I have low tolerance for self indulgent artsyness and Tarkovsky films look superficially like they might be in this category, which is a shame because, as Tony the Tiger might say, they’re great. Nothing comes as close to a moving painting as a Tarkovsky film.
Here is a documentary where the director recounts his life and work.
Total time: approx. 50 mins.
Jonny Kennedy lived 4 decades with a dreadful illness that causes unimaginable pain, before contracting terminal cancer. But he was not scared or bitter. For him this mortal coil was a burden that once lifted by death would set him free for an afterlife which would be wonderful.
Kennedy agreed to make a documentary of his last months, which is a groundbreaking for several reasons. It deals with a profound issue head on, with humor and insight and with neither clawing sentimentality nor morbid voyeurism. The success of the film is principally the result of the endearing personality of Kennedy, who narrates the path leading up to his own death as if he is speaking from the grave.
The moment when he briefly lets his guard down is one of the most emotionally powerful pieces of television I have ever seen. Jonny Kennedy lived a life to remember and left a film to help do just that.
There should be plenty of things to watch about Darwin this year, as we mark 200 years since his birth, and 50 since the law (in the traditional sense) of Evolution by Natural Selection was first presented.
This is the first in a 3 part series, presented by Dawkins, with the following parts being shown on Channel 4 in the UK, next, and the following Monday.
Running time: 48 mins.
Jon Ronson’s Documentary about Kubrick. What the hell is he talking about at the start?
If an artist painted each picture she did in a different style, we would think her a fraud, or at least derivative. One way of showing you meant something and to demonstrate a style is to repeat it. A single Jackson Pollock might have looked accidental and wouldn’t have made a splash, as it were.
Kubrick set out to create definitive films in different genres and with different styles (Sci Fi: 2001, Horror: The Shining, War: Full Metal Jacket, Epic: Spartacus). Astoundingly, he pulled it off.
A touching documentary about Ian Shaw, whose daughter died on the Swiss Air flight 111 from New York to Geneva in 1998. Shaw, a very successful Geneva business man, moved on his own to the site of the crash in Novia Scotia, where he bought a diner.
My wife, who is from near Geneva, had a friend who died on this flight, on his way home after a year traveling.
A refreshingly candid and fascinating view into what its like to be born rich, most specifically, to be born rich in America.
1 hr 7 min 49 sec Oct 25, 2006
“Born Rich”
bbc
59 min 54 sec Mar 1, 2008 myspace.com
I’ll just repeat what I said about MacGowan in the Nick Cave post:
“The Pogues front man, although Irish, is a once preppy schoolboy from one of the most exclusive private schools in England, who created a fake persona of an Irish drunk, in the name of authenticity – to the point where it actually became real. MacGowan is, no doubt, both a genuinely troubled genius and self-indulgent, racist, self-parody of an Irishman.”
And that’s about someone I really like.
On the one hand, I have always liked Nick Cave, as one of the more cerebral pop stars, on the other I can’t help thinking that he fits the mould of self inflicted misery that is ultimately a pose.
In broad strokes, but not in the details, Nick Cave shares something with Shane MacGowan. The Pogues front man, although Irish, is a once preppy schoolboy from one of the most exclusive private schools in England, who created a fake persona of an Irish drunk, in the name of authenticity – to the point where it actually became real. MacGowan is, no doubt, both a genuinely troubled genius and self-indulgent, racist, self-parody of an Irishman. Cave’s heroin raddled persona, epitomized by his cameo as the bohemian Berlin singer in Wings of Desire is similarly caught between gritty realism and pretentious poncery. I’m not sure which is real, but the music is nonetheless decent, proving, ironically, that neither image nor integrity is everything.
47 min 32 sec Feb 19, 2008
A Smashing viewer suggested this great documentary about seminal electronic music composer, Tristram Cary.
Cary was involved in the design of a pre-Moog synth, created the distinctive Hammer House of Horror sound and composed music running the gamut of the UK film and TV industry from Ealing Comedies to Dr Who.
When Evel Knievel died last year it felt like Elvis had died, finally. Knievel wore the same satin flared outfits as late period, paunched and side-burned Presley.
He was representative of a peculiarly American Maverick adventurer culture that I remember from childhood, where conservatives like John Wayne seemed cool to us would-be liberals. Unfortunately these True Grit types have been passed away leaving the anemic, conservative, cultural window-dressing of Pottery Barn, McMansions and Evangelical Christianity.
The documentary is presented by Richard Hammond from Top Gear, a program which is being brought from the UK to the US, largely as a result of its cult following via YouTube. 48 hours before the film crew arrived Evel had a stroke, he died 4 months after filming and the program was aired afterwards. Like Top Gear, the film is interesting even if you are not remotely interested in things like cars or motorbikes, only its a tad more cerebral.
BBC
58 min 57 sec Dec 26, 2007