Category: Documentary

Documentary Indie

“Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale”

By Brett_G on

6.2

Doing this back to back with a movie about resurrecting a movie theater was a rough choice. This one just didn’t resonate as well as the other. But I think differences in structure and characterization didn’t help it. A cool story, but clunky in its execution. In the spirit of the “Action Park” documentaries, it almost took off. Sadly, it just never hooked me in the way I had hoped it would. The lady talking to the boat was one of the more interesting points. Her passing being foreshadowing I did not have on my bingo card.

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Documentary Indie

“Marqueetown”

By Brett_G on

7.8

Definitely one of the dorkier things I’ve done in a long time, but loved every frame of this one. Movies and Marquette – what’s not to love?

A tale of the rise, fall, and resurgence of independent film exhibition. The spirit of “Midwest nice.” The heartwarming story of a small town coming together to make dreams come true. For a movie geek such as myself, this was like home for an hour and a half. AND, I happened to be sitting behind someone who starred in the movie. AND was able to recognize one of the actors as one of the co-stars of “Quicksand,” another Northern Michigan original screened at the Vogue in Manistee.

As shared in the post-show Q&A, look for this one to be on PBS/Streaming in October!

https://www.marqueetown.com

“Not to be used during the eclipse”
Speaking of marquees…

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Documentary Drama

“Bob Marley: One Love”

By Brett_G on

6.1

The music’s great… The film? Not so much. It fell into the trap of the biopic overseen by the subject’s family. A middle of the road, safe, uninteresting tale that doesn’t portray the messiness that makes the subject interesting in the first place. And for some odd reason, the story skips huge chunks of Marley’s life and skips back and forth on the timeline like a Christopher Nolan film, but without the narrative clarity. Without a lot of Bob Marley background knowledge, it left me feeling like I barely knew anything more by the time the credits rolled, which left me feeling like a great deal of wasted potential was left on the cutting room floor on this one.

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Documentary Drama Suspense/Thriller

“Argo”

By Brett_G on

8.8

I’ll admit – I slept on this one too long.

With the tension building of “Sicario” interwoven with a plot akin to “American Hustle,” this film establishes itself as one of the best of the historical drama boom of the 2010’s.

The razor sharp script, masterful directing, and perfect cast really took this to the next level. Even the supporting case is a who’s who of the industry who turn in a-list performances. And the soundtrack… chefs kiss.

It’s no surprise it won so much praise back in the day. Not only is it a fantastic film with a powerful plot, but it’s a movie about Hollywood as well, which is always the secret ingredient to becoming an awards season darling. The best of Affleck on full display!

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Documentary Drama

“The Zone of Interest”

By Brett_G on

7.6

So… this is an hour and a half of the chainsaw in the motel shower scene from “Scarface,” and should definitely win all the awards for its brilliant sound design.

The devil’s quite literally in the details with this one, and it executes subtlety to near perfection. It’s definitely a thinker, and not a modern blockbuster on the movie IQ scale. To contrast such beauty with such haunting atrocity is a tall task. It’s not a light movie, obviously. When our protagonist family is inconvenienced by the ash of the deceased contaminating the night sky, daring to interrupt their slumber… you’re in for a complicated emotional ride. To have such normal life existing so close to the worst of humanity… it’s a bold choice, and one that I felt paid off by the time the credits rolled.

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