Short Films for the Shortest Month
Greetings all!
We have some exciting news to share, but I’ll keep you in suspense until next week. Let me just say that we’ll be featuring a paragraph from one of Dallas’s top media writers – and trust me, you’re going to love it! By the way, I was trying to figure out how long we have been doing this newsletter. If any of you know, please email me at bart@videofest.org. Thanks!
As we get closer to Oscar season, I am usually happy about the films that are up for Best Picture. But this year, there is a great crop of diverse films. I was a big fan of the documentary “Hale Country, This Morning, This Evening,” by RaMell Ross. The film is inspiring and a fresh approach to documentary, and you can see it on the Criterion Channel. His first narrative feature is “Nickel Boys”, mostly told through subjective camera. “Emilia Perez” (on Netflix), is a musical about a gang leader who has a sex change operation. And “Anora,” which is getting lots of buzz about taking the statue home, was made by Sean Baker, who made the first film to be shown at Sundance and get major distribution (“Tangerine”), that was shot on a mobile phone.
I don’t know if this is a sea change in the perspective of the Academy, which has expanded its membership to be more inclusive, or if these were the best films of the year, but it makes me happy.
There are also not one but two animated films that I really love that have been nominated. “Memoir of a Snail,” and “Flow.”
And then there are the shorts. There are three of these packages to see. Live Action, Animated and Documentary. They are all being shown at the Violet Crown theater, and the live-action and Animated ones are at the Angelika. I highly recommend you see these. The docs tend to be a bit long but are really great.
One of them, “Death by Numbers,” was made by Kim Snyder, who I traveled to Pakistan with for the state department. The film powerfully portrays a survivor of a school shooting who prepares to confront the shooter in court. “Instruments of a Bleating Heart” is an NY Times Op Doc and can be screened here. “I am Ready” is about the days leading up to the execution of Texas death row prisoner John Henry Ramirez as he seeks redemption from his victim's son. This is an MTV documentary and can be seen on Paramount Plus. “The Only Girl in the Orchestra,” can be seen on Netflix. Last week, I wrote about “Incident,” which is on the New Yorker site.
Next week I will write about the animation and live-action films. But again, I strongly recommend seeing them in theaters. You can also see them at the Modern Museum of Art in Fort Worth.
This week might be your last chance to see “Nosferatu” in 35mm film at the Texas Theatre. The Alamo Drafthouse in the Cedars is showing “No Other Land,” the Oscar-nominated documentary you might not otherwise be able to see. This important film puts our president’s notions of the Middle East in a better perspective.
Speaking of Middle East issues, I have been hearing about Alex Gibney's documentary “The Bibi Files”. This film is available to watch but not as widely as his other films, which are easily findable. It can only be viewed on Jolt, which I have not heard of before. Here is the link. The film includes footage from his interrogation. I am sad that it is not more widely available.
Several years ago, Michael Rowley made the film “Hurdle,” a beautiful film about the lives of Palestinians, which is now showing for free on Tubi. Here is the link.
This week’s SMU international film fest film is “Eva,”, from Spain and France. It is set in a futuristic world where robots are part of everyday life. A robotics engineer reunites with his brother’s daughter, Eva, who inspires his latest creation. This sci-fi drama explores complex human emotions and artificial intelligence.
These are difficult times. We can deal with them in a balance of engaging and disengaging (for our mental health). Some of the docs I mentioned today will help with the engaging part; the films nominated for best picture would help for disengaging. Either way, it is a good time to see the world through the talents of a good director.
Have a great week. Can’t wait until next week’s surprise.
-Bart
Howdy,
HBO is back again, branding-wise and with a Sunday night water cooler show. Lucas Shaw from Bloomberg posted in his newsletter over the weekend that the signature app from Warner/Discovery is once more being rebranded. I am desperately invested in the saga of the icon that has gone from HBO Go to HBO Now to HBO to HBO Max to Max, where it sits in purple-hued glory. Supposedly the app is keeping the "Max" moniker which somehow is supposed to designate that not only can you watch shows like "Game of Thrones" but also "Dr. Pimple Popper." Now it's going to be adopting the classic black and white of the HBO logo. It's only a matter of time before we circle all the way back around and end up with the clean "HBO" branding again.
One of HBO's best shows is back this week as well. The new season of "The White Lotus" brings a (mostly) new gang of travelers to the White Lotus property in Thailand, known for its wellness retreats. The show's creator Mike White is just such a competent writer. The season opens with an unidentified dead body and then deftly sets up each of the different groups of characters.
And while Jennifer Coolidge was killed off last season, it's only a matter of time before her ghost shows up to the new resort. Parker Posey fills in with an absolutely deranged North Carolinian accent and a prescription pill addiction that has her falling asleep all over the hotel. I actually cannot wait to watch more (please send me over screeners, HBO.)
There are a lot of really strange brand collabs for this new season. You may have seen Coffee Mate Thai Iced Coffee at the grocery store, but might have missed the Away travel luggage, Abercrombie White Lotus branded sweatshirts, or the Nest cucumber and sage candle. I'm just waiting on the inevitable White Lotus branded Marriott resort. HBO clearly sees this as one of their iconic shows now, up there with "House of the Dragon" and "Euphoria," a bit of a strange trio.
In theaters this week is the new Paddington Bear movie "Paddington in Peru." This series has had some diminishing returns for me. Although they are targeted towards kids, there's a huge online contingency of adult fans. They are cute movies! But there's only so many times I can watch a little animated bear spill over a jar of marmalade.
For a good mix of adult and kid fare, we are showing the Animated AND Live-action Oscar nominated films at The Modern. These are really popular with the audience because you get a good mix of genres and the animated shorts in particular are unique compared to what you might see from Pixar or Dreamworks. We are showing these for the next two weekends.
-Elijah