I joined CTV NewsChannel anchor Roger Peterson to have a look at new movies coming to theatres including the friends and family of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” the dark rom com “Oh, Hi!” and the documentary “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the friends and family of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” the dark rom com “Oh, Hi!” and the documentary “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the friends and family of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” the dark rom com “Oh, Hi!” and the documentary “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: The new documentary, “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” now playing in select theatres, is a look at the life, activism and career of the groundbreaking Oscar winning actress.
CAST: Marlee Matlin, Henry Winkler, Troy Kotsur, John Maucere, Aaron Sorkin, Lauren Ridloff, Jack Jason. Directed by Shoshannah Stern.
REVIEW: “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” is a celebrity documentary, a look back at an actor who burst on to the scene, earning an Oscar in her very first film role.
But it’s also much more than that.
It begins with the making of 1986’s “Children of a Lesser God,” the film that catapulted Marlee Matlin to fame and the subsequent tumultuous and abusive relationship with William Hurt, which meets the standard of any other slick Hollywood biography, but it does so with the Deaf community at the top of mind.
A longtime advocate for the Deaf community, Matlin’s story is told using a number of techniques to advocate for Deaf audiences. Interviews are closed captioned, but color coded so it’s easy to identify who is speaking, and one-on-one interviews with Deaf subjects, like the Oscar winning actor Troy Kotsur and John Maucere are presented in silence to highlight the natural fluidity of ASL conversation without the voice of a translator.
In another effective sequence, director Shoshannah Stern, who is also Deaf, shows Matlin at a family get-together, but we hear it from her perspective and are immersed in muffled, distorted sound. It’s impossible for her, or us as the audience, to discern what’s being said. More than any other part of the film, this scene illustrates Matlin’s isolation when she is the only deaf person in the room.
Connect that with another scene in which Matlin is directing an emotional episode of the TV drama “Accused.” When a scene featuring a deaf character, played by Lauren Ridloff, recounting her difficult upbringing with hearing parents wraps, Matlin breaks down, undoubtedly affected by the echoes of her own past.
These scenes speak to the heart of Matlin’s personal story and activism, which is less known than her high-profile acting career. Since becoming the first Deaf actor to win an Oscar in 1987, she has worked tirelessly for Deaf representation in film and TV, closed captions on television and policies that ensure equal access to education, employment, and media for Deaf individuals.
There are revelations about her troubled relationship with William Hurt and the sexual abuse she suffered, but by the time the end credits roll “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” reveals itself to be a touching story of strength and resilience, not a typical Hollywood tell-all biography.
