Call Me Lucky (Bobcat
Goldthwait, 2015, USA, 106 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
Bobcat
Goldthwait’s documentary begins as a lightweight (and perhaps overly fawning)
tribute to his stand-up comedy mentor Barry Crimmins, but gradually works its
way toward far darker and more compelling material regarding the sexual abuse
that Crimmins suffered as a child. The comedian first revealed his traumatic
past to friends and fans alike during what was presumably a very intense show,
and later became an outspoken crusader against childhood pornography. B-
Cartel Land (Matthew
Heineman, 2015, USA, 100 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
Matthew
Heineman’s riveting look at vigilante groups fighting against Mexican drug
cartels often feels more like a high-octane action feature than it does a
documentary. The director (who served as his own cinematographer) was often
present when bullets were flying and hostages were being taken, and he managed
to capture most of his footage with camerawork that feels remarkably composed
considering the difficult conditions that he was working in. This is one of the
most cinematic documentaries in recent memory, but some tightening up in the
editing room could have improved it as both a film and a piece of reportage.
The material about the Autodefensas, a group of Mexican citizens raging against
the notorious Knights Templar gang, is vastly more engaging than the sections
concerning a crackpot Arizona paramilitary group who seem more concerned with
preventing illegal immigrants from entering the United States than they do with
keeping drugs off the street, but Heineman awkwardly crosscuts between the two
frequently as if to suggest that their efforts are somehow equivalent. B
The Club (Pablo Larrain,
2015, Chile, 98 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
This
lacerating yet wryly funny indictment of the Catholic Church concerns a group
of disgraced priests whose cushy banishment on a beach house is disrupted when
a man badly damaged by the years of sexual abuse he suffered as an altar boy
arrives looking for answers, and inadvertently incites a violent event. The
church sends a crisis counselor to investigate the incident, leading to a
variety of revelations that would be a shame to spoil here. Co-writer/director
Pablo Larrain doesn’t shy away from the brutality of the film’s subject matter,
but takes an admirably nuanced and measured approach that prevents this from
feeling like a simplistic angry screed. The superb ensemble cast ensures that
the priests feel like real people rather than broad caricatures, which makes it
all the more effective that Larrain refuses to let them off the hook. A
Embrace of the
Serpent
(Ciro Guerra, 2015, Colombia/Venezuela/Argentina, 125 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
Ciro
Guerra’s visionary epic rivals Aguirre:
The Wrath of God (1972) as a viscerally authentic depiction of dangerous
jungle landscapes as it follows an Amazonian shaman’s experiences guiding
European scientists searching for a legendary healing plant. The film threatens
to go off the rails during an over-the-top sequence where the heroes are
kidnapped by a false prophet, but is otherwise a thoroughly convincing and
thoughtful look at the destructive effects of colonialism on South America.
David Gallego’s black and white cinematography is consistently mind-blowing. B+
The Look of
Silence
(Joshua Oppenheimer, 2014, Denmark/Indonesia, 103 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
The
companion piece to the remarkable 2012 documentary The Act of Killing approaches the 1960s Indonesian genocide from
the perspective of an optometrist whose brother was one of the victims. The
eye doctor visits some of the high-ranking perpetrators (many of whom are still
in positions of power) under the guise of giving them medical help, but
gradually confronts them about their roles in the purging, and the various
responses to his interrogations are psychologically fascinating and often
intense. As in his previous film, director Joshua Oppenheimer exposes an entire
nation still traumatized by and unable to process their brutal history. While
the film lacks the audacious premise or the unforgettable ending of its
predecessor, it has a similarly disquieting power. A-
The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman,
1957, Sweden, 96 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically Third Viewing
The Seventh Seal is such a revered
classic of highbrow world cinema that it’s easy to forget how witty and light
on its feet it is. Max von Sydow’s knight is a typical Ingmar Bergman hero in
that he is tediously obsessed with “the silence of God,” but the broad existential
struggles explored here are fully justified due to the fact that the man knows
that he’s dying, and is in fact engaged in a protracted literal chess match
with the Grim Reaper (Bengt Ekerot) that will seal his fate once and for all.
Though Sydow is ostensibly the protagonist, comic relief characters such as his
sarcastic squire (Gunnar Bjornstrand) and a goofy actor (Nils Poppe) who they
encounter on their journey are positioned as the audience identification
figures, which greatly softens Bergman’s usual sledgehammer approach and makes
this film far more palatable than much of his other work. Despite its wryly
comic tone, this is by no means a frivolous film, and its depictions of the
ravages of the Black Plague remain chilling. A-
Theeb (Naji Abu Nowar,
2014, United Arab Emirates, 100 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
The
world’s first Bedouin Western follows a young boy (Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat) who is
forced to grow up fast when he is charged with leading a WWI British soldier
(Jack Fox) to a secret desert location. Things fall apart quickly as members of
their party are killed by members of a rival clan and the survivors have to
struggle both to avoid capture and to find drinkable water. The brutality of
the film’s desert setting never feels less than authentic, which makes the lead
character’s struggle absolutely gripping. B+
Theory of
Obscurity: A Film About The Residents (Don Hardy Jr., 2015, USA, 87 min.)
Viewed Theatrically First Viewing
This
frivolous documentary about legendary avant-garde collective The Residents
feels more like a DVD bonus feature than something that belongs in theaters.
The group’s continuing dedication to anonymity prevents the talking heads
footage from revealing any new insights to longtime fans, and too much of the
performance footage was culled from what appears to have been a relatively
mundane recent tour. Still, the group’s aesthetic is colorful enough that the
fleeting glimpses of their pioneering music videos and bizarre TV appearances
could convert some adventurous music fans to their cause. C
We Come as Friends (Hubert Sauper,
2014, France, 110 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
Hubert
Sauper’s disturbing documentary about the chaos in modern Sudan and the
outsiders who attempt to profit from the nation’s natural resources features an
impressive amount of provocative, unforgettable imagery. Unfortunately Sauper
seems more interested in simply outraging the viewer with distressing images of
political turbulence and abject poverty than he does in actually understanding
the Sudanese crisis or offering solutions. The film is undeniably disquieting
and striking, but it never comes close to feeling edifying. C+
Welcome to Leith (Michael Beach
Nichols & Christopher K Walker, 2015, USA, 85 min.)
Viewed
Theatrically First Viewing
Leith,
North Dakota is one of the smallest towns in the United States, with a
population of 24. In 2012 a white supremacist named Craig Cobb began buying up
land in the town with plans to move in like-minded people and overthrow the
tiny local government. This documentary follows the efforts of the townspeople
to prevent their home from becoming a base of operations for extremists. Directors Michael Beach
Nichols and Christopher K Walker don’t do anything cinematically flashy or
innovative here, but the story is so bizarre and fascinating, and the copious
footage of Cobb’s contentious interactions with his neighbors is so
consistently intense, that aesthetics almost seem beside the point. B+
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