Detropia

Movies to See Right Now

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Brit Marling in THE EAST

Best bets in theaters this weekend:

  • 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.
  • Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley’s brilliant documentary about discovering her family’s secrets; unfortunately, Stories We Tell is going to be hard to find in theaters this week, but well worth the trouble.
  • The absorbing and thought-provoking eco-terrorism thriller The East.
  • The Iceman is a solid true-life crime movie with an outstanding performance by Michael Shannon.
  • Mud, the gripping and thoughtful story of two Arkansas boys embarking on a secret adventure with a man hiding from the authorities – learning more than they expected about love and loyalty. Mud is also one of the best movies of 2013.
  • 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.

Before Midnight, Stories We Tell and Mud are on my Best Movies of 2013 – So Far .

I like the unsentimental Western Dead Man’s Burden, available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, Vudu and other VOD outlets.  Other good choices on VOD: 

PBS’ American Masters series is showing an endearing and insightful documentary Mel Brooks: Make a Noise.  PBS is also broadcasting the unexpectedly beautiful documentary Detropia, about the city of Detroit’s collapse and decay.

Also out right now in theaters:

    • Fast & Furious 6 has exciting chases, a silly story, a smoldering Michelle Rodriguez and a hard ass Gina Carano.
    • HBO’s Behind the Candelabra is familiar territory but entertaining, with Michael Douglas’ all-out re-creation of Liberace.
    • Kon-Tiki is a faithful, but underwhelming account of a true life 5,000 mile raft trip across the Pacific.
    • Don’t bother with Baz Luhrman’s flashy, hollow and lame The Great Gatsby. Re-read the Fitzgerald novel instead – it’s only 192 pages.

I haven’t yet seen the contemporary Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing, which opens this weekend.  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 zombie romantic comedy Warm Bodies.  Warm Bodies is available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and other VOD outlets.

Tonight Turner Classic Movies brings on Czar of Noir Eddie Muller to present films from the novels of David Goodis: The Burglar, The Burglars, The Unfaithful, Shoot the Piano Player and Nightfall.  (You may have seen Goodis’ Dark Passage with Bogie and Bacall.)

Movies to See Right Now

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Elisha Cook Jr. finds out that Humphrey Bogart is on to him in the 1941 version of THE MALTESE FALCON

There are two Must See movies in theaters this weekend:

  • 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.
  • Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley’s brilliant documentary about discovering her family’s secrets; unfortunately, Stories We Tell is going to be hard to find in theaters this week, but well worth the trouble.

Both films are on my Best Movies of 2013 – So Far .

The absorbing and thought-provoking eco-terrorism thriller The East is also opening today.

The other best bets in theaters include:

  • The Iceman is a solid true-life crime movie with an outstanding performance by Michael Shannon.
  • Mud, the gripping and thoughtful story of two Arkansas boys embarking on a secret adventure with a man hiding from the authorities – learning more than they expected about love and loyalty. Mud is also one of the best movies of 2013.

Also out right now:

  • HBO’s Behind the Candelabra is familar territory but entertaining, with Michael Douglas’ all-out re-creation of Liberace.
  • Kon-Tiki is a faithful, but underwhelming account of a true life 5,000 mile raft trip across the Pacific.
  • Don’t bother with Baz Luhrman’s flashy, hollow and lame The Great Gatsby.  Re-read the Fitzgerald novel instead – it’s only 192 pages.

The compelling documentary The Central Park Five from Ken Burns, et al, is available streaming from Amazon Instant and other VOD providers. Also available on VOD, Greetings from Tim Buckley is a film for those who want to see an actor depict interior conflict with very little external action. PBS is broadcasting the unexpectedly beautiful documentary Detropia, about the city of Detroit’s collapse and decay.

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 mobster showcase for Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin, Stand Up Guys.  Stand Up Guys is available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming from Vudu, Amazon and several other VOD outlets.

Tonight Turner Classic Movies kicks off its June film noir festival with guest host Eddie Muller (the Czar of Noir) presenting films from the novels of Dashiell Hammett: the 1931 and more famous 1941 versions of The Maltese Falcon, plus the 1936 version (Satan Met a Lady) and The Glass Key.

On June 11, TCM features two of the nastiest noirs:  Detour and The Hitchhiker.

Also, on June 9, TCM is broadcasting the award winning Crumb, the 1994 documentary about counterculture cartoonist Robert Crumb and his bizarrely dysfunctional family.

Detropia: urban plight

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DETROPIA

Detropia, the absorbing documentary about the plight of contemporary Detroit, will be broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens beginning May 27.  Detropia tells a compelling story in an unexpected and effective way.

Before watching the film, I knew that Detroit has lost half of its population and was not surprised to learn of its 30-50% unemployment.  But I didn’t expect the blocks and blocks of abandoned homes and businesses and the streets with no traffic.  Detropia’s Detroit looks like New Orleans after Katrina or San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake.  Essentially, there’s been an economic tsunami here.  I was astonished to see city leaders seriously considering the demolition of large parts of the city and the relocation of residents into more efficient and more cohesive concentrated neighborhoods.

How did this happen?  And what can be done?  There’s no agenda by the filmmakers – other than keen-eyed observation.  The filmmakers give a voice to three sets of local witnesses who tell the city’s story.  And there’s an interesting and unexpected choice to feature the city’s opera.

Most surprising, despite being a movie about urban decay, Detropia is still a visually arresting and often colorful and beautiful film.  And, despite the hopelessness of Detroit’s situation, the perspective of the local witnesses keeps Detropia from becoming depressing.

The filmmakers, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp, 12th & Delaware), deserve recognition for making Detropia so compelling without it becoming a screed.  Indeed, Detropia is a Sundance award winner.