Movie Review: Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A+ An incredible concert movie and one of the best documentaries in recent years. In 1969, the same summer that Woodstock happened another less documented but no less important music festival accorded. This was The Harlem Culture Festival. This festival featured some of the greatest black musicians in America. This concert was just as much a celebration of black culture as it was an incredible array of great music. The importance of a celebration like this in 1969 in the midst of the civil rights movement can not be understated. When Gladys Knight is interviewed she states that the importance of the night goes far beyond just the music and as we watch this film it is hard not to agree. Like the concert itself this film is just as much about the place, time and culture as the While a concert movie can never fully capture being there in person, this film comes as close as a movie like this can. Watching the performances and the audience, you can feel the excitement and get caught up in it. Adding to this is great interviews with not only the artists but also the people attending the festival, people arranging the festival and some of the security (the security was provided by the Black Panthers). Because of this we see the concert from all sides and the movie becomes all the more immersive. Director Questlove (in his feature length directorial debut) appropriately leaves out any narration leaving the history to be told mostly by those who were there. The most obvious praise to give this movie is that the music is fantastic. Featured here is B.B. King, Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, Gladys Knight, The Staple Sisters and so much more. All of them are at the top of their game and this is American music at its best. My only complaint is that I would have liked even more music here. This film is a must watch for all fans of music and/or movies. This is both documentary filmmaking and American music at its finest. -Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Judas and the Black Messiah

 

Note: This film is both in theaters and on HBO Max.

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

An intelligent and tense political thriller. 

This movie works on two levels as a political commentary and a tense suspense movie. It successeds very well on both accounts. As a political commentary Judas and the Black Messiah does its job perfectly. Not only does it present its message in an intelligent and convincing light but it does this without ever feeling forced or preachy. Instead the message is the driving force of the story and because of such the filmmakers knew that if they ever stopped to preach to us, it would come off as talking down to the audience. This style of storytelling makes for a more powerful and more entertaining film. As a thriller this movie is also top notch. It is so well done that it will leave even those who know the history on the edge of their seats. Much of this is due to the incredible pacing of each suspense scene as well as how the film perfectly builds up to each twist and turn. While the movie can get violent, it is never excessively or needlessly so. Instead it is there simply to drive home both the message and the suspense. With the exception of Hoover (who doesn't have much screen time) all the characters feel completely real and not like the overly simplified versions we would see in a lesser film (where good or bad would be their only personality traits). This may sound like something silly to say considering these characters are real people but I have seen a lot of movies based off a true story where the characters felt artificial. In a movie based off a true story this is certainly one of the most important factors and works perfectly here. 

I believe that even those who are extremely against this movie's message will agree that this is a very well made film and I believe that is the best thing that can be said about any political movie. 

Summer Concert Series: CDB Live (2005)

Note: Hello my friends, for three days this blog will cover concert films featuring country music and rock and roll icon, Charlie Daniels. Charlie recently passed away suddenly from a stroke. Though Charlie recorded many studio albums (most as part of The Charlie Daniels Band), what he enjoyed the most about his career was being on stage entertaining audiences. That is why these films are so important now that he is no longer around to do concerts. Films last forever and so through these movies we will forever be able to enjoy the man doing what he did best.

After the early full southern rock in Volunteer Jam (1976) and the bluegrass gospel of Charlie without the rest of CDB in Preachin' Prayin' Singin' (2005), CDB Live represents what most people think of today when they think of The Charlie Daniels Band (yes The Devil Went Down to Georgia is performed). This film features them as a country-rock band that stands for redneck culture, God and patriotism. They do a run through of their big hits such as The Legend of Wooly Swamp, Simple Man, Long Haired Country Boy, In America, The South's Gonna Do It (Again) and the aforementioned The Devil Went Down to Georgia. As Charlie Daniels had become a devout Christian by this time some of these songs feature a change of lyrics that replace cuss words and drug references. This may divide some fans of the band's earlier work, but I feel that that the Volunteer Jam movie still exists for anyone who wants to see the earlier rougher edged (and less political minded for those who don't agree with the right-wing politics of a couple songs in this film) of The Charlie Daniels Band. Also a feel that a film like this is created to be a document of a concert and a piece and time for the artist recorded and this is how Charlie was at tis time until the end of his life. There is also some lesser know music picked here such as The Intimidator (Charlie's tribute to Nascar driver Dale Earnhardt), Floreeda Road (a fun instrumental song that shows that the band has lost none of its musicianship since Volunteer Jam), Preachin' Prayin' Singin' and Heart of My Heart (a duo of great gospel numbers). The band is in great form performing the entire set list seemingly effortlessly and engaging the crowd. Most of all they create such a sense of fun and excitement that transferred perfectly to the audience and transfers to whoever watches this film. Like Volunteer Jam, the filmmaking is straightforward and never calls attention to itself keeping the focus on the music, which is fantastic. This is simply a typically great concert from CDB captured in a delightful film.

-Michael J. Ruhland

A French Critic on Monsieur Verdoux

Monsieur Verdoux (1947) is easily the most shocking and daring Charlie Chaplin film. It is also in my mind and in many others Charlie's best talkie. The movie is a pitch black comedy were Charlie plays not the little tramp but instead a man who marries many women simply to murder them. Charlie's strong politic beliefs had already by this time made him a controversial figure in the U.S.A. This movie being his most political film as well as being a film that would alienate those who simply wanted the type of overt slapstick comedy that he had been known for in the 1920's and 30's, did little to help its success. The movie was not a success at the Box Office and American critics were not very impressed.

I love the following review from a French critic that looks at this film for what it is, a very smart and clever movie. If you have any trouble reading the following page simply click on it and use your touch screen to zoom in. 














-Michael J. Ruhland 

 

Movie Review: The Hunt

Michael's Movie Grade: D-

Despite this movie's constant attempts to be controversial and edgy, once you get down to it, it doesn't really say anything.

This film is nowhere near as smart as it thinks it is. It constantly references the current political climate, but makes no actual commentary than basically to say that both sides are jerks. The liberal characters are mean spirited caricatures of liberals and the conservatives are mean spirited caricatures of conservatives. This is in the end the height of this film's political commentary, yet it is constantly shoved down our throats like it is some brilliant revelation. It isn't this is stuff we have seen in mindless comedies a million times, yet we are supposed to take it as something brilliant and thought provoking here. This all makes this the weakest kind of satire imaginable. It presents its message in a heavy-handed manner yet says nothing at all.

Another problem with making the characters all complete caricatures is that it is hard to care about any of them. Because of this the only reaction I had when a character died was "that was really gory." Because of this there is not the satisfaction of seeing the bad guys being killed or the horror of the good guys being killed. There is just simply people being killed. This makes the gore simply unpleasant to look at and little else. This works against this movie's attempts at suspense because in the end, we really don't care what happens one way or another. 

While the majority of the humor in this film falls completely flat not working on a single level, there were a couple moments that made me laugh. After these moments were over, I couldn't help but wish the rest of the film could have captured the dark comedy in these scenes. Unfortunately these are isolated moments in what is otherwise a complete mess of a movie.

If you want to watch a movie about humans hunting other humans watch The Most Dangerous Game.
-Michael J. Ruhland

Summer Concert Series: Festival (1967)

A very thought provoking folk music documentary with great music. This film shows footage of the 1963 and 1966 Newport Folk Festival.

If you have a similar taste in music to me, you will know as soon as you see the opening credits that this movie is going to be a pure musical treat. Performers in this film include Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Peter Paul and Mary, Buffy Sainte Marie, Michael Bloomfield,  Mississippi John Hurt and Paul Butterfield. If I had one complaint about the music it would be that we only see and hear Johnny Cash perform a brief snippet of I Walk the Line and other than that he is largely absent from the film. However there is no other complaint about the music in this film, it is near perfect as music can be. One of the highlights of the film is Bob Dylan's incredible performance of Mr. Tambourine Man. Though many with more traditionally great voices than Bob Dylan have performed this song no one sings it quite like Bob. This is a mysterious and magically unexplainable song and Bob's rough voice just heightens this quality perfectly. We also are treated to one of Bob Dylan's earliest pure rock and roll performances. At a festival that was all about folk music, Bob performers the radical Maggie's Farm. This is not only a rock and roll song but a proud and defiant announcement that Dylan was leaving the folk scene for rock and roll. The performance of this song is pretty darn hard rocking for its time and one can only imagine how the audience at this festival felt hearing this from some one who was know as one of the top folk singers of his day. Though this performance has found its way onto various rock and roll documentaries, it is still incredible every time I see it. Though Bob had abounded political protest songs at this time and all of his performances here have no political overtones at all, Peter, Paul and Mary perform some of Bob's past protest songs including The Times They Are A Changing and Blowing in the Wind. Peter, Paul and Mary seem to be favorites of director Murray Lerner, as we get a lot of songs from them. Luckily they sound extremely good here. Joan Baez is certainly also in top form here as her voice has never sounded better and her song choices are perfect. Paul Butterfield and Mississippi John Hurt show us what the blues are all about in their magnificent performances, while Michael Bloomfield gives us a new style of white blues-rock. All this shows that the blues can never be defined or understood they are just a part of the people who play the music.

This movie also brings up some very thought-provoking moments. It discusses how while folk music is a genre of music for and by the people, how the iconography of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez contradicts that. This movie discusses whether this iconography is good or bad from various positions. There are some audience members, who feel that the worship of them takes away from the relatability and realness of their music. Despite that many other audience members go insane when Bob takes the stage and hound Joan for her autograph. It is interesting to the contrasting ways the two deal with this bigger than life status. Joan finds it sweet and healthy (although she feels a bath wouldn't hurt some of those kids), and she jokes while signing autographs that the only affect this has on her is "a bloated ego." Bob on the other hand is obviously uncomfortable with this. He rushes to his car and hides from the people. I get the feeling this isn't out of rudeness, but rather that the situation and the crowds make him so uncomfortable that like a scared little child he rushes to safety. Then again I have social anxiety so maybe I am imparting who I am on to who Bob Dylan is. Another thought provoking part of the movie comes from Son House discussing the blues and how he feels this new rocking electric type blues goes against what the music is all about. Masterful editing (editors on this film include Alan Heim, Michael Marantz and Gordon Quinn) and great direction intercut this with blues-rock musician Michael Bloomfield talking about his type of blues music to create an intelligent and thought provoking debate between two great musicians. This movie also calls into question the counter-culture movement and whether these college kids truly understood what they were talking about. Unlike on the previous issues this film seems to give a distinct answer to that question. A middle-age man states that he approves of the young people questioning his generation, because it shows they are thinking. Joan Baez says that she believes the kids know what the singers and songwriters are talking about. Pete Seager has the best comment on this stating that this festival is where "Everyone gathers together to be a non-conformist."

Unfortunately this incredible film did not and still doesn't receive the attention it deserves. One reason sometimes given for this is that the justifiably famous D.A. Pennybaker documentary about Bob Dylan (also featuring Joan Baez) was released a month before this film. Hopefully more people will discover the excellent movie this is and enjoy it as much as I did.

-Michael J. Ruhland

RIP Agnes Varda

Sad news my friends, Agnes Varda has passed away at the age of 90. She was a legendary director in every sense of the word. I am definitely not throwing words around here, Agnes was truly of the all time greats of French Cinema, easily deserving a place among François Truffaut, Jean Luc Goddard and Jean Renoir. Every time I watch one of her films I am left with a sense of awe and wonder as if I was falling in love with movies all over again. Movies like La Pointe Courte (1954), Cleo From 5 to 7 (1961), Vagabond (1985) and Documenteur (1981) are as good as cinema gets.

Agnes has often been called "the mother (or grandmother) of the new wave." This is because she was in many ways a founder of the great French New Wave movement (she was also the only female director in the French New Wave). Her first feature film, La Pointe Courte (1954) can in many ways be called the first movie of the French New Wave predating the popularization of the movement by 5 years. At this time François Truffaut, Jean Luc Godard and Claude Chabrol had yet to make any of their great feature films. This fantastic movie was made by Agnes' own small company, Cin'e-Tamaris. Much of this film's groundbreaking style came from both necessity and unrestricted creative freedom. The use of location shooting and using both professional and unprofessional actors were things unhears of at this time in French cinema and things that would later become staples of The French New Wave.

Despite being a member of the French New Wave she differed heavily from its other major directors. Unlike them she was never a film critic. She instead was a still photographer (This had a huge influence on her filmmaking as can be especially seen in the opening scenes of La Bonheur (1964)). She was also not as well versed in movie history. Agnes would state that before making La Pointe Courte she had seen very few movies and off the top of her head could only think of Citizen Kane (1941).
Despite her being best known as a member of the French New Wave, Agnes also made some fantastic films in California. Some of these were documentaries about what was happening in the US at these time periods. These could differ quite a bit from each other. For instance Black Panthers (1968) was about the civil rights movement (probably her most political film) and Mur-Murs (1980) is about the murals around Los Angles.

Though she made fictional films as well as documentaries she would once say, "Fiction films are beautiful but documentaries put you at peace with the world. You try to make the world understandable, make people come near to you."

Still her most famous film is one of her fictional movies, Cleo From 5 to 7 (1961). The popularity of this movie is justified, it is a brilliant film on all levels. The movie offers two of Agnes' most powerful assets as a filmmaker, the humanity she bestows upon her subjects (rather fictional or non-fictional) and her beautiful way of showing the world around her. This is also one of the few and best examples of a movie done in real time as it shows us an hour and a half of a woman's life leaving nothing out.

The best way to appreciate Agnes Varda's cinema is to watch it yourself. So do yourself a favor and find and watch one of her films you won't regret it.

RIP and thanks for the incredible movies you have given us.

-Michael J. Ruhland