Thursday, January 18, 2018

Thursday Movie Picks: Sundance Favorites


I'm not a film festival guy. In fact, I've never been to one. Maybe one day, I'll get to hang with all you snooty cinephiles at one of those things. Until then, I'll continue doing what I always do where festivals are concerned: ignore them. Yeah, I've heard of all the big ones, but if you held a gun to my head I still couldn't tell you if a movie opened at one or not, let alone which ones did well at a particular one. All of that means I was in a real quandary when it came to this week's topic for Thursday Movie Picks. Our wonderful host, Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves, decided to throw me a curve-ball. She made this week's topic Sundance Favorites. So, a brotha had to do some research. As I doing so, my desire to be different led me to a theme within the theme. And here we go...


Hoop Dreams
(1994)
Won Audience Award Documentary
It's pretty well known that lots of kids dream of being professional athletes. In this documentary we follow a pair of Chicago teens, Arthur Agee and William Gates. They're both highly touted high school basketball players, each with their own set of issues. For my money, it's easily the best sports documentary ever made and is arguably one of the best docs of any type from any era.


When We Were Kings
(1996)
Won Special Jury Recognition
Back in 1974, Muhammad Ali solidified his legendary status by defeating George Foreman in a boxing match now known as "The Rumble in the Jungle." This documentary tells the story of not only Ali's victory, but the amazing story of how the fight came to be in the first place. It's not quite Hoop Dreams, but it's still among the very best sports documentaries of all-time.


Good Hair
(2009)
Won Special Jury Prize Documentary
We step away from sports, but stay with the documentary genre. In this one, host Chris Rock talks to a multitude of African-Americans, both celebrities and regular folks. The celebs, mostly, do normal doc-style interviews. Between those, the comedian visits lots of neighborhood barbershops, hair salons, and eventually, a gigantic hair show. The topic of discussion, as the title suggest, is African-American hair. It sounds simple enough, but reveals the subject to be one of great depth and complexity.




Check out Kevin's picks for last Thursday,
Once Was Enough

20 comments:

  1. Hey! We share a pick with Hoop Dreams. Definitely one of the best documentaries ever made. I also went with a documentary-theme for my picks as well.

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  2. Hoop Dreams is so damn good. It's also the film that literally changed the nomination process for the Oscars when it comes to documentary film. If memory serves, it was Siskel and Ebert who more or less drove the train on getting that process changed, since Hoop Dreams--one of the greatest documentaries ever made and probably the best of its decade--wasn't nominated for Best Documentary Feature.

    I haven't seen Good Hair, but my wife has, and that's not a sentence I say that often, especially about a documentary. She liked it, and told me I should watch it, so I guess one of these days I should.

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    1. Hoop Dreams changed a whole lot about documentaries including the nomination process.

      I do recommend seeing Good Hair. BTW, it's also rare for my wife to have seen something I haven't.

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  3. Ooooh, this is giving me the tingles. All of these are favourites of ours, and all in our collection. So good!

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    1. Yes! They are amazing. So glad to see love for them.

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  4. Good Hair kind of floored me. I had no idea how expensive weaves were. I really liked that doc. I'm fairly sure I've seen Hoop Dreams but it's been a while. I haven't seen When We Were Kings.

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    1. Hair weave is big business in the black community. It still amazes me and I've been aware of and around it practically all my life. I highly recommend the other two. One word of caution about Hoop Dreams if you decide to go back to it, it's a pretty lengthy doc.

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  5. I can't believe I still haven't seen Hoop Dreams. It's been on my list for ages! I haven't seen the others either.

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    1. It's amazing. Actually, I think all three of these are amazing.

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  6. You know I love a theme within the theme and this is a good one!

    The only one I've seen is Hoop Dreams which deserved it universal praise.

    I've been meaning to watch When We Were Kings forever, I have a very vague memory of the actual Rumble in the Jungle match. It happened when I was a wee shaver and so obviously I didn't watch it but it was a huge deal and I do remember all the adults around me talking about it.

    I've never heard of Good Hair but if I get a chance it sounds like something that I'd be interested in.

    I'm not even going to pretend that I had clue one where to start with this. I knew through the years I'd heard scuttlebutt about this film or that being a Sundance favorite but I had no idea which they were so I had to resort to Google to find out which ones I'd seen had been acknowledged there. At least I found three that I liked!

    Silverlake Life: The View from Here (1993)-Won the Grand Jury Documentary Prize at Sundance. Mark Massi and Tom Joslin are in a long time committed relationship they have also both been diagnosed with AIDS which at the time was a death sentence. We live through their final journey with them. The film has touches of gallows humor but it is a harrowing, heartbreaking trip to an inevitable destination that will leave you emotionally bereft.

    Big Night (1996) - Won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance. Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and Secondo (Stanley Tucci-who co-wrote and co-directed this film) are immigrant brothers who operate an Italian restaurant in America. Primo is a culinary genius, but hot tempered and determined not to squander his expertise making the routine dishes that customers expect. Secondo is the smooth front-man, trying to keep the restaurant financially afloat, despite few patrons other than a poor artist who pays with his paintings. Their friendly competitor who owns a nearby enormously successful restaurant offers a solution, a special benefit lead by a big-time jazz musician who is a friend of his. Excitedly Primo begins to prepare his feast of a lifetime for the brothers' big night. Amusing comic drama with a terrific cast alongside Tucci and Shalhoub including Isabella Rossellini, Minnie Driver and Live Schreiber.

    You Can Count on Me (2000) - Won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance. Independent, responsible Sammy Prescott (Laura Linney) is a single mother working as a loan officer in upstate New York who is at first delighted when her errant, feckless brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo) shows up unexpectedly for a visit after a long period of not being in touch. When his short visit stretches into an extended stay they both slowly begin to reexamine their lives as their childhood bond strengthens anew. Beautifully acted this is one of the best looks at sibling rivalry and connection ever made.

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    1. We're in completely different places as far as The Rumble in the Jungle. I was only three when it happened. I certainly didn't watch it live, but I vividly remember all the adults talking about it like you. The difference is I was a devoted Ali fan before I reached five so I've read about it and watched it numerous times over the years and it's one of the sharpest sports memories I have.

      Good Hair is certainly worth the time. It's an eye-opening look inside a world most outside the black community have no idea of.

      I've not seen any of your picks, and I've only heard of the last one. That's a bit weird considering the names in the second one. All of them sound very interesting, particularly Silverlake Life.

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  7. I'm with you on not being a film festival guy - I actually hate the reporting out of them because these are movies we might never see or see a year or more in the future, and buy that point we've forgotten what movies had "buzz" out of whatever festival.

    But anyway, on to your picks... I LOVE that you went with all docs! Hoop Dreams is a fully justified classic, and it's the only one I've seen. Although I've heard wonderful things about the other two, which are on my list.

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    1. Exactly.

      I hope you get to see the other two, they're fantastic.

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  8. Love that you went with docs. I love Hoop Dreams and When We Were Kings. Both terrific sports movies.

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  9. I'm not into documentaries so I've not seen any of your picks, but I have heard of Hoop Dreams.

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  10. As SJHoneywell noted, Roger Ebert championed the hell out of Hoop Dreams (1994), and for good reason, it's a documentary for the ages. I put it up there with Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) as one of the most engaging documentaries of the 90s.

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  11. Hoop Dreams is magnificent. Not even a basketball fan, but what a brilliantly told story. Didn't it change the rules on Oscar voting? Have you seen Prefontaine? Made by the same filmmakers.

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