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Expedition Happiness Quicktake

Rating ****

The idea was to buy an old school bus, refurbish it into a home on wheels, and then travel across Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and beyond. Along the way the couple, Valentina Mogli and Felix Starck along with their dog Rudi, planned to document their journey and turn it into a documentary film. Valentina would write songs along the way and use those songs to both provide some income but also serve as a soundtrack for the film. It was a lofty goal that the three managed to pull off with great success.

While they didn’t spend any time revealing what equipment they used (other than a drone), they proved that you don’t have to have an entire film crew to make a compelling documentary. I would love to read about the technical side of their journey. What cameras did they use? What about sound? Lighting? Editing? The drone footage is put to good use to not only show some of the vistas along the way but also to show the school bus from above as a transition between destinations. Tieing it all together is Mogli’s moody soundtrack.

There have been many books from others who have taken similar journeys. This is one case where film accomplishes so much more. I loved following along on their epic road trip. As a dog owner, I also enjoyed watching Rudi, especially when Rudi started to show his displeasure with the all the travelling.

As grand as the sights and sounds and friendships made are, what makes them memorable is that they are shared experiences. That’s the message I think this film provides more than any other.

The film was made in 2017. It’s non-political, but there are a few references to U.S. immigration policy. Catch this one on Netflix.

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The Trial of the Chicago 7 Quicktake

Rating **** 1/2

The Trial of the Chicago 7 by Aaron Sorkin tells the story of how Mayor Richard Daily used overwhelming police force to prevent peaceful protesters from protesting at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. Rather than contain the protestors, the efforts to prevent the protestors from protesting at the convention resulted in street violence with many of the protestors being injured by police. Sound familiar? The organizers of the protests were targeted and rounded up and put on trial for inciting the riots.

As the title suggests, a lot of the story centers around the trial of the eight people indicted. One person, the head of the black panthers, was removed from the proceedings after the judge was forced to declare a mistrial because of his treatment of the defendant, which included bounding and gagging the defendant. The trial scenes were memorable thanks in large part to the bizarre rulings by the judge, played by Frank Langella. The riots for which the men had been put on trial are shown in flashbacks using both archival footage and dramatizations.

One of the better scenes in the film revolves around the idea of just who started the riots. Was it the protestors, who were there to protest the Vietnam War? Or was it Tom Hayden played by Eddie Redmayne. The scene starts out with a recording made the night of the riots where Hayden appears to incite the protestors. The answer is not black and white. As the scene unfolds it appears that Hayden did incite the crowds. Later, though, it becomes apparent that it was just a misunderstanding.

As good as the film is, I think it may have been even better if done as a two or three-part series. It seemed to me that a good deal of the story was condensed in an effort to save time. For example, five of the defendants are found guilty, but we never get to see the verdict being handed down. They just show up unexpectedly wearing jumpsuits. Another thing missing was images of the real people. And while updates were given for a number of the characters, there was no update on Attorney General John Mitchel, who was a lot like our current Attorney General Bill Barr.

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A soundtrack disaster

Since this site is dedicated to nonfiction, I won’t write a full review of the film Da Five Bloods. Besides, I could not make it all the way through. So writing a review would be unfair. But I did want to see if anyone out there shared my viewpoint on the soundtrack to this film.

Before I get to the mismatch of the soundtrack, a few words about my initial reaction to the film. First thought, this is what you get when you give a director total control. It had a decent concept. But Spike Lee kept getting in the way. Here is a short list of problems I picked up in the first hour that I did see: the jarring use of aspect ratio and film format to portray flashbacks, stereotype characters, the fact that the characters stay the same age even in the flashbacks; the random use of archival footage that added nothing, prolonged use of scenes that do nothing to advance plot or character, like the ten-minute long scene about a Vietnamese man trying to sell them a chicken.

Now to the soundtrack. I am a fan of film soundtracks. I have a playlist of nothing but film soundtracks A good soundtrack lifts a film from good to great. Here are just a few examples of great movie soundtracks: Risky Business, Gladiator, Braveheart, Amadeus, Jane Eyre, and Thelma & Louise.

A good soundtrack should not call attention to itself. If you want an example of how a soundtrack can ruin a film, watch Da Five Bloods. There is one scene in particular that completely took me out of the film. It’s the battle scene after the helicopter crash. The scene is bad enough without the mismatched music. So, there is a fierce gun battle going on, and Spike Lee has a jarring soundtrack from a sixties romance movie playing overly loud in the background.

The lousy soundtrack keeps popping up, instantly taking me out of the film. I would love to hear some comments. Maybe it’s just me.

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Epstein: Filthy Rich Quicktake

Rating *****

I’ve followed a lot of criminal cases where things break down. Usually, it’s at the detriment of an innocent defendant. Sometimes, as in this case, it is the guilty who benefit from incompetence. In almost every case the injustice is only corrected after the efforts of one or more skillful, persistant attorneys. That’s what happened here.

I always thought Epstein got his money from managing other people’s wealth. Turns out most of his money came from lying, cheating, and stealing. Epstein was a narcissist, a psychopath, and a pedophile. He abused women of all ages, but primarily he took advantage of underage, adolescent girls. The way he treated these women was appalling. His entire existence seemed to be focused on one and only one endeavor, his own sexual gratification.

The sad part of Epstein’s story is that he was allowed to continue his abuse with impunity. He had the money to throw at people to make things go away. He had connections with people in high places that allowed him to skirt accountability. There is also the possibility that he had compromising information on some of those same people. The fact that he was brought down by his victims banding together, was a just resolution.

Epstein might have remained an anonymous dushbag if not for an incompetent US Attorney named Alex Acosta. Here’s a guy who basically hands out a free pass to someone involved in rape, sex trafficking, and sex with underage girls. It’s only when Acosta is nominated and confirmed for Labor Secretary that the Epstein plea deal enters the public eye. Not only did Acosta offer a ludicrous plea deal, but he did so without consulting any of the victims. How is that possible? Part of it is because Epstein’s attorneys, including Alan Dershowitz, managed to get the charges reduced to solicitation of prostitution. In Alex Acosta’s eyes, Epstein’s victims were prostitutes. They were paid to have sex. Apparently, Alex Acosta didn’t think it necessary to talk to the “prostitutes.”

Before Epstein committed suicide, he prepared a will that shielded his assets from his victims. I hope the victim’s lawyers are successful in their attempts to get compensation for their clients. I also hope that Epstein’s enablers, like Ghislaine Maxwell, face charges for their role in Epstein’s crimes.

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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.

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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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