Quick take

December 5, 2019 By Emilio Leave a Comment

The Report Quicktake

The Report written and directed by Scott Z. Burns
Rating *****

A few years ago the film Spotlight won an Oscar for best picture. I put this film in the same league as that picture. Both films cover investigations into wrongdoing. In the case of The Report, the wrongdoing is state sponsored torture by our own CIA.

While Spotlight involved a team of investigative journalists, this story has one determined individual undergoing the investigation. Working for Senator Dianne Feinstein, played by Annette Bening, Daniel Jones, played by Adam Driver, spends five years going through millions of pages of documents to uncover the truth of both the torture and the attempts to cover up the actions of the CIA.

I can remember at the time the claims by the Bush/Cheney administration that the enhanced interrogation of detainees resulted in actionable intelligence. The claims were false.

This film shows that a good story and acting can beat any super hero movie. Adam Driver gives an Oscar worthy performance. I would also nominate the script.

You can stream The Report right now on Amazon Prime.

August 22, 2019 By Emilio Leave a Comment

American Factory Quick Take

American Factory Directors Steven Bognar and Julia Rechert
Rating *****

This documentary is jammed pack with relevant content: the decline of factory jobs, culture differences between China and America, an argument for unions, and the role of automation in job replacement.

This is the first film from the Obamas Netflix deal. It’s not political except to point out the many complexities facing world economies and trade deals.

The film starts out with the impact that a GM plant closing has on the workers and the surrounding community of Dayton, Ohio. After eight plus years of blight, hope appears in the form of a Chines automotive glass company called Fuyao. The CEO of the company promises to revitalize the community with jobs. Thousands of workers are hired. They are trained by Chinese employees from a sister plant in China.

The Chinese managers and Fuyao CEO quickly form an impression of American Workers as lazy and hard to manage. The American workers, on the other hand, soon realize that the promised jobs pay only $12 an hour, more than half what they earned with GM. The work is tedious and in some cases unsafe.

To help expedite the training, a number of American workers fly to China to see how the workers there perform the same jobs. This is where the stark differences between China and America stand out. The Chinese employees work 12 hour days with only two days off a month. They work in unsafe conditions. They sing songs about the company and march as if they are in the military as opposed to working for a company.

This is life in a communist country. Children grow up with absentee parents. Workers have no voice. Industry pollutes the air, water, and land with impunity.

I belong to a union. This film shows the important role unions play in a worker’s pay, benefits, and working conditions. Unions give workers a voice.

The answer the Chinese find for their hard to manage American workers is to fire union organizers, then replace as many as possible with automation.

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March 30, 2019 By Emilio Leave a Comment

Two nonfiction film quicktakes

I have two really good nonfiction films to recommend. First up is Apollo 11.
Apollo 11 directed by Todd Douglas Miller.
Rating *****

Back in 1994 while working on the interactive CD-ROM Apollo XIII: A Week to Remember, I had the chance to fly to Houston where I interviewed four Apollo 13 flight controllers. I conducted the videotaped interviews in the original mission control. One of the controllers I interviewed was Gene Kranz. In putting together the CD-ROM, we were able to access a treasure trove of audio, images, and video to aid in telling our story. Best of all, we paid either very little or nothing for the material thanks to NASA public affairs.

Director Todd Miller did the same thing and ended up with a ninety-three-minute documentary made up solely of archival footage hidden away in NASA’s vaults. The end result is a compelling look at one of our most noteworthy historical achievements.

This film shows the importance of editing. There are no talking heads. There is no voice over. The whole film simply takes the available footage shot during this time period and pieces it together to tell the Apollo 11 story from the viewpoint of those who were there. No tricks. No special effects. Just skillful editing of existing footage.

We are fast approaching the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 space flight. I encourage you to see this film with your kids or grandkids. Let them experience the thrill of space flight as it actually happened. The real thing is so much better than Hollywood’s version as told in the film First Man.

Hotel Mumbai written by John Collee and Anthony Maras. Directed by Anthony Maras
Rating *****

I read a review of this movie by a critic who complained that there wasn’t enough character development. That’s nuts. You have two hours to tell a story that took place over several days and involved the murder of hundreds of innocent people. Do you really want to waste thirty minutes to more fully develop a few characters? That would require a documentary or drama series. This film does an excellent job of putting the viewer right in the crosshairs of those ten terrorists as they went about their murderous rampage.

This film kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. The acting was superb. The editing was spot on as the story unfolded from the initial attacks to the serene scene at the hotel before the terrorists arrived.

The last time I saw a film this intense was the film Aliens. This was at the same level of heart-pounding intensity.

What happened in Mumbai could happen anywhere. It already has. You don’t have to have superheroes and Road-Runner like killings every few seconds to tell a compelling story. The real thing is much more powerful.

July 29, 2018 By Emilio 1 Comment

Two documentary quick takes

I have two excellent documentaries worth your time.

First up is Three Identical Strangers directed by Tim Wardle.
Rating *****

I got to see this one in the theatre, which I might add was jam packed. This is the story of three identical twins who were separated at birth. Neither the twins nor their adoptive parents knew about each other. The truth only emerged nineteen years later. The whole story of how the three twins were reunited and what happened after they were reunited makes for an interesting story. But the story becomes even more unbelievable as the facts surrounding their separation are revealed. I can’t say too much without giving things away. Let’s just say that things don’t turn out like you might expect.

Second up is the Netflix documentary The Bleeding Edge
Rating *****

This documentary is a detailed look at the medical devices industry. The filmmakers do an admirable job of presenting a balanced film. They show how the medical device industry has revolutionized medicine, benefitting thousands of patients. But they also show the downside to an industry where profits and political maneuvering outweigh the benefits. I don’t want to get political in this review, but for everyone out there who thinks that regulations are a hindrance to business, you need to see this film. There are very good reasons why we have regulations to protect consumers. This film shows what can happen when you let industry govern themselves. My advice, don’t let anyone put a foreign object in your body without doing as much research as you can.

April 7, 2018 By Emilio 1 Comment

Wild Wild Country Quick Take

Wild Wild Country directed by Chapman and Maclain Way
Rating *****

Here is another documentary series to add to your watch list. This story takes place in the early-to-mid 1980s. I remember hearing about it in the media. My take at the time was that this was another one of those crazy cults with a crazy leader and even crazier followers. That was how the media reported the story. But as is usually the case, the media is more interested in cute sounding sound bites and short two minute clips that they can put on the evening news as opposed to any in depth coverage. The real story was much more complicated.

I have been a fan of documentary series ever since Making a Murderer. I listed some of my favorite docudrama and documentary series in my Everything Nonfiction docudrama and documentary series guide. These six to eight hour series allow for an in depth look at a subject. Ken Burns has made a living at creating documentary series.

Wild Wild Country explores a fascinating story with many twists and turns. Using recent interviews interspersed with archival footage, the filmmakers tell the story of Indian Guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his attempt to create a utopian society in Oregon. The story is told mostly through several key players: Bhaqwan’s personal secretary Sheela, his personal lawyer Phillip Toelkes, and several of Bhagwan’s followers.

It starts off innocent enough. The goal is to create the ideal community. Once Sheela is given the go ahead to find a place where the Bhaqwan can expand, she sets out to find the ideal spot. She settles on 80,000 acres of undeveloped ranch land in Oregon. Here she begins to develop the ideal community with what seems like an unlimited amount of funds. As the community grows and more and more people begin travelling to this new city in the mountains, the locals become bitter. They don’t like these people who they see as invaders. They hate what they don’t understand. There is resentment. There are efforts to stop them at any cost before they take over their tiny community.

The filmmakers do a good job of showing all sides of this conflict. On the one hand you root for Sheela and her attempts to create Utopia. But once Sheela is pushed into a corner, she fights back and little by little she exerts more pressure and her methods eventually turn criminal. The locals and politicians who at first come across as ignorant and unjustified eventually gain the upper hand.

Before it is all said and done the whole thing collapses almost as fast as it all started. This series is worth your time. See it.

March 1, 2018 By Emilio 2 Comments

Everything nonfiction docudrama and docuseries guide

Over the last several months I have been able to watch a number of excellent docudramas and docuseries. I wanted to share with you a list of some of the very best multi-episode documentaries and docudramas that are available right now.

The six part Waco series on the Paramount network is as good as anything you will watch this year. Some might argue that the series favors the Branch Davidians. They will say this because the official record according to the FBI is that those who lost their lives in the Waco incident committed mass suicide. This docudrama tells a more realistic version of what actually happened. The last episode is a heartbreaking look at that terrible day. Look for this on demand from the Paramount network. And don’t forget to watch the companion documentary shorts that tie in to each episode.