Posted on September 29, 2014 at 8:00 am
Be sure to tune in to PBS tomorrow night for what is sure to be one of the highlights from one of the all-time best series on PBS: “The Makers,” the story of women in America. Tomorrow’s episode is about women in comedy.
Posted on September 28, 2014 at 3:59 pm
Once upon a time, there was no internet. And instead of bloggers and pundits and tweets we had something called public intellectuals, people who read widely, thought deeply, and wrote long, passionate, carefully reasoned, thoroughly documented and beautifully written articles about the important issues of our day, not to be confused with reality television or celebrities. The publication at the heart of this was the New York Review of Books. Martin Scorsese’s documentary, “The Fifty Year Argument” tells the story of this venerable and venerated publication, featuring interviews with its editors and contributors. It premieres tomorrow on HBO.
Posted on September 8, 2014 at 3:25 pm
Passion, betrayal, unprecedented power, triumph, failure, devastating loss, personal and professional turmoil, and triumph again, played out against the most tumultuous events of the 20th century — that is the real-life story of the Roosevelts, especially the two who served as President, Theodore and Franklin, and Franklin’s cousin, wife, and first lady, Eleanor. Ken Burns, the foremost documentary historian of all time, has produced “The Roosevelts,” premiering on PBS September 14, 2014, featuring the voices of Meryl Streep, Edward Herrmann (who memorably played Franklin Roosevelt in two made-for TV movies),Paul Giamatti, and Peter Coyote. Three fascinating personalities who shaped our era are portrayed in seven mesmerizing episodes, covering the creation of National Parks, the digging of the Panama Canal, the passage of innovative New Deal programs, the defeat of Hitler, and the postwar struggles for civil rights at home and human rights abroad.
A sickly boy became the essence of vigor and energy. No one ever engaged in the world with more passionate, joyous intensity.
A brash young father struggles to recover from the devastating effects of polio.
These were three aristocrats who fought for the people.
Make time to watch this with your family. It’s the best series of the fall. Next week, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
Posted on September 8, 2014 at 2:04 pm
SundanceNow Doc Club is a streaming video service for documentary lovers, a user-friendly place to go to find and watch quality documentaries, free of advertising interruptions. Doc Club offers a carefully curated selection of acclaimed documentaries, hand-picked by experts led by documentary guru Thom Powers, including exclusive digital releases, premieres of new films and classic documentaries, plus membership content and perks. New programs and related special content are added each month, and SundanceNow Doc Club also premieres a select number of new documentaries annually, as day-and-date releases, both online and in select theaters.
For September Thom Powers curated a month of documentary “Essentials” – an impressive selection of classic docs that every movie fan should see, including “Hoop Dreams,” “Let’s Get Lost,” “Atomic Cafe,” “Stop Making Sense,” “Sherman’s March,” and “Thin Blue Line.”
Posted on August 15, 2014 at 7:59 am
B| Lowest Recommended Age: | Mature High Schooler |
| MPAA Rating: | Not rated |
| Profanity: | None |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Alcohol |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Very sad death, themes of death and dying |
| Diversity Issues: | Diverse characters |
| Date Released to Theaters: | August 15, 2014 |
“Without this,” Clark Wang says, “dying from lymphoma feels so empty and meaningless and pointless.” Dr. Wang was diagnosed in 2003, and we meet him as he is running out of options for treatment. His doctor tells him it is a matter of months. His choice for making his death meaningful is to seek out a “green” burial. He persuades a local cemetery to preserve a tract of forest instead of cutting it down to extend the lawn area. He finds someone who can make a coffin coffin for him out of reclaimed wood. We see him try it on for size, joking that “I’m going to be here for a while.” He approves. “It’s the exact style that I want to go out in.” And, in a moment of both celebration and defiance, he dances on its cover.
“A Will for the Woods” is a documentary about the small but urgent movement for eco-burial. But its focus on Dr. Wang, a psychiatrist and musician, makes it a profound statement about death and therefore about life. While some people in the film speak in euphemisms and indirection, and even Wang himself uses terms like “burial is a very likely outcome,” the way that he and his partner Jane confront what is happening to maintain a sense of dignity, honesty, and control is both moving and inspiring. It is not surprising that this film has won audience awards at four film festivals so far.
“It’s comforting to know I’ll be in such a beautiful place,” Wang says. He speaks of learning to “befriend death,” to make sure that his last act is not an act of pollution. Jane tells him what she will do after he dies, how she will wash his body and spend time with it, caring for him in a way he can no longer care for himself.
This is a touching film and a very important one. It is about dying with dignity, but it is also about living with grace. Just as Dr. Wang approached his own death with purpose and honor, the filmmakers have done the same in telling his story and making it ours as well.
