Documentary Films and Programs

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      ‘Pavements’ Blurs Fact and Fiction to Reimagine a Band’s Legacy

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      The director Alex Ross Perry said Stephen Malkmus of Pavement told him to “avoid the legacy trap.” The result is a music documentary with made-up elements that really existed. What?The Bob Dylan Center gathered some 6,000 items from the musician’s archive in an Oklahoma museum. Green Day’s “American Idiot” album was adapted into a Broadway show. The Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” won four Oscars and was nominated for best picture.If these artists could burnish their legacies and become part of a wider cultural conversation outside of music, then why not Pavement, the beloved ’90s indie-rock band that was about to reunite for its first concerts since 2010?That’s the animating spirit behind “Pavements,” the director Alex Ross Perry’s audacious documentary about the band, which opens Friday. Perry did, in fact, write and direct a stage show called “Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical” that played for two nights in Manhattan in 2022. A museum touting “rumored relics of the band’s real and imagined history” popped up in TriBeCa that fall, coinciding with the initial Brooklyn run of the group’s (very real, and very successful) reunion tour. And Perry filmed portions of a fictionalized Pavement biopic — starring Joe Keery (“Stranger Things”), Jason Schwartzman and Tim Heidecker, among others — then staged a “premiere” for it in Brooklyn.“Pavements” covers, clockwise from top left, the band’s reunion tour, a museum of its memorabilia, a made-up Hollywood biopic and a jukebox musical, sometimes presented in split screen.UtopiaIn “Pavements,” all of this is intercut with archival imagery from the band’s history and footage from the reunion tour’s rehearsals and performances, sometimes presented in two-, three- or even four-way split screen. (The plural title is quite literal.) Overall, the effect is about as far from the typical rock documentary as you could get.“I was told, ‘They want nothing traditional,’” Perry said in a video interview last month, adding that the group’s frontman, Stephen Malkmus, texted him, “‘Avoid the legacy trap.’ Possibly in all capitals.” At this point in the life cycle of Pavement or any other band, Perry said, the question becomes: What else do we do with our story? A documentary, a series, an exhibition, what? “So that, for me, became the actual text of the movie,” he said.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

    • 138 Shares189 Views

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      ‘Drop Dead City’: When New York Was on the Financial Brink

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      This surprisingly entertaining film examines the 1975 fiscal crisis that nearly led the city to bankruptcy. The movie’s conclusions remain relevant today.There’s a bit of a puzzle at the center of “Drop Dead City” (in theaters), the new documentary about that time New York City barely escaped bankruptcy. Michael Rohatyn, who directed the film with Peter Yost, is the son of Felix Rohatyn, the banker and diplomat who led the Municipal Assistance Corporation. That’s the entity, established at the height of the crisis in 1975, that negotiated the solution with the city, the banks and the unions that ultimately pulled New York back from the brink of financial ruin. But while the elder Rohatyn is praised by many participants in the film, his connection to one of its directors isn’t mentioned at all.I admit I raised an eyebrow when I realized the link, and it’s true that at times “Drop Dead City” seems like a tribute to Felix Rohatyn’s acumen and ability. That might color the film’s credibility a bit. But on the whole, the movie probably benefits more from the younger Rohatyn’s involvement, not least because an incredible array of people who worked for the city and state at the time appear as participants, whether they are former aides and comptrollers or mayors, union leaders and members of Congress.That chorus of voices tells the story, helped by a lot of archival video that vividly illustrates how heated the protests and garbage-laden the sidewalks became while the municipal government tried to figure out the resolution. It’s an evenhanded and surprisingly entertaining account of how things got so bad, who was to blame, the way it was fixed (to some degree) and what New York inevitably lost in the process.The story, as a lot of New Yorkers know, is complicated, and “Drop Dead City” sets out to tell it as simply as possible, from the city’s progressive roots to its years of chaotic bookkeeping and sometimes profligate spending to its contentious relationship with both the state government in Albany and the federal government. The participants in the film don’t all agree with one another, which makes for a richer tale. No story about money is straightforward, but this version is about as fun and vivid as it could be without skimping on the details.Viewed through a wider lens, it’s also a parable, and it should be watched through that lens. When you think about it, it’s a bit of a miracle that the American system — involving many interlocking governments and interests, led by colorful personalities that often clash — ever works at all. But while the sheer size of the nation sometimes tempts us to think of faraway people as “them,” with problems that are only “theirs,” our fates are tied together. As people note repeatedly in “Drop Dead City,” it was in everyone’s interest to keep New York afloat, because what happened in the city had broad repercussions for the whole country. The crisis may have unfolded 50 years ago, but our interdependence is as important to remember now as it was then. More

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      Andrea Nevins, Who Made Touching Films on Quirky Topics, Dies at 63

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      Her documentaries, one of which received an Oscar nomination, explored subjects like punk-rock dads and Barbie dolls.Andrea Nevins, a documentary filmmaker who brought sensitivity and depth to seemingly lighthearted stories about underdogs and unlikely heroes, including punk-rock dads and Barbie dolls, died on April 12 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 63.Her daughter, Clara, said the cause was breast cancer.Ms. Nevins received an Academy Award nomination in 1998 for her first independent project as a producer, the short film “Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies,” about a cabaret group made up of retirees in the Southern California desert city.The film bears all the hallmarks of her later work: offbeat characters in unconventional circumstances who, through their struggles, say something meaningful about life and how to live it.Her first full-length project, “The Other F Word” (2011), was based on the 2007 memoir “Punk Rock Dad: No Rules, Just Real Life,” by Jim Lindberg, the lead singer of the band Pennywise.In some ways the opposite of the performers in Palm Springs, Mr. Lindberg was known for his aggressive stage presence and profane lyrics, even as he navigated the everyday challenges of raising three daughters.In a clip from the documentary “The Other F Word,” Fat Mike, the lead singer of NOFX, tends to his second job, parenting his daughter.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

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      ‘Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie’ Review: Rolling Another One for the Road

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      The comedy duo celebrates a partnership that they just can’t quit in this celebratory documentary.It is not quite accurate to state that had recreational marijuana use been legal in the early 1970s, the comedy team of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong would not have had careers. As the new documentary “Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie” details, they had rather relatively lucrative gigs before the rise of the counterculture. But when they brought stoner characters into their act, it propelled them even, well, higher.“Cheech and Chong’s Last Movie,” directed by David Bushell, features the two comedians ruminating on their careers and friendship. They do so both in separate talking-head segments and sitting together in the front seat of a vintage roadster in search of a site called “The Joint.” The first segments are more or less extemporaneous interviews, while the scenes in the roadster are scripted. The emotions they perform, however, feel genuine. Bushell has an archive of vintage audio and visual footage to buttress an already incredible narrative. Tommy Chong was born in Canada, but Richard Marin, who was known as Cheech, moved there in the 1960s to avoid the Vietnam War draft. Both were keen on pursuing music careers before they met in an improv theater group in Vancouver. The movie delves so deeply into their pasts that “Cheech and Chong,” their 1971 blockbuster debut comedy album, doesn’t come up until an hour into the movie.And yet the documentary doesn’t quite cover everything — their collaborations with Joni Mitchell and Martin Scorsese go unmentioned, for example. This is still a rollicking account that will make even non-herbally-inclined viewers root for the fellows.Cheech and Chong’s Last MovieRated R for language and — surprise — drug humor. Running time: 2 hours 3 minutes. In theaters. More

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      Pope Francis, Unlikely Movie Star: From ‘Conclave’ to ‘Francesco’

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      In fictional tales and documentaries, directors approached him as a screen character who was both admired and controversial.Watching Edward Berger’s hit Vatican thriller “Conclave” last year, I found it hard not to think of Pope Francis. The film is fictional, based on Robert Harris’s 2016 novel, published three years into Francis’s papacy. But one key character in the film is a Mexican archbishop working in Kabul, a reformer calling on the church to focus on those marginalized and historically excluded by the institution.Plenty separated the “Conclave” character from the sitting pope, who died on Monday, the day after Easter. But such a simple yet eloquent onscreen activist could recall only Francis, the first Latin American cleric to assume the papacy. He drew both admiration and controversy, based largely on his concern for the poor, immigrants and refugees; his calls for environmental stewardship; and his efforts on behalf of gay and lesbian Catholics. That work inflamed more conservative wings of the church while endearing him to many, Catholic or not, who saw a new way forward in his life and teachings.And that also made the pope an unlikely movie star. Francis may have been the most cinematic pope, with fictional and documentary representations of him proliferating during his 12-year papacy. Some of those films were made by and for Catholics, like the 2013 documentary “Francis: The Pope From the New World,” produced by the Knights of Columbus; Beda Docampo Feijóo’s 2015 “Francis: Pray for Me,” a biographical drama about his pre-papal days; and Daniele Luchetti’s 2015 “Chiamatemi Francesco,” or “Call Me Francis,” which concentrated on his work as “the People’s Pope.”But many of these movies weren’t really aimed at an audience of the devout. Instead, they show the source of Francis’s wider appeal. His attention to issues of social and cultural import gave filmmakers a way to approach him as a screen character, not just a religious leader. Here are six such films, which help frame Francis’s legacy and illuminate why he made such an appealing subject.‘Pope Francis: A Man of His Word’ (2018)Buy or rent it on digital platforms.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

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      ‘Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey’ Review: Emotional Rescue

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      In this heartfelt wildlife documentary, a volunteer conservationist and an endangered critter develop a parent-child connection.The healing goes both ways in the documentary “Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey,” as a troubled man and an endangered mammal form a startling bond. The result is a movie so sweet and soothing you’ll be forced to admit that sometimes the universe — or, in this case, Netflix — gives you exactly what you need.What Kulu needs is rescuing and rehabilitation. As a pangolin, sometimes known as a scaly anteater, this gentle beast is in high demand because of the importance of its scales in traditional Chinese medicine. Saved from illegal traffickers as a baby during a sting operation, Kulu is underweight and panicked. Once installed at the Lapalala Wildlife Reserve in South Africa, he will need constant care and monitoring for many months until he is able to survive on his own.In the hands of Gareth Thomas, a former poker player turned Volunteer Pangolin Walker, Kulu is as cherished as the average human newborn. For Thomas, whose difficult adolescence and the loss of close friends led him to seek a more emotionally meaningful life, Kulu’s well-being is a round-the-clock obsession. Leading the animal to the tastiest anthill, braving predators to sleep outside his burrow, or just cuddling and playing — Thomas isn’t joking when he describes himself as a helicopter parent.Beautiful to look at and unabashedly sentimental, “Pangolin,” patiently directed by Pippa Ehrlich (whose 2020 documentary, “My Octopus Teacher,” also revolved around a cross-species love connection), is informative yet blessedly light on talking heads. Slices of narration by the ant specialist Dr. Caswell Munyai tell us that the pangolin is believed by some African people to possess mystical powers; observing Kulu’s ability to entrance his protector, that seems all too believable.“There’s got to be a point where you let go,” Thomas says, sadly, near the end. I, for one, am not convinced that he has.Pangolin: Kulu’s JourneyRated PG. Running time: 1 hour 28 minutes. Watch on Netflix. More

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      Ani DiFranco Documentary Shows Her First Time Writing a Song With Another Artist

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      The film “1-800-ON-HER-OWN” follows the fiercely independent artist as she tries a career first: writing a song with another artist.Ani DiFranco’s approach to her music career has always had a stripped-down, D.I.Y. vibe. In fact, Dana Flor’s new documentary about the singer, “1-800-ON-HER-OWN” (in theaters) draws its name from the phone number for DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records, the label she founded in 1990 so she wouldn’t have to work with a major company. It was an unusual thing for anyone to do back then, but especially for a 20-year-old female artist whose songs lay somewhere between folk and punk. That’s just her style.The documentary mimics that handmade aesthetic, sometimes accidentally. The major arc follows DiFranco, now in her 50s and a mother of two, as she tries out collaboration as she never has before. Arriving as a guest of honor at a songwriting retreat held by Justin Vernon (a.k.a. the frontman of the band Bon Iver), she confesses that she’s never written a song with anyone else in her entire career. Yes, DiFranco has often worked with others — she toured with a band, and the label was run by a team — but her solo songwriting and a more recent solo tour have sometimes felt lonely.DiFranco talks throughout the film about her career and her memories, often while sitting in a car. But while the film starts out conventionally, seeming as if it will focus, as she puts it, on finding “some other way to be home more and still be an artist,” it soon pivots. When the pandemic strikes, being home more is not a choice — it’s just life.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

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      in Television

      Kids, Inc.

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      A pair of documentaries are calling attention to the dangers of child influencer content. But regulation can be difficult in an industry that blurs the line between work and home.The scenes leave a pit in your stomach. In Netflix’s “Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing,” two early teenagers are pressured to kiss by adults — a parent and a videographer — on camera. Hulu’s “The Devil in the Family: The Ruby Franke Story” shows the dramatic footage of Franke’s 12-year-old son showing up at a neighbor’s door with duct tape markings around his ankle, asking them to call police.The pair of documentaries, released this year, shine a light on the perils of child-centered online content. “Bad Influence” examines claims of abuse and exploitation made by 11 former members of the teen YouTube collective “The Squad” against Tiffany Smith — who ran the YouTube channel, which drew two million subscribers — and her former boyfriend Hunter Hill. Both denied the allegations, and the suit was settled for a reported $1.85 million last year.Ruby Franke, a mother of six, pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse in 2023 after denying her children adequate food and water and isolating them as she built a family YouTube channel that amassed nearly 2.5 million subscribers before it was taken down. She will serve up to 30 years in prison.Concerns about the treatment of child entertainers have abounded since the days of Judy Garland and through last year’s “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” in which former Nickelodeon actors described performing under harmful and sexually inappropriate conditions. Less examined is the working world of child influencers, who are now speaking out about the harsh, unsafe or emotionally taxing constraints of being broadcast by their parents.Viewers may be tempted to ask, “Aren’t there laws against this?”“We have pretty documented evidence of the troubling pipeline for Hollywood and child actors, but we don’t have nearly similar numbers for child influencers, primarily because the phenomenon of influencing is so young,” said Chris McCarty, the founder and executive director of Quit Clicking Kids, an organization dedicated to stopping the monetization of minors. “A lot of the kids are too young to even really fully understand what’s going on, let alone, like, actually speak out about their experiences.”Child entertainer laws — which in some cases make provisions for minors’ education, set limits on working hours and stipulate that earnings be placed in a trust — regulate theatrical industries. The world of content creators, where an account with a sizable following can generate millions of dollars a year for creators, is largely unregulated.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