By: Henry J. Fromage –
This week I finally got around to watching the unexpected smash hit of the year, plus a bunch of other stuff.
589. KPop Demon Hunters
Maybe it was just the title- I still don’t like it. But I finally had to see what all the fuss was about regarding this Netflix animated musical (Netflix sure has nailed things with Korean creatives, eh?). And yeah, it’s bangin’. The K-pop tunes are great, the animation is a dazzling mix of anime-inspired styles, and there’s a lot of heart coursing through it. Just a damn good time. Two Beers.
590. Kabul Between Prayers
This Venice-debuting documentary examines a pair of brothers in post-Taliban takeover Kabul. The elder is part of Taliban militia, serving as a kind of police officer around the city although his actual duties appear to be somewhat up to his whims. The young idolizes the elder and hopes to become just like him. Both evidence a deep-set militant ideology that is assuredly informed by their nation’s history and their own experiences, but which also will clearly be perpetuated for generations more, dooming their nation to more of the same. Fascinating, sobering filmmaking. A Toast.
591. Newport & The Great Folk Dream
Another Venice-debuting documentary, this one covers the early years of the seminal Rhode Island-set Newport Folk Music Festival, using footage shot in the early 1960s that has not seen the light of day until now. Some of it is the only record in existence of performances from legends across American music history, from Bob Dylan (yes, it covers when he notoriously ‘went electric’ there) to Leadbelly, from the Staples Singers to Pete Seeger. It’s a diverse and joyful snapshot in a time in music history that’ll never be replicated. Two Beers.
592. Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t
This Italian dramedy that also played Venice follows a retired professor of the classics whose daughter and grandchildren sweep back into his household from Germany when his son-in-law cheats on her. This is a film whose comedy is built on mild generational clash and the on-foot lengths that son-in-law will go to make amends and get his family back. Consistently engaging, if a bit minor. Three Beers.
593. Aurora’s Sunrise
This PBS project is really a documentary, but it’s one that incorporates a dizzying mix of media to tell the story of Aurora Mardiganian, who survived the Armenian genocide and escaped Turkish slavery only to travel to Hollywood and have a film made about her experiences, which would later fade to obscurity as Geopolitics made acknowledging this genocide even took place an iffy proposition. Director Inna Sahakyan incorporates the surviving portions of that silent film, evocative animation, and interviews with a still sharp and spunky Aurora at advanced age. Two Beers.
594. Skin of Glass
Another PBS documentary, this one a Brazilian one from Denise Zmekhol, who tells the story of her modernist architect father and the towering glass residential skyscraper he built in downtown Sao Paulo that became a massive squatter’s enclave. The family history here parallels the history of Brazil itself, from a post-military dictatorship society full of hope and art to one in which the separation between have and have-nots is as stark as anywhere in the world. Three Beers.
595. Sam Now
One more PBS documentary here with this deeply personal film about director Reed Harkness’s half-brother Sam and his search for the mother who left one day when he was just a child. She refused any contact with his father or him except through her lawyer for years, but when Reed and Sam are able to locate her, she’s open to it, acting like no time had passed. A complex story of family, traditional parental roles, and the struggle between self-actualization and simple selfishness. Two Beers.
