Gideon’s Army: Sisyphus goes to court

by
GIDEON'S ARMY

Gideon’s Army, another gem from HBO’s fine summer documentary series, explores the work of public defenders in the South.  By defending indigent criminal defendants, these lawyers preserve the American legal principles of fair trials and the presumption of innocence.   But the game is rigged against them – they are starkly under-resourced and, in the South, face shockingly high bail requirements and extremely severe mandatory sentencing laws.  Each responsible for 120-150 cases at a time, they suffer long hours and low pay, defending the mostly guilty – a recipe for burnout.  One PD even has had one client who planned to murder her in open court.

To tell this Sisyphean story, Gideon’s Army focuses on a handful of public defenders and their cases.  There’s probably more optimism in the film than in real life (which is necessary, because a more realistic depiction would probably be depressingly unwatchable).    It’s an important subject and a good watch.  Gideon’s Army is currently playing on HBO.

DVD/Stream: you gotta see The Imposter

by
The Imposter

I’m repeating last week’s DVD/Stream of the Week because you just shouldn’t miss The Imposter.  Life is at times stranger than fiction, and The Imposter is one of the most jaw-dropping documentaries I have seen. Nicholas Barclay, a 13-year-old Texas boy, vanished in 1994. Three years later, a young man surfaced in Spain, claiming to be an American boy kidnapped for sexual exploitation; he was identified by Spanish police as Nicholas Barclay. In fact, he was a serial impersonator named Frédéric Bourdin who had contrived the ruse to escape getting busted for his own petty misdeeds.

That’s not a spoiler, because The Imposter’s audience learns this framework right away. Here’s the first real shocker: the imposter is accepted by Nicholas’ family. This is more amazing because Frédéric is seven years older than Nicholas, is not a native English speaker and looks nothing like him. Of course, Frédéric is surprised that the family is embracing him as Nicholas – and then he begins to suspect why…

Filmmaker Bart Layton expertly spins the story, We meet the actual Frédéric Bourdin, members of the Barclay family, and the detectives who broke the case.

The Imposter is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and many other VOD providers.

The Heat: worth seeing for Melissa McCarthy

by
THE HEAT

We’ve all seen cop buddy comedies before (Lethal Weapon, 48 Hours and scores of copycats).   In the The Heat, the odd couple is Sandra Bullock (as the arrogant and fastidious FBI agent) and Melissa McCarthy (as the earthy and streetwise Boston cop).  There are some especially well-written bits in The Heat, especially when Bullock’s prig finally explodes into a completely inept torrent of profanity and when McCarthy’s cop belittles her commander’s manhood for what must be the zillionth time.

But here’s why you will enjoy The Heat.  Melissa McCarthy’s line readings are brilliantly hilarious.  Her gift for dialogue makes everything and everyone in this movie much funnier.  Her performance elevates the entire movie.  In fact, every person who has talked to me about The Heat has laughed when describing it.  It may not be that original, but it’s sufficiently well made and McCarthy is sublime.

This Is the End: grossing out The Rapture

by
THIS IS THE END

As gross-out comedies go, This Is the End is adequately entertaining. Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, James Franco and other movie comedy stars play themselves – all partying at Franco’s over-the-top Hollywood mansion when the Apocalypse and The Rapture intrude.

The cast does a good job with the very broad material.  Franco, Hill, Harry Potter’s Emma Watson and especially Michael Cera all poke fun at their own images.  And, just when you think you’re watching a low brow comedy, Danny McBride arrives and takes that brow even further into the gutter.

It’s co-written and co-directed by best friends Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who co-wrote Superbad as teenagers.  Jay Baruchel plays a character based on Goldberg, down from Canada to visit his boyhood chum and distrusting Rogen’s Hollywood posse.  It’s a solid send-up of the apocalyptic movie genre, with a nice little homage to The Exorcist.  The guys will enjoy This Is the End more than will the gals.

20 Feet from Stardom: essential for music fans

by
Lisa Fisher in 20 FEET FROM STARDOM

The documentary 20 Feet from Stardom delves into the careers of rock music’s backup singers – so close to the celebrity spotlight, yet so obscure and under appreciated.  Some prefer the background (the Walkers and the electrifyingly talented Lisa Fischer), and some aspire to major solo careers (Judith Hill).  Others have been disappointed in the quest for stardom (Merry Clayton and Claudia Linnear) – or stardom has been delayed (Darlene Love).  We meet all of these very talented and appealing women, and hear from Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and Sting.

The best parts are hearing Darlene Love’s story (which adds to the body of evidence that Phil Spector is a terrible human being), the inside glimpse into Merry Clayton’s iconic solo in the Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter and experiencing the magical voice of Lisa Fischer.  It’s a little slow in places, but 20 Feet from Stardom is a pretty good choice for any viewer and essential for music fans.

Here’s a description from the director.

 

 

 

Augustine: obsession, passion and the birth of a science

by
AUGUSTINE

The absorbing French drama Augustine is based on the real work of 19th century medical research pioneer Jean-Martin Charcot, known as the father of neurology.  A young kitchen maid begins suffering wild seizures and is brought to Charcot’s research hospital.  He ascertains the triggers for the seizures, and begins to close in on cure.  Needing funding for his research, he triggers her seizures before groups of his peers; he is showing off his research, but it’s clear that his affluent male audience is titillated by the comely girl’s orgasmic thrashes.

She is drawn to this man whose kindness to her belies their class difference and whose brilliance is the key to her recovery.  The good doctor intends to cure her – but not until she has performed for his potential funders.  She is unexpectedly cured just before Charcot’s most important demonstration, and she gets to decide whether to continue her exploitation.  In the stunning conclusion, she gets the upper hand and her simmering feelings erupt.

The fine French actor Vincent Lindon (Mademoiselle Chambon) excels at playing very contained and reserved characters, and here he nails Charcot’s clash of decency and professional ambition. The French pop singer Soko is captivating as his patient.

It’s an auspicious first feature film for writer-director Alice Winocour.  She has constructed a story that about two sympathetic characters whose interests converge, then diverge and then…

DVD/Stream of the Week: The Imposter

by
The Imposter

Life is at times stranger than fiction, and The Imposter is one of the most jaw-dropping documentaries I have seen.  Nicholas Barclay, a 13-year-old Texas boy, vanished in 1994.  Three years later, a young man surfaced in Spain, claiming to be an American boy kidnapped for sexual exploitation; he was identified by Spanish police as Nicholas Barclay.  In fact, he was a serial impersonator named Frédéric Bourdin who had contrived the ruse to escape getting busted for his own petty misdeeds. 

That’s not a spoiler, because The Imposter’s audience learns this framework right away.  Here’s the first real shocker: the imposter is accepted by Nicholas’ family.  This is more amazing because Frédéric is seven years older than Nicholas, is not a native English speaker and looks nothing like him.  Of course, Frédéric is surprised that the family is embracing him as Nicholas – and then he begins to suspect why…

Filmmaker Bart Layton expertly spins the story, We meet the actual Frédéric Bourdin, members of the Barclay family, and the detectives who broke the case. 

The Imposter is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and many other VOD providers.

The Out List: as clear as clear can be

by
Neil Patrick Harris in THE OUT LIST

Another in HBO’s excellent summer documentary series, The Out List is a talking head documentary about the value of being out – both personally valuable and to the community.   There are the celebrity performers that you would expect: Neil Patrick Harris, Cynthia Nixon, Wanda Sykes and Ellen DeGeneres.  But it’s amazing to hear from Lupe Valdez, a lesbian Latina Democrat elected by the fine people of Dallas County, Texas to be their Sheriff.  (There’s also the current favorite in the race for Mayor of New York City Mayor, Christine C. Quinn.)   The most compelling stories come from drag queen promoter Lady Bunny, personal finance guru Suze Orman and transgender writer Janet Mock.

Their stories represent the range of all human stories – some funny, some touching and some both at the same time.  Like in every group of humanity, there is some edginess and not everybody is trying to be appealing.  But I would doubt that anyone could watch The Out List and still feel justified to be a hater.  The Out List is not just for those interested in LGBT issues, but for everyone with an interest in people, society and the human experience.

Monsters University: plenty fun, with an even better short

by
Pixar’s
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

Pixar movies feature both excellent animation and outstanding storytelling., and such is the case with Monsters University, the welcome prequel to Monsters, Inc.  This is the story of how Monsters Inc.’s Mike and Sully met at college, with Billy Crystal and John Goodman returning to voice the roles.   When I saw Monsters University, the kids in the audience laughed plenty, but the adults were picking up on most of the college jokes; for example, Mike and Sully are relegated to the loser fraternity – so nerdy that the guys are living with one frat brother’s mom (a very funny Julia Sweeney).

Monsters University is preceded by an even better movie, the imaginative Pixar short The Blue Umbrella.  The Blue Umbrella is a simple and sentimental story set at foot level, amid manhole covers, storm drains and the feet of city-dwellers – and there’s no dialogue.  The animation is remarkable; in fact, I had to keep telling myself that it was animated, although it helped when the mailbox and the rain spout moved expressively.  I’m sure that The Blue Umbrella will be nominated for the Best Animated Short Oscar.

Movies to See Right Now

by
DEAD MAN'S BURDEN on VOD

We’re in June, which means an emphasis on “tent pole” movies – the big blockbusters aimed at attracting mobs of kids and teens.  The bottom line: there are just a few intelligent movies for adults in theaters now, but more available on Video On Demand and on broadcast TV. Here are my recommendations for this week:

  • Shadow Dancer, about a young single mom in the IRA, is showing in some theaters now, but can be hard to find. It is also available streaming from Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.
  • Much Ado About Nothing takes the homework out of Shakespeare and puts the screwball comedy back in.
  • The East is an absorbing and thought-provoking eco-terrorism thriller.
  • Before Midnight, the year’s best romance, continuing the story of Ethan Hawke’s Jesse and Julie Delpy’s Celine from Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.
  • The documentary We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is Alex Gibney’s inside look at an improbable scandal. It’s also available streaming from Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and other VOD outlets.
  • I like the unsentimental Western Dead Man’s Burden, available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, Vudu and other VOD outlets.
  • The insightful HBO documentary Love, Marilyn uses Marilyn Monroe’s recently discovered letters and journals to give us a candid yet sympathetic inside look at Marilyn.
  • Hey Bartender, the entertaining documentary about the trend toward Craft Bartending, is hard to find in theaters, but easy to find on VOD (Amazon, Vudu, iTunes).

Also out right now:

  • Fast & Furious 6 has exciting chases, a silly story, a smoldering Michelle Rodriguez and a hard ass Gina Carano.
  • There’s cleverness in the psychological thriller Berberian Sound Studio, but just not enough thrills for a thriller.
  • Also out on VOD, Nancy, Please is a dark comedy about neurotic obsession among the over-educated.  Not that funny.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is the Oscar-nominated Chilean historical drama No, with Gael Garcia Bernal.  No is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Vudu.

Turner Classic Movies wraps up its June film noir festival tonight with Czar of Noir Eddie Muller presenting films from the novels of Cornell Woolrich (The Leopard Man, Deadline at Dawn) and Raymond Chandler (Murder My Sweet, The Big Sleep, Lady in the Lake, Strangers on a Train).