Lost In Translation

What's My Name: Muhammad Ali

There is something of a "Muhammad Ali" documentary genre that, for me, began with When We Were Kings (about the 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" between Ali and George Foreman. There have been a number since including the recent I Am Ali in 2014. HBO has recently come out with a two part documentary, What's My Name: Muhammad Ali (2019), directed by Antone Fuqua, who I know best from Training Day. This documentary focuses mainly on Ali's rise to heavy weight champion of the world, but pays special attention to his religious, civil, and political beliefs and how they played out over the years. This mostly concerns his refusal of the Vietnam draft, in which he was banned from professional boxing while his appeals were being held-he was eventually exonerated. Ali does a good job of point out how his taxes help run the military machine and how he is probably more useful as a taxpayer than fodder for the military machine. His connections to the civil rights movement also show a kind of political courage where many other black entertainers and sportsmen stayed out of the limelight and refused to march or publicly support the movement. It was an entertaining and comprehensive look at the life of a very colorful persona.

US Go Home

A few years back when I was trying to catch up with all the Claire Denis directed films I missed previously, I overlooked US Go Home (1994), which isn't really a film but a part of an Arte TV mini-series Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles de Leur Àge (All the Boys and Girls in Their Time). Ten film directors were invited to create a short film about teenagers in the era of their own adolescence, but with one stipulation – it must include a party using music from the era. It is a striking film that acts almost like a MTV video film with all the great 60s rock from the likes of  Otis Redding, Ronnie Bird and The Animals. It is a story of teenage angst as Martine (Alice Houri) of mixed-race heritage and lives in the dreary suburbs of France near a US airbase, discovers her best friend, the red-headed Marlene(Jessica Tharaud) , has lost her virginity, she decides to do the same. There's a curious encounter with an American soldier Vigo Brown (played by Vincent Gallo). It is an astute study of teenage disaffection, longing and misunderstanding.

Mike Judge Presents: Tales From the Tour Bus / Season One: Outlaw Country

Originally I was going to give Mike Judge Presents: Tales From the Tour, Bus Season One: Outlaw Country a miss since I'm not much of a country music fan. But a friend talked me into it by saying that it's still Mike Judge behind the production, so it should be entertaining-and sure enough it was. I may even have to do some discovery in that genre after seeing it. The episodes are: 1. "Johnny Paycheck" 2. "Jerry Lee Lewis" 3. "George Jones and Tammy Wynette (Part One)" 4. "George Jones and Tammy Wynette (Part Two)" 5. "Billy Joe Shaver" 6. "Waylon Jennings (Part One)" 7. "Waylon Jennings (Part Two)" 8. "Blaze Foley"

Fleabag

I finally decided to watch Phoebe Walter-Bridge's tragicomedy Fleabag because of all the good press it was getting, but also because there are only two seasons and the episodes are less than 30 minutes each. I think it's very effective, but I can't say that it is laugh out loud funny, but I can't say its humorless either. But I think it is largely successful in crating characters who feel real to life that the viewer can greatly empathize with or vehemently dislike. It is is powerful, moving, tragic, but also cathartic and feel good at times. It perhaps relies too much on breaking the fourth wall with pithy facial expressions, but I can say that it is a rare and unusual TV viewing experience in that there is nothing like.

The Terror

I was really impressed with AMC's recent TV series, The Terror (2018), developed by David Kaiganich based on Dan Simmons' 2007 novel of the same name. It is the fictional account of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to find the Northwest Passage in 1845-1848. It was produced by Ridley Scott and has great production values-save the CGI "Tuunbaq"-Inuit spirit creature. The cast was great and headed by Jared Harris as Captain Francis Croizer, Ciaran Hinds as Captain John Franklin, Tobias Menzies as Commander James Fitzjames, Paul Ready as the noble Dr. Goodsir, and Adam Nagaitis as the devious Cornelius Hickey. It was a fascinatingly well told story from start to finish-10 episodes long. It seems that it has been renewed for a new season that will have a completely different story and cast-the second season titled The Terror: Infamy, is about an uncanny specter that menaces a Japanese-American community from its home in Southern California to the internment camps to the war in the Pacific.

When They See Us

The story of the Central Park Five is a travesty of justice and an indictment of a racist police approach to solving crime that is endemic in America. Ava DuVernay's dramatic Netflix miniseries of the events concerning the Central Park Five in When They See Us (2019) is effective in portraying the how the young men's lives were destroyed by a justice system hell bent on finding a scapegoat for a highly publicized crime. A documentary cannot show the misery and struggles created by being falsely accused of sexual crimes in the same way. Donald Trump's infamous call for the execution of the young men is highlighted-reminding people that his racist views have been ever present for some time--dating back as far as the early 90s.

Chernobyl

Craig Manzin's HBO miniseries Chernobyl (2019) is one of the TV highlights of the year so far. It is a dramatic look at one of this century's greatest disasters in the Ukraine in 1986. There's a great, mainly British, ensemble cast with Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard, Emily Watson, and Paul Ritter. It recounts one of the two level "7" disasters ever recorded-the other was the Fukushima nuclear disaster following the earth quake and subsequent tsunami in Japan in 2011. It is a tragedy born out of arrogance and willful and deliberate secrecy of the Russian government in an attempt to save face on the world stage. But it is also a celebration of the people who gave their lives to control the damage of the disaster which could have been worse. But ultimately it is an anti-fell-good show, but a feel good that things could be worse.

Deadwood: The Movie

I was very much looking forward to Deadwood: The Movie (2019), which I think came about 10 years too late. It would have been better had they done the two movie finale that creator David Milch wanted to do. That being said it was great to hear the stylized dialogue and see what fate had in store for the remaining characters. As usual the standouts were Ina McShane as Al Swearengen and Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock. I forgot Ann Gunn was in Deadwood since her character in Breaking Bad was so different-she had the good fortune to star in two of the best TV series ever. The direction by Daniel Minahan was well-done as well.

What We Do In The Shadows (TV)

I very much enjoyed Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi's vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, so I was pleased to hear that they were adapting it for TV. The TV series What We Do In The Shadows has its merits such as introducing an "energy vampire"-Colin Robinson (Mark Prosch). The main cast is a strength as well with Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak), Lazlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry), and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou). But none of them are as funny as the original cast and the writing feels weaker here, since they have to pad out 10 episodes-basically hit and miss. I suspect I7llstay with it since each episode is under 30 minutes.

Fosse/Verdon

I was surprised how much I liked FX's Fosse/Verdon eight part miniseries. It is based on a biography of Fosse by Sam Wasson which recounts the relationship between the two creative forces that changed entertainment. I think a lot of it had to do with the great performances by Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams as the couple. It sent me back to watch All That Jazz, which was basically Fosse's own autobiography.