January 14. 2010Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010) ***1/2Directed by Ricki Stern & Anne SundbergMy tweet:Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010)- Nothing too novel, but Rivers is a fascinating genius/circus freak. Smart film making. ***1/2 out of 5Other thoughts:I love the title of Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. Here's a woman who can laugh at herself, all while taking her image and legacy way too seriously. At almost 80 years old, Rivers works herself to the bone because she equates work with acceptance and validation. Insecurity has never been this funny, I assure you. It's the irony at play between profound self-loathing and comedy genius that makes a documentary about Joan Rivers ! so fascinating. With each B-level project Rivers does (Celebrity Apprentice, a one woman stage show in London met with mixed reviews, playing small comedy clubs in parts of the country easily offended by her extreme vulgarity and political incorrectness, a documentary about her life called Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work which she couldn't have known would be as well received as it has been), she seems to do damage to her legacy, which, if she doesn't destroy it completely before she dies, is as a trailblazer for women in comedy. Rivers never quite lets down her guard completely on camera, but we get the sense that she probably doesn't really let her guard down with anyone anyway. She hides her anxieties behind a paradoxically anxious style of joke telling, at which she's so damn good! Rivers is the real deal when it comes to talent, which makes her alarming need for constant public exposure and approval so lamentable. Also take into account the plastic surgery that's alluded ! to in the title of this film, and we're left with a person we ! shouldn' t love. Yet, we do come to love and respect Joan Rivers by the end because of her singular comic acumen. Stern & Sundberg's film making doesn't really do anything we haven't seen done before just as well in many other biographical documentaries, but they deserve a lot of credit for having the insight to choose the subject of their documentary so perfectly. Rivers is a piece of work indeed, and, like both a sophisticated virtuoso and a carnival freak, it's impossible to look away.
Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suss (2010) ****Directed by Felix MoellerMy tweet:Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suss (2010)- Fascinating doc about a family's Nazi filmmaker patriarch & shame of Nazi! descendants. **** of 5Other thoughts:Thank goodness I was born into a respectable family. Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suss is not just about an unbelievably talented filmmaker who made a handful of brutally racist Nazi propaganda films in Germany, but it's also an examination of the innocent children, step-children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren that had the misfortune of being born into a family with the stench of sin corroding the blood running through their veins. Director Felix Moeller certainly could have made a straightforward documentary about Viet Harlan and the specific legacy of the deplorably anti-Semitic film Jew Suss, but instead he ambitiously broadens the scope of his exploration to include reactions of Harlan's kin, making this a fascinating glimpse into the many Germans still living today who come from families of former Nazis and Nazi sympathizers. I bet Germany can't wait for the day when the Holocaust becomes ancient history. It'll take at least an! other century or two before that will even begin to reach frui! tion. Un til then, the country simply has to keep its head down and keep plugging ahead, much like the descendants of Viet Harlan. It's fascinating to see the many varying ways the interviewees have chosen to balance condemnation of Harlan's legacy with familial loyalty. Some choose to rationalize Harlan's decisions and outputs, while others coldly condemn him and anyone else in their family even willing to give the man an inch. Of course, most of the dozen or so Harlan relatives, especially the youngest of those interviewed, fall somewhere in between these two extremes, though always with a clear response to the questions posed by the off screen interviewer. Every word uttered shows an internal struggle that's clearly been given a great deal of thought and energy. Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suss isn't just a documentary that history or film buffs will enjoy. It's a movie that asks a very challenging question of us all--how much of what happened before we are born are we responsibl! e? Answering, "nothing," is profoundly naive.
Casino Jack and the United States of Money (2010) ***Directed by Alex GibneyMy tweet:Casino Jack and the United States of Money (2010)- First half is clear and the overall scope is impressive, but this doc is scattered. ***/5Other thoughts:Conservative super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff is the epitome of the type of arrogance that's way too rampant within conservative politics particularly. Liberals believe in personal freedoms; in general, though, they believe that the government needs to be a source of checks and balances so that capitalism doesn't completely leave the poor and middle class without a net. Conservatives in ge! neral sort of believe in certain government regulations, thoug! h always as a necessary evil. Capitalist liberals don't seen capitalism as the enemy; conservatives too often see the government as a cancer. It's this kind of stuck in the trenches logic that makes militant libertarians convinced that they must do whatever is necessary to fight for freedoms. At one point in this documentary, the fact that Abramoff was the president of the College Republicans is showcased. Perhaps his biggest problem is that he never got over the jejune arrogance that plagues all college students. Gibney's slightly unfocused examination of deceits and manipulations that ultimately lands Abramoff in jail paints a disturbing portrait of a group of men waging a chaotic war on the political left, turning into a slippery slope of injustice with a great deal of casualties exploited because of their financial desperation. Considering that many of the victims of Abramoff and friends have darker skin than they do says something quite loudly about they way they look at the di! gnity of the human person. Casino Jack and the United States of Money lays out Abramoff's history well until we get to his trial and conviction. Gibney assumes the audience already knows the ultimate outcome inside and out, and therefore, those of us who really aren't all that familiar with the guy are left frustrated that a riveting tale is left unfinished. Overall, though, this man is a living cautionary tale of the type of behavior that results when arrogance is mixed with unprecidented political power, especially for those who hold no elected office. As such, Casino Jack and the United States of Money is an indispensable movie.
Waking Sleeping Beauty (2010) ***1/2Directed by Don HahnMy tweet! :Waking Sleeping Beauty (2010)- Turns into gossipy tale of ego! s, but w ithin, there's fascinating history of Disney's renaissance. ***1/2 of 5Other thoughts:Not until Pixar in the 2000s would animation see such a string of critical and box office successes in a row like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. These films mark a revival of the virtually dead animation department of Disney studios after the massive disaster of The Black Cauldron and the relative disappointments of The Great Mouse Detective and Oliver and Company. It took Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis collaborating with Disney to make the wonderful movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? to begin to salvage the greatest studio reputation in the history of the animated film. By the time The Lion King was released, having the moniker of being a Disney animated film became the most profitable thing in all entertainment when one considers merchandising on top of unprecedented box office successes. It took some truly audacious and talented men to carry Disney! out of the muck of stagnation into the unsteady and risky world of progress. These men were not only brilliant, but they had egos the size of Alice down the rabbit hole. Waking Sleeping Beauty is a documentary about this great revival of animated films in the late 80s and early 90s, giving as much time to the cattiness of three megalomaniacs as it does to behind the scenes insight into a handful of cinematic masterpieces. The history behind The Little Mermaid especially is really riveting stuff, ending ultimately in the death of musician Howard Menken to AIDS shortly before Beauty and the Beast premiered. It's this type of film history that I crave, and Waking Sleeping Beauty does it well...that is, when it does it at all. Sadly, too often we're subjected to tabloid gossip and conjecture about Jeffrey Katzenberg, Michael Eisner and Roy Disney. All the walls came tumbling down with the notorious resignation of Katzenberg, resulting in business gossip that arguably hasn't be! en matched since. Sure, their ultimate interpersonal collapse ! amid stu dio successes is well told, but as subject matter, it's of a much lesser quality than the timeless classics from that period of Disney cinema. The pettiness and insecurities of a few rich, spoiled executives will be a footnote in history someday soon. The movies they were responsible for will continue to be loved as long as there are children somewhere on this planet. That's where the real story lies.
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