The 2020 Mid-Year Movie Report – Part 1

July 10, 2020

It only seems appropriate to start this week’s movie post by referencing a movie, and that would be, of course, Groundhog Day.  I suggest this classic as we are back to the constant start / stop in all of our lives due to the pandemic.  Being in the Northeast and on a good trajectory, it’s hard not to look at what is happening in other parts of the country and get very discouraged.  This is true in the movie industry too, as we saw theaters push back their opening dates and studios delay more releases.  But the good news is twofold: first, there have been a number of really good movies released this year and a few I would call “excellent”; second, it is so much easier to consume good films right now, with streaming services, video on demand, and virtual cinema releases.  That being said, the list of films scheduled to be released in the next six to eight months is outstanding.  Studios have a tendency to hold big releases for later in the year to help their chances in the award season, and that will be amplified given the shutdown and delays for spring and summer movies.  Will theaters open again soon?  Who knows, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed (and mask on) that we get the new films one way or another later this year.  I will be working on a fall movie preview soon to share the landscape of what to expect.

Back to the first half of 2020.  Since we have so many films scheduled for later this year, I didn’t want to attempt a top ten list – it feels kind of silly this early.  So, I’ve made up some categories as an excuse to write about some films that I liked for one reason or another, and a few that disappointed me.  This will be a multi-part series and part one will be devoted to documentaries.  I’ve seen a number of them this year, most of them really well-made.  If you are a frequent reader, you know I am a music junky, so naturally I will consume a music doc whenever I can.  Two that I liked a lot, and wrote about previously, were Taylor Swift: Miss Americana (covered here) and available on Netflix) and Beastie Boys Story (covered here) and available on Apple TV+).  I saw one more great musical doc that I will cover later, but first, let’s start with an uplifting one.

Feel Good Story – Spelling the Dream

Before you quickly dismiss a documentary about spelling bees, give this one a chance.  We meet a number of children competing for the title of National Spelling Champion at the annual spelling bee.  We hear their stories of how they became interested in spelling, how they study (fascinating, especially the kid with the monster spreadsheet), and the support they receive from their families.  The film focuses on the increased participation and success of Indian-American children in the last two decades, highlighting a few kids through their journey and some heartbreak (no spoilers – we all know there can only be one winner.  Well, actually one year, they literally ran out of words because the kids kept getting them right).  This is a nice, breezy story (less than 90 minutes), and a few of these kids will amaze you.  Available on Netflix.

The Important Stories – Athlete A and On the Record

Most documentaries these days tell a difficult story and can be tough to watch.  You may find yourself thinking “I don’t want to watch a story that will make me sad or angry or uncomfortable.”  As I mentioned when talking about Spike Lee’s catalogue, sometimes it’s good to feel uncomfortable while watching a film because you can learn something new and be inspired by how people have overcome adversity and challenges that are unimaginable.  Such is the case with these two documentaries that were recently released.  Athlete A tells the story of the US Gymnastics sexual abuse scandal.  I knew very little about this story, except the headlines when the physician of the program was sentenced to prison for his crimes.  The documentary tells the stories of the victims, the journalists who wouldn’t stop until the full story was told, and the monumental failure of the leadership of the program, who looked the other way while hundreds of girls were abused.  Parts of this film will enrage you, but the courage of the victims to step forward and support one another will leave you inspired by their bravery.  Available on Netflix.  On the Record tells the story of the downfall of Russell Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Records, following the sexual assault allegations from women who worked for him.  The story focuses primarily on Drew Dixon, who was a senior executive with Def Jam when Simmons assaulted her.  The film was made during the time that Dixon was contemplating telling her story publicly, which she did to The New York Times.  Watching her recount her experience and the mental torture of debating the implications if she went public was very moving.  Simmons was a giant in the music industry and a very powerful executive at the time the allegations were made public.  Unfortunately, he has yet to be brought to justice since he fled the country two years ago.  Available on HBO Max. 

Speaking of which, despite one of the sloppiest launches in recent memory, HBO Max is an excellent streaming service with a ton of great content.  The big problem with their launch was in the naming and marketing.  With HBO offered on cable platforms, through a subscription to Amazon, as a stand-alone app (called HBO Now), and also the ability to watch it on devices (through a separate app called HBO Go), they did themselves no favors when they rolled out how to get HBO Max.  The simplest way was if you had no relationship with HBO at all – sign up like you do with Netflix.  If you were an existing subscriber, you had to navigate a decision tree to figure out how to get it the cheapest.  In reality, this is much more than HBO – it’s the streaming app of Warner Bros. Media (part of AT&T), which includes everything on HBO, plus a whole lot more (DC Comics, Warner TV properties like Friends and The Big Bang Theory, classic films from Turner Classic Movies and Criterion, the Harry Potter franchise, plus other genres like Anime and Westerns.  HBO Max will also have original programming (On the Record being one of the first released under the HBO Max banner).  Also, despite the “Max” in its name, HBO Max has no affiliation with Cinemax.  Not a good job marketing, but the content is excellent, although the price point is a little steep ($15 per month), especially compared to Disney Plus ($7 per month).  If you get HBO Max, I highly recommend And the Band Played On, the 1993 film about the early days of the AIDS epidemic.  The book is also excellent.  The conflicts between among science, business, public health, and politics will (unfortunately) look familiar.  Moving right along…

For My Fellow Financial Nerds – Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Based on the 2013 book by French economist, Thomas Piketty, this is a fascinating look at how the world’s economy has evolved over the last three hundred years.  The filmmakers do a nice job of presenting complex topics as everyday concepts that are digestible by the viewer.  The experts that are interviewed (including Piketty) don’t overcomplicate the theories with too much financial jargon.  It’s easy to see how economic models shape our politics and society in many ways.  It was also interesting to watch this film with the ongoing pandemic in the back of my head, since this was filmed beforehand.  After watching the film, I thought about reading the book, then saw it was 700 pages.  Ooh, not sure I’m ready to dive into that yet.  Might just wait until I can have lunch with my friend Jean, the smartest economist I know, so she can explain it to me!  Available for rental on Amazon Prime.

The Documentary For Your Music Fix – Laurel Canyon

This might technically be a “television series” (it’s split into two episodes), not a “movie”, but I’m going to count it anyway.  Documenting the blooming music scene in Southern California in the 1960s and 1907s, Laurel Canyon is a must-watch if you like the music of this era.  We hear directly from the musicians who lived in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Laurel Canyon and how their interactions helped get their careers started and managed the transition from early career struggles to dealing with newfound fame.  Besides the insightful interviews, the performance clips are outstanding.  Some of the artists you hear from include: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, The Doors, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, and the Eagles.  That group of musicians all seem to fit together one way or another, right?  Also living in that area was the Monkees – ok, maybe I’ll buy that.  And Alice Cooper.  Wait, what?  Talk about someone who doesn’t quite fit in with that scene, but he was there.  Time for a side story about Alice Cooper (bet you never thought you’d ever read that sentence in this blog).  Ever have one of those moments where part of your brain is acknowledging something that you are witnessing in a rational manner and another part of your brain is saying “What the hell was that?”  Last year, my friends and I were on a golf trip in Maine and before one of our rounds, we were practicing on the putting green.  Out of the corner of my eye, I see a cart come by on its way to the 10^th tee and the first part of my brain said “Oh, that’s Alice Cooper driving a golf cart.”  And the second part of my brain said, “Did I just see…..?”  It seems he is a big golf nut (and apparently really good) and was in town for a show in Portland that night.  So, there you go, probably my strangest celebrity sighting.  Back to Laurel Canyon.  Another reason to watch this – it’s directed by Alison Ellwood, who directed the excellent The History of the Eagles and the upcoming documentary about The Go-Go’s.  Available on demand on EPIX on Xinifty.

Coming Soon – Boys State

I haven’t seen this one yet, but the trailer recently dropped and it looks very good.  I wrote about this documentary (here), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and tells the story of a group of teens coming together to form a mock government.  Check out the trailer and a synopsis here.  Available on Apple TV+ on August 14^th.

This Week’s Moment of Happiness

As I was putting together this week’s post, I started thinking about if I should include a moment of happiness and if so, what to write about.  Not that I don’t have anything to be happy about, but I don’t want to be repetitive in some of my topics.  I tend to listen to music while I write and as I started this post, I turned on the new U2 channel on SiriusXM.  And just like that, I found my moment of happiness.  Like most of the channels, the U2 one has a “Guest DJ” show where a celebrity will take over for an hour and play their favorite songs by the artist.  I’ve heard this a few times on the Pearl Jam channel and E Street Radio and most of the time, they are pretty bland and boring.  The celebrity usually doesn’t have the charisma to make the bits in between the songs worth listening to.  But on this day, who did we have on the U2 guest DJ hour, but the man himself – Matthew McConaughey.  And boy, did he bring everything to the table – this was a mix of Wooderson, the goofy dude from Dazed and Confused, Rust Cohle, the philosophical cop from True Detective, and the genuineness of McConaughey’s own personality.  It was a joy to listen to him introduce each song and why it means so much to him.  A post by someone in a Facebook group I subscribe to put it perfectly:  “Learn to love life as much as Matthew McConaughey is loving life while taking over the U2X Radio Station on SiriusXM right now.  It’s as entertaining as anything you will find to watch tonight.”  If you like McConaughey and U2, you will love this.  Available on demand on the SiriusXM website.

That’s it for this week – thanks again for reading.  I’ll be back with part two of my mid-year movie report next week.  If you’d like to be notified of future posts, you can subscribe here.