Tag Archives: Tribeca Reviews

Tribeca 2022: The Wild One ***

June 19, 2022 Dennis Hartley Leave a comment

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on June 18, 2022)

Tessa Louise-Salomé directs this biography of theater and film director Jack Garfein. A Czechoslovakian-born Holocaust survivor, Garfein (who passed away in 2019) only directed two feature films, The Strange One (1957) and Walk on the Wild Side (1961); but each was notable for tackling then-taboo issues (homosexuality in the former and rape in the latter). Garfein tells his own story, with a wealth of archival clips and photographs woven throughout.

Most affecting are his recollections of the concentration camps, and how this harrowing experience informed his work as an artist. He also recalls his longtime marriage to actress Carroll Baker (which I was previously unaware of) and his involvement with The Actor’s Studio in New York (he later moved to Hollywood and co-founded Actors Studio West). An engrossing and intimate portrait.

Behind the Music, Documentary, Rock 'n' Roll

Tribeca 2022: The Lost Weekend: A Love Story ***1/2

June 12, 2022 Dennis Hartley Leave a comment

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on June 11, 2022)

As a lifetime Beatle fan, I like to think that everything I don’t know about the Fabs wouldn’t fill a flea’s codpiece…but I’ll confess that I learned a new thing or two about John Lennon’s infamous mid-life crisis in this engrossing documentary, directed by Eve Brandstein, Richard Kaufman, and Stuart Samuels.

This “lost weekend” (coined as such by Lennon himself) lasted approximately a year and a half, from 1973 into 1974, and was precipitated by a rocky period in his storied marriage with Yoko Ono. According to the mythology, Yoko gave John “permission” to sow his wild oats for a spell.

She had a caveat…the couple’s devoted personal assistant May Pang was to accompany John as his “girlfriend”. No matter how you look at it, this was an unconventional separation. It’s no secret that Lennon and Pang became a very public item. History has not always been kind to Ms. Pang, who was arguably caught in the middle of a marital power struggle between her employers.

With this film, Pang finally gets a chance to tell her story…and it’s a real eye-opener. Her entrée into the rarefied air of the Beatles’ inner circle by the tender age of 19 plays like a fairy tale, especially considering her modest beginnings growing up in Spanish Harlem. Her parents were Chinese immigrants; a rocky relationship with her dismissive father drove her to seek solace in rock and roll music (and of course, to discover the Beatles).

The expected anecdotes associated with “the lost weekend” are here-Lennon’s purloined bacchanal with “The Hollywood Vampires”, the wild studio sessions with Phil Spector, et.al. (and a few you may not have previously heard). But the real heart of the film is the story of how Pang’s relationship with Lennon developed (more organically than has been generally assumed). Julian Lennon is also on hand to offer his perspective. A lovely and affecting memoir by Pang, and a treat for Beatle fans.

Art world, Documentary

Tribeca 2022: Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel ***

June 12, 2022 Dennis Hartley Leave a comment

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on June 11, 2022)

Since 1883, the Hotel Chelsea in New York City has been the center of the universe for bohemian culture. It has been the hostelry of choice for the holiest of hipster saints over the years, housing just about anybody who was anybody in the upper echelons of poets, writers, playwrights, artists, actors, directors, musicians, and free thinkers over the past century.

Maya Duverdier and Amélie van Elmbt’s documentary is an impressionistic portrait of the venerable landmark, vacillating between dredging up the ghosts of its past and profiling some of the current residents as they go about their daily lives (obviously selected for their, ah …colorful eccentricities). Nearly every tenant has an opinion on the extensive renovations that were in progress during filming; some welcome the upgrade, others see it as something akin to sacrilege (the latter camp tend to be longtime residents).

While it may lack cohesion at times, the film is beautifully photographed, with several compelling and hypnotic sequences, as well as unexpected emotional resonance.

Documentary, Journalism, Politics, Religion

Tribeca 2021: Larry Flynt for President (***½)

June 20, 2021 Dennis Hartley Leave a comment

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on June 19. 2021)

Director Nadia Szold’s wild documentary about the Hustler magazine publisher’s infamous 1983 bid for the White House makes Milos Forman’s 1996 biopic The People vs. Larry Flynt look like a Saturday morning cartoon.

An ever-polarizing public figure, Flynt (who died earlier this year) was paralyzed from the waist down after a would-be assassin shot him in 1978. After several years of painful recovery, Flynt began to incorporate more sociopolitical satire into Hustler, which led to his presidential campaign. He ran as a Republican (with a rather progressive agenda and a healthy sense of irony).

Szold had access to a trove of previously unreleased footage by a film crew that followed Flynt around on his campaign trail. She also documents his high-profile First Amendment court battle with religious Right demagogue Jerry Falwell. At turns hilarious and harrowing (harrowing in the sense of how Flynt’s purely performative flirtation with politics presaged Donald Trump and the MAGA cult).

60's Counterculture, Documentary, Journalism, Rock 'n' Roll

Tribeca 2021: Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres (***)

June 20, 2021 Dennis Hartley Leave a comment

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on June 19. 2021)

Nothing against Ben Fong-Torres, but I approached this film with trepidation. “Please, god,” I thought to myself, “Don’t let ‘Fortunate Son’ be on the soundtrack.” Thankfully, there’s credence, but no Creedence in Suzanne Joe Kai’s documentary, which despite the implications of its title is not another wallow in the era when being on the cover of the Rolling Stone mattered, man.

OK, there is some of that; after all, journalist and author Ben Fong-Torres’ venerable career began when he first wrote for Rolling Stone in 1968. By the following year he was hired as the editor and wrote many of the cover stories. Fong-Torres quickly showed himself to be not only an excellent interviewer, but a gifted writer. His journalistic approach was the antithesis to the gonzo stylists like Lester Bangs and Hunter Thompson in that his pieces were never about him, yet still eminently personal and relatable.

Just like her subject, Kai’s portrait is multi-faceted, revealing aspects of Fong-Torres’ life outside of his profession I was not aware of (like his activism in the Asian-American community, and how it was borne of a heartbreaking family tragedy).

Documentary, Politics

Tribeca 2021: The Price of Freedom (***)

June 20, 2021 Dennis Hartley Leave a comment

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on June 19. 2021)

From a 2016 piece I wrote in the wake of the Orlando nightclub mass shooting:

You know what “they” say-we all have a breaking point. When it comes to this particular topic, I have to say, I think that I may have finally reached mine. I’ve written about this so many times, in the wake of so many horrible mass shootings, that I’ve lost count. I’m out of words. There are no Scrabble tiles left in the bag, and I’m stuck with a “Q” and a “Z”. Game over.

I wrote that five years ago; if anything, it seems gun violence in America has increased. Let’s put it this way…it’s an ongoing and complex issue. This timely documentary from Judd Ehrlich focuses on the political angle, more specifically the political influence of the NRA. How did the gun lobby become so powerful?

Taking an evenhanded approach, Ehrlich has politicians, victims of gun violence, and NRA representatives all weighing in. He also offers an absorbing history of the NRA, pinpointing how the organization transitioned from hobbyists to lobbyists. There are no easy solutions; but as Ehrlich reminds us, there is a generation of young people like Parkland school-shooting survivor-turned activist Emma Gonzalez who are out there providing light at the end of the tunnel.

Sci-Fi

Tribeca 2021: Settlers (***)

June 20, 2021 Dennis Hartley Leave a comment

By Dennis Hartley

(Originally posted on Digby’s Hullabaloo on June 19. 2021)

Writer-director Wyatt Rockefeller’s sci-fi drama is Once Upon a Time in the West on Mars. The story centers on 9-year-old Remmy (Brooklyn Prince), who lives with her settler parents (Sofia Boutella and Jonny Lee Miller) at a remote homestead. Following an attack by hostile parties and subsequent arrival of a drifter who claims that the homestead rightfully belongs to him, Sofia’s life (as well as the family’s dynamic) changes drastically. The story takes place over a 9-year period; with Nell Tiger Free playing 18-year-old Remmy. Not wholly original, but smartly written and well-acted, with great production design and cinematography (exteriors were filmed in South Africa).