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Reviews
Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
The stuff of childhood nightmares
A common theme among reviewers of this film are those of us who saw it as kids and had the bejeezus scared out of us. I was nine in 1981 and saw DNotS on TV and the creepiness of it has stayed with me all these years. Nine year old me never would have been allowed to watch this movie if it were a theatrical release but because it was on CBS (that's the same channel as Charlie Brown!) it slipped through the cracks and I therefore have a lifelong fear of scarecrows. It is so disturbing and creepy, I honestly don't know how it made it past TV censors way back in 1981. Granted: Compared to theatrical releases of the time, it is tame. Compared to what you would see on Law and Order and NCIS a couple decades later on TV, it is tame. But don't be fooled into thinking this movie is at all kid friendly unless you want your kids sleeping with the lights on and crying at the sight of a scarecrow. And after rewatching it as an adult, it still holds up as being creepy and nightmare inducing, 40-some years later.
Nothing Compares (2022)
Moving, enlightening and a beautiful tribute
This is much more than just a fan film, and more than just another music biography/ documentary. The film does a beautiful job of showing us Sinead as a person.... genius, flawed, stubborn, scared, terrified and fearless at the same time. For me, being a big fan of her work and remembering when she hit the scene, it was a great tribute to her artistry. But more than that the film shows how she was ahead of her time and under appreciated for her views. She was a ground breaker who paid the price for being a non-conformist. We see the whole picture of what made her who she was, including her childhood and her religious upbringing that formed her world view. A beautifully made documentary.
Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein (2023)
Interesting topic with too much filler
Like a lot of these shocking docu-series, you realize the producers do all they can to stre-e-e-e-etch 90 minutes worth of material into four hours, and it really dilutes the finished product. The premise is a bit shaky, in that we're never told why these "lost tapes" have never been heard, not even by Gein's biographers. We're just supposed to accept that they are unearthed treasures. The tapes are somewhat interesting but anticlimactic because Gein doesn't have much to say. We hear from a few experts, a few interesting people who actually knew Ed Gein, a good cross section of contributors, and three sophomoric podcasters who, I guess are there for color but seem to think the whole topic is one big joke and end up dumbing down the documentary significantly. All the while, we see the same stock footage and hear the same audio clips over and over, even within the same episode. If all that superfluous filler had been trimmed it could have been an interesting and tight project. Not bad overall, but way too long.
The Sum of Us (1994)
Endearing and meaningful, if slightly dated
This movie was very important to me back in the 1990s when I was coming out as a gay man, and well-adjusted, sane, relatable gay male characters in entertainment (who weren't a punchline or self-hating) were few and far between. The Sum of Us was groundbreaking. Seeing it again 25 years later, it still holds up as a very sweet film that has lots of heart. To its credit, this movie isn't about gay people or straight people...it's about people. It's about a father and son who share a bond that nothing can break. It's about forgiveness and second chances and rolling with the punches. It's about balancing love we seek with love we have. Unfortunately, some aspects of the filmmaking feel dated now (like breaking the fourth wall, which was edgy then but now seems awkward) and a few scenes that may have been comical or charming in 1994 are now a bit cringey. But overall, the sentiment and the message hold up just fine.
Sound of Metal (2019)
Makes no sense
So he has four years sober, smokes one cigarette, and although he expresses no urge to relapse he is forced to move into a sober house where he doesn't speak the language. Sure, that's plausible.
78/52 (2017)
Very interesting behind the scenes stories
This film was really, really interesting. It felt like listening to a very knowledgeable docent dissecting and explaining a famous painting. In this case it's filmmakers sharing their admiration for "the shower scene." They take it apart frame by frame and geek out over it and give their insights. There's plenty of "Psycho" trivia (casaba melons, really?) and listening to the recollections of Janet Leigh's body double is just straight-up cool. (Anthony Perkins dropped her head on the floor!) You also get to learn about some of the themes and subtle artistic touches Hitchcock used...like the story behind the painting hanging on Norman's wall, and the rain Marion drives through portending the water in the shower. If you're a fan of Hitchcock, DEFINITELY check this out.
Team Foxcatcher (2016)
Brilliant and gutting
This is a very well made documentary. The balance is just about perfect between home movies and current day interviews. It wisely starts in the current time then goes back and tells a story that builds and builds, and gets stranger and stranger, up to the heartbreaking climax. It then gives us insight on the fallout before taking us back to the current time. It's very much to the credit of the filmmakers that they don't overly vilify Du Pont -- they show him as being worthy of pity as well as contempt, and show that in many ways he was a wonderful benefactor who took it too far. The storytelling is chilling. The conclusion that, as Danielle says at the end that the whole thing is just sad is accurate. Everyone suffered, everyone got hurt. Rather than sensationalize the story, it puts real people and faces and emotions front and center. Really exceptional production.
The Last Blockbuster (2020)
I really wanted to like this documentary
It seemed like such a great story, and it is, only it's lost in all the repetitive sophomoric drivel this movie gives us. I really enjoyed Sandi and her indomitable spiritand seeing how she keeps going. But the VH1 style interviews with the adult man-babies were really annoying and pointless. We actually are forced to watch a reenactment of the process of how to go to a video store and rent a movie. Seriously. I've always said that if you have a lousy premise for a documentary but it's made by a really good filmmaker, you'l get a good documentary. The opposite is also true: a great set up for a documentary made by lousy filmmakers is what this feels like. For Sandi's sake I wish they would have done better by her.
The Allins (2017)
The filthiest person ever?
With apologies to Babs Johnson, GG Allin was basically the filthiest person to ever gain celebrity status. Watching footage of him is stomach churning. But I doubt that would come as a surprise, or a deterrent, to anyone who would watch this doc. If you were able to watch the much more graphic "Hated" documentary you'l be fine with this one. And if you're a fan, for some perverse reason, you'll get a kick out of this. But other than that, this doc really does present some interesting juxtapositions. What goes on in the mind of the relatively normal, mild mannered mother of that filthy person? What happens when the fantasy of "sex drugs and rock and roll" confronts the reality of sitting in a Pizza Hut or paying your rent? How does a mother reconcile her natural love of her child with the fact that that little boy grew up to be GG Allin? For those reasons this documentary is very interesting. This film tries so hard to present him as a 3 dimensional human being with a family and emotions and frailties like all the rest of us, but with someone so thoroughly vile and repugnant and hate filled, it's a difficult sell.
Kimmy vs the Reverend (2020)
Stupid. Unfunny.
I loved the show but this was just pointless. Horrible script. The choose your own storyline was annoyingly childish.
Apostasy (2017)
Simple, moving, beautifully acted
As an ex-JW I was VERY curious to see this film. I was blown away. The story is understated and uncomplicated, without pushing any particular agenda. It's definitly not "anti JW" as I think it presented all the characters and the religion and organization itself in a very even-handed way. Those who know nothing about JWs might come away a little confused and maybe frustrated with the motivations of the characters (especially the mother) but really, in my experience the film is spot-on accurate. Brilliant.
The Witnesses (2020)
An overdue expose
I spent 10 years as a JW and found this documentary to be fair and accurate.
Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen (2002)
ODD movie
The first time I saw this film, on cable late at night, I just couldn't get over how very odd it was! So I watched again a few weeks later, with a friend, to show him and see if i was the only one who found it really trippy. He agreed! There really isn't much of a plot in a traditional sense, just lots of flash backs done in a low budget kind of way. This film is dark, and moody, and bizarre, and...well, trippy is probably the best word, because i watched it SOBER and felt like i was..well, under the influence of a certain substance that might enhance the certain movies to make them a really intense experience. There are a few beautiful performances, which sort of save the otherwise dreary and pointless film: Sandra Bernhard, Jimmy Scott, Rufus Wainwright....but even those are done in such an odd way, that the viewer watches them with a skewed sort of eye. I would recommend this film, not just to those who are fans of music standards, but also to those looking for a very different movie experience. It is....out there!
Peege (1973)
loved this as a kid!
Wow, I haven't thought of this short film in years! It was shown to me and others back in grade school, or maybe junior high, as a "message film" I suppose about not discarding the elderly. I guess it was very popular and well known back there in the 1970s and 1980s. I remember it being very touching and well done, though probably rather maudlin. But if nothing else it is a sweet and moving premise, not to brush aside an elderly person, who still has plenty of feelings and memories in her. I guess i couldn't help but see my own experiences with grandma in the film, so in that sense it just yanks on your heartstrings determined to get you to cry! I would love to get my hands on it to see it again!