Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher (2005)

Director:

David Di Sabatino

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Review:

Lonnie Frisbee was a young hippie seeker fully immersed in the 1960s counter culture when he claimed to have experienced an encounter with God while on an acid trip. This event so transformed him that Lonnie became an itinerant Christian evangelist, something of a John the Baptist of Southern California who compelled thousands of fellow spiritual seekers to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. During the 1970s Lonnie Frisbee became widely known as California's "hippie preacher," the quintessential "Jesus freak" whose pictures frequented such magazines as Time and Life as the media told the story of a burgeoning "Jesus movement." Lonnie Frisbee provided the charismatic spark that launched the Calvary Chapel church into a worldwide ministry and propelled many fledgling leaders into some of the most powerful movers and shakers of the evangelical movement. During the 1980s Lonnie was at the center of the "signs and wonders" movement.

Tattooed Tears (1979)

Director:

Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill

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Review:

Before he became an onscreen documentary provocateur, Nick Broomfield got his start with this made for PBS look at life in the California Youth Authority. It was quite a coup for Broomfield to get access to the Authority, and this remains an extremely powerful, disturbing, and moving document. Focusing on a handful of incarcerated youngsters, including kids in jail for glue sniffing and B.B. gun use, the film is a raw depiction of a dehumanizing penal system that crushes the hopes and dreams of at risk teenagers.

The Beales of Grey Gardens (2006)

Director:

Albert Maysles and David Maysles

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Review:

Mother and daughter - Big Edie and Little Edie Beale - live with six cats in a crumbling house in East Hampton. Little Edie, in her 50s, who wears scarves and bright colors, sings, mugs for the camera, and talks to Al and David Maysles, the filmmakers. Big Edie, in her 70s, recites poetry, comments on her daughter's behavior, and sings "If I Loved You" in fine voice. She talks in short sentences; her daughter in volumes. Utilizing hours of unseen archival footage, The Beales is a new take on the women of Grey Gardens.

A Brief History of Errol Morris (2000)

Director:

Kevin Macdonald

IMDB

Review:

What to say about Errol Morris? Man with vision, genius and a briliant director. All of his documentaries are  eyecatching and with a stunning stories. Unfortunately this is a vhs rip from an Israeli television broadcast with hebrew subs hardcoded and the sound's a little out of sync, but it's still perfectly watchable and since most of the sound is in voiceover it shouldn't bother you too much. This is as rare as it gets so make sure you get your "copy". My recomendation.

Absolut Warhola (2001)

Director:

Stanislaw Mucha

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Review:

Absolute Warhola is a wry but affectionate look at the village in Slovakia where Andy Warhol's parents were born and which proudly claims the artist as its native son. This is not a purist's documentary. The seasons shift inexplicably. The pace feels a bit aimless. It contains no useful information about Warhol nor his work. Instead of cinematic orthodoxy, however, Absolut Warhola offers the quirky poignancy of a documentary on the Cargo Cult, combined with a bizarre juxtaposition that perhaps would be found in a Lawrence Welk special on Abstract Expressionism. The filmmakers visit Warhol's cousin who recalls, at one point, how Andy sent them a pack of drawings and paintings which they didn't much care for, so they rolled some up to use as paper cones and pitched the others into the water after the house was flooded. The curator of the Warhola Museum explains how he chose the works to be included in the collection primarily on the basis of their relevance to the local community: cows, butterflies, Lenin, and Ingrid Bergman as a nun. The touching absurdity of his discourse is rivaled only by David St. Hubbins' explanation in Spinal Tap as to why the amplifier whose dial goes up to eleven is better than the ones that only go to ten. Absolut Warhola may not be a textbook work of documentary filmmaking, but it presents a consistent vision of people whose lives under the shadow of Chernobyl are somehow brightened by the memory of a man they never knew nor remotely understood.

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within (2010)

Director:

Yony Leyser

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Review:

William S. Burroughs: featuring never before seen footage as well as exclusive interviews with his closest friends and colleagues. Born the heir of the Burroughs' adding machine estate, he struggled throughout his life with addiction, control systems, and self. He was forced to deal with the tragedy of killing his wife and the repercussions of neglecting his son. His novel, Naked Lunch, was one of the last books to be banned by the U.S. government. Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer testified on behalf of the book. The courts eventually overturned their decision in 1966, ruling that the book had an important social value. It remains one of the most recognized literary works of the 20th century. William Burroughs was one of the first to cross the dangerous boundaries of queer and drug culture in the 1950s, and write about his experiences. Eventually he was hailed the godfather of the beat generation and influenced artists for generations to come. However, his friends were left wondering, did William ever find happiness? This extremely personal documentary breaks the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest authors of all time. "William S. Burroughs: A Man Within" is the first and only posthumous documentary about this legendary figure.

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)

Director:

Benjamin Christensen

IMDB

Review:

Based partly on Christensen's study of the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th century German guide for inquisitors, Häxan is a study of how superstition and the misunderstanding of diseases and mental illness could lead to the hysteria of the witch-hunts.The film was made as a documentary but contains dramatized sequences that are comparable to horror films. With Christensen's meticulous recreation of medieval scenes and the lengthy production period, the film was the most expensive Scandinavian silent film ever made, costing nearly two million Swedish krona.Although it won acclaim in Denmark and Sweden, the film was banned in the United States and heavily censored in other countries for what were considered at that time graphic depictions of torture, nudity, and sexual perversion.

Python Night: 30 Years of Monty Python (1999)

Director:

Terry Jones and Elaine Shepherd

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Review:

A BBC 30th anniversary commemoration of the debut of Monty Python's “Flying Circus” with a treasure trove of new sketches performed by the Pythons (minus spoilsport Eric Idle, and, of course, ex-Python Graham Chapman); new interviews with all the surviving members; classic clips; and recently discovered and rarely seen Python material unearthed from the BBC archives. “It's... the Monty Python Story”, is a sketchy history, recalling the highs (the first two seasons of the groundbreaking TV series and The Life of Brian) and the lows (the death of Chapman, who in a poignant clip from his memorial service is eulogized by John Cleese as a "freeloading bastard"). The disk includes a long-lost 10-minute film Monty Python created for the 1971 Pan-European May Day Festival. Michael Palin spoofs his travel shows by giving viewers a tour of "Pythonland." He revisits the actual locations where such classic Python sketches as the Ministry of Silly Walks and the Fish Slapping Dance were filmed. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone offer an animated tribute (the Dead Kenny sketch), while Meatloaf goes behind the music to reveal the inspiration behind the Python's most memorable songs.

A Film Unfinished (2010)

Director:

Yael Hersonski

IMDB

Review:

Yael Hersonski's powerful documentary achieves a remarkable feat through its penetrating look at another film-the now-infamous Nazi-produced film about the Warsaw Ghetto. Discovered after the war, the unfinished work, with no soundtrack, quickly became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record, despite its elaborate propagandistic construction. The later discovery of a long-missing reel complicated earlier readings, showing the manipulations of camera crews in these "everyday" scenes. Well-heeled Jews attending elegant dinners and theatricals (while callously stepping over the dead bodies of compatriots) now appeared as unwilling, but complicit, actors, alternately fearful and in denial of their looming fate.

Chevolution (2008)

Director:

Luis Lopez and Trisha Ziff

IMDB

Review:

ocumakers Trisha Ziff and Luis Lopez begin with an intriguing premise: Trace the history of the most frequently reproduced image of the 20th century, Korda's famous photograph of Che Guevara. "Chevolution" covers every conceivable aspect of the photo: its subject, its creator (a fashion photog turned revolutionary shutterbug), its initial obscurity, its explosion on the '60s politico-cultural scene and its final commodification, as capitalism co-opted the image to peddle everything from T-shirts to vodka. Offering multiple viewpoints on the mass phenomenon, docu seems tailor-made for Netflix distrib Red Envelope Entertainment. Steven Soderbergh's Cannes-premiered "Che" could add fuel to the fire.  Filmmakers manage to recap Guevara's short life succinctly and nonjudgmentally. Photographer Alberto "Korda" Diaz emerges as less fully fleshed out, though filmmakers interview several associates who recall the man and his work. But, as the title suggests, it is the evolution of one specific image the film addresses. But why this image, so replete with Mona Lisa-like ambiguity? What does it imply?  Diaz's iconic photo of Che in a beret staring (sadly? adamantly? pensively?) slightly off to the left of the frame, titled "Guerillero Heroico," was snapped during a mass funeral for those killed in a suspicious explosion at Havana harbor. Passed over for publication in the periodical Revolucion, the informally captured photo remained pinned up in Diaz's studio until a left-wing Italian entrepreneur turned it into an instantly recognizable worldwide symbol of '60s political ferment.  Cuba did not recognize copyright law until relatively recently, but Diaz initially had no objection to the unpaid proliferation of his work -- whether repurposed by artists (in the age of Warhol, such raw material proved irresistible) or used to adorn placards -- until corporations appropriated it to sell their products.  Filmmakers then examine what the photo became: Do those who wear images of Guevara on their shirts and bikini bottoms know who he was? The man-on-the-street answers are as generally amusing as they are potentially disturbing (most of "Chevolution" was shot in the U.S., though co-helmers Ziff and Lopez are Mexico-based).