Alex Gibney

Stream of the Week: ZERO DAYS – cyberwar triumph? maybe not

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ZERO DAYS
ZERO DAYS

My Stream of the Week is a movie that has actually become MORE topical since its release last year.  The important and absorbing documentary Zero Days traces the story of an incredibly successful cyber attack by two nation states upon another – and its implications. In Iran’s nuclear weapons development program, the centrifuges used to enrich uranium began destroying themselves in 2010. It turned out that these machines were instructed to self-destruct by a computer worm devised by American and Israeli intelligence.

No doubt – this was an amazing technological triumph. Zero Days takes us through a whodunit that is thrilling even for a non-geek audience. We learn how a network that is completely disconnected from the Internet can still be infected. And how cybersecurity experts track down viruses. It’s all accessible and fascinating.

But, strategically, was this really a cyberwarfare victory? We learn just what parts of our lives can be attacked and frozen by computer attacks (Spoiler: pretty much everything). And we learn that this attack has greenlighted cyberwarfare by other nations – including hostile and potentially hostile ones. Zero Days makes a persuasive case that we need to have a public debate – as we have had on nuclear, biological and chemical weapons – on the use of this new kind of weaponry.

And here’s why it is more topical today.  Since Zero Days’ release last year, we have endured the successful Russian cyberattack on the US election process.  And we face an unpredictable foe in North Korea, and our only practical protection against North Korea’s nuclear threat may be our own preemptive cyberattacks.

Director Alex Gibney is one our very, very best documentarians. He won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, and he made the superb Casino Jack: The United States of Money, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Going Clear: The Prison of Belief and Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine.

Gibney’s specialty is getting sources on-camera that have the most intimate knowledge of his topic. In Zero Days, he pulls out a crew of cybersecurity experts, the top journalist covering cyberwarfare, leaders of both Israeli and American intelligence and even someone who can explain the Iranian perspective. Most impressively, Gibney has found insiders from the NSA who actually worked on this cyber attack (and prepared others).

Zero Days is available to stream on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

ZERO DAYS: cyberwar triumph? maybe not

by
ZERO DAYS
ZERO DAYS

The important and absorbing documentary Zero Days traces the story of an incredibly successful cyber attack by two nation states upon another – and its implications. In Iran’s nuclear weapons development program, the centrifuges used to enrich uranium began destroying themselves in 2010. It turned out that these machines were instructed to self-destruct by a computer worm devised by American and Israeli intelligence.

No doubt – this was an amazing technological triumph.  Zero Days takes us through a thrilling whodunit non-geek audience.  We learn how a network that is completely disconnected from the Internet can still be infected.  And how cybersecurity experts track down viruses. It’s all accessible and fascinating.

But, strategically, was this really a cyberwarfare victory?  We learn just what parts of our lives can be attacked and frozen by computer attacks (Spoiler: pretty much everything).  And we learn that this attack has greenlighted cyberwarfare by other nations – including hostile and potentially hostile ones.  Zero Days makes a persuasive case that we need to have a public debate – as we have had on nuclear, biological and chemical weapons – on the use of this new kind of weaponry.

Director Alex Gibney is one our very, very best documentarians. He won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, and he made the superb Casino Jack: The United States of Money, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God,  Going Clear: The Prison of Belief and Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine.

Gibney’s specialty is getting sources on-camera that have the most intimate knowledge of his topic.  In Zero Days, he pulls out a crew of cybersecurity experts, the top journalist covering cyberwarfare, leaders of both Israeli and American intelligence and even someone who can explain the Iranian perspective.  Most impressively, Gibney has found insiders from the NSA who actually worked on this cyber attack (and prepared others).

Zero Days opens tomorrow in theaters and will also be available to stream on Amazon, iTunes, Vusu, YouTube, Google Play, Xbox and various PPV platforms, including DirecTV.

STEVE JOBS: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE – anything but reverential

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The first two-thirds of Alex Gibney’s documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine provides us with remarkable insight into the personal life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.  We see plenty of evidence that Jobs was obsessively driven, a marketing genius, consumed by self-absorption and a nasty bully.

Gibney brings us an interview with the mother of Jobs’ first daughter (who he initially refused to acknowledge).  We also hear from their roommate (and presumably Apple’s #3 employee), who articulates the movie’s theme:

How much of an asshole do you need to be, to be successful?

There’s no question that Jobs qualifies as a jerk of singular proportions – grudgingly agreeing to $500/month in child support at the moment his wealth zoomed to $200 million.  And calculating the IPO stock awarded to his former roommate (“How about I give him zero?”).

We hear from the daughter herself (off-camera), with whom Jobs eventually kindled a relationship.  And we hear from the members of the executive team responsible for Apple’s resurgence, including the guys who brought us the iPod and iPhone.  We do not see Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak or the family from Jobs’ second marriage.

How did he get to be so driven?  There are insights in what molded him, especially his feelings about his adoption.  What made him a genius?  Not so much on that one.

In the final third of the film, Gibney piles on.  But it’s not a shock to hear about a Silicon Valley CEO enriching himself by back-dating stock options or exploiting Chinese workers. It ‘s more telling to find out Jobs reveled in parking in handicapped spaces.

There’s a major Hollywood biopic about Jobs coming out in just two weeks:  Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs, starring Michael Fassbender in the titular role.

Alex Gibney is one our very, very best documentarians. He won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, and he made the superb Casino Jack: The United States of Money, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God and Going Clear: The Prison of Belief.  Man in the Machine doesn’t rise to the level of those films, but it’s worthwhile to those already interested in its subject.

Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine is in theaters and also available streaming from Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, and, of course, iTunes.

GOING CLEAR: THE PRISON OF BELIEF: a devastating expose

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GOING CLEAR: THE PRISON OF BELIEF
GOING CLEAR: THE PRISON OF BELIEF

Going Clear: The Prison of Belief, documentarian Alex Gibney’s devastating expose of Scientology, originally shown on HBO in April, is opening theatrically tomorrow. The indictment of Scientology as dangerous cult is stunning. Gibney is sunshining an amazingly rich reservoir of source material: we hear from several former Scientologists, including the former chief spokesperson, the former top deputy to the Chairman of the Board, along with former believer director Paul Haggis and the John Travolta’s original Scientology handler.

Gibney begins by tracing the journey of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard and reviewing the organization’s history. Now I knew about the science fiction writer Hubbard, his book Dianetics and even the E-meter. But I sure didn’t know about the Sea Org with its billion-year employment contracts, the Scientology Navy and the bizarro theology with invisible Thetans, volcanos and H-bombs. Nor had I seen the North Korea-style cult-of-personality spectacles featuring Chairman of the Board David McCavige. And I hadn’t heard about the church’s opposition to same-sex marriage.

Then come the really scary stuff. We hear from former Scientology officials who testify that they have been incarcerated in the Rehabilitation Project Force – a concentration camp on a top floor of the Scientology’s Los Angeles HQ and in what is essentially a prison camp in Florida to “re-educate” suspected heretics and backsliders. And there is testimony about the prisoners being separated from their children, who are shunted off to Cadet Org. One official offers personal testimony of his assignment to break up Nicole Kidman’s marriage to Tom Cruise and to alienate her children from her. It’s horrifying stuff. And it’s a riveting viewing experience.

Alex Gibney is one our very, very best documentarians. He won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, and he made the superb Casino Jack: The United States of Money, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer and Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God. (He can’t seem to pass up a really long movie title – but Going Clear etc., came from a book title.)

If you’re asking “How can smart, able people fall into this stuff?”, then I recommend finding a film that I reviewed at Cinequest 2015 – The Center. Upon its release, The Center should become the perfect narrative fiction companion to Going Clear.

SINATRA: ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL – as told by his wives and his kids

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SINATRA: ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL
SINATRA: ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL

Sinatra: All or Nothing At All is a solid and sometimes revelatory biopic of Frank Sinatra now playing on HBO. It’s shown in two two-hour segments. Sinatra fans should watch the whole thing. For everyone else, the middle part is especially strong – focus on the stretch from his affair and marriage to Ava Gardner through the Frank, Jr., kidnapping and the marriage to Mia Farrow.

Documentarian Alex Gibney has an unusual gift for finding the best possible source material, including coaxing interviews from the most intimate witnesses. The strength of Sinatra: All or Nothing At All comes from interviews of Sinatra’s children Tina, Nancy and Frank, Jr., along with audio of Sinatra’s first three wives – Nancy Sinatra, Ava Gardner and Mia Farrow – and girlfriend Lauren Bacall.

Gibney has another strong doc running on HBO right now: Going Clear: The Prison of Belief. He won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, and he made the excellent Casino Jack: The United States of Money, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer and Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.

Sinatra: All or Nothing At All is a pretty comprehensive biodoc, tracing the Italian immigrant parents, the humble (but not destitute) Hoboken upbringing, rocketing to pop stardom, the career fade with the Great Comeback – along with his womanizing and friendships with the Mob, the Rat Pack and JFK. There are also some tidbits that I hadn’t seen before, for example, not being able to get an US government security clearance to entertain troops in Korea because of his political associations, plus an awkward performance with Elvis in the 50s. See “Spoiler Alert” below for the movie’s take on how Sinatra got the role in From Here to Eternity that launched his comeback. And, although I lived through it, I had completely forgotten about the kidnapping of Frank, Jr.

Sinatra: All or Nothing At All is playing on HBO and is available streaming from HBO GO.

[Spoiler Alert: By the early 50s, Sinatra’s career was floundering and he was desperate for the acting role of Maggio in the upcoming From Here to Eternity. For years, there has been a legend that Sinatra called on his buddies in the Mafia to put the arm on Columbia Pictures to cast him. This tale is depicted in The Godfather with the horse’s-head-in-the-bed scene. Sinatra: All or Nothing At All persuasively debunks this story, explaining that, instead, his recent ex Ava Gardner pressured the studio filmmakers to cast Sinatra. Another appeal was that Sinatra was also a big name who worked for very cheap. This is consistent with Director Fred Zinnemann’s version .]

GOING CLEAR: THE PRISON OF BELIEF: a devastating expose

by
GOING CLEAR: THE PRISON OF BELIEF
GOING CLEAR: THE PRISON OF BELIEF

HBO is airing Going Clear: The Prison of Belief, documentarian Alex Gibney’s devastating expose of Scientology.  The indictment of Scientology as dangerous cult is stunning.  Gibney is sunshining an amazingly rich reservoir of source material: we hear from several  former Scientologists, including the former chief spokesperson, the former top deputy to the Chairman of the Board, along with former believer director Paul Haggis and the John Travolta’s original Scientology handler.

Gibney begins by tracing the journey of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard and reviewing the organization’s history.  Now I knew about the science fiction writer Hubbard, his book Dianetics and even the E-meter.  But I sure didn’t know about the Sea Org with its billion-year employment contracts, the Scientology Navy and the bizarro theology with invisible Thetans, volcanos and H-bombs.  Nor had I seen the North Korea-style cult-of-personality spectacles featuring Chairman of the Board David McCavige.  And I hadn’t heard about the church’s opposition to same-sex marriage.

Then come the really scary stuff.  We hear from former Scientology officials who testify that they have been incarcerated in the Rehabilitation Project Force –  a concentration camp on a top floor of the Scientology’s Los Angeles HQ and in what is essentially a prison camp in Florida to “re-educate” suspected heretics and backsliders.  And there is testimony about the prisoners being separated from their children, who are shunted off to Cadet Org.  One official offers personal testimony of his assignment to break up Nicole Kidman’s marriage to Tom Cruise and to alienate her children from her.  It’s horrifying stuff.  And it’s a riveting viewing experience.

Alex Gibney is one our very, very best documentarians.  He won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, and he made the superb Casino Jack: The United States of Money, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer and Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.  (He can’t seem to pass up a really long movie title – but Going Clear etc., came from a book title.)

If you’re asking “How can smart, able people fall into this stuff?”, then I recommend finding a film that I reviewed at Cinequest 2015 – The Center.  Upon its release, The Center should become the perfect narrative fiction companion to Going Clear.

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks: an inside look at an improbable scandal

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WE STEAL SECRETS

In We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, master documentarian Alex Gibney, weaves together three threads, each essential to the improbable story of WikiLeaks.  First, there is the hermit-like anarchistic hacker Julian Assange, whose narcissistic brashness could deliver personal fame, but not sustain a movement.  Then there’s the leaker Bradley Manning, a lonely misfit with one soaring talent.  Finally, there is the post-9/11 security environment, in which US government secrets are now shared between many levels of many security agencies, presuming each lowly functionary has a need to know.

Gibney brings us interviews with Manning’s immediate supervisor in the Army, his boyfriend and the confidante who turned him in.  We see footage of Assange in his hotel room before his big press conference (from another filmmaker – Assange did not cooperate with Gibney).  Gibney does introduce us to Assange’s former team members at WikiLeaks, his journalistic partners and even a Swedish woman who accused him of sexually victimizing her.  It all makes for a comprehensive inside perspective.

All three threads of the story are astounding, especially how anyone could keep Bradley Manning in the US Army and how the nation’s diplomatic and military secrets were all opened to a private at an isolated forward base in Iraq.  Gibney could have made an equally entertaining movie, if less complete, based on Assange alone; Assange is an odd duck who had his rock star moment and left a trail of relationship carnage behind, burning every single friend, colleague and well-wisher along the way.

Gibney is remarkable prolific.  After winning the 2008 Best Documentary Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, he has churned out Casino Jack and the United States of Money, Client 9: The Fall of Elliott Spitzer, Magic Trip, The Last Gladiators, Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream and Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.  It’s a body of work that is notable for its strong quality and even more astonishing productivity.

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is in theaters and is also available streaming from Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play and other VOD outlets.

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God: the blame climbs until it cannot climb higher

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In Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, documentarian Alex Gibney explores the Catholic Church’s decades-long cover-up of priest abuse from a Wisconsin parish to the top of the Vatican (and I mean the top).  The film begins with the horrifying and disgusting abuse of the most vulnerable – children at a residential Catholic school for the deaf whose devout parents cannot communicate with them through American Sign Language.

At first it seems like another story of Church leaders suppressing the truth to avoid bad publicity and lawsuits – and it is for the first few years.  But then we learn about an American bishop trying to remove a pedophile from ministry, but being thwarted by superiors across the Atlantic.  As Gibney pulls apart the onion, the focus of the story climbs the Church hierarchy.  The brilliant and prolific Gibney’s work includes Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Casino Jack and the United States of Money and the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side.

I also recommend another documentary on this difficult subject, Deliver Us From Evil, which made my top ten list for 2006.  That is the story of a serial pedophile priest moved from parish to parish in the Diocese of Stockton, California.  This has become, sadly, a familiar narrative, but what distinguishes Deliver Us From Evil is its breathtaking interviews with the pedophile himself.

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God is now playing on HBO.