Pick of the Week
Waiting for “Superman”
Documentary; rated PG for some thematic material, mild language and incidental smoking; also available on Blu-ray
The Gist: A powerful documentary that examines the failures of American public education by following several students through a frighteningly broken system.
The Lowdown: The year’s first must-see DVD, “Waiting for ‘Superman’” is a tremendously effective and deeply compelling documentary from director Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”) regarding the sorry state of the U.S. public school system.
I didn’t think I’d ever see a documentary as terrifying as “An Inconvenient Truth,” but “Superman” comes pretty close. Simply put, the American public school system is in deep crisis, threatening the future of an entire generation of students – minority and inner city kids in particular.
Guggenheim, a ridiculously gifted filmmaker, uses all the tools of the documentary form to make his persuasive case. Interviews with pioneering educators are juxtaposed with startling statistics. In America right now, a kid drops out of high school every 26 seconds. These drop-outs are eight times more likely to go to prison, 50% less likely to vote, ineligible for 90% of jobs, and are being paid 40 cents to the dollar of earned by a college graduate.
The film also follows several families as they try to navigate the public school system, or more accurately, to avoid it. We see parents from both the inner city and the wealthy suburbs entering their kids into lotteries to attend charter and magnet schools. The film’s final scenes are quietly devastating as these students watch their future being determined by a random drawing.
There’s plenty of blame to go around, “Superman” contends, but the film lays much of it at the feet of powerful teachers’ unions and a bureaucratic culture that stymies any effort toward progressive reform. It’s a lot more complicated that that, of course, and the film is mostly even-handed with its finger-pointing.
This might all sound rather wonkish and dry, but Guggenheim populates the film with real people and their specific stories, and also employs inventive animation sequences to bring the statistics to life.
I really can’t say enough nice things about this film. It’s been an incredible couple of years for documentary films, and I’m consistently amazed at how filmmakers are using the form to explore complex issues with such efficiency and artfulness.
The Extras: Deleted scenes, director’s commentary track and five mini-features expanding on various aspects of the film.
The Bottom Line: A fascinating, moving and provocative documentary that’s equal parts penetrating critique and passionate call-to-action.
Double Secret Bonus Tip: Every copy of the retail DVD and Blu-ray package comes with a $25 online credit voucher, which viewers can donate to an educational charity of their choice.
Pick of the Week
Paranormal Activity 2
Supernatural horror; rated R for some language and brief violent material; also available on Blu-ray
The Gist: Surveillance cameras capture eerie goings-on in the home of the unfortunate Rey family, California suburbanites prone to poor decisions regarding hauntings and child care.
The Lowdown: Sequel to the successful 2008 film, “Paranormal Activity 2” is technically a prequel in terms of story line. The film chronicles the fate of new parents Daniel (Brian Boland) and Kristi (Sprague Grayden), who have just brought home young baby Hunter from the hospital.
After their home is mysteriously trashed by an invisible force, Daniel installs 24-hour security cameras in and around the house. As with the first film, the story is told entirely via the “found footage” of these cameras, and the occasional handheld video recorder.
The movie pretty much delivers what it promises –about two dozen good scares as the surveillance footage captures things going bump in the night. The video camera gimmick isn’t as fresh as in the first film, but it remains an effective method of generating suspense. And because the mysterious entity is going after baby Hunter this time around, the emotional stakes are raised quite a bit. For parents, anyway.
The Extras: An extended and unrated version of the movie, and a reel of additional found footage that essentially amounts to deleted scenes.
The Bottom Line: A hokey ghost story made interesting via creative visual storytelling. It may occur to you that Steven Spielberg already made this movie in 1982. It was called “Poltergeist,” and it was a lot better.
Double Secret Bonus Tip: Kristi, the mom in this prequel story, is sisters with Katie, victim of the haunting in the first film. The film’s last few scenes tie the two stories together, and pose some disturbing questions about sibling rivalry.
Interview with William Gibson
February 3, 2011
William Gibson is famous for a lot of reasons. His debut novel, “Neuromancer,” was the first book to the “triple crown” of science fiction awards – the Nebula, the Hugo, and Philip K. Dick Award. He arguably launched two entire genres of sci fi – cyberpunk and steampunk. And he coined the term cyberspace – about a decade before it actually existed.
Author William Gibson (photo: Michael O'Shea)
In fact, many now believe that Gibson’s sci-fi work in the 1980s actually determined the eventual trajectory of the World Wide Web. All those engineers and designers in the 1990s, after all, had grown up with Gibson’s books. When it came time to actually invent cyberspace, Gibson had already provided the conceptual blueprints.
But for science fiction fans of a certain intensity, Gibson is probably most famous for his utterly distinctive prose style. Dense, multivalent and hyper-specific, Gibson’s writing requires a lot of attention from the reader. His books have the effect of slowing the reader down, even as they depict a world where everything is moving impossibly fast.
This Tuesday at 7 pm, Gibson will be reading from his latest novel, “Zero History,” at the Reynolds Theater in the Bryan University Center at Duke. Gibson will also be signing books afterward, and the event is free and open to the public.
The third book to take place in Gibson’s contemporary setting, “Zero History” follows the fates of three characters – morally ambiguous marketing mogul Hubertus Bigend, musician and journalist Hollis Henry, and the chameleon-like recovering addict known as Milgrim – as they work to uncover a government conspiracy.
The new book shares many of the same characters and concerns as Gibson’s previous two novels, “Pattern Recognition” and “Spook Country. The setting? “About five minutes into the future.”
Speaking in his friendly, laconic drawl from a hotel room in Denver, the previous stop on his 20-city book store, Gibson spoke about 9/11 attacks, optimism for the future and the power of Googling.
DVD Picks: Secretariat, RED, Which Way Home
February 2, 2011
DVD Picks
Raleigh News & Observer
Glenn McDonald
Pick of the Week
Secretariat
Drama; rated PG for brief mild language; also available on Blu-ray
The Gist: The genuinely amazing and mostly true story of Secretariat, considered the greatest race horse to ever live.
The Lowdown: Starring Diane Lane and John Malkovich, “Secretariat” is a straight-up Hollywood fastball, thrown right down the middle. You know exactly what’s coming, and it still blows you away.
Highly shellacked and polished in the usual Disney fashion, the movie relates the saga of Secretariat, the race horse who, in 1973, won the Triple Crown and broke a few dozen records that still stand today. Lane is great in the role of Penny Chenery, the feisty owner who stands her ground in the old boys’ club of horse racing, and Malkovich lets some genuine warmth shine through as the eccentric trainer Lucien Laurin.
Director Randall Wallace finds interesting ways to switch up the texture on what is essentially a series of horse races, and skillfully parallels the human drama concerning Penny and her family. It’s all surprisingly dramatic and inspirational, considering that everyone knows the ending.
The Extras: The DVD/Blu-ray combo pack has director’s commentary track, deleted scenes, two short production docs and some archival race footage.
The Bottom Line: “Secretariat” can really mess with a guy’s film snob credentials. This was one of my favorite movies of 2010.
Double Secret Bonus Tip: When Secretariat died in 1989, it was discovered that his heart was two-and-a-half times the size of the average horse.
DVD Picks: Jack Goes Boating, Stone, Punk: Attitude
January 27, 2011
DVD Picks – January 21, 2011
Raleigh News & Observer
Glenn McDonald
Pick of the Week
Jack Goes Boating
Comedy/romance; rated R for language, drug use and some sexual content; also available on Blu-ray
The Gist: Two working class New York City couples try to find honesty and intimacy in the cold, dark city winter.
The Lowdown: Directed by and starring veteran actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Jack Goes Boating” is based on a play and moves to the slower rhythms of the stage. As the painfully shy but good-hearted Jack, Hoffman gives another of his detailed character portraits. Jack works as a limo driver for his uncle’s business, but finds new inner resources when set up on a blind date with Connie (Amy Ryan), another damaged and withdrawn New Yorker. John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega play the film’s other featured couple, whose long partnership is threatened by secrets and betrayals.
Not a lot happens in “Jack Goes Boating,” and what does happen goes down verrry slowly. But if you can adjust to the film’s pacing, you’ll find a moving and funny story of the trials of love. “Jack” excels at evoking that kind of rich, exquisite sadness you can only really get at the movies. Have they invented a name for that feeling yet?
The Extras: Deleted scenes, theatrical trailer and two production featurettes concerning the adaptation form stage to screen.
The Bottom Line: A subdued but deeply felt love story with amazing performances from the four leads.
Double Secret Bonus Tip: Hoffman may be the least vain screen actor ever – Jack is chubby, schlubby, frequently shirtless and failing spectacularly in an effort to grow dreadlocks.
