DOCUMENTARY ROUND-UP (REWIND, IN SEARCH OF DARKNESS, BOOKSELLERS, ETC.)

8/7/20 - 24x36: A Movie About Movie Posters (2016) - 6-/10

Beginning with the history of movie posters and lithography and ending with the resurgence and “Mondo-fied” collector’s market, this did a nice job of bringing to light much of the magic of movie one sheets. It does feel a little bit chopped up and I would have enjoyed more of the creators/creations than the modern scene. Still, it was pretty good.

8/5/20 - In Search Of Darkness (2019) - 7/10

An incredibly long watch, so I broke it up over several sittings, but an endearing amusement park boat ride through the “Tunnel of 80s Horror”. It trades depth for brevity and breadth, but includes a multitude of voices associated and participated. A horror fan’s bloody thumbs up.

7/31/20 - The Weight Of Gold (2020) - 6/10

The pain and emptiness associated with Olympic athletes was deserving material. Well shown and highlighting the surprising depression and hardships of these famed competitors. 

7/30/20 - Tread (2020) - 5+/10

A quite interesting story laid out in excruciating detail. Fascinating, but the film is fairly repetitive and overly long. It also could have used a little more “after the incident” information. That said, it is solid and a decent watch.

7/15/20 - Showbiz Kids (2020) - 6+/10

A strangely compelling examination of children actors, the history, and their lives. It does well to provide a variety of experiences and consistently move forward. It never gets too deep into the various weeds, but it does touch on most aspects of the child life in Hollywood and it is a pretty enjoyable watch.

7/15/20 - Rewind (2020) - 8-/10

A fairly enthralling portrait of a boy cursed with unclean pain and the familial lineage of that brought it to bare. Told with the aid of a multitude of home videos, exposing the sweet before and bitter after, a boy and a family touched by the dark and slipping away into unforgivable pain and anguish. It is a difficult subject, but the pace and piercing nature of the accounts, both spoken and recorded, drive the film like a freight train to the edge of the tracks. It is magnetic in its menace and its moxie towards change.

6/30/20 - The Booksellers (2020) - 6-/10

It starts off strong, but I grew bored as it progressed. An interesting look into a mostly bygone world, but it didn’t feel jazzy enough to keep me hooked.

6/14/20 - We Believe in Dinosaurs (2019) - 6-/10

A solid documentary of the building of a Noah’s Ark in KY, but it lacked one thing: a true delving into dinosaurs. You can’t put that in the title and then not deliver. Yeah, seeing these fundamentalists so zeroed in on building this roadside attraction was nice, but I wanted MORE DINOS!

6/9/20 - The Hat Man: Documented Cases of Pure Evil (2019) - 6-/10

The stories themselves were chilling. When it tries to push past those barriers, it loses its dark ambiance, but still delivers enough to make it a solid watch. I would prefer The Nightmare, but it covers similar ground without lagging behind too much.

5/17/20 - Spaceship Earth (2020) - 6/10

Entertaining journey with a wild group of individuals on a quest to explore the future, that crashed hard. Fascinating story.

4/7/20 - Where’s My Roy Cohn? (2019) - 7-/10

Amazing how one of the most influential men of our century falls through the cracks. The mind behind the scenes: like the Goebbels of Fox News/MAGA land. It was a fascinating peak at the mind of the power behind the scenes.

11/14/19 - One Child Nation (2019)- 6-/10

Poignant and works well with the intent dialogue between the filmmaker and those truly effected by the Chinese policy. It does lose steam in the final 3rd when it deals more with the baby selling rings and the search for connecting long lost families.