endure these tasks to build a better future for their children and families. Other thankless jobs showcased in Glawogger’s feature include Indonesian sulfur miners who brave volcano basins and Nigerian workers who slaughter goats and cattle so that they may use the parts to sterilize blazing pits of burning tires. —allmovie guide

VIDEO: TRAILER

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Other docs by Michael Glawogger: Megacities (1998) & Whore's Glory (2010)

BURDEN OF DREAMS

2008-10-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

(1982) Director: Les Blank

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

An extraordinary feature-length documentary about the messianic German director Werner Herzog struggling against desperate odds in the Amazon basin to make his epic feature, Fitzcarraldo. Burden of Dreams was honored with a British Academy Award for Best Documentary of 1982, and many critics consider it Blank's most awesome film. - lesblank.com

VIDEO: SCENE FROM BURDEN OF DREAMS

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Video interview with director Les Blank from independentfilm.com
"Les Blank's "Burden of Dreams" is one of the most remarkable documentaries ever made about the making of a movie." Roger Ebert review
"If Les Blank's jaw-dropping documentary Burden Of Dreams hadn't been first out of the box, its title might have applied to several subsequent making-of films, most notably 1991's Hearts Of Darkness (about Francis Ford Coppola's famously troubled production of Apocalypse Now) and 2002's Lost In La Mancha (about Terry Gilliam's aborted Don Quixote project)." AV Club review
GreenCine interview with Les Blank

NOTES:

Fitzcarraldo was shot on location deep within the rain forests of South America, one thousand miles from civilization. When the first version of the film was half-finished, its star, Jason Robards, was rushed back to New York with amoebic dysentery and forbidden by his doctors to return to the location. Herzog replaced Robards with Klaus Kinski (star of his "Aguirre, the Wrath of God"), but meanwhile, co-star Mick Jagger left the production because of a commitment to a concert tour. Then the Kinski version of "Fitzcarraldo" was caught in the middle of a border war between tribes of Indians. The whole production was moved twelve hundred miles, to a new location where the mishaps included plane crashes, disease, and attacks by unfriendly Indians. And all of those hardships were on top of the incredible task Herzog set himself to film: He wanted to show his obsessed hero using teams of Indians to pull an entire steamship up a hillside using only block and tackle.
Stanley Kauffmann, in the New Republic, argued that, for Herzog, the purpose of film is to risk death, and each of his films is in some way a challenge hurled at the odds. Herzog has made films on the slopes of active volcanoes, has filmed in the jungle and in the middle of the Sahara, and has made films about characters who live at the edges of human achievement. - rogerebert.com

JIMI PLAYS MONTEREY & SHAKE! OTIS AT MONTEREY

2008-10-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

(1989) Director: D.A. Pennebaker

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding arrived at California's Monterey International Pop Festival virtually unknown. Returning stateside from London, where he had moved to launch his musical career, Hendrix exploded onstage, flooring an unsuspecting audience with his maniacal six-string pyrotechnics. Redding, a venerable star of Memphis's Stax record label, seduced the "love crowd" in one of his best--and last-- shows. Jimi Plays Monterey and Shake! Otis at Monterey, acclaimed documentarian D. A. Pennebaker's Monterey Pop companion pieces, feature the entire sets by these legendary musicians, performances that have entered rock-and-roll mythology. - The Criterion Collection

VIDEO: FULL FEATURES

Jimi Plays Monterey

Shake! Otis at Monterey

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Excerpt from Time magazine interview with director D.A. Pennebaker:

TIME: I understand that you had similar distribution problems with Monterey Pop, your film about the music festival, featuring breakout performances by Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

Yes. I put that in a porn house on [Manhattan's] Lower East Side. It was the only theater I could get. It ran for a year. People would come. In fact, the same people would come every Friday — and they'd all be smoking grass in the johns. The guy who ran the theater was so happy. He was making money left and right. He didn't want it to ever stop.

TIME: In that film, you recorded the now legendary footage of Hendrix's first major American concert. What was the mood in the audience like when he played?

John Phillips [of the Mamas and the Papas] had told me ahead of time, "There's this great blues player and he sets his guitar on fire." I didn't know what to expect. For some people there, his performance was noise and it upset them. In the first three or four minutes, it was noise to me, too. I didn't know what to think of it. I did know that we needed to shoot everything he did. We knew that this was different and that it was something amazing and historic.

TIME: Why do you avoid the use of narration and on-camera interviews in your films?

Really, I'm trying to be Ibsen. That's my secret hope: that I could somehow turn into [the playwright Henrik] Ibsen. There are things happening all the time to real people. You don't have to enact them or write them. I'm trying to make a play, not an educational device.

TIME: There's a dictum in anthropology that the observer changes the behavior of the observed. Have you been in situations where you felt that your presence was really affecting things?

Not a lot. Your attitude towards the camera determines that. If you're setting up lights and tripods and you've got three assistants running around, people will want to get you out as fast as they can. But if you go the opposite way, if you make the camera the least important thing in the room, then it's different. I've left it on the floor. Sometimes, I'll shoot with it on my lap. Other times, I'll put it on a table and turn it on. You don't make it a big issue.

NOTES:

The movies compile unreleased film of Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding that had been shot for the rock documentary ''Monterey Pop.''
When Jimi Hendrix performed at the Monterey Pop Festival, the revolutionary rock guitarist was only 24 years old. A sensation in England where he had formed his trio, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, he was still virtually unknown in the United States. The festival, at which he set fire to his guitar and smashed it to pieces, helped put him on the map in America.
Otis Redding, who was only 25 years old when he appeared at the Monterey festival, died in a plane crash six months later. Less than three years later, Jimi Hendrix died a drug-related death. He was 27.

WHEN WE WERE KINGS

2008-10-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

(1996) Director: Leon Gast

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

In 1974, boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman came to the still-emerging and politically unstable African nation of Zaire for what Ali called the "Rumble in the Jungle," a highly publicized world heavyweight championship fight. Documentarian Leon Gast flew to Zaire to film both the fight and a music festival (featuring B.B. King, The Pointer Sisters, and Miriam Makeba) organized by promoter Don King. Gast's footage was shelved for 22 years due to legal and financial problems, but when it was finally released in 1996, When We Were Kings provided a vivid portrait of the controversial Ali. At 33, he was considered past his prime for the Zaire fight, and his refusal to serve in the U.S. military on moral grounds was still an issue in the minds of many. But here, Ali displays strength, skill, intelligence, and tremendous charm, making it clear how he became one of the most renowned figures in the world of sports. And, while George Foreman is best known today as a genial commercial pitchman, he's seen here as a strong, forbidding opponent, not especially articulate and seemingly unstoppable. The film also features interviews with several notable fight fans, including Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, and Spike Lee. A fascinating document of a great moment in sporting and cultural history, When We Were Kings was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature and won a Special Jury Recognition Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. - Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. At the presentation, both Ali and Foreman came up to join the filmmakers to make it clear they had long made peace since that match.
Though almost all of the footage in this documentary was shot by producer/director Leon Gast in 1974, one reason it took 22 years to complete was because the negative and rights to the film were entangled in civil suits involving the Liberians who financed the movie's making.
This is the only film containing footage of the "black Woodstock" soul music festival accompanying the fight.

MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI DOCUMENTARIES

2008-10-15T05:00:00.001-07:00

DIRECTOR: Michelangelo Antonioni

SUMMARY:

Before gaining fame for his films L'Avventura (1960), La Notte (1961), L'Eclisse (1962), Blow-Up (1966), and The Passenger (1975) Michelangelo Antonioni began his career making documentaries.

From The Films of Michelangelo Antonioni by Peter Brunette:

...it is during this period that Antonioni's special fascination with vision and the nature of the look seems to have ripened. (Significantly, his Cinema article, "Toward a Film on the River Po," contained nine photographs, four of them half-page in size, even before the film was shot; in the finished documentary itself, information is often conveyed in purely visual terms, rather than through the more conventional means of the voice-over.) Antonioni later told an interviewer that once he began looking at objects with the intention of making a film, everything changed:
"The things themselves were claiming a different attention, acquiring a different significance. Looking at them in a new way, I was taking control of them. Beginning to understand the world through the image, i was understanding the image, its force, its mystery.
As soon as it was possible for me to do so I returned to those places with a camera. This is how People of the Po Valley was born. Everything that I did after that, good or bad as it was, started from there."
Immediately after the war, Antonioni worked for a while as a translator, film critic, and scriptwriter (he wrote two unproduced scripts for Visconti) and made a magnificently photographed nine-minute documentary called N.U. - Nettezza Urbana. A study of the men who clean the streets and gather the garbage in Rome, the film poetically documents the magnificence of the early morning in the city. It won an important critics' prize in 1948.
Next followed several other shorts such as L'amorosa menzogna (Lies of love, 1948-9), a film that humorously and ironically describes the gap between the glamorous lives of photoromance stars - all the rage at the time - and their real lives, and Superstizione (Superstition, 1949), which documents the superstitious customs still to be found among rural folk. About the same time, he wrote a treatment for Lo sceicco bianco (The White Sheik), based on the same idea L'amorosa menzogna, which was made into a film by Fellini in 1952. Three more made-to-order shorts came in 1949 and 1950, including a documentary on the production of rayon, another on the cable car that runs to Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites skiing area, and the third on the Villa dei Mostri, a Renaissance garden featuring grotesque figures carved in the rocks.
The urge to document everyday life that appears in all of these films is not surprising given the fact that Antonioni came into his cinematic maturity during the heyday of neorealism, the most famous movement in Italian cinema history.

VIDEO:

Gente del Po (1947)

Superstizione (1948)

Sette canne, un vestito (1949)

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

The Eclipse of Antonioni (Article on the life of Michelangelo Antonioni from The Sun)
Essay on the work of Antonioni by Senses of Cinema
A talk with Michelangelo Antonioni on his work (1962 interview from Film Culture)
Documentaries directed by Antonioni:

Gente del Po (People of the Po Valley) (1947)
N.U. - Nettezza urbana (Sanitation Department) (1948)
Superstizione - Non ci credo! (Superstitions) (1948)
L'Amorosam menzogna (Lies of Love) (1949)
Sette canne, un vestito (Seven Reeds, One Suit) (1949)
La Villa dei mostri (The Villa of the Monsters) (1950)
La Funivia del Faloria (The Funicular of Mount Faloria) (1950)
Chung Kuo Cina (Chung Kuo China) (1972)
Ritorno a Lisca Bianca (Return to Lisca Bianca) (1983); segment of Falsi Ritorni (Fake Returns)
Kumbha Mela (1989)
Roma (1990); segment of 12 Autori per 12 Città (12 Authors for 12 Cities)
Noto, Mandorli, Vulcano, Stromboli, Carnevale (1992)

NOTES:

Before he moved to Rome (sometime around 1940), Antonioni attempted to make a documentary at a local insane asylum. When the set was lit, the patients suddenly responded with convulsions and the film was aborted.
Antonioni's first documentary concerned the inhabitants of the Po valley region near Ferrara. Shot in 1943, Gente del Po was not released until after the war in 1947. In the interim, the bulk of the footage was lost through degradation, accident, and, possibly, deliberate tampering. Still, he displayed an early resilience and determination to complete the film, a trait that would resurface on numerous occasions in the future.
On the strength of his documentaries, Antonioni secured financing from Vallani Film to make his first fictional feature in Milan.

DANCIN OUTLAW

2008-10-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

(1991) Director: Jacob Young

DVD

SUMMARY:

Nestled deep within the heart of the mountains of Boone County, West Virginia reigns a King. The King - Jesco White, The Dancing Outlaw. Jesco is a living legend. The last of the Mountain Dancers, his style is unique to the mountain culture. Resembling tap dancing, it's a tradition passed down from father to son - as were his dancing shoes. His dance floor? An 8 by 4 piece of plywood or the roof of his canine companion Duke's doghouse.
His venue? The front yard, the den of Jesco's and Norma Jean's trailer, or any place the spirit moves.
But dancing isn't the only phenomenon that emanates from the cabin. On quiet nights, legend has it, you can hear the echoes of vintage Elvis tunes careening off the walls of Jesco's Elvis room and through the mountains of Boone county. Jesco belts out Elvis tunes as only a true King can. It's a beautiful thing, man.
Jesco's unique mountain wisdom and talents (and tattoos) have not gone unnoticed. His jewels of wisdom are downright profound. His talents have made him the subject of two documentary films and scored him an appearance with Dweezil Zappa ("Weezil" as Jesco puts it) as a country cousin on the "The Roseanne Show." (The tattoos were a big hit, just ask Tom Arnold.)

In the end, Elvis, the King, is the first royalty of rock'n'roll.
Jesco, the King, is the Dancing Outlaw, the last of the mountain dancers.

- www.juliescoggins.com

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Austin Chronicle interview with director Jacob Young

NOTES:

As the popularity of Dancing Outlaw grew, Jesco White was asked by comedian Tom Arnold to perform on the television show Roseanne. He traveled to Los Angeles for the performance, which was chronicled in the 1994 short film Dancing Outlaw 2: Jesco Goes To Hollywood - also directed by Jacob Young.
Jesco has been linked to many popular artists through song. Big and Rich mention his name in their single "Comin' to Your City," although Jesco is not a fan and feels as if they are capitalizing on his name. Hank Williams III wrote the song "Legend of D. Ray White," which honors the cultural significance of Jesco's father. It also mentions Jesco, as well as another legendary Boone County artist, Hasil Adkins, and Jesco's sister Mamie White. Jesco also dances on the Hank Williams III song "Louisiana Stripes."
A short clip of Jesco dancing can be seen in Beck's "Loser" music video.
"I enjoyed myself from within myself on behalf of myself" - Jesco
"My past is coming up into my future and messing with my good life" - Jesco
Official site
Jesco White's MySpace page

MY VOYAGE TO ITALY

2008-10-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

(1999) Director: Martin Scorsese

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

My Voyage to Italy (Italian: Il mio viaggio in Italia) is a personal documentary by acclaimed Italian-American director Martin Scorsese. The film is a voyage through Italian cinema history, marking influential films for Scorsese and particularly covering the Italian neorealism period.
The films of Roberto Rossellini make up for half the films discussed in the entire documentary, dealing with his seminal influence on Italian cinema and cinema history. Other directors mentioned include Vittorio de Sica, Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni.

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

BBC audio interview excerpts:

NOTES:

"The more films I made, the more I realized what an indelible mark Italian cinema had left on me." - Martin Scorsese
Some of Scorsese's favorite directors at work (PHOTO)

LUMIERE & COMPANY

2008-10-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

(1995) Directors:

Sarah Moon, Merzak Allouache, Gabriel Axel, Vicente Aranda, Theo Angelopoulos, Bigas Luna, John Boorman, Youssef Chahine, Alain Corneau, Costa-Gavras, Raymond Depardon, Francis Girod, Peter Greenaway, Lasse Hallström, Michael Haneke, Hugh Hudson, Gaston Kaboré, Abbas Kiarostami, Cédric Klapisch, Andrei Konchalovsky, Patrice Leconte, Spike Lee, Claude Lelouch, David Lynch, Claude Miller, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Arthur Penn, Lucian Pintilie, Jacques Rivette, Helma Sanders-Brahms, Jerry Schatzberg, Nadine Trintignant, Fernando Trueba, Liv Ullmann, Yoshishige Yoshida, Jaco Van Dormael, Régis Wargnier, Wim Wenders, Zhang Yimou

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

To commemorate the centennial of the Lumiere brothers' first "motion picture," David Lynch, Spike Lee, Wim Wenders, Zhang Yimou, John Boorman, Arthur Penn, Peter Greenaway, Claude LeLouch, Costa Gavras, James Ivory and a host of leading international filmmakers created their own one-minute Lumiere film. Using the restored original camera, each director offered his own signature style to the film. Sandwiched between these 40 exciting, eclectic shorts are intriguing interviews with the filmmakers. A must-see for all movie fans, Lumiere & Company speaks for the passion, beauty and visionary dream of this 100-year-old art form. - Facets

VIDEO:

Abbas Kiarostami

David Lynch

Arthur Penn

More on YouTube

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Roger Ebert review

NOTES:

Shorts were edited in-camera and abided by three rules:

A short may be no longer than 52 seconds
No synchronized sound
No more than three takes

DAVE CHAPPELLE'S BLOCK PARTY

2008-10-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

(2005) Director: Michel Gondry

DVD
Netflix

SUMMARY:

Dave Chappelle presents a Brooklyn neighborhood with its very own once-in-a-lifetime free block party. In addition to Chappelle, the roster of artists includes Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Dead Prez, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, the Roots, Cody ChesnuTT, Big Daddy Kane, and - reunited for their first performance in over seven years - the Fugees. Includes private rehearsals footage and Chappelle in the small Ohio town he calls home, where he wanders through town handing out golden tickets to invite several dozen citizens to join the party, providing transportation and lodging for their visit to Brooklyn. Ohio's Central State University marching band makes the trip and kicks off the festivities at the intersection of Quincy and Downing Streets. A diverse crowd and Chappelle's freestyle wit guides them (and us) through a celebration of music and comedy, history and community. - Focus Features

VIDEO: CLIPS

More at Hulu.com

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Interview with Michel Gondry about Block Party from FilmJerk.com
Another interview from SuicideGirls.com
MTV.com article about Block Party
Roger Ebert's review
Entertainment Weekly review
Some of Michel Gondry's other work includes: Human Nature (2001), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Be Kind Rewind (2008)

NOTES:

In this IGN interview, Dave Chappelle remarks that he has "entertained the idea of doing a sequel, and like all sequels, we would just try to do it bigger and better. I have an idea but I'm scared to publicly pitch it. But I'll tell you this: it has been discussed, and I think it would be spectacular."
Block Party's format is inspired by the documentary Wattstax.
The concert was nine hours long.
Dave Chappelle funded Block Party with his own money.
Soundtrack available here or listen online
Official site

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA

2008-10-03T05:23:00.000-07:00

(1929) Director: Dziga Vertov

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Vertov's feature film, produced by the Ukrainian film studio VUFKU, presents urban life in Odessa and other Soviet cities. From dawn to dusk Soviet citizens are shown at work and at play, and interacting with the machinery of modern life. To the extent that it can be said to have "characters," they are the cameraman of the title and the modern Soviet Union he discovers and presents in the film.
This film is famous for the range of cinematic techniques Vertov invents, deploys or develops, such as double exposure, fast motion, slow motion, freeze frames, jump cuts, split screens, Dutch angles, extreme close-ups, tracking shots, footage played backwards, animations and a self-reflexive style (at one point it features a split screen tracking shot; the sides have opposite Dutch angles). - Wikipedia

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

F FOR FAKE

2008-10-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

(1974) Director: Orson Welles

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Trickery. Deceit. Magic. In Orson Welles’s free-form documentary F for Fake, the legendary filmmaker (and self-described charlatan) gleefully engages the central preoccupation of his career—the tenuous line between truth and illusion, art and lies. Beginning with portraits of world-renowned art forger Elmyr de Hory and his equally devious biographer, Clifford Irving, Welles embarks on a dizzying cinematic journey that simultaneously exposes and revels in fakery and fakers of all stripes—not the least of whom is Welles himself. Charming and inventive, F for Fake is an inspired prank and a searching examination of the essential duplicity of cinema.

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

'F for Fake' Is an Illusionist's Trick With Bogus Heroes and Expert Villains (NY Times article)
F for Fake: The Ultimate Mirror of Orson Welles (Robert Castle)
A Retrospective by Peter Bogdanovich (VIDEO)
Review from AV Club
Review from Not Coming To A Theater Near You

NOTES:

The last major film completed by Orson Welles
F for Fake faced widespread popular rejection in the director's home country upon its release, though it fared better commercially in Europe.[citation needed] Critical reaction ranged from praise to confusion and hostility, with many finding the work to be indulgent or incoherent. F for Fake has, however, grown in stature over the years and is now often considered not only a film classic, but a precursor to modern editing techniques as well as a popularizer of more avant-garde methods.[citation needed] As the film embraces everything from self-conscious notation of the film process, to ironic employment of '50s-era B-movie footage, Welles in essence was creating not so much a documentary as a "new kind of film," as he once told writer Jonathan Rosenbaum. - Wikipedia
An excerpt of Welles' 1930s War of the Worlds broadcast was recreated for this film, however none of the dialogue heard in the film actually matches what was originally broadcast.
Actress Oja Kodar, who appears in a muse-like fashion in this film, was Welles' real-life girlfriend at the time.
Hidden within a montage of footage of Howard Hughes is one brief shot of a man disembarking from a ship who looks similar to Hughes, but is actually actor Don Ameche.
Wells filmed a trailer that lasted for almost five minutes and featured several shots of a topless Oja Kodar. The trailer was rejected in the U.S. as it was deemed to long and over-indulgent. - IMDB

LOUIS THEROUX DOCUMENTARIES

2008-09-29T20:55:00.001-07:00

DVD

SUMMARY:

Long before Comedy Central’s The Daily Show was a glimmer in creator Lizz Winstead’s eye, there was another program that brilliantly satirized programs like 60 Minutes and 20/20 - it was Michael Moore’s TV Nation. One of the TV Nation correspondents was a Brit by the name of Louis Theroux, whose segments included memorable visits with the “new” Klu Klux Klan and NRA rocker Ted Nugent.

In fact, it was exactly those profiles of subculture and celebrity that Theroux would explore with his post-TV Nation series Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends, which originally aired on Bravo in the US and the BBC in the UK. In it, Louis traveled around America, seeking out and trying to make sense of fascinatingly oddball American subcultures such as professional wrestling, rappers, swingers, UFO enthusiasts, etc. In addition, he’s spent face-to-face time with various unique, somewhat eccentric celebrities in his series When Louis Met…. - QuickStop

VIDEO: WHEN LOUIS MET THE NAZIS

Other films:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Guardian interview with Louis Theroux
Louis Theroux: 'When I work I like to be invisible' (Article from The Independent)
Sound of Young America audio interview with Louis Theroux
Louis Theroux fan site
Louis Theroux bio

HENRY MILLER ASLEEP AND AWAKE

2008-09-26T17:03:00.001-07:00

(1975) Director: Tom Schiller

SUMMARY:

Filmed when the author was 81, HENRY MILLER ASLEEP & AWAKE is a voyage of ideas about life, writing, sex, spirituality, nightmares, and New York that captures the warmth, vigor and high animal spirits of a singular American artist. The man is Henry Miller and the room is his bathroom. It's a miraculous shrine covered with photos and drawings collected by the author over the course of his long and fruitful life. Graciously, in his raspy, sonorous voice, he points out the highlights of his improvised gallery, speaking of philosophers, writers, painters, mad kings, women, and friends.

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

HATED: GG ALLIN AND THE MURDER JUNKIES

2008-09-25T05:10:00.000-07:00

(1994) Director: Todd Phillips

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

HATED is the highly acclaimed, controversial, award winning debut from New York film maker Todd Phillips. GG Allin infected the punk scene for fourteen brutal years. Touring between prison sentences, Allin caused mayhem wherever he went, accompanied by his band the Murder Junkies and a legion of die-hard fans. Hated is a hard hitting documentary of the final New York visit which resulted in several injuries, heavy police activity and the director's near expulsion from New York University (after a brief but catastrophic GG spoken word performance). Allin's apocalyptic tirade was fuelled by hatred and anger. Despite his indisputable devotion to the extreme, Allin never delivered his promise of committing suicide on stage as he died of a heroin overdose soon after HATED was completed (scenes from GG's atypical funeral can be witnessed after the end credits). - Video dustjacket

VIDEO: VARIOUS SCENES

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

SuicideGirls Interview with director Todd Phillips
Some of Todd Phillips other directing credits include: School for Scoundrels (2006), Starsky & Hutch (2004), Old School (2003), Road Trip (2000), Frat House (1998)
DocumentaryBlog review

NOTES:

Hated was re-released with new footage in 2007. The first 5,000 copies came with free temporary tattoos based on some of Allin's real tattoos, and a mail-in offer for a poster featuring artwork of Allin painted by serial killer and friend John Wayne Gacy.
GG Allin's last day alive (VIDEO)
GG Allin official site
Download torrent

TOUCHING THE VOID

2008-09-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

(2003) DIRECTOR: Kevin Macdonald

DVD

NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

TOUCHING THE VOID, directed by Kevin Macdonald, reconstructs the story of a fateful climb Joe Simpson and his mountaineering partner Simon Yates undertook in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. Screening to acclaim at the 2003 Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals, this feature documentary combines dramatic reconstruction of the climb and interviews with the two climbers it nearly killed. Joe Simpson and Simon Yates set out to climb the west face of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. It was 1985 and the men were young, fit, skilled climbers. The west face, remote and treacherous, had not been climbed before. Following a successful 3 1/2 day ascent, disaster struck. Simpson fell a short distance and broke several bones in his leg. With no hope of rescue, the men decided to attempt descent together with Yates lowering Simpson 300 feet at a time in a slow, painful process that could have potentially been deadly for both. -IFC

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

Remainder of film can be found on YouTube

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

'Making the Cut: How Joe Simpson's best-selling thriller became a stunning film epic' (Outside Online)
How They Made Touching The Void: Filmmaking on the Edge (Channel4)
Film production notes
AV Club review
CineScene review
At The Movies review (VIDEO)
Director's statement
Some of Kevin Macdonald's other credits include: One Day in September (1999), A Brief History of Errol Morris (2000), Being Mick (2001), The Last King of Scotland (2006)

NOTES:

To take this story from the page to the screen was an enormous challenge. Over the past 15 years numerous attempts had been made, but all to no avail. In the late 90s Actress Sally Field's Fogwood Films acquired the option, intending to turn the story into a Hollywood feature film that was to star Tom Cruise. However, no feature film has been made. One major creative problem is that up until now writers have struggled as to how to bring TOUCHING THE VOID to the screen, given that there are only two protagonists and they are separated for most of the story.
The twenty-two day shoot was made more arduous by the lack of any contingency days and some of the worst snowstorms of the decade in the Alps. "It was terribly difficult," says Macdonald. "The camera freezing up, the lenses fogging over, the actors and ourselves getting pulled aside by the safety guys because they said it was too cold and we were going to get frostbitten. We had to go in and out half an hour at a time. And it's a lot of action with no dialogue so it's not like you can just resort to dialogue scenes, you've got to be very physical non-stop. Every day was a fight just to get things done, just to get even some of it covered and that was exhausting." - Production Notes

EARLY DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

2008-09-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

DVD: Landmarks of Early Film

SUMMARY:

The filmmaker John Grierson used the term documentary in 1926 to refer to any nonfiction film medium, including travelogues and instructional films. The earliest "moving pictures" were, by definition, documentaries. They were single-shot moments captured on film: a train entering a station, a boat docking, or a factory of people getting off work. Early film (pre-1900) was dominated by the novelty of showing an event. These short films were called "actuality" films. Very little storytelling took place before the turn of the century, due mostly to technological limitations, namely, that movie cameras could hold only very small amounts of film. Thus many of the first films are a minute or less in length... - Wikipedia

VIDEO:

ARRIVAL OF A TRAIN AT LA CIOTAT (Lumière Brothers 1896)

ELECTROCUTING AN ELEPHANT (Thomas A. Edison 1903)

ROUGH SEA AT DOVER (Birt Acres and Robert W. Paul 1895)

RINGKAMPFER (Max Skladanowsky 1895)

PRESIDENT MCKINLEY AT HOME (1897)

PACK TRAIN AT CHILKOOT PASS (1898)

LINKS:

NANOOK OF THE NORTH

2008-09-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

(1922) Director: Robert J. Flaherty

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Nanook of the North is regarded as the first significant nonfiction feature, made in the days before the term "documentary" had even been coined. Filmmaker Robert Flaherty had lived among the Eskimos in Canada for many years as a prospector and explorer, and he had shot some footage of them on an informal basis before he decided to make a more formal record of their daily lives. Financing was provided by Revillion Freres, a French fur company with an outpost on the shores of Hudson Bay. Filming took place between August 1920, and August 1921, mostly on the Ungava Peninsula of Hudson Bay. Flaherty employed two recently developed Akeley gyroscope cameras which required minimum lubrication; this allowed him to tilt and pan for certain shots even in cold weather. He also set up equipment to develop and print his footage on location and show it in a makeshift theater to his subjects. Rather than simply record events as they happened, Flaherty staged scenes -- fishing, hunting, building an igloo -- to carry along his narrative. The film's tremendous success confirmed Flaherty's status as a first-rate storyteller and keen observer of man's fragile relationship with the harshest environmental conditions. - Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

VIDEO: 8 MINUTE EXCERPT

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

How I Filmed Nanook of the North (Essay by director Robert J. Flaherty)
A New Look at Robert J. Flaherty's Documentary Art (Essay by Gerhard Lampe)
Roger Ebert's Great Movies Essay
The Criterion Contraption’s review

NOTES:

In 1989, this film was one of the first 25 films to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The film was shot near Inukjuak, on Hudson Bay in Arctic Quebec, Canada. Having worked as a prospector and explorer in Arctic Canada among the Inuit, Flaherty was familiar with his subjects and set out to document their lifestyle. Flaherty had shot film in the region prior to this period, but that footage was destroyed in a fire started when Flaherty dropped a cigarette onto the original camera negative (which was highly flammable nitrate stock). Flaherty therefore made Nanook of the North in its place. Funded by French fur company Revillon Freres, the film was shot from August 1920 to August 1921.
As the first nonfiction work of its scale, Nanook of the North was ground-breaking cinema. It captured an exotic culture in a distant location, rather than a facsimile of reality using actors and props on a studio set. Traditional Inuit methods of hunting, fishing, igloo-building, and other customs were shown with accuracy, and the compelling story of a man and his family struggling against nature met with great success in North America and abroad.
Flaherty has been criticized for deceptively portraying staged events as reality. Much of the action was staged and gives an inaccurate view of real Inuit life during the early 20th century. "Nanook" was in fact named Allakariallak, for instance, while the "wife" shown in the film was not really his wife. And although Allakariallak normally used a gun when hunting, Flaherty encouraged him to hunt after the fashion of his ancestors in order to capture what was believed to be the way the Inuit lived before European influence. The ending, in which Nanook and his family are supposedly in peril of dying if they can't find shelter quickly enough, was implausible, given the reality of nearby French-Canadian and Inuit settlements during filming. Flaherty also exaggerated the peril to Inuit hunters with his claim, often repeated, that Allakariallak had died of starvation two years after the film was completed, whereas it is now known that he more likely died of tuberculosis. On the other hand, while Flaherty made his Inuit actors use spears instead of guns during the walrus and seal hunts, the hunting itself did involve actual wild animals.
Flaherty defended his work by stating that a filmmaker must often distort a thing to catch its true spirit. Later filmmakers have pointed out that the only cameras available to Flaherty at the time were both large and immobile, making it impossible to effectively capture most interior shots or unstructured exterior scenes without significantly modifying the environment and subject action. For example, the Inuit crew had to build a special three-walled igloo for Flaherty's bulky camera so that there would be enough light for it to capture interior shots.
Kabloonak is a 1995 film about the making of Nanook of the North. Charles Dance plays Flaherty and Adamie Quasiak Inukpuk (a relative of Nanook) plays Nanook. - Wikipedia
Flaherty went on to make more sophisticated films, notably "Tabu" (1931), an uneasy collaboration with the great German filmmaker F.W. Murnau, who was more interested in story and style than documentation; "Man of Aran" (1934), about the hard lives of the Aran Islanders off the coast of Ireland; "Elephant Boy" (1937), starring Sabu in a fiction based on a Kipling story, and "Louisiana Story" (1948)
Upon Flaherty's death in 1951, poet e.e. cummings called him "a god among man," and Orson Welles compared him to Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman, describing him as "one of the two or three greatest people who ever worked in the medium."
Rated #6 in 2002 by International Documentary Assn. on its list of Top 20 Documentaries of all time.

BARAKA

2008-09-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

(1992) Director: Ron Fricke

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Named after a Sufi word that translates roughly as "breath of life" or "blessing," Baraka is Ron Fricke's impressive follow-up to Godfrey Reggio's non-verbal documentary film Koyaanisqatsi. Fricke was cinematographer and collaborator on Reggio's film, and for Baraka he struck out on his own to polish and expand the photographic techniques used on Koyaanisqatsi. The result is a tour-de-force in 70mm: a cinematic "guided meditation" (Fricke's own description) shot in 24 countries on six continents over a 14-month period that unites religious ritual, the phenomena of nature, and man's own destructive powers into a web of moving images. Fricke's camera ranges, in meditative slow motion or bewildering time-lapse, over the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Ryoan-Ji temple in Kyoto, Lake Natron in Tanzania, burning oil fields in Kuwait, the smoldering precipice of an active volcano, a busy subway terminal, tribal celebrations of the Masai in Kenya, chanting monks in the Dip Tse Chok Ling monastery...and on and on, through locales across the globe. To execute the film's time-lapse sequences, Fricke had a special camera built that combined time-lapse photography with perfectly controlled movements of the camera. In one evening sequence a desert sky turns black, and the stars roll by, as the camera moves slowly forward under the trees. The feeling is like that of viewing the universe through a powerful telescope: that we are indeed on a tiny orb hurtling through a star-filled void. The film is complemented by the hybrid world-music of Michael Stearns. - Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Variety review
The making of Baraka (VIDEO)
Interview with Baraka producer Mark Magidson
Excerpt from Ron Fricke's directorial debut Chronos (1985)

NOTES:

Baraka was the first film in over twenty years to be photographed in the 70mm Todd-AO format, an extremely high definition wide-screen film format developed in the mid 1950s. The previous film filmed in this particular format was The Last Valley (1970).
Was filmed by a three person crew over a period of 14 months in 24 countries across 6 continents. -IMDB
A sequel to Baraka, Samsara, is planned to be released in 2009

AMERICAN MOVIE

2008-09-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

(1999) Director: Chris Smith

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

It takes a village to make a movie, but when that village is Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin and not Hollywood, CA, the results are at times bizarre, comical, and very American. With the help of his mother, his 82-year old uncle, and a local cast of hilarious and lovable characters, filmmaker Mark Borchardt fights his way through internal and external roadblocks to achieve his goal--to make his movie, his way.
Mark's vision for his dream film is unlike most in independent filmmaking today. His inspiration comes from films as disparate as Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Seventh Seal, as well as his experiences growing up amidst the grey skies, rusty cars, and ranch houses of Milwaukee's Northwest side.
AMERICAN MOVIE is the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, AMERICAN MOVIE is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream. - americanmovie.com

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

The New Cult Canon: American Movie (AV Club essay)
'The horror of indie filmmaking: Scary movie director and "American Movie" star Mark Borchardt talks about living the examined life.' -Salon.com
IndieWire interview with director Chris Smith
Mark Borchardt on David Letterman
Roger Ebert review
Chris Smith's other documentaries include: The Yes Men (2003) and Home Movie (2001)
Official site

NOTES:

Chris Smith attended University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Graduate Film Program in 1995, having just completed his film American Job. Chris met Mark Borchardt while editing American Job, and began filming a documentary about the making of Mark's psychological thriller Coven. Both films played at the Sundance Film Festival, and American Movie won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary. Sony bought the picture for $1 million.
Theme song from Coven
Mike Schank's phone number: 414-466-Mike
"No one has ever, ever paid admission to see an excuse." - Mark Borchardt

ROBERT DREW DOCUMENTARIES

2008-09-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

(Active 1960-) Director: Robert Drew

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Robert Drew is a documentary producer, who, during the late 1950s and 1960s, pioneered a new documentary form for application in the network news departments. This form, which Drew dubbed "Candid Drama," also known as "Cinema Verite" or "Direct Cinema", did not, ultimately, reshape news programming, but it did provide the medium with a radically different way of covering historical and cultural events.
"Candid Drama", according to Drew, is a documentary filmmaking technique which reveals the "logic of drama" inherent in almost all human situations. In sharp contrast to typical television documentaries, which are simply "lectures with picture illustration," and for that reason usually are "dull," the candid drama documentary eschews extensive voice-over narration, formal interviews, on-air correspondents, or other kinds of staged and framed television formulae. Instead, through the slowly acquired photography and long, single takes--called real-time photography--of verite technique, the details and flavor of a scene become the important elements: the fatigue experienced by candidates on a campaign trail (Primary), the fervid concentration of a race car driver (On the Pole) capture our attention as much as the factual information about a campaign or the Indianapolis 500. According to Drew, the purpose of candid documentary is to engage the viewer's "senses as well as his mind." Over a career that spans more than 30 years, Drew has produced over 100 films and videotapes, most of which employ the theory and methods of verite technique; and unlike other practitioners of the form, he has also tried to procure a regular slot for verite on prime time network programming. -MBC

VIDEO:

PRIMARY (SCENE)

CRISIS: BEHIND A PRESIDENTIAL COMMITMENT (SCENE)

YANKI NO! (TRAILER)

ON THE ROAD WITH DUKE ELLINGTON (SCENE)

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

HEARTS OF DARKNESS

2008-09-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

(1991) Directors: Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, Eleanor Coppola

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Hearts of Darkness is an engrossing, unwavering look back at Francis Coppola's chaotic, catastrophe-plagued Vietnam production, Apocalypse Now. Filled with juicy gossip and a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at the stressful world of moviemaking, the documentary mixes on-location home movies shot in the Philippines by Eleanor Coppola, the director's wife, with revealing interviews with the cast and crew, shot 10 years later. Similar to Burden of Dreams, Les Blank's absorbing portrait of Werner Herzog's struggle to make Fitzcarraldo, the film chronicles Coppola's eventual decent into obsessive psychosis as everything that could go wrong does go wrong. Storms destroy sets, money evaporates, the Philippine government continually harasses the director, Coppola has romantic affairs, and he can't write the story's ending. Everything is captured on film. In the most disturbing scene, we watch Martin Sheen have a drunken nervous breakdown while his director goads him on (he eventually suffered a heart attack, but finished the film). Other incredible footage is not visual, but aural as the film includes tapes Eleanor Coppola recorded without Francis's knowledge. In them, he truly sounds like a madman as he confesses his fears about making a bomb of a movie. But while Hearts of Darkness is an amazing, voyeuristic experience, its importance lies in the personal reflections offered by those involved. Sheen, Coppola, and Dennis Hopper speak frankly without embarrassment, offering us an essential piece of film history. - Dave McCoy

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION

2008-09-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

(1981) Director: Penelope Spheeris

Not Available on DVD.

SUMMARY:

The performers, attitudes, and music of late '70s, early '80s Los Angeles punk scene are documented in this film by director Penelope Spheeris. Not merely a compilation of concert footage, The Decline of Western Civilization compiles numerous viewpoints on the meanings of the punk movement, from journalists -- one of whom calls punk the folk music of the 1980s -- to club security guards, to the punks themselves. The center of the film, however, is the music, which is fast, loud, and abrasive and often played with purposeful ineptitude; the lyrics are intentionally controversial and shocking, often seeming to embrace violence, sexism, racism, and even Nazism, though usually in an ironic manner. The performances, by bands such as Black Flag, X, The Circle Jerks, and Fear, are mostly shot from within the audience, where the camera often becomes an unwitting participant in the crowd's slam dancing. Especially fascinating are the performances by The Germs, thanks to the antics of their violently self-destructive lead singer Darby Crash, who would later die of a drug overdose and gain a martyr status within the punk community. The film was followed several years later by a sequel focusing on the world of heavy metal. - All Movie Guide

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

(Remainder can be found on YouTube HERE)

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Penelope Spheeris on the Henry Rollins Show
Penelope's World; Spheeris Returns With Third Punk Doc (Interview IndieWIRE)
No Future (Interview Filmmaker Magazine)
Some of Penelope Spheeris' other director credits include: Black Sheep (1996), The Little Rascals (1994), The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), Wayne's World (1992), Suburbia (1984) FULL FEATURE
There is no such thing as New Wave

NOTES:

Bands featured in the film: Black Flag, The Germs, X, Alice Bag Band, Circle Jerks, Catholic Discipline, Fear
Portions of the film are featured in the documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) directed by Alexandra Cassavetes
According to director Penelope Spheeris this film was financed by two businessmen who originally wanted to finance a porn film.
After the film was screened in Los Angeles, punk music fans got into so many fights and caused so much trouble that then-L.A. Police Chief Daryl Gates wrote the filmmakers a letter asking them not to screen the film again.
Other titles in the DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION series: The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years (1988) and The Decline of Western Civilization III (1998)
Official site

BEYOND THE MAT

2008-09-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

(1999) Director: Barry Blaustein

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

In a rare foray into documentary filmmaking, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment produced this behind-the-scenes look at professional wrestling, shot on digital video by director (Barry W. Blaustein), screenwriter of several hit Eddie Murphy comedies. An unabashed wrestling fan since childhood, Blaustein nevertheless takes an unflinching look at the dark underbelly of the "sport," as he shadows a trio of wrestlers representing three very different aspects of the profession. Mick Foley is a superstar shown to be the complete opposite of "Mankind," his successful wrestling character. At work, Mankind is a bloodthirsty animal, but when his mask is off, he's a loving, doting father clearly worshipped by his two young kids, who are traumatized when they witness Foley being bloodied at an Anaheim, California, event. Terry Funk is a portrait of what Foley could become, a former legend now at the end of his career and in desperate need of knee surgery, but continuing to perform dangerous stunts in the ring. Jake "The Snake" Roberts, on the other hand, travels in second-class wrestling circles, a recovering drug addict who has a painful reconciliation with his daughter. Blaustein also interviews the World Wrestling Federation's boastful bigwig Vince McMahon. McMahon later tried to block the release and promotion of the film. - Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

HOOP DREAMS

2008-09-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

(1994) Director: Steve James

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

This documentary follows two inner-city Chicago residents, Arthur Agee and William Gates, as they follow their dreams of becoming basketball superstars. Beginning at the start of their high school years, and ending almost 5 years later, as they start college, we watch the boys mature into men, still retaining their "Hoop Dreams". Both are recruited into the same elite high school as their idol, former Detroit Piston superstar Isaiah Thomas. Only one survives the first year; the other must return to a high school closer to his home. Along the way, there is much tragedy, some joy, a great wealth of information about inner city life, and the suspense of not knowing what will occur next.

"One of the best films...I have ever seen." - Roger Ebert

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Filmmaker bios
Frederick Marx official site
Arthur Agee official site
Arthur's Myspace page
Other films by Steve James: Stevie, Reel Paradise, At the Death House Door
Hoop Dreams music video

THE EMPORER'S NAKED ARMY MARCHES ON

2008-08-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

(1987) Director: Kazuo Hara

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On is a brilliant exploration of memory and war guilt, a subject often ignored in modern Japan. In this controversial documentary, Kazuo Hara follows Kenzo Okuzaki in his real-life struggle against Emperor Hirohito. He proudly declares that he shot BBs at the Royal Palace, distributed pornographic images of the Emperor, and once killed a man for the sake of his strange crusade. As the film progresses, Okuzaki reveals a gruesome mystery: why were some Japanese officers killing their own soldiers during WWII? What happened to their bodies? Okuzaki begs, cajoles, and occasionally beats the story out of elderly veterans. When these old men do break down and talk, their testimonies are some of the most chilling, riveting descriptions of wartime desperation ever committed to film. In his desire to unearth these horrors, Okuzaki's behavior grows increasingly extreme and bizarre. By the film's end, Hara seems to ask whether the terrible nature of this buried incident is worth the violence of Okuzaki's methods. - Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE (NO SUBTITLES)

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Kenzo Okuzaki passed away in 2005, almost 20 years after the making of the film.
Kenzo Okuzaki also ran for public office in 1983 during the filming. His official campaign video is on Youtube here. (lovehkfilm.com)
“I like to make dramatic movies. I feel strongly about this, more than other directors. I love Hollywood action films, and I wanted Okuzaki to act like an action star. I want to make action documentary films.” - Kazuo Hara
“From my viewpoint, a documentary should explore things that people don’t want explored, bring things out of the closet, to examine why people want to hide certain things.”
“My outlaw complex is very strong. I don’t feel that I’m in the middle of society. I am in the lower part. Those people on the bottom disdain those people in the mainstream. A movie director from the ‘bottom’ does not make movies that portray mainstream society nicely. I make bitter films.”
The film started out as something quite different: a broad portrait of the war generation. It was “only after the filming of ex-Sergeant Takami Minoru [scene 11, about a half-hour into the film, which confirms that the garrison leader Koshimizu shot one of his own men] did Hara narrow his focus to the murder of Japanese soldiers by their superior officers during the New Guinea campaign.”
R & R: “Okuzaki was as overbearing a star as any filmmaker could find. The director recalled that his outlandish subject was always fighting with the crew: “Some of the younger staff members quit. I, too, really came to dislike Okuzaki. He was chaotic. In the film he sounds logical only because of skillful editing. The way he speaks is often incoherent.” At numerous points during the shooting, the erratic veteran withdrew from the project. In one case, he threatened to burn all the accumulated footage in Tokyo.” [...]
“Shortly after the filmed encounter with ex-medic Hamaguchi Masaichi, Okuzaki disclosed his intention to murder one of his former officers, hoping to convince the director to record the homicide. “I want to kill Koshimizu and I would like you to film it”, the veteran told Hara. “No movie has such a scene in it. Having you film such a scene would be my greatest present to you.” Hara discussed the issue at great length with his lawyer, his producer and other directors. The filmmaker recalled: “This was a very delicate problem. I had to decide if I should film it or not. I still have not made up my mind. One reason that I didn’t film it is that I had become really sick of Okuzaki. I might have filmed it. Human beings have dark sides, and people want to see something frightening. People want to see the evil side of people. A little bit of me says I would like to see it. I went to speak with Imamura. His opinion was really different. He told me not to do it.”” (filmofthemonthclub.blogspot.com)

THE WAR ROOM

2008-08-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

(1993) Director: Chris Hegedus , D.A. Pennebaker

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

A look inside the 1992 presidential race, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hedgus' documentary The War Room explores the backstage side of national politics by examining the day-to-day operations of Bill Clinton's campaign staff. The behind-the-scenes leader of the group is James Carville, the demonstrative, charismatic campaign manager who relies on a plain-speaking manner and emotional appeals to motivate his subordinates. He is complemented by the quieter, smoother personality and photogenic looks of young press spokesman George Stephanopoulous. The filmmakers follow these two contrasting personalities from the January New Hampshire primary to Clinton's eventual victory, as they attempt to cling to an overall strategic plan while dealing with unforeseen problems and negative press, as their candidate is saddled with accusations of adultery and draft-dodging. Subplots include the rivalries between Democratic campaign staffs -- which can become amusingly petty, as when they accuse each other of tearing down campaign posters -- and the romantic relationship between Carville and Mary Matalin, chief strategist for George Bush's campaign. Co-director D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, Don't Look Back, Primary) is renowned as an innovator in the use of cinema-verite, used here to show both the mundane complications and the emotional highlights of the modern political process. - Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6
PART 7
PART 8
PART 9
PART 10

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

DA Pennebaker's first film Daybreak Express
Pennebaker started his career working for Drew Associates headed by Robert Drew. Others working for Drew at the time included Richard Leacock and Albert Maysles.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary.
Pennebaker Hegedus Films official site

EAT THE DOCUMENT

2008-08-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

(1972) Director: Bob Dylan

Not Available on DVD. Post a comment for info on how to see the film.

SUMMARY:

Eat the Document is a rarely exhibited documentary of Bob Dylan's 1966 tour of the United Kingdom with the Hawks (later The Band). It was shot under Dylan's direction by D. A. Pennebaker, whose groundbreaking documentary Dont Look Back chronicled Dylan's 1965 British tour. The film was originally commissioned for the ABC television series Stage '66. According to Howard Sounes's biography, "Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan", after his motorbike accident in July 1966, Dylan viewed a cut of the material edited by Pennebaker and Bob Neuwirth and thought it was too similar to Dont Look Back. Dylan decided to re-edit the film himself, assisted by longtime associate Howard Alk. Dylan however, was no film maker. Pennebaker stated: "It's not something you learn parking cars in a garage. You gotta know some of the rules and he didn't know any of the rules." Dylan and Alk hacked up the footage to produce a rough cut. Their cut was eventually shown to ABC television, who promptly rejected it as incomprehensible to a mainstream audience.
The film has its moments, including some powerful live performances of Dylan's songs of the period. It was never given a theatrical release or made commercially available on video, but unauthorized bootleg copies circulate among Dylan collectors. Also circulating in various bootleg formats is a long outtake featuring a possibly alcohol- or drug-impaired Dylan in a limousine with John Lennon. As Dylan shows signs of fatigue, Lennon urges him to get a grip on himself: "Do you suffer from sore eyes, groovy forehead, or curly hair? Take Zimdon!...Come come, boy, it's only a film. Pull yourself together." Todd Haynes's film I'm Not There features a dramatization of this conversation, with Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan.
Highlights of the film include an interview with the Manchester Free Trade Hall concert-goer who shouted "Judas!" during the second, electric half of the set; the performances with the Hawks; the scenes of Dylan and Robertson in hotel rooms throughout England playing otherwise-unreleased songs; and a piano duet with Johnny Cash. Some of the concert footage shot for Eat the Document - including the "Judas" incident in Manchester's Free Trade Hall - was used in Martin Scorsese's Dylan documentary, No Direction Home. - Wikipedia

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

...after the tour concluded, Pennebaker said, Dylan's management found itself with no movie and facing an ABC deadline. So at management's request, Pennebaker edited his footage into a 45-50 minute "rough sketch" called "You Know Something Is Happening." (The title comes from a phrase in a Dylan song.) "It would be like a continuation of 'Don't Look Back'," Pennebaker said. "'Don't Look Back 2' - what happened when the electricity was turned on." But Dylan didn't like it and, with Alk, used different tour footage to construct his own anti-documentary called "Eat the Document." ABC rejected it, and both movies have been more or less forgotten. - IndieWire
Robbie Robertson of The Band contributed to the edit of the film along with Bob Dylan and Howard Alk.

DEMON LOVER DIARY

2008-08-25T13:30:00.001-07:00

(1980) Director: Joel DeMott

Not Available on DVD. Post a comment for info on how to see the film.

SUMMARY:

"In the fall of 1975, cameraman Jeff Kreines was hired to shoot a low-budget horror movie called Demon Lover for Don Jackson and Jerry Younkins, two amateur aspiring directors from Michigan who grew up on comic books and slasher flicks. Joel DeMott joined Kreines for the trip, and with her own camera set out to document this haphazard foray into B-movie film-making. The result is a simultaneously disturbing and fascinating behind-the-scenes record, entitled Demon Lover Diary. At times scarier and frequently funnier than the film being created, DeMott and Kreines’s documentary provides unflinching insight into the chaotic and occasionally violent behavior that transpired on location." - LA Film Forum

VIDEO: SCENE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

THE CRUISE

2008-08-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

(1998) Director: Bennett Miller

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

A double-deck bus tour guide with the heart of an urban poet, Timothy "Speed" Levitch doles out a fascinating overview of New York City history that's nearly impossible to forget -- due mostly to his passionate asides about life, love and the pursuit of "the cruise." Denouncing the rigidity of New York's grid plan through a rambling story about a woman in "sexual slacks," Levitch reveals as much about himself as he does about the city he loves. - Netflix

VIDEO: TRAILER

visit videodetective.com for more info

VARIOUS SCENES:
Grid Plan
The Empire State Building
Divorce
Civilization
World Trade Center

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Director Bennett Miller also directed Capote
Tim Levitch in Waking Life
Speed Levitch's official site

PINK FLOYD LIVE AT POMPEII

2008-08-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

(1972) Director: Adrian Maben

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

More Than a Movie! An Explosive Cinema Concert!

Conceived by the French director Adrian Maben as "an anti-Woodstock film," Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii was shot in October 1971 in the ancient city's vacant, 2,000-year-old amphitheatre--a venue chosen to accentuate the grandeur and spaciousness of the band's Meddle-era music.

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE (CONCERT ONLY VERSION)

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Interview with director Adrian Maben

NOTES:

The performances of "Echoes", "A Saucerful of Secrets", and "One of These Days" were filmed from October 4, 1971 to October 7, 1971. The remaining songs were filmed in a Paris studio, along with additional front projection footage for insertion into the Pompeii performances. The sequences in Paris were filmed in late 1971/early 1972, and can be distinguished by the absence of Rick Wright's beard. This version was released in theaters in September 1972 and is also included on the DVD edition as an extra feature. In August of 1974, another version was released combining the original film with supposed recording sessions of The Dark Side of the Moon at Abbey Road Studios. These sessions were actually staged for the film, as the recording of the album had been completed when these sessions were filmed in January of 1973 and the band was mixing the album at the time.
The original release, running for one hour, only featured the live footage. A second version had additional footage of the band as they recorded or pretended to record their album The Dark Side of the Moon, as well as interviews conducted off-camera by Maben. This version ran for 80 minutes. The Director's Cut is a 2003 DVD re-release running 92 minutes. In addition to the concert and interview footage, it includes computer-generated images of outer space and of Pompeii as well as then-recent footage of Abbey road and the Apollo missions. The original "full screen" image has been chopped up in this version and is presented in "fake widescreen", although the original cut is presented on the DVD as an "added bonus". (NOTE: Highly recommend seeking out the 80 minute version)

ERROL MORRIS' FIRST PERSON

2008-08-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

(2000) Director: Errol Morris

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Hailed by Roger Ebert as "one of America's strangest and most brilliant documentary filmmakers" Errol Morris brings his unrivaled talents to the small screen for a stylized series of intimate interviews with a unique and fascinating array of people. With the aid of his "Interrotron" an innovative camera device Morris invented to maintain merciless eye contact with his subjects the Oscar winning director puts his odd assortment of eclectic characters and atypical topics under the microscope to produce "revelatory whip-smart television" (Baltimore City Paper).

VIDEO: Episode 'One hell of a tale'

Other episodes:
One in a Million Trillion
Mr. Debt

Errol Morris' aborted projects:
Donald Trump discusses Citizen Kane
The True Strangeness of the Universe

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

AMERICAN PIMP

2008-08-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

(1999) Director: Albert Hughes , Allen Hughes

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Albert and Allen Hughes, the writing and directing team of Menace II Society and Dead Presidents, turn their documentary eye to the world of street pimps in this 1999 Sundance Film Festival Documentary Competition entry. The black urban pimps interviewed here open up to reveal their world and their secrets to the camera in a film that is not about sex, but about power. We meet pimps named Filmore Slim, C-Note, K-Red, Gorgeous Dre, and Rosebudd as they discuss their business, including percentages, lifestyles, stealing "ho's," and the Player's Ball. These men exude charm and charisma, and boast rock-star status in their communities, with expensive clothes, cars, and bankrolls. The film works as an allegory to the film and music industries, where people are lured with glamor and money, only to be used as commodity and tossed out once they have passed their prime. The film also traces the history of the street pimp from the '20s to the present, with particular emphasis on the '70s pimp, whose lifestyle was exposed in the blaxploitation films of the '70s. - Chris Gore, All Movie Guide

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

"A brilliant, alarmingly honest portrait" - Vanity Fair
"Outrageously entertaining" - Entertainment Weekly
"Essential viewing" - Hollywood Reporter
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Albert & Allen Hughes interviewed by Gerald Perry about AMERICAN PIMP
Other Hughes brothers films include Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, and From Hell

NOTES:
Voicemail from The Bishop Don Magic Juan
The AMERICAN PIMP Drinking Game
Quotes from AMERICAN PIMP
"Gorgeous Dre" (From Pimp to Life Coach)

LES BLANK'S LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS DOCUMENTARIES

2008-08-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

(1969) Director: Les Blank

DVD

SUMMARY:

The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins
The great Texas bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins is captured brilliantly in this deeply moving film. Blank reveals Lightnin's inspiration, and features a generous helping of classic blues. Includes performances at an outdoor barbeque and a black rodeo; and a visit to his boyhood town of Centerville, Texas. This powerful portrait is among Blank's special masterworks.

The Sun's Gonna Shine
A lyrical recreation of Lightnin' Hopkins' decision at age eight to stop chopping cotton and start singing for a living.

VIDEO:
The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (TRAILER)

The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1968)

The Sun's Gonna Shine (COMPLETE 10MIN FILM)

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

FISHING WITH JOHN

2008-08-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

(1991) Director: John Lurie

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Fishing with John is a 1991 cult TV series directed by and starring actor and musician John Lurie. On the surface, the series resembles a standard travel or fishing show: In each episode, Lurie takes a famous guest on a fishing expedition. Since Lurie has no expert knowledge of fishing, the interest is in the conversations between Lurie and the guests, all of whom are friends of Lurie. Nothing particularly unusual actually happens, but the show is edited and narrated in a way to suggest that Lurie and his guest are involved in dramatic and even supernatural adventures. The deadpan, laconic style of the show is heavily influenced by the films of director Jim Jarmusch, who appears as the guest in the first episode.
Besides Jarmusch, the guests featured are actor Matt Dillon, musician Tom Waits, actor Willem Dafoe and actor-director Dennis Hopper. The series ran for 6 episodes, each featuring a different guest and locale, except for episodes 5 and 6 which both feature Hopper in Thailand. Each episode has voice-over narration by Robb Webb, which is sometimes bizarre and off-topic. The soundtrack is by Lurie.

VIDEO: EPISODE 1 WITH JIM JARMUSCH

OTHER EPISODES:
Tom Waits
Willem Dafoe
Matt Dillon
Dennis Hopper 1
Dennis Hopper 2

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Director John Lurie has lead the legendary jazz group the Lounge Lizards for twenty years and starred in the Jim Jarmusch films Stranger Than Paradise and Down By Law.
Scenes from the episode with Jim Jarmusch were used in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode, Hooky.

ON THE ROAD WITH CHARLES KURALT

2008-08-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

VHS

SUMMARY:

Charles Kuralt is best known for his critically acclaimed series of "On The Road" television "essays" on America and for his fifteen year tenure as host of the equally acclaimed CBS Sunday Morning series on CBS television. Through a CBS network career spanning thirty-seven years, this award winning journalist and author has brought the life and vitality of back roads America to an eager audience while providing a television home for the arts, the environment and the offbeat.

Anything from unusual hobbyists to unusual families to the simple pleasures of unknown places was considered worthy of Kuralt's attention, and part of "On the Road"'s appeal may also have been that Kuralt was never known to have set a specific itinerary for himself. No matter whatever else he did for CBS — hosting CBS News Sunday Morning program from 1979 to 1994, contributing to other CBS News projects — "On the Road" became Kuralt's legacy. His features often captured the beauty of the American countryside, sometimes using images and sounds with no voice-overs to effectively capture the scene.

VIDEO: Tom Sawyer Days In Hannibal (From On The Road series)

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Charles Kuralt on Charlie Rose July 7, 1997 (VIDEO Interview)
Charles Kuralt on Charlie Rose September 6, 1993 (VIDEO Interview)
CNN, "Charles Kuralt, CBS's Poet of Small-Town America, Dies at 62 (CNN obituary)

NOTES:

OLYMPIA

2008-08-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

(1938) Director: Leni Riefenstahl

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

(Olympia) was the first documentary film on the Olympic Games ever made. Many advanced motion picture techniques, which later became industry standards but which were groundbreaking at the time, were employed, including unusual camera angles, smash-cut editing techniques, extreme close-ups, setting the railway tracks on the stadium to shoot the crowd and the like. The techniques employed are almost universally admired, but the film is controversial due to its political content. Nevertheless, the film appears on many lists of the greatest films of all-time, including Time Magazine's "All-Time 100 Movies."

Produced at the behest of the International Olympics Committee (IOC), Leni Riefenstahl's film of the 11th Olympic Games which took place in Berlin from August 1st to August 16th, 1936, has won numerous awards and is widely considered by film critics to be the greatest sports documentary ever made, also often included in critics' lists of the top 100 films (of any genre) of the 20th century. Although usually referred to alongside Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will) as a "Nazi propaganda" film made for Hitler, it was in fact commissioned by the International Olympics Committee, and with its multi-national themes and its celebrations of the athletic successes of peoples from all nations and all races, it could easily be argued that this is, indeed, perhaps the greatest anti-Nazi propaganda film ever made.

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

TOKYO OLYMPIAD

2008-08-07T23:47:00.000-07:00

(1965) Director: Kon Ichikawa

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Tokyo Olympiad is a 1965 documentary film directed by Kon Ichikawa which documents the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Like Leni Riefenstahl's 'Olympia', which documented the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Ichikawa's film was considered a milestone in documentary filmmaking. However, Tokyo Olympiad keeps its focus more on the atmosphere of the games and the human side of the athletes instead of concentrating only on the winners and the results.

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

Remainder of film can be found on youtube

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

THE STAIRCASE

2008-08-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

(2004) Director: Jean-Xavier de Lestrade

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

A critical triumph across the board, Sundance Channel presents THE STAIRCASE, an edge-of-your-seat, real-life thriller from Academy Award®-winning documentary filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade ("Murder on a Sunday Morning"). With all the trappings of a classic murder mystery, THE STAIRCASE chronicles the sensational story of North Carolina author Michael Peterson, who stood trial in 2003 for the murder of his wife, Kathleen Peterson. Granted unusual access to Peterson's lawyers and his immediate family, de Lestrade presents a gripping, inside look at the high-profile murder trial in this acclaimed 8-part series that will leave you gasping for breath.

VIDEO: 5 MINUTE PREVIEWS OF EACH EPISODE

The Staircase - Chapter 1 | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Jean-Xavier de Lestrade also directed the academy award winning Murder on a Sunday Morning
Mike Nifong, the DA involved in the Duke Lacrosse case, appears as an assistant DA in this documentary.

THELONIOUS MONK: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

2008-08-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

(1988) Director: Charlotte Zwerin

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Roger Ebert review

NOTES:

Excerpts from New York Times article about director Charlotte Zwerin:

Ms. Zwerin worked for many years with David and Albert Maysles, early practitioners of the documentary genre known as cinéma vérité, which uses a small camera to capture the drama of daily experience. Her editing for them was of such quality that they gave her credit as the third director of well-known films like ''Gimme Shelter'' (1970), an account of the Rolling Stones' 1969 tour of the United States.

It was her decision to include the band members' reactions to the killing of a fan on the stage of a concert at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif., the site of the tour's last concert.

''The real hero of the making of the film was Charlotte Zwerin, who edited it and got a directing credit,'' Stephen Lighthill, a cameraman, said in an interview with Salon.com. ''I was stunned with what she got out of my footage. She compressed it and gave you a sense of a buildup of tragedy that you otherwise wouldn't have.''

Other films she did with the Maysleses included ''Salesman'' (1969), an account of four real-life sales representatives of the American Bible Company, and ''Running Fence'' (1978), a chronicle of the successful efforts of the artist Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, to erect a 24-mile fabric fence in the California hills.

Her own films included ''Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser'' (1989), which contained rarely seen clips of the brilliant and eccentric jazz pianist; ''Arshile Gorky'' (1982), a profile of the abstract painter; ''Sculpture of Spaces: Noguchi'' (1995); ''American Masters -- Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For'' (1999), a biography narrated by Tony Bennett; and ''Toru Takemitsu: Music for the Movies'' (1994), an examination of the Japanese composer. The Museum of Modern Art had a retrospective of her works last year.

....

She attended Wayne State University, where she established a film society before moving to New York and finding work as a librarian at CBS for its documentary series ''The 20th Century.'' She slowly worked her way up to editor, then joined Drew Associates, where Robert Drew was pioneering ''direct cinema,'' as cinéma vérité was also called. She met the Maysleses at Drew.

She told The Times she stopped working with the Maysleses because they would not let her produce. ''They cast an awful long shadow, and it came time for me to get out of it,'' she said.

On her own films she became known for a personal signature characterized by innovative editing. Leonard Feather, a critic for The Los Angeles Times, said that her film on Monk provided ''a closer glance behind the veil of this half-hidden, exotically gifted figure than could ever be observed during his sadly aborted career.''

"GET REAL" Charlotte Zwerin's Documentary Directions, by Lawrence Loewinger The Independent, July 1990 (Article detailing the history of the Cinema Verite movement and Charlotte Zwerin's involvement)

Benicio Del Toro's delivery of the line "He'll flip ya'. Flip ya' for real" from The Usual Suspects is taken directly from a scene in STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

MAKING THE SHINING

2008-08-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

(1980) Director: Vivian Kubrick

DVD
Netflix

SUMMARY:

Stanley Kubrick allowed his then-17-year-old daughter, Vivian, to make a documentary about the production of The Shining. Created originally for the BBC television show Arena, this documentary offers rare insight into the shooting process of a Kubrick film.

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

Film with Director commentary

Other documentaries about Stanley Kubrick:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Review from kamera.co.uk Film Salon

NOTES:

Vivian Kubrick wrote the score to Full Metal Jacket using the pseudonym, Abigail Mead. Abigail Mead was based on the name of the house where the Kubricks lived between 1965 to 1979, Abbott's Mead, located near to MGM's Borehamwood studio.

HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT

2008-07-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

(1986) Director: Jeff Krulik, John Heyn

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Shot in 1986 in the parking lot of a Maryland arena before a Judas Priest concert, this cult classic captures some of the most devoted metalhead fans in all their unbridled, mulleted splendor. In addition to its quotable musings on the rock 'n' roll lifestyle's allure, the profanity-peppered film also serves as a time capsule of bad 1980s fashion, complete with acid-washed jeans, Spandex, teased-out perms and badass muscle cars.

VIDEO: VARIOUS CLIPS

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Official site
Interview with director Jeff Krulik
Interview with director John Heyn

NOTES:

In 2004, Trio aired the TV series Parking Lot, which expanded on the 1986 documentary. Created & co-produced by the original filmmakers, John Heyn & Jeff Krulik, eight episodes were broadcast before Trio TV went off the air in 2006. Parking Lot webisodes are available HERE.

HARLAN COUNTY USA

2008-07-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

(1976) Director: Barbara Kopple

NETFLIX
DVD

SUMMARY:

This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA.

VIDEO: TRAILER

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Roger Ebert review
AV Club review
Video interview with director Barbara Kopple

NOTES:

Other Barbara Kopple credits: American Dream (Director), Shut Up & Sing (Director), Winter Soldier (Producer), Gimme Shelter (Production Assistant)
When filming began, the film was intended to be about the 1972 campaign by Arnold Miller and Miners For Democracy to unseat UMWA president Tony Boyle, in the aftermath of Joseph Yablonski's murder; but the Harlan County strike began and caused the filmmakers to change their principal subject, with the campaign and murder becoming secondary subjects. (From Rogerebert.com)
1977 winner Best Documentary Academy Award
It contains a famous scene where guns are fired at the strikers in the darkness before dawn, and Kopple and her cameraman are knocked down and beaten. "I found out later that they planned to kill us that day," Kopple said later, in a discussion I chaired at the Filmmakers' Lodge. "They wanted to knock us out because they didn't want a record of what was happening." But her cinematographer, Hart Perry, got an unforgettable shot of an armed company employee driving past in his pickup, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. (From Rogerebert.com)
"I accept any and all kinds of documentaries," she said. " 'Harlan County' came out of the tradition of Albert Maysles and Leacock and Pennebaker, documentarians who went somewhere and stayed there and watched and listened and made a record of what happened. That is one approach. There are others, just as valid. All that matters is making a good film." (From Rogerebert.com)

IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS

2008-07-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

(2006) Director: James Longley

DVD
NETFLIX

SUMMARY:

Iraq in Fragments illuminates post-war Iraq in three acts, building a picture of a country pulled in different directions by religion and ethnicity. Filmed in verité style with no scripted narration, the film explores the lives of ordinary Iraqis to illustrate and give background to larger trends in Iraqi society.

VIDEO: FULL FEATURE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

A.O. Scott New York Times review
Noel Murray A.V. Club review
Video interview with director James Longley

NOTES:

NIMROD NATION

2008-07-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

(2007) Directors:
Matthew Akers, Benjamin Wolf, Jeff Fisher, Erica Forstadt, Todd Lubin, Brett Morgen, Christo Garcia

DVD
Netflix

SUMMARY:

A documentary about the Watersmeet high school basketball team--and the people who intensely support it...

“Nimrod Nation” loosely follows the fortunes of the Watersmeet boys’ basketball team through the 2005-2006 season. Along the way it paints an unvarnished portrait of everyday life in a rugged northwoods town, the good, the bad, the indifferent.

VIDEO:

Episode 1 preview
Episode 2 preview
Episode 3 preview
Episode 4 preview
Episode 5 preview
Episode 6 preview
Episode 7 preview
Episode 8 preview

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Interview with director Brett Morgen at filmstew.com
Other films by Brett Morgen:

On the Ropes (TRAILER)

The Kid Stays in the Picture (FULL FEATURE)

Chicago 10 (TRAILER)

NOTES:

Nimrod Nation was spun out of some ESPN commercials that aired during Super Bowl week, 2003. The idea behind that ad campaign was to underscore how much athletic competition means in American life.
Freelance producer Brett Morgen looked for high schools with unusual mascot names, and, not surprisingly, seized on the Nimrods. “Without sports,” the ads asked, “who would cheer for the Nimrods?”
Rooted in the Book of Genesis, the figure Nimrod is a mighty hunter. More recent colloquial use has, of course, twisted the name to mean bumbling idiot. These days the term has produced plenty of attention for Watersmeet Township School. After the commercials aired, team members and Coach George Peterson appeared on CBS’ Early Show, then The Tonight Show.
Since 2004, more than $550,000 worth of Nimrod apparel has been sold--not bad for a K-12 program with 79 high school students. And those sales were racked up without even trying--enterprising customers tracked down Watersmeet Schools through the web.

MUSTANG: THE HOUSE THAT JOE BUILT

2008-07-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

(1978) Director: Robert Guralnick

Not Available on DVD. Post a comment for info on how to see the film.

SUMMARY:

The inside story of America's first and biggest legal brothel!

The State of Nevada in the U.S. permitted legal prostitution beginning in 1970. This '76 documentary explores the lifestyle of the denizens of the largest brothel in that state, the Mustang Bridge Ranch, founded by the colorful entrepreneur Joe Conforte. Off-duty girls talk about all but their kinkiest customers in a revealing way and discuss their own backgrounds. Several clients also discuss the ranch. Mr. Conforte (who okayed the film) is shown living extravagantly and happily on the proceeds of their labors.

VIDEO:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Review from Shock Cinema magazine

NOTES:

The original 'Cathouse'
Nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Documentary
Music composed by Carmine Coppola
History of the Mustang Ranch

ROLLING STONES DOCUMENTARIES

2008-07-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

SUMMARY:

THE ROLLING STONES ROCK AND ROLL CIRCUS is a film released in 1996 of a December 11, 1968 event put together by The Rolling Stones. The event comprised two concerts on a circus stage, and included acts such as Eric Clapton, The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and Jethro Tull. John Lennon and his fiancee Yoko Ono performed as part of a supergroup called The Dirty Mac, along with Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, and Keith Richards. It was originally meant to be aired on the BBC, but the Rolling Stones withheld its airing and release. MORE

FULL FEATURE

COCKSUCKER BLUES is an unreleased documentary film directed by Robert Frank chronicling The Rolling Stones' North American tour in 1972 in support of their album Exile on Main Street. MORE

FULL FEATURE
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
PART 5
PART 6

SHINE A LIGHT is a 2008 film directed by Martin Scorsese documenting two 2006 performances that took place during rock and roll band The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang tour. It also includes archive footage from the band's career. The film takes its title from the song of the same name, featured on the band's 1972 album Exile on Main St. MORE

FULL FEATURE

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL is the title of a producer's edit of a 1968 film by Jean-Luc Godard whose own original version is called One Plus One. The film, a depiction of the late 1960s American counterculture, also featured the Rolling Stones in the process of recording the song in the studio. On the filming, Jagger said in Rolling Stone: "... [it was] very fortuitous, because Godard wanted to do a film of us in the studio. I mean, it would never happen now, to get someone as interesting as Godard. And stuffy. We just happened to be recording that song. We could have been recording 'My Obsession.' But it was 'Sympathy for the Devil,' and it became the track that we used." MORE

FULL FEATURE

GIMME SHELTER is a 1970 documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, chronicling the Rolling Stones' 1969 US tour, which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert. The film is named after "Gimme Shelter", the lead track from the Rolling Stones' 1969 album Let It Bleed. MORE

FULL FEATURE

THE DEVIL AT YOUR HEELS

2008-07-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

(1981) Director: Robert Fortier

DVD

SUMMARY:

Devil at Your Heels, traces the trials of stuntman Ken Carter who attempts a death defying aerial jump in a car. Not content with a normal jump, Ken Carter attempts a jump from Canada to the USA.

VIDEO:

Opening

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Ken Carter quotes:

"I'm looking for the ultimate statement: 'Ken Carter, World's Greatest Daredevil.'
"I still believe Evel Knievel is the second best daredevil in the world.'

AMERICAN BOY: A PROFILE OF STEVEN PRINCE

2008-07-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

(1978) Director: Martin Scorsese

Not Available on DVD. Post a comment for info on how to see the film.

SUMMARY:

In the home of actor George Memmoli, Steven Prince (best known for his small role as Easy Andy, the gun salesman in 'Taxi Driver') discusses his past before an audience including Martin Scorsese, Memmoli and several of their friends. Prince is a raconteur telling wild stories about his life as an ex-drug addict and road manager for Neil Diamond. Scorsese intersperses home movies of Prince as a child as he talks about his family.

VIDEO:

Full Feature

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

'It's Not Just You, Marty - Scorsese and meatballs: Classic '70s docs illuminate the director's persona and themes' Village Voice article

NOTES:

When talking of his years as a heroin addict, Prince tells a story about injecting adrenaline into the heart of a woman who overdosed, with the help of a medical dictionary and a Magic Marker. This story was re-enacted by Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction.
Photographed by Michael Chapman whos credits with Martin Scorsese include 'Taxi Driver', 'The Last Waltz' and 'Raging Bull'
Steven Prince also appears in Richard Linklater 's 'Waking Life'
The film was shot over the course of one night at the home of George Memmoli. Due to injuries sustained in an accident during the production of the movie 'The Farmer', Memmoli had to decline the part of the disturbed passenger in 'Taxi Driver' that was ultimately played by the film's director Martin Scorsese.
Neil Young - Time Fades Away (Featured in film)

WERNER HERZOG DOCUMENTARIES 1968 - 1984

2008-07-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

Director: Werner Herzog

DVD

SUMMARY:

One of the greatest and most original of documentary filmmakers - a celluloid conquistador with an extreme and tragic sense of life. - Village Voice

Werner Herzog is a cinematic hero, a true documentary cinema artist and one of the planet's most important post-war European filmmakers. - IDFA

VIDEO:

Other films from this period (No video)

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

IDFA Masterclass with Werner Herzog (VIDEO interview 2 hours)

NOTES:

LONG GONE

2008-07-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

(2003) Directors: Jack Cahill , David Eberhardt

Not Available on DVD. Post a comment for info on how to see the film.

SUMMARY:

David Eberhardt and Jack Cahill spent seven years riding the rails, asking for spare change and swapping stories around campfires with train hoppers. Their labors are repaid with a mesmerizing documentary full of touching characters and beautiful landscapes.

Dog Man Tony is known for his unwavering honesty and fierce temper. New York Slim speaks in great parables. Joshua Long Gone and Horizontal John are a gray-bearded Huck and Tom. As these real-life characters and many others make their way to nowhere in particular, breathtaking cinematography (which earned top honors at the 2003 Slamdance Film Festival) captures a perspective of the United States -- spectacular sunsets over rocky peaks, vibrant green plains, desolate cityscapes -- that could only be seen from a rail car and sets it to haunting original songs by Tom Waits.

The promise of freedom is as romantic as a Beat Generation travelogue, but real life for the train hoppers is far from ideal. They have run-ins with family members and police; they pick food from trash cans; and way too may are alcoholics and addicts. Yet they know they've been discarded by mainstream society, which makes their bond to one another that much stronger. Many are also former military men, and that experience is born out in the stories, rituals, and honor among them as their paths cross beside the tracks.

Long Gone poignantly captures a marginalized homeless group for which misconceptions have far too often prevailed and shows that the yearning for community doesn't change much from person to person, even if the definition of community does. -Sean Fowler for the Tribeca Film Festival

VIDEO:

A scene from LONG GONE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

NPR audio interview with directors Jack Cahill and David Eberhardt

UP SERIES

2008-06-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

(1964-Now) Director: Michael Apted

DVD
Netflix

SUMMARY:

The Up Series consists of a series of documentary films that have followed the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old. The children were selected to represent the range of socio-economic backgrounds in Britain at that time, with the explicit assumption that each child's social class predetermines their future. Every seven years, the director, Michael Apted, films new material from as many of the fourteen as he can get to participate. The latest film, 49 Up, was released in September 2005; filming for the next instalment in the series, 56 Up, is expected in late 2011 or early 2012.

VIDEO:

Segment from 49 UP

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

The first film in the series, Seven Up!, was directed by Paul Almond, and commissioned by Granada Television as a programme in the World in Action series broadcast in 1964. At the time there was no plan for them to return in seven years time; the second film was made almost as an afterthought, but the pattern of the series was established. From 7 plus Seven onwards the films have been directed by Michael Apted, who had been a researcher on Seven Up! and chose the original children with Gordon McDougall. The premise of the film was taken from the Jesuit motto "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man," which is based on a quote by Francis Xavier.
The series has received extraordinary praise over the years, the epitome of which may be Roger Ebert's comment that it is "an inspired, almost noble use, of the film medium." Ebert rates it in his top ten films of all time.
In 2007 the series was parodied in The Simpsons episode "Springfield Up".

EXHAUSTED: JOHN C. HOLMES, THE REAL STORY

2008-06-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

(1981) Director: Julia St. Vincent

SUMMARY:

...Over 14,000 women knew him intimately!

VIDEO:

Edited version of full feature

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Review from IGN.com

NOTES:

EXHAUSTED was used as reference material for the film 'Boogie Nights'.
The movie in its day was the most publicized adult film to hit the screen since 'Deep Throat'.
Portions of EXHAUSTED are featured in the documentary 'Wadd: The Life And Times Of John C. Holmes'

ITALIANAMERICAN

2008-06-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

(1974) Director: Martin Scorsese

Available on DVD

SUMMARY:

In this warm, funny, and illuminating documentary, filmmaker Martin Scorsese interviews his parents, Catherine and Charles Scorsese, in their modest apartment in New York's Little Italy. The casual and relaxed atmosphere of the film makes viewers feel as if they are eavesdropping on an intimate family evening. Catherine prepares tomato sauce and meatballs while explaining how she learned to cook from her mother and mother-in-law as a young woman. After looking at vacation photos while sitting on the plastic-slip-covered living-room sofa, the family shares dinner together. Much is revealed as son Marty gently guides the conversation with questions revolving around what life was once like for Catherine and Charles and their parents, and contemporary street scenes, archive shots, and family photos are interspersed among the responses. What emerges is a vivid personal view of history, a slice of life as it was lived during the first half of the 20th century in New York and in Italy. The film also indirectly sheds some light on the environment and the influences that shaped the creative vision of Martin Scorsese, a passionate, intense, and original filmmaker. The film's end credits include the recipe for Catherine Scorsese's tomato sauce.

VIDEO:

First 10 minutes of ITALIANAMERICAN

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Interview with Jim Jarmusch:

Jim Jarmusch: I really love your first documentary, ITALIAN-AMERICAN. How did that project come about?
Martin Scorsese: The film was made as part of a series on different ethnic groups in New York as part of the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. I was assigned to do a film on the Italian-American experience, but I told the producers that I did not want to make the standard historical film, using film clips and narration. So, I just decided to have dinner with my mother and father in their tenement apartment in Little Italy. The film was shot over two weekends, and was really just a response to a series of questions that I posed to my parents. Their on-screen bickering was not planned, but was certainly realistic. I think the film showed off my parents deep love for each other, in spite of all the arguing.
Jarmusch: How did your experience on this documentary effect your later narrative work?
Scorsese: Well, it was very free form and just concentrated on the faces, speech and movement of the two main characters, my parents. This informed my later films RAGING BULL and GOODFELLAS, where so much is expressed in the way characters look and talk at one another. I also realized while making ITALIAN AMERICAN my deep interest in the films of Elia Kazan, particularly EAST OF EDEN and ON THE WATERFRONT, which are stories of the inability of family members to communicate their true feelings to one another. This theme has come up many times in almost all of my films.

NOTES:

Scorsese about ITALIANAMERICAN: “the best film I ever made; it really freed me in style”
Occasional actress, legendary cook, and the mother of distinguished filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Catherine Scorsese was a first generation Italian-American and grew up in New York's Little Italy. After marrying and having two boys, Catherine went to work in the garment district. Scorsese gave his mother tiny roles in his films such as Mean Streets, Goodfellas, and Casino. When not appearing before the camera, Scorsese was cooking enormous meals for the cast and crew. Later, her son used her and her husband, Charles, as the subjects of his documentary Italianamerican. Catherine Scorsese has also appeared in a couple of other films, including Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, Pt. 3. Shortly before her death, she published The Scorsese Family Cookbook. Mrs. Scorsese died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at the age of 81. - Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Other Martin Scorsese documentaries: 'Shine a Light', 'No Direction Home: Bob Dylan', 'Lady by the Sea: The Statue of Liberty', 'My Voyage to Italy', 'A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies', 'The Last Waltz', 'American Boy: A Profile of: Steven Prince'
Catherine Scorsese’s recipe for spaghetti sauce

THE LAST WALTZ

2008-06-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

(1978) Director: Martin Scorsese

Available on DVD
Available on Netflix

SUMMARY:

The Last Waltz was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group, The Band, held on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Billed as a "farewell" performance after 16 years of touring, the concert saw The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood and Neil Young. The event was filmed by director Martin Scorsese and made into a documentary of the same name, released in 1978. The film features concert performances, scenes shot on a studio soundstage and interviews by Scorsese with members of The Band.

VIDEO:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Rotten Tomatoes reviews

NOTES:

BLOOD OF THE BEASTS

2008-06-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

(1949) Director: Georges Franju

Available on DVD

SUMMARY:

One of France’s most important documentary filmmakers, Georges Franju established an international reputation with this poetic portrait of the slaughterhouse of La Vilette in Paris. The work of the abattoir is depicted with painful directness, in stark contrast to the calm domesticity of the surrounding Parisian suburb. In attempting "to restore to documentary reality its appearance of artifice," he created a classic postwar document whose forcefulness and poetry remain undiminished today. - Harvard Film Archive

VIDEO:

Entire film (Extremely graphic)

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Blood of the Beasts Review from film4:
It's hard to believe that this gruelling short was made in 1949, given that some of the imagery and subject matter it portrays would be hard to stomach even by today's standards. With its documentary-esque feel, the film compares and contrasts life in idyllic, post-war Parisian suburbs with that of the average worker in one of the nearby slaughterhouses; director Franju is unstinting when it comes to details of both the human and animal suffering. As an early example of ultra-realism in cinema, this is hard to beat, although even more difficult to sit through; you'll want to take a very long shower afterwards.

NOTES:

GATES OF HEAVEN

2008-06-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

(1978) Director: Errol Morris

Available on DVD
Available on Netflix

SUMMARY:

"Gates of Heaven" is the story of two California pet cemeteries transformed into an eccentric portrait of the American dream. Errol Morris began this, his first non-fiction feature, in 1978 after reading a headline in the San Francisco Chronicle: "450 Dead Pets To Go To Napa." "Gates of Heaven" follows the stories behind two pet cemeteries -- one that fails (set up by innocent Floyd McClure at the intersection of two superhighways) and the Harbert family, who apply the latest marketing concepts to the pet cemetery profession.

VIDEO:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

In 1982 Roger Ebert named GATES OF HEAVEN one of the ten best films of all time.
www.errolmorris.com
Errol Morris' blog

WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE

2008-06-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

(1979) Director: Les Blank

Available on DVD

SUMMARY:

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe is a short documentary film directed by Les Blank in 1980 which depicts director Werner Herzog living up to his promise that he would eat his shoe if Errol Morris ever completed the film Gates of Heaven.
The film features Herzog cooking his shoes (the ones he claims to have been wearing when he made the bet) at the Berkeley, California restaurant, Chez Panisse with the help of chef Alice Waters. (The shoe was boiled with garlic, herbs, and stock for 5 hours.) He is shown eating one of the shoes before an audience at the premier of Gates of Heaven at the nearby UC Theater. He did not eat the sole of the shoe, however, explaining that one does not eat the bones of the chicken.
Blank went on to direct Burden of Dreams (1982), a feature-length documentary about Herzog and the making of Fitzcarraldo. Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe is included as an extra on the Criterion Collection edition of the Burden of Dreams DVD.

VIDEO:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

AV: If you had to choose the most difficult of the things you've done, which would it be? Pulling the boat over a mountain for Fitzcarraldo, painting thousands of white rats gray for Nosferatu, or eating your shoe?
WH: Oh, eating your shoe is nothing. Any idiot can do that. Cook it, and it's fine.
AV: But you have to cook it first.
WH: You have to cook it first, and don't cook it in fat. I cooked it in duck fat, which made it shrink and become even tougher, so don't do that. Dyeing 11,000 rats from white into gray, that's not easy. You have to be very methodical. You have to arrange some sort of assembly line of certain events, like dipping and blow-drying. They suffer from pneumonia very quickly. That's okay. I think anyone who is not afraid of rats can do that. Pulling a ship over a mountain, I think even a child could do it. A pulley system, and give the child a rope which is 10 miles long, and the child has to move with the rope 10 miles and move the boat one inch.

NOTES:

PROJECT GRIZZLY

2008-06-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

(1996) Director: Peter Lynch

Available on DVD
Available on Netflix

SUMMARY:

PROJECT GRIZZLY is a 1996 National Film Board of Canada documentary about the lifelong project of Troy Hurtubise, a man who has been obsessed with researching the Canadian grizzly bear up close, ever since surviving an early encounter with such a bear. The film documents Hurtubise's diligent work to improve his homemade "grizzly-proof" suit of armour, his efforts to test its resilience, and his forays into the Rockies to track down the grizzlies he dreams of meeting. The film manages to capture the humor of the project as well as its sincerity.

VIDEO:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

ELIVS: THATS THE WAY IT IS

2008-06-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

(1970) Director: Denis Sanders

Available on DVD

SUMMARY:

ELIVS: THATS THE WAY IT IS offers a candid look at Elvis Presley at a point when he decided to permanently abandon movie roles and return triumphantly to concert gigs. It shows him strutting around Vegas with his entourage, Elvis painstakingly preparing for his stage show, Elvis relaxing backstage and trading jokes with his vocal accompanists, and, of course, Elvis before a live, loud audience.

VIDEO:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Filmically Perfect adds ELIVS: THATS THE WAY IT IS to their List of Perfect Movies

NOTES:

The opening credits sequence contains footage of Elvis' show at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix on September 9, 1970. This was the first show of Elvis' first tour in 13 years
Cinematographer Lucien Ballard also shot 'The Wild Bunch'
Despite having well over a decade of film experience, Elvis had never appeared as himself on the big screen prior to ELIVS: THATS THE WAY IT IS
Monterey Pop and Woodstock were released the same year
This concert film, released theatrically in the fall of 1970, first came to DVD in the format's infancy, August of 1997, in a double-sided disc from MGM. After acquiring much of MGM's catalogue with the purchase of Turner Entertainment, Warner released the film in March of 2001 as a Special Edition. Unlike the more common usage in this DVD age, Warner's "Special Edition" was in the George Lucas sense; the movie had been retooled and even more dramatically than the Star Wars creator has ever tinkered with his epic sci-fi works. Both adding and losing a substantial amount of footage, the new cut actually ran twelve minutes shorter than the theatrical cut, which was no longer in print. As is often the case with film re-edits, fans were divided, with most appreciating the additional footage, some approving of certain trims, and few cheering the deletion of three song performances. This Two-Disc Special Edition strives to appease those wanting to own the original cut in addition to 2001's much different presentation. It devotes a disc to each of the cuts and includes some never-officially-released deleted material as a welcome bonus.

RUNNING FENCE

2008-05-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

(1978) Directors: Albert Maysles, David Maysles

Available on DVD

SUMMARY:

A celebration of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's vision;
first a four-year struggle, then 24 1/2 miles of white
nylon fabric, rising from the Pacific and stretching like
a white sail across California.

Runing Fence depicts the long struggle by the artists,
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, to build a 24 mile fence of
white fabric over the hills of California disappearing into
the Pacific. Cost: 3 million dollars. The idea at first must
seem the limit of absurdity for the fence was taken down
as planned at the end of two weeks and now exists solely
on film. There is a struggle between the artists and the
state bureaucracy, who want to prevent the fence being
erected, even though the ranchers whose land it crosses
want it. Opposition seems insurmountable.

The fence finally unfurled brings the community together
in celebration of its beauty. After four years of work,
Christo sees the vision realized. "See how it describes
the wind."

VIDEO:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

''The Hollywood film is an escape of one sort or another, but our films make it damn near impossible to escape. We're interested in what you can't escape from and presenting it. One of the things that happens is that some people get a little edgy when they see something that is of most value to them because it is so personal. They don't know where to turn to look for the kind of buffer that most movies give them. In fiction you can say it's only a movie and forget it. You can't do that with reality.'' - Albert Maysles
Jean-Luc Godard once called Albert Maysles "the best American cameraman".
Albert and David Maysles work also includes 'Salesman', 'Gimme Shelter' and 'Grey Gardens'.

CLOSE UP

2008-05-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

(1990) Director: Abbas Kiarostami

Available on DVD

SUMMARY:

(Abbas ) Kiarostami was inspired to make the film when he came across a news item about a young man, Hossein Sabzian, who passed himself off to an upper middle class family in Teheran as the well-known film director, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Sabzian gained the family’s confidence and convinced its various members that he wanted to make a film with their participation. After his exposure and arrest, Sabzian was accused of setting the family up for a burglary.

Kiarostami’s film is an extraordinary mix of documentary and fiction. He won permission to interview Sabzian in prison and to film his trial. But, most remarkably, he was also able to convince all the participants to reenact the encounters between the impostor and the family members. The family gets to star in a film after all, and so does Sabzian!

VIDEO:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Jean-Luc Godard has said: "Film begins with DW Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami."
According to Martin Scorsese, "Kiarostami represents the highest level of artistry in the cinema."
"The (Iranian) government has decided not to show any of my films for the past 10 years. I think they don't understand my films and so prevent them being shown just in case there is a message they don't want to get out. They tend to support films that are stylistically very different from mine - melodramas." Abbas Kiarostami
Kiarostami's film, A Taste of Cherry, was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in the year of its release

FOR ALL MANKIND

2008-05-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

(1989) Director: Al Reinert

Available on DVD

SUMMARY:

In July 1969, the space race ended when Apollo 11 fulfilled President Kennedy’s challenge of “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” No one who witnessed the lunar landing will ever forget it. Breathtaking both in the scope of its vision and the exhilaration of the human emotions it captures, For All Mankind is the story of the 24 men who traveled to the Moon—told in their words, in their voices, using the images of their experiences.

VIDEO:

The First 10 minutes of FOR ALL MANKIND

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

Austin Chronicle review and interview with director Al Reinert

NOTES:

SHERMAN'S MARCH

2008-05-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

(1986) Director: Ross McElwee

Available on DVD

SUMMARY:

Ross McElwee sets out to make a documentary about the lingering effects of General Sherman's march of destruction through the South during the Civil War, but is continually sidetracked by women who come and go in his life, his recurring dreams of nuclear holocaust, and Burt Reynolds.

VIDEO:

Opening scene from SHERMAN'S MARCH

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

A.V. Club reviews: 1. Noel Murray 2. Scott Tobias
Scorched Earth & Bright Leaves: Ross McElwee’s Meditations on the Possibility of Documentary
Ross McElwee’s Films: A Reaction By Ricky Leacock (PDF)
"The World According to McElwee" - The Harvard Gazette (PDF)
“McElwee’s March” - MovieMaker Magazine (PDF) PART 1 / PART 2
Database of articles written by/about Director Ross McElwee

NOTES:

"If Woody Allen made Gone With the Wind, it might resemble Sherman's March!" - People Magazine
Added To National Film Registry in 2000.
Richard Leacock read the historical narration for the film.
Memorable quotes from SHERMAN'S MARCH

AMERICAN DREAMER

2008-05-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

(1971) Directors: L.M. Kit Carson, Lawrence Schiller

Available on DVD.

SUMMARY:

This documentary explores the life of motion picture actor and director Dennis Hopper in early 1971, as he edits The Last Movie , his second directorial effort. Following Hopper from Hollywood to his beloved ranch in Taos, NM, the filmmakers ask him questions about art, movies, sex, drugs and his philosophy of life. Hopper, who owns many firearms, is frequently shown shooting guns in the desert. One day, while walking on the ranch grounds, he explains how lonely he was as a child and how as a teenager, he had painful crushes on Leslie Caron and Elizabeth Taylor. Hopper, who began acting as a teenager and has been a still photographer for many years, then postulates that despite the pain, an artist must be alone because loneliness inspires more profound work. Hopper discusses the wildly successful 1969 release Easy Rider , his first film as a director, and tries to explain how he considers American society full of criminals forged by societal restrictions. Because he believes that society has glorified both the criminal and the "outlaw," represented by the bikers in Easy Rider , he is not sure what the difference is between the bikers and those who kill them at the end of the film. Inside his house, Hopper jokes with a friend on the phone that thirty Playboy bunnies will be coming to the ranch, as the name of the documentary being made about him is The American Dreamer , and how can he be an American dreamer without "broads"? Hopper admits that he often thinks about sex and in one interlude, shares an erotic bath with two women. The director also spends many hours editing The Last Movie , from which several scenes are shown, as well as the actual process of editing it. CONTINUE SUMMAR Y

VIDEO:

A scene from AMERICAN DREAMER

NOTES:

Director L.M. Kit Carson, along with Sam Shepard, wrote the 1984 Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas.
Soundtrack to AMERICAN DREAMER available for download.
Photography of Lawrence Schiller
Cinematographer László Kovács can be seen in AMERICAN DREAMER while on the set of 'The Last Movie'. Some of his other credits include: 'Targets', 'Easy Rider', 'Five Easy Pieces', 'The Last Waltz', 'Ghost Busters'

EXTREME PRIVATE EROS: LOVE SONG 1974

2008-05-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

(1974) Director: Kazuo Hara

Available on DVD.

SUMMARY:

(Kazuo) Hara's second film, and without doubt his most outrageous, personal and masochistic work. Shot over several years, mostly in handheld black-and-white and often with out-of-synch sound, this raw confessional has Hara following his ex-wife, 26-year-old radical feminist Miyuki Takeda. The two lived together for three years and share a child, as this documentary captures their post-break-up relationship and her new life without him. This was a brutal dose of reality for Japanese viewers, as it matter-of-factly tackles heartache, sex, insecurities, gender politics, and even on-camera childbirth. This is an extraordinarily intimate portrayal of the ideology, philosophy, and lives of radicals in the Vietnam era, revolving around the postwar relationship of Japan, Okinawa, and the United States. - Anthology Film Archives

Noted Japanese documentary director Kazuo Hara makes an obsessive, compelling film about Takeda Miyuki, his former lover. Drawn by her letters, he goes to Okinawa and documents this remarkably strong-willed woman as she has a relationship with an African-American soldier, bears their interracial child alone, and discusses the director's shortcomings with Hara's producer and lover, Sachiko Kobayashi. This film is a landmark in the development of Japanese documentaries, as it began a shift in perspective from collective films about social issues, as seen in Shinsuke Ogawa's early works, to intensely personal works about individuals. - Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

VIDEO:

A scene from EXTREME PRIVATE EROS

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

A MARRIED COUPLE

2008-05-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

(1969) Director: Allan King

Available on DVD.

SUMMARY:

Exploring the emotional devastation of a modern marriage in conflict, this extraordinary and controversial documentary was first released in 1969. The film presents the lives of Billy Edwards, an upwardly mobile advertising copywriter, his wife Antoinette, who craves individuality and fame, and their three-year-old son Bogart. By turn exquisitely painful and hilariously funny, this uniquely intimate portrait of a couple whose marriage is collapsing reveals the deep sense of loneliness that exists at the heart of their relationship, as well as the daily power struggles between them.

VIDEO:

A scene from A MARRIED COUPLE

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

"King creates a drama that, in its utter nakedness, makes John Cassavetes 'Faces' look like early Doris Day. Cameraman Richard Leiterman and Soundman Christian Wangler spent ten weeks capturing 70 hours of totally undirected action. From this King distilled 100 minutes of polished film that shows none of the palsied camera work and uneven sound that plagues most cinéma vérité filming. The emotionally exhausting result achieves the ultimate artifice of the documentarist, the feeling that it was somehow made without a camera." Time Magazine, 1969.
Featured at Director's Fortnight, Cannes, 1970
From 'Trial by fire: a journey with Richard Leiterman' (Cinematographer on A MARRIED COUPLE): "In fact, (Allan) King trusted Leiterman so much that he had the confidence to rarely appear "on set," entrusting the film's "eyes" and "ears" to Leiterman and (Christian) Wangler (Sound recordist) . In total they shot 70 hours of film in six weeks. "While making A Married Couple, King realized he could not be on the set or in the house while we were shooting because the Edwards were continually looking to him for some kind of direction, It was just the soundman and myself. Allan would watch the results the next day and phone me and say, 'Listen, I saw the footage and such and such is working or we need a little bit more of this along this angle and so on. I think we realized we were on to something. It was a very exciting time. I think anything new and right is exciting and I still think there still is a place for this kind of work."

COCKSUCKER BLUES

2008-05-01T08:09:00.001-07:00

(1972) Director: Robert Frank

Available on DVD.

SUMMARY:

Cocksucker Blues is an unreleased documentary film directed by Robert Frank chronicling The Rolling Stones' North American tour in 1972 in support of their album Exile on Main Street.

VIDEO:

Opening 10 minutes of COCKSUCKER BLUES

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Director Robert Frank also shot the photography for the album cover of Exile On Main Street.
The Rolling Stones were upset by this film's portrayal of them and sued to prevent its release. The film is under a court order that only allows it to be shown once a year with director Robert Frank present in person.
Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, commenting on COCKSUCKER BLUES, called it "definitely one of the best movies about rock and roll I've ever seen. . . . It makes you think being a rock and roll star is one of the last things you'd ever want to do."
Other documentaries featuring The Rolling Stones: The Maysles brothers "Gimme Shelter", Jean-Luc Godard's "Sympathy for the Devil", Martin Scorsese's "Shine a Light"

A FACE OF WAR

2008-04-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

(1968) Director: Eugene S. Jones

Not Available on DVD. Post a comment for info on how to see the film.

SUMMARY:

“The sights and sounds you are about to witness were filmed and recorded in Vietnam. The events and circumstances were experienced by a single American infantry unit over a period of 97 days.”
-Opening text in A FACE OF WAR

No other film, whether drama or documentary, carries the viewer closer to the reality and savagery of the Vietnam War. Here is what the American soldier saw, heard, and felt on the front lines. We see him planning, patrolling, attacking, interogating, waiting. We see his humor, his anguish, his fear, and his courage. He is part of this remarkable cinematic experience, recorded shoulder to shoulder with the fighting man. Here is the true Vietnam in all of its vividness and brutality-the memory our men brought home.
-International Historic Films

FILMED UNDER FIRE IN VIETNAM!
-Movie poster

VIDEO:

A scene from A FACE OF WAR:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Sited by Francis Ford Coppola as a major influence for his film Apocalypse Now.
Essentially picks up where Frederick Wiseman’s ‘Basic Training’ leaves off.
1969 Cannes Film Festival as Best Feature Length Documentary.
In 1975 director Eugene S. Jones was nominated for an Academy Award for ‘The Wild and the Brave’.
"one of the most authentic, intimate and remarkable war records ever put on film." - New York Times

TITICUT FOLLIES

2008-04-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

(1967) Director: Frederick Wiseman

Available on DVD

SUMMARY:

The film is a stark and graphic portrayal of the conditions that existed at the State Prison for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, Massachusetts. TITICUT FOLLIES documents the various ways the inmates are treated by the guards, social workers and psychiatrists.

VIDEO:

A scene from TITICUT FOLLIES:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Created in 1966 the film was banned until 1991.
"...cinema verité is just a pompous French term that has absolutely no meaning as far as I'm concerned." -Frederick Wiseman
Frederick Wiseman has made 36 films in 38 years, many of them considered by documentary historians to be masterpieces of the form. His films have become longer and longer as his career progressed, with many of his films being more than 3 – some more than 4 – hours long. In spite of their length, all of his films are shown on PBS , which is one of his primary funders.

DERBY

2008-04-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

(1971) Director: Robert Kaylor

Not Available on DVD. Post a comment for info on how to see the film.

SUMMARY:

"The kid's name is Mike Snell and he builds tires for a living in Dayton, Ohio. He is 23 years old and pays $85 a month rent on a house he occupies with his wife Christina, two children and his younger brother, Butch. Butch lives in a basement room which he has decorated himself: There are posters on the walls and the floor is wall-to-wall mattress. Here Butch hangs out reading Playboy sideways, scratching his potbelly, and waiting to be drafted. The Army does not appeal to Butch: "I'm a lover, not a killer."
Mike has an ambition in life, and that is to be a professional Roller Derby star. The starting pay is $12,000 a year, which is what be makes building tires, but the glamour and the glory of the Roller Derby is worth an uncountable amount. Mike thinks he would be good: "In a couple years I could be making the big money. Charlie O'Connell makes 50 grand a year."

VIDEO:

A scene from DERBY:

REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

NOTES:

Director Robert Kaylor went on to direct 'Carny' which was written by and starred the lead guitarist/songwriter for The Band, Robbie Robertson.
Judith Crist (New York magazine) has called the film "the first total triumph of the vérité that cinema aspires to"