Documentary Films and Programs

Subterms

    More stories

    • 88 Shares149 Views

      in Television

      ‘Two American Families’ Is a Knockout Documentary

      by

      This latest installment in a long-term Frontline series is an intimate look at two American families, who work hard but struggle to make ends meet.The Frontline documentary “Two American Families: 1991-2024,” arriving on Tuesday, follows two Milwaukee families, one Black, one white, over the last 30-odd years. “Families” is intimate and dignified, unwavering but gentle. At a time when so much documentary television feels generic, disposable and even straightforwardly pointless, this is both a master work unto itself and a glaring reminder of what is largely absent in television narrative nonfiction.“Families” is the fifth installment in the tales of the Stanley and Neumann families, a long-term portrait series produced and directed by Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes, with interviews and narration by Bill Moyers. The specials began with “Minimum Wages: The New Economy” in 1992, after the breadwinners of each family were laid off from union manufacturing jobs. (This newest entry covers the full timeline and does not require previous familiarity.) Since then, neither family has ever truly recovered, despite ceaseless — ceaseless — hard work, as the parents, and eventually their children, all struggle to find their way into the middle class.Faith is a huge theme here, with each family turning to religious practice as a respite from suffering and as reservoir of hope. In one scene, the white family, the Neumanns, stand on the altar as their priest thanks God for providing the dad with an $8-per-hour nonunion job with no benefits. Even that job doesn’t last. Prayers and preaching weave through the decades, gratitude for the riches ostensibly to come.“Families” intercuts moments of everyday strain with Inaugural Addresses going back to Bill Clinton, in which each president promises jobs, jobs and more jobs, and each declares the American economy to be growing and glorious. And yet. “Despite all the hard work, these two American families had barely survived one of the most prosperous decades in our history,” Moyers narrates. And that’s barely at the halfway point in the story.The latest installment is available Tuesday on the PBS app and website and airs on PBS that night at 10 p.m. (Check local listings.)SIDE QUEST“Two American Families” reminds me a lot of the 1998 series “The Farmer’s Wife,” also a Frontline documentary. That’s available on the PBS Documentaries app, and it’s one of the most memorable and powerful documentaries I’ve ever seen. More

    • 63 Shares169 Views

      in Music

      10 Outstanding Brian Eno Productions

      by

      Inspired by an ever-changing new documentary about the musician and producer, listen to songs he helped construct by David Bowie, Talking Heads, U2 and more.Just four versions of Brian Eno.Kalpesh Lathigra for The New York TimesDear listeners,This week, I saw Gary Hustwit’s lively documentary “Eno,” about the musician, artist and producer Brian Eno. I’d recommend it to you — but it’s highly unlikely that you will see the same version of the film that I did.Formally inspired by Eno’s longtime fascination with generative art, “Eno” is essentially created anew each time it’s screened. A computer program called Brain One (a playful anagram of “Brian Eno”) selects from 30 hours of interviews with Eno that Hustwit conducted and 500 hours of archival footage, fitting it into a structure that lasts about 90 minutes. According to the Brain One programmer Brendan Dawes, 52 quintillion possible versions of the movie exist. I did not even know, before seeing this film, that “52 quintillion” was a real number.Some of my favorite parts of the version of “Eno” that I saw concerned his work as a producer. He’s certainly been a prolific one, working with traditional rock bands (Coldplay, U2), avant-garde composers (Harold Budd) and a whole lot of legends in between (David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads). Eno is neither a classically trained musician nor a conventional technician, and his role in the studio can be hard to define — maddeningly so, to certain record-label executives over the years. Admitted Bowie, in a clip from the film I saw, “I don’t really know what he does.” He meant that as a compliment.The most interesting parts of “Eno,” for me, shed a little more light on that elusive “what.” As a producer, he is equal parts agitator and sage. When he and Bowie were hitting a wall during the making of Bowie’s 1977 landmark “‘Heroes,’” they each pulled cards from Eno’s deck of Oblique Strategies cards, which provide creative jumping-off points; the result was the hypnotic ambient composition “Moss Garden.” When Bono was struggling to complete a soon-to-be classic U2 track, Eno showed patience. When Talking Heads were looking for a new musical direction before making “Remain in Light,” Eno played them one of his all-time favorite musicians, Fela Kuti. The rest — in so many clips of Eno in the studio — is history.Inspired by “Eno,” today’s playlist is a collection of songs produced by the man himself. Eno the Producer is merely one side of this multifaceted artist, but I appreciated that the sense of multiplicity baked into the structure of “Eno” speaks to how difficult it is to define him with a single identity. There are probably nearly 52 quintillion possible Brian Eno playlists I could have made — Jon Pareles made another in 2020, selecting 15 of Eno’s best ambient compositions — but here is the one I chose. It flows well from start to finish, but if you’re feeling inspired by Hustwit’s generative approach, you’re certainly welcome to put it on shuffle.Line my eyes and call me pretty,LindsayWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 88 Shares199 Views

      in Movies

      The Stomach-Dropping, Heart-Tugging Appeal of Climbing Documentaries

      by

      “Skywalkers” and “Mountain Queen” are strong entries in a genre with great appeal to viewers who themselves might prefer to be sitting.Documentaries in which people climb very tall things have a remarkable track record. “Man on Wire,” James Marsh’s 2008 recounting of Philippe Petit’s high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974, is one of the most acclaimed and successful documentaries of all time. Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi have made two celebrated films about the sport, “Meru” in 2015 and “Free Solo” in 2018. Just do a quick search for “climbing documentaries” and you’ll find dozens — it’s clearly a genre people love.That’s undoubtedly due in part to the fact that most of us (myself included) will never, ever attempt to scale a 3,000-foot cliff without ropes. These movies show us what we can’t otherwise see. Plus, in contrast to the manufactured safety of a fiction film, a documentary is heart-pounding. Your head knows they probably will get out alive — but your stomach sure doesn’t.There’s another reason these movies are so popular, though, and it’s more psychological. As a nonclimber with an aversion to physical risk, I find it hard to fathom what drives those who choose, of their own free will, to put themselves into extreme physical situations that could easily kill them. It must mean something more to them than oxygen-deprived thrills — but what? Two gripping documentaries on Netflix this week come at that question from different directions, but offer similar answers.Lucy Walker’s “Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa” is a biographical documentary about Lhakpa Sherpa, a Nepalese mountain climber who holds the women’s world record for the most summits of Mount Everest, 10 in all. (And not many men have summited more.) I expected a portrait of an incredibly strong woman, and that’s an apt description for “Mountain Queen.” But Lhakpa’s story is much more complicated than that. Through interviews and footage shot on Everest, Lhakpa — who lives in Connecticut with her teenage daughters — reveals the many obstacles she’s had to overcome, including patriarchal ideas about climbing in her home culture and an abusive marriage to a fellow climber once she moved to the United States.Most important, she shows what drives someone like her toward this kind of extreme sport, and it mainly boils down to wanting to live a life of significance. But Lhakpa’s aim is less about being famous and more about paving the way to a better future for herself and her children. “I want to be somebody. I want to do something good,” she says. “I want to show my two girls how to be brave.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 75 Shares179 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Join or Die’ Review: Come Together

      by

      This documentary about the work of Robert Putnam, who wrote “Bowling Together,” argues that Americans can save democracy by becoming joiners.In the wake of the 2016 election, a new type of film briefly emerged: the liberal “how did we get here” documentary. It doled out insights, and visited with “ordinary” folks across the country to take the temperature of the political divide.“Join or Die,” directed by the siblings Rebecca Davis and Pete Davis, recalls those postelection films. Narrated by Pete and essentially framed as a plea to save the United States, it centers on the work of Robert Putnam, an academic who has dedicated his life to arguing that American civic engagement is in decline. Putnam articulated his thesis in “Bowling Alone,” first published as an article, and then in 2000 as a book.Putnam is Pete’s former professor, and the directors dedicate most of their running time to laying out the author’s queries, methods and findings while supporting them visually with montages and engaging collagelike animation. Throughout, the film unabashedly adopts Putnam’s doctrine: Become a joiner or democracy is doomed.Some of the film’s points feel simplistic, and questions linger. (I expect they would be answered by reading “Bowling Alone” rather than watching a movie about it.) The film also breaks up its Putnam biography by spending time with a handful of Americans who benefit from local communities — but these mini-profiles are too brief to resonate. Better to hew close to Putnam, whom the film regards with a deferential but congenial attitude.Join or DieNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes. In theaters. More

    • 63 Shares179 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Hollywoodgate’ Review: Inside the Taliban

      by

      In a frustrating documentary, the journalist Ibrahim Nash’at shows the Taliban after American troops left Afghanistan.There is no question that the director Ibrahim Nash’at faced tremendous danger in shooting “Hollywoodgate,” but the risks required to make this documentary also highlight its limitations.Nash’at, an Egyptian journalist based in Berlin, traveled to Afghanistan in 2021 shortly after American troops had left. He negotiated a tenuous arrangement with Mawlawi Mansour, the new commander of the country’s air force, to film him and a lieutenant named M.J. Mukhtar.In a voice-over at the outset, Nash’at explains the terms. He has been forbidden to film anyone who is not Taliban, he says, and he is under constant surveillance. In return for access, he adds, “I must show the world the image of the Taliban that they want me to see.” But he hopes simply to show what he saw.Nash’at, who handled his own camera and sound, is, to his credit, transparent about some gaps. When going to inspect a group of aircraft, Mansour doesn’t want the filmmaker to show them. (Nash’at nevertheless zooms in toward a few planes across the tarmac.) During a nighttime operation in which Mukhtar apparently hopes to root out people hostile to the Taliban, Nash’at is instructed, “The cameraman stays here.”What remains are Mansour and Mukhtar presenting themselves with varying degrees of self-consciousness (it is amusing when Mansour, after trying out a treadmill at a former American gym, asks that one be sent to his home so he can lose belly fat), and the Taliban’s public pageantry. Nash’at notes at the end that he was kept from filming the daily suffering of regular Afghans. The frustration of “Hollywoodgate” is that it could only ever feel incomplete.HollywoodgateNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 32 minutes. In theaters. More

    • 88 Shares159 Views

      in Television

      Loved ‘Couples Therapy’? Read These 11 Books

      by

      These stories of relationship dramas and evolving partnerships will fill the “Couples Therapy”-sized hole in your life with wisdom, schadenfreude and humor — and sometimes all of the above.It can be hard when shrinks go on summer vacation — especially in a summer when each news cycle seems to bring more upsetting developments to process. And it doesn’t help that the fourth season of the cult favorite Showtime docuseries “Couples Therapy” has just wrapped, so even affordable, vicarious therapy is off the table. Without our weekly fix of Dr. Orna Guralnik’s deep nods and cathartic sympathy crying — and with the good doctor’s own much-anticipated book still months off — what are we to do?The series, which started airing in 2019, did not seem to have the makings of a hit: real couples, sitting on a Brooklyn sofa, telling a therapist their problems. At worst, thought skeptics, it sounded voyeuristic and upsetting; at best, boring and contrived. Long before Annie and Mau were a twinkle in my eye, or I’d wept over Season 2, or I’d had wildly differing feelings about different strangers named Josh, I, too, was one of those people. “Watch it,” said a co-worker. “Nothing you thought will ever be the same.” Forty-five minutes in, I was hooked.There are many reasons “Couples Therapy” has broken through: the happy surprise of seeing our perceptions change, the age-old distraction of other peoples’ problems, the actual applicable advice, Dr. Guralnik’s glossy mane and teeny tiny braids (a major discussion point on message boards).But even if you aren’t a fan of the show, these shoulder-season reads will get you through August with wisdom, schadenfreude, dysfunction, pain and humor — and sometimes all of the above. It’s not a spoiler that most of these couples could use a session or 10.Desperate Characters, by Paula Fox (1970)Otto and Sophie Bentwood are a childless couple in their early 40s living in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn (they’re the gentrifiers). Life seems comfortable — until Sophie is bitten by a feral cat and their carefully ordered existence begins to crumble. There’s even a kitchen renovation in this sharply observed, humane classic of New York marriage. (Read about the book’s legacy.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares149 Views

      in Television

      What’s on TV This Week: Olympic Specials and ‘Big Brother’

      by

      ABC and CNN gear up for the Games. CBS airs the season premiere of the reality competition show.For those who still enjoy a cable subscription, here is a selection of cable and network TV shows, movies and specials that broadcast this week, July 15-21. Details and times are subject to change.MondayTHE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION starting at 8 p.m. on various channels. Republican delegates will be gathering in Milwaukee through Thursday to nominate the party’s candidate for president. Former President Donald Trump is the only candidate since Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the race. The Democratic National Convention will be held in mid-August.TuesdayCATFISH 8 p.m. on MTV. Nev Schulman and Kamie Crawford have another successful season in the books after doing what they do best — catching people who are lying about who they are online. And it truly never gets old — anyone who watches the show can immediately tell you their favorite episode (mine is a tie between the infamous Kelly Price one or the one with the slow-clapper on crutches).WednesdayBIG BROTHER 9 p.m. on CBS. As “Love Island USA” is wrapping up its run this year, this prototypical reality show is coming back for its 26th season. In a somewhat haunting, “Black Mirror” type twist, the theme will be artificial intelligence, or what the producers are referring to as “B.B.A.I.” In the newly redone house, each room is designed based on a prompt like “sci-fi rocky planet setting” or “futuristic bedroom for the year 2500.” I’m a little creeped out, but at least it’s inventive.A scene from “Wild Wild Space.”Courtesy of HBOWILD WILD SPACE 9 p.m. on HBO. With the rom-com “Fly Me to the Moon” newly released and the 55th anniversary of the lunar landing looming, the moon is on our minds. But, as this documentary points out, the new and more valuable frontier is low Earth orbit. This area, at an altitude of 1,200 miles or less, could serve as the future of communication, transportation and observation. This documentary follows Chris Kemp and Peter Beck and their rocket companies, which are competing to be the overlord of L.E.O.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares129 Views

      in Movies

      The Best True Crime to Stream: Truly Random Crimes

      by

      Four picks across television, film and podcasting that highlight a fundamental human fear: complete lack of control.Watch or listen to any amount of true crime, and it quickly becomes evident that some of the most disturbing cases involve wrongdoers who know their victims. At times, that might be simply an acquaintance, a co-worker, a classmate or a neighbor.But most often it’s someone much closer, like a partner, former partner, friend, parent or child. Truly random crimes, in which the perpetrators have no relationship to the victims, are relatively rare, which is comforting — until it isn’t. Hearing about such crimes, where any sense of perceived control is stripped away, can prey on our greatest fears.Here are four offerings across television, podcast and film that examine these dark, disconcerting fringes.Documentary Film‘American Nightmare’This three-part 2024 Netflix docuseries about the abduction of Denise Huskins could easily top a streaming list about shockingly botched investigations. It’s stunning how quickly she and her husband, Aaron Quinn (her boyfriend at the time), were dismissed and labeled liars by law enforcement, then mocked by the news media after they had endured a horrific attack. But just as astonishing is how bizarre the crime was.The documentary, from the filmmakers behind “The Tinder Swindler,” Felicity Morris and Bernadette Higgins, incorporates interrogation footage and new interviews to illustrate the widespread reluctance to believe the victims. We witness Quinn being pressed as though he were a suspect and Huskins being branded the “real-life Gone Girl,” referring to Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel about a woman who stages her own kidnapping and frames her husband for her disappearance.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More