BEING HEUMANN: “Being Heumann” tells the undeniably important story of a disabled activist named Judy Heumann, and the powerful story of how she spearheaded the 1977 Section 504 sit-in, which resulted in the federal government of the United States giving more rights and privileges to disabled people. The filmmaking could have used a bit more grit and a little less made-for-television style, but the story is undeniably affecting.
DARLENE LOVE: I KNOW WHERE I’VE BEEN: You might not know the name, but you certainty know Darlene Love’s voice. From background vocal work on everything from Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash” and “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra to Sam Cooke’s “Chain Gang” and “Rockin’ Robin” by Bobby Day, for decades she decorated and elevated hundreds of pop songs with her remarkable voice. “If you want proof of God, just listen to Darlene Love,” record producer Lou Adler says in the documentary, “Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been.” The film details her strict Christian upbringing upbring in Los Angeles—no “devil’s music” allowed in the house—to her fraught work with volatile super-producer Phil Spector, who stole her vocal identity, using her voice, but not her name on dozens of hit singles and subsequent career ups and downs. With loads of archival footage, new interviews with Paul Schaffer, Steve Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, David Letterman, Marc Shaiman and Cher, and stunning new performances, recorded live at NYC’s Power Station recording studio, it’s a celebration of Love’s life, career and the voice that launched a thousand hit songs.
THE DEBUT: The sometimes hilarious, occasionally heartbreaking story of Mona (Julianne Moore), a repressed suburban housewife who finds a sense of purpose in community theatre, is a tribute to the power of art to change lives. Mona discovers the theatre community provides the kind of support she doesn’t get at home and Moore digs deep, letting her freak flag fly to deliver laughs and a sense that Mona’s journey is not only life changing, but life sustaining.
THE DEVILS: I literally wrote the book (https://ecwpress.com/products/raising-hell) about this controversial 1971 Ken Russell film. Banned and censored in its initial release, the story of 17th-century priest accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun has hasn’t been seen in its original form for decades. Until now. The new 4k restoration, which debuted in Cannes this year, is breathtaking. Provocative, it’s a thing of terrible beauty that demands a reaction. It’s a testament to Russell’s vision that 55 years after it was originally released in theatres, it will likely be the most transgressive movie at this year’s festival.
I PLAY ROCKY: An inspirational story about an inspirational movie, “I play Rocky” is an audience friendly look at Sylvester Stallone‘s early life and journey to get his script for Rocky produced, with the stipulation that he play the title character. An entertaining underdog tale, it features the great casting of Anthony Ippolito in the lead, and Tracey lets as a skeptical studio executive. It captures the spirit of the 1976 original film, even if it leans into sentimentality and exposition. It’s not a reinvention of the original story or movie or biopic, it’s simply a crowd-pleasing reminder of a true underdog phenomenon.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BRIAN MULRONEY: A look at Canadian politics filtered through a psychedelic lens, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney is a breezy and trippy dock about Mulroney’s rise in the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, culminating with his 1984 election as Prime Minister. As befits its mercurial subject, the doc is not conventional. Like a maximalist “Heritage Minute,” directed by the love child of Terry Gilliam and Baz Luhrmann, it presents history in an iconoclastic, often hilarious way that is way livelier than Mr. Parker‘s history class ever was. It’s not a biopic, or an exercise and myth making, or hagiography or a poison pen letter to the former PM. Instead, it’s a deeply weird look at how politics uses performance and showmanship to craft public images.
NEIL PEART: NO ONE’S DISCIPLE: Neil Peart, the man who inspired a million air paradiddles is celebrated in a documentary that pays tribute to the music he made with Rush, but also the influence he on a generation or two of drummers. Set mostly in a rehearsal hall as bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson dust off a series of Rush classics with guest drummers Danny Carey of Tool, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Gavin Harrison of King Crimson and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers tackling the intricate and demanding drum parts created by Peart, a feat Lee describes as “running a marathon while doing math equations.” There isn’t much in the way of new information, but the obvious joy Lee and Lifeson derive revisiting songs they hadn’t played in a decade is contagious, as is the respect shown the drummer and lyricist known as The Professor by his friends and peers. It’s a tribute to their late bandmate but also a rediscovery of their music. Lee says the surviving members of Rush “put the music in a box,” but making this film made them realize they have “50 years and a body of music that is still alive.”
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM: “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” is a historical document that feels as alive and rich as it did the day it was shot. It documents a remarkable August 1972 gathering of artists, poets, painters, musicians and scholars who gathered at Duke Ellington’s townhouse in New York City to reflect on the cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement of the 1920s and 30s known as the Harlem Renaissance. Shot verité-style, the documentary isn’t just a record of an extraordinary event, it’s also a tribute to the legacy of change ushered in by the people who assembled that afternoon. The fifty-four-year-old footage of their reminiscences, disagreements and conversation is so intimate it feels as though you, as a viewer, are eavesdropping on history in real time.
PRETENDERS: A mix of new interviews and archival footage, “Pretenders” is the story of Chrissie Hynde’s eventful life and the tumultuous history of her band, The Pretenders. Outspoken, uncompromising and iconic, Hynde provides the backbone of the story. She reluctantly revisits her life and career, the successes, the deaths of bandmates, her love of music, disdain for the public eye and long history of animal-rights activism, all in a tightly packed 107 minutes. The resulting portrait is of a survivor who always blazed her own trail, more interested in the next thing than the old thing. When asked by director Joss Crowley if she has enjoyed sitting for the interview that makes up the bulk of the film, she says, “I wouldn’t say I have really enjoyed it,” but luckily her recollections are entertaining. Her stories of being a rebellious teen in Akron, Ohio before landing in London as punk rock exploded and the band’s success, touched by tragedy, may be old news to her, but put together, they make a compelling look at the legacy of a fearless artist whose work is far from done.
RUN TERRY RUN: Terry Fox’s 1980 run across Canada to raise money for cancer research is a well-documented story, familiar to many Canadians. The new documentary “Run Terry Run” offers up new footage that packs an emotional wallop. The story of a plainspoken but philosophical twenty-two-year-old everyman whose mission, driven by compassion and courage, was cut short by cancer, is tragic. But it is also a story of a country coming together to support one remarkable, determined young man. In our age of fracture and cynicism, it’s refreshing and necessary to have a movie like “Run Terry Run” provide an up close and personal look at what Canadian unity and heroism look like. “Right now, Canada is going through a real tough period politically,” says a young student in a 1981 archival clip, “and maybe just for a little while, Terry Fox sort of gave us one goal to work towards and one thing to work for as a nation, rather than as 10 provinces.” Timely words, now and then.
SMUDGE THE BLADES: Breathing the same underdog air as “The Bad News Bears” and “The Mighty Ducks,” “Smudge the Blades” is the story of an all-Indigenous hockey team knocked down to a rural league and their Zamboni-driver-turned-coach. Raunchy yet heartfelt, writer, director and star Cody Lightning rides the line between hockey flicks like foul-mouthed “Slapstick” and the inspiring “Miracle.” Like most good sports dramas it boils down to one big game, but it’s not about the score, it’s about the sense of community among the players and their personal growth.
THE STUNT DRIVER: The sheer spectacle of “The Mad Canadian” Ken Carter’s jumps adds a blast of excitement to the film, but it is the character study that lingers. Jay Baruchel vividly brings the Carter to life, finding the sweet spot between the character’s bravado and his insecurity. Carter was a big personability and Baruchel captures that, his sharp tongue and impulsive behavior, but it’s not a caricature of fast-talking show off. It’s a portrait of a guy who wants to be remembered; to leave something of value behind. An underdog, he’s equal parts, destructive and ambitious, willing to risk his life for glory. Dramatically, there is a built-in anticlimactic twist to Carter’s story that drains some of the story’s emotional momentum, but despite the unexpected gear shift, the film doesn’t crash and burn because it remains, ultimately, about the human cost of Carter’s ambition.
TURTLE ISLAND RAP: A candid look at the lives and career journeys of three aspiring Indigenous hip-hop artists, Wiidaaseh, A$h Da Hunter, and Travis Thompson, this verité-style feature documentary is an up-close-and-personal look at their lives personally and professionally. Raw and immediate, it’s a vivid portrait of artists on the cusp, balancing real life—–struggling to pay rent, difficult relationships and anxiety—while building and audience and community within the confines of the music industry.
