Thursday, October 22, 2009

Wild

I wasn't so wild about Where the Wild Things Are.

Granted, I am likely no longer the audience target for the film, but I'm not completely sure who is. I loved Maurice Sendak's classic 1963 book when I was young, as I imagine many other adults in the audience did as well. It always seemed ahead of its time. There were a lot of small children around when I saw the film, but I don't think they are the target audience either. At least I hope not - it's a bit dark and intense for young viewers. More likely, Warner Bros. is aiming for older kids and hipster young adults with a bit of retro nostalgia. The lead character in the film adaptation appears to need counseling more than a wild rumbus - or at least the benefit of a stronger ending. The film is beautifully shot, though, so hats off to Lance Acord, the cinematographer.

I was more intrigued by Lance Bangs' and Spike Jones' cool companion documentary for HBO, Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak. It's a revealing and intimate portrait of the life and career of this visionary curmudgeon, who talks about death a lot and isn't particularly fond of children. The film has already been shortlisted for the Academy Awards documentary-short category via a brief, qualifying theatrical run in LA recently.

Now that's wild.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Speech

Free speech issues seem to bubbling up a lot lately in our post 9/11 world and with the rise of social media on the internet. I recently caught an absorbing HBO documentary on the subject, Shouting Fire: Stories From the Edge of Free Speech.

Filmmaker Liz Garbus uses interviews with her father, famed First Amendment attorney Martin Garbus, to wrap some key recent situations where free speech has been under attack. She also examines and provides some cool footage of historically significant cases that her father was involved with, including the Pentagon Papers and the Nazi march in Skokie, Illinois. Haven't thought about those since my freshman law class at SU.

It would have been great to see the topic expanded a bit, but on the whole, the film serves as an important reminder that protecting free speech means also protecting speech we oppose. It is also interesting to ponder how much free speech we really have in our media-driven and hyper-sensitive country these days vs. what our founding fathers may have envisioned in drafting the Bill of Rights. Which reminds me, I still need to read Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy's book, In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action, to see what other atrocities have been committed against our national brochure for great living.

Did I say that out loud?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Art

I am an unabashed, lifelong art fan, lucky enough to have lived in and visited many of the greatest cities in the world celebrating this amazing medium.

The PBS series, Independent Lens, is kicking off its 2009-2010 season tonight with one of my favorite documentaries of the year. Herb and Dorothy chronicles the adventures of Herb and Dorothy Vogel, who have spent their married life of over 40 years together quietly amassing one of the world's most important and richest private contemporary art collections. Not so extraordinary until you consider that they are a now-retired postal worker and librarian living in a tiny, one-bedroom NYC apartment.

Since the 1960s, the couple has lived on Dorothy's paycheck and spent Herb's collecting the works of unknown artists (many now masters), primarily focusing on Minimalist and Conceptual art that was largely ignored in the early days. They eventually managed to acquire several thousand works of art, all stored in their apartment from floor to ceiling. And they have never sold a single piece! It's a fantastic and almost poignant tale captured by first-time filmmaker, Megumi Sasaki.

An incredible true story about finding one's passion in life and defying stereotypes. Definitely check it out - the Vogels had me smiling for days. :)

Monday, October 5, 2009

September

September flew by.

Which is why I am writing a September update in October. I had difficulty finding time to blog about docs in between all of my actual doc adventures!

I finally finished my short doc - came down to the wire on that one, but I completed it and am fairly pleased with the results. Speaking of wire, check out the mesmerizing documentary Man on Wire now out on DVD. It's the wild tale of an eccentric Frenchmen's tightrope walk between NYC's Twin Towers in 1974, and now an Oscar-winning doc at that.

I volunteered on National Service Day, completely by accident. Volunteering is good - even the President thinks so. I moderated a documentary film screening and discussion of Valentino: The Last Emperor at the local senior center in town, not even realizing it was a national day of service. I love this doc - it is such a visually rich and stylized look at the final chapter of the iconic fashion designer's career and dynamic life with his partner, Giancarlo Giammetti. Plus there are pugs. A great effort by Matt Tyrnauer of Vanity Fair, and a good time was had by all.

I attended the terrific new Westdoc conference - I got to soak up the wonderful world of documentaries and meet many faces in this exciting arena. Yay!

I stumbled into a new year, and celebrated in part by screening The September Issue, RJ Cutler's behind-the-scenes look at the world of Anna Wintour and Vogue. Delicious!

I did a jig over to my local theatre's Irish Film Festival, and screened a few doc shorts - The Boys of St. Columb's, about the school that advanced some of Ireland's most famous sons in modern culture, and Raise The Last Glass, which follows the closing of the country's legendary Waterford crystal factory.

Finally, I enjoyed (like I hope everyone else did), the epic PBS doc, The National Parks: America's Best Idea. It was stunning on HD, and inspired me to start planning a trip to Yosemite to check out the park and the Ahwahnee Hotel. I adored visiting Yellowstone years ago and encountering the bison which blocked my car, so I can't wait to enjoy its California counterpart - and hope to make it to more of these treasured areas in the future.

I'm ready to move on to October and more doc fun!