Sammy Davis Jr I’ve Gotta Be Me

Movies to See Right Now

November 15, 2019 by movie gourmet

PARASITE. Photo courtesy of Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) .

Parasite is the best movie in theaters right now, and I’ve got twelve, count ’em TWELVE, more recommendations this week. Tonight, The Wife and I have a date: The Irishman and dinner.

OUT NOW

The masterpiece Parasite explores social inequity, first with hilarious comedy, then evolving into suspense and finally a shocking statement of the real societal stakes. This is one of the decade’s best films.
Filmmaker Taika Waititi takes on hatred in his often outrageous satire Jojo Rabbit. I saw Jojo Rabbit at the Mill Valley Film Festival, where the audience ROARED with laughter.
In his Pain and Glory, master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar invites us into the most personal aspects of his own life, illuminated by Antonio Banderas’ career-topping performance.
The indie gem Light from Light ingeniously embeds three portraits of personal awakening into what looks like a familiar haunted house movie. It’s playing in Silicon Valley for only one more week.
Harriet is excellent history (and Harriet Tubman belongs on the twenty dollar bill), but it’s not great cinema.
The atmospheric slow burn neo-noir Motherless Brooklyn gets postwar New York City right, but it’s too long.
The raucous romp Zombieland Double Tap is a fun change of pace to the serious fare in theaters.
I liked the Isabelle Huppert drama Frankie, but the Mill Valley Film Festival audience was very indifferent at the screening; I’m guessing that folks failed to warm to an ambiguous ending that leaves some plot threads unresolved.
Where’s My Roy Cohn? is Matt Tyrnauer’s superb biodoc of Roy Cohn – and was there a more despicable public figure in America’s 20th Century than Cohn?
Loro, Paolo Sorrentino’s send-up of Silvio Berlusconi is much more interesting visually than it is thematically.
It’s tough to imagine anyone who wouldn’t enjoy the biodoc Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, about the first female mega rock star.
Watching The Lighthouse is such an ordeal it could drive you crazy before Robert Pattinson goes mad on screen.
Skip Netflix’s The Laundromat and watch The Big Short again instead.

ON VIDEO

My Stream of the Week is Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me , the portrait of a needy talent through complicated times. This fine and insightful film can streamed on Amazon (included with Prime), iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

Turner Classic Movies is airing the Peter Bogdanovich classic The Last Picture Show on November 20. I’ll be writing about it on November 19.

Turner Classic Movies is devoting Monday evening, November 18, to swashbucklers, and my favorite is Richard Lester’s boisterous The Three Musketeers from 1973. Watch Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Michael York and Frank Finlay swashbuckle away against Bad Guys Christopher Lee, Faye Dunaway and Charlton Heston. Geraldine Chaplin and Raquel Welch adorn the action. [If you like it, you can stream the second volume, The Four Musketeers, from Criterion Collection, Amazon, YouTube and Google Play; it was filmed in the same shoot and released the next year.]

Michael York, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay and Richard Chamberlain in THE THREE MUSKETEERS

Stream of the Week: SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME – a needy talent through complicated times

November 12, 2019 by movie gourmet

Still from SAMMY DAVIS JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME. Photo courtesy JFI.

Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me is now available to stream (and free on Amazon Prime). As a Baby Boomer who had dismissed Sammy Davis Jr. from the moment he publicly hugged Richard Nixon, I found this to be the most surprising doc (and my favorite) at last year’s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. I learned that Sammy’s 61-year career as a professional entertainer began at age three (with his first movie credit at age 7), a working childhood that left emotional needs It turns out that Sammy was a very, very talented but needy artist,, an uncomplicated man navigating several very complicated times.

Sammy’s life of entertainment began at 3. We get to see a clip of him in the 1933 Rufus Jones for President. All that professional work took away his childhood and engraved upon him a need to please. That and his generation produced the 50s showbiz style that seemed so insincere to us Baby Boomers. And, of course that embrace of Nixon seemed to be the ultimate sell-out moment.

Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me also poses whether he was demeaned by Rat Pack humor? Were Frank and Dino laughing at Sammy, or with him?

But this was an immensely talented man, a masterful dancer with a remarkable crooner’s voice and a gift for mimicry. He was the first American entertainer of color to do impersonations of white celebrities. BTW there is some unbelievable dancing in Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me. We get to see Sammy’s 60th anniversary in showbiz celebrated among a host of celebrities – he still had his dancing chops.

Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me is the story of a man whose success condemned him to a career that spanned generations – none of which fit him comfortably. It’s a fine and insightful film. It can streamed on Amazon (included with Prime, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

[Random note: This film title may contain the most different punctuation marks of any movie title: a comma, a period, a colon and an apostrophe.]

tonight on TV: SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME: a needy talent through complicated times

February 21, 2019February 19, 2019 by movie gourmet

Tonight, PBS airs Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me on its American Masters series. As a Baby Boomer who had dismissed Sammy Davis Jr. from the moment he publicly hugged Richard Nixon, I found this to be the most surprising doc (and my favorite) at last year’s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. I learned that Sammy’s 61-year career as a professional entertainer began at age three (with his first movie credit at age 7), a working childhood that left emotional needs It turns out that Sammy was a very, very talented but needy artist,, an uncomplicated man navigating several very complicated times.

Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me also poses whether he was demeaned by Rat Pack humor? Were Frank and Dino laughing at Sammy, or with him?

Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me is the story of a man whose success condemned him to a career that spanned generations – none of which fit him comfortably. It’s a fine and insightful film.

[Random note: This film title may contain the most different punctuation marks of any movie: a comma, a period, a colon and an apostrophe.]

SFJFF: the docs

July 21, 2018 by movie gourmet

You can always count on a rich slate of documentaries at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, now running through August 5 in San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Rafael, Albany and Oakland. Here are my recommendations from this year’s crop.

Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me: As a Baby Boomer who had dismissed Sammy Davis Jr. from the moment he publicly hugged Richard Nixon, I found this to be the most surprising doc (and my favorite) at the fest. I learned that Sammy’s 61-year career as a professional entertainer began at age three (with his first movie credit at age 7), a working childhood that left emotional needs It turns out that Sammy was a very, very talented but needy artist,, an uncomplicated man navigating several very complicated times. BTW there is some unbelievable dancing in Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me. It is the SFJFF’s official Closing Night film at the Castro on July 29, but you can also catch it tomorrow in Palo Alto or August 4 in Oakland.
The Oslo Diaries: The inside story of the secret negotiations that led to the 1993 Oslo Accord as told by the surviving Israeli and Palestinian participants. It’s a remarkable story of finding trust out of distrust. Of course, what should have been a diplomatic triumph is now a poignant story of a missed, or at least delayed, opportunity at peace.
The Mossad: First-hand accounts of the most legendary operations of Israel’s legendary foreign intelligence service. This is a top-notch cloak-and-dagger doc (and my review suggests a companion film about another Israeli intelligence agency).
Satan & Adam: Adam, a young white Ivy Leaguer, takes a stroll through Harlem and encounters an older African-American street guitarist, who calls himself Mr. Satan. Adam, a talented amateur blues harmonica player sits in and soon the odd couple are a busking team. “Mr. Satan” is an alias for an artist of note. The odd couple novelty and Mr. Satan’s talent allows the act to soar. But Satan has emotional and medical issues, and Adam might be a better fit for a career in academia, so this is a story with plenty of unexpected twists and turns.
The Twinning Reaction: This startling and moving documentary tells the story of a Mad Men-era research project and its profound human impact. To perform a longitudinal study of nurture vs. nature, researchers INTENTIONALLY separated identical twins and placed them with families that the researchers kept in the dark for decades. My review compares The Twinning Reaction to a film in current release that covers the same facts.

My complete reviews of Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me, The Oslo Diaries and Satan & Adam will appear when they are released in the Bay Area. You can peruse the entire SFJFF program and buy tickets and passes at San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.