Documentary

Escapes

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  • Title: Escapes
  • IMDb: link

Escapes movie review

Escapes in an unconventional look at the life and career of actor/screenwriter/director Hampton Fancher most famous for his screenplays for Blade Runner and its recent sequel Blade Runner 2049. Director Michael Almereyda‘s take on his subject, focusing on a few key stories inter-cut with various film and television clips, archival footage, comic book panels, and stills, meanders a bit at times but succeeds in its main goal of informing its audience about Fancher’s career and key moments and relationships in his life.

Jumping around a bit, opening with an extended sequence focused on Fancher’s days as a struggling actor during his relationship to Teri Garr, the film is very much conversational (albeit one way) in style allowing the man to share specific memories from his life. Those looking for an in-depth analysis of acting, screenwriting, or filmmaking are likely to be disappointed. However, those curious to learn more about the man who helped create one of the most famous science fiction films of the 20th Century will no doubt get their money’s worth.

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For the Love of Spock

/ / Home Video
  • Title: For the Love of Spock
  • IMDb: link

For Love of Spock DVD reviewBegun before his father’s death as part of Star Trek‘s 50th Anniversary, Adam Nimoy takes a look at Leonard Nimoy‘s life and career, most notably his role as Spock. Including interviews from a wide swath of new and classic Trek actors, Nimoy interviews William Shatner, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, and Zoe Saldana, along with famous fans of Star Trek including Jim Parsons, Jason Alexander, and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Although it doesn’t go into much depth about Nimoy’s life or his career, there are some nice anecdotes here and some fun classic stills and footage from his early career. Fans of Star Trek should enjoy themselves.

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13th

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  • Title: 13th
  • IMDb: link

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

13th movie reviewTaking its name from the 13th Amendment, the documentary from writer/director Ava DuVernay examines the role race plays in the criminal justice system of the United States and how it is used to continue the subjugation of African Americans following the end of slavery. DuVernay makes a compelling case with his film, documenting the racial inequality within the United States with statistics and facts while examining the self-enforcing logistics of the problem.

Connecting Jim Crow laws with higher arrests and convictions of African Americans, DuVernay attacks the system which was designed to continue to view those with a darker skin color as worth only three-fifths of a white man. Along the way he also touches on Southern propaganda and political maneuverings which turned racism into a war on crime.

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Gleason

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Gleason
  • IMDb: link

Gleason DVD reviewOriginally intended as a video diary for Steve Gleason‘s unborn son, director Clay Tweel takes audiences along for the ride on the heart-wrenching journey of Gleason’s slow decline after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Going from a local football hero who helped rejuvenate the New Orleans Saints football team in the season following Hurricane Katrina to a man fighting to speak, move, and even breathe on his own is often difficult to watch. Refusing to give in, Gleason and his wife Michel continue to fight the incurable degenerative disease every step of the way including forming their own foundation to support others in need.

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Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World

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  • Title: Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
  • IMDb: link

Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected WorldWerner Herzog‘s new documentary takes viewers on a journey through the Internet. With stops as its birthplace and interviews with creators and early users, Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World also examines current uses for the tool in robotics and automobiles as well as the voyeuristic and bullying aspects fed by the anonymity of its users (in one of the documentary’s most emotional interviews).

The journey also makes a stop in Green Bank, West Virginia where all transmissions are restricted by the law and at a hospital for Internet addiction. Looking further the film also discusses solar flares, hackers and internet security, dreams, missions to Mars, and the possibility of artificial intelligence. While not as cohesive as I’d like at times, nonetheless Herzog delivers a fascinating historical journey on the Internet and how it has affected humanity, for both good and ill, since its creation. Like it or not, it’s firmly woven into our daily life, and Herzog pulls up the rug to show both its more troubling aspects as well as where it might lead us in the future.

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