An Activist’s Saga on The Cinema Scribe
Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, Tuesday, April 20, at 2 pm ET,
The Top and Bottom Documentaries of 2020
Like my list of the year’s best and worst in cinema coming a little late “this year,” so it is with my list of the best and worst in “2020’s” documentaries.
‘Nasrin’ speaks for those who can’t
We can all use a little help from time to time. There are even times when we can use a lot of it, and, in those instances where we’re up against seemingly impossible odds, such as being under the thumb of despotic authority figures, it’s positively essential.
This Week in Movies with Meaning
Reviews of "Blackbird," "House of Cardin" and "Cicada," as well as a film festival wrap-up, are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the web site of The Good Media Network, available by clicking here.
‘House of Cardin’ celebrates the joy of creativity
“House of Cardin” (2019 production, 2020 release). Cast: Interviews: Pierre Cardin, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Naomi Campbell, Sharon Stone, Alice Cooper, Jean-Michel Jarre, Dionne Warwick, Amy Fine-Collins, Phillippe Starck, Hanae Mori. Archive Footage: Jeanne Moreau, Andre Oliver, Hiroko Matsumoto. Directors: P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes. Web site. Trailer. Style – it’s something that can be challenging to get right but all too easy to get wrong. Achieving success at it can seem like a random, even capricious endeavor. But when it works, it works. And, if someone manages to make a habit out of catching the brass ring, that’s one fortunate individual indeed. Such has been the case for a truly inspired innovator who has left his mark on the design [...]
‘Mr. Soul!’ celebrates radical creativity
“Mr. Soul!” (2018 production, 2020 release). Cast: Interviews: Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Amiri Baraka, Harry Belafonte, Kathleen Cleaver, Carmen De Lavallade, David Leeming, Nikki Giovanni, Dr. Harold G. Haizlip, Stan Lathan, Felipe Luciano, Christopher Lukas, Melba Moore, Novella Nelson, Dr. Alvin Poussaint, Dr. Billy Taylor, Robert J. Thompson. Archive Footage: Ellis Haizlip, Mohammad Ali, Sidney Poitier, Cicely Tyson, Louis Farrakhan, Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston, Kool & the Gang, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, Patti Labelle, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Delfonics, Black Ivory, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Georgia Jackson, Al Green, Anna Maria Horsford, Maya Angelou, Bill Withers, Earth Wind & Fire, Hugh Masekela, The Last Poets, Roberta Flack, Stokely Carmichael, Arsenio Hall, Ruby Dee, Ossie [...]
Tune in for The Cinema Scribe
Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, Tuesday, August 18, at 2 pm ET, available by clicking here. And, if you don't hear the show live, catch it later on demand. Please note that, beginning in September, the broadcast schedule for The Cinema Scribe will be changing to the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, same time, same link. Be sure to tune in!
‘Rebuilding Paradise’ chronicles the heroic rebirth of a devastated community
“Rebuilding Paradise” (2020). Cast: Erin Brockovich-Ellis, Michelle John, Phil John, Steve “Woody” Culleton, Carly Ingersoll, Matt Gates, Zach Boston, Brendan Burje, Krystle Young, Marcus Nelson, Justin Cox, Kayla Cox, Zeke Lunder. Director: Ron Howard. Web site. Trailer. When all is lost, the will to start over is put to the test. For some, it may be too much. But, for others, those who have the fortitude to recover and begin anew, the challenge may be difficult but not insurmountable. So it has been for many of the residents of a community who experienced utter devastation firsthand, a story chronicled in the riveting and moving new documentary, “Rebuilding Paradise.” On the morning of November 8, 2018, life in the small northern California [...]
‘A Sinner in Mecca’ seeks to unravel an entangled paradox
“A Sinner in Mecca” (2015, 2020 re-release). Cast: Parvez Sharma. Director: Parvez Sharma. Screenplay: Sajid Akbar, Alison Amron and Parvez Sharma. Web site. Trailer. When faced with a paradox, it’s easy to lose hope. Circumstances may seem so inextricably entangled that it appears there’s no way to sort matters out. Indeed, it’s the kind of situation where it seems like only divine intervention can help. And it’s that kind of help that’s being sought by a seriously conflicted individual whose hopes, dreams and aspirations are caught up in a conundrum ostensibly incapable of being unraveled, the subject of the recently re-released documentary, “A Sinner in Mecca.” After the completion of his controversial debut feature, filmmaker Parvez Sharma became a marked [...]
This Week in Movies with Meaning
Reviews of "Papicha," "The New Bauhaus" and "Spider" are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the web site of The Good Media Network, available by clicking here.