If You Ever Responded to #BlackLivesMatter with “All Lives Matter,” You Need to See “13th”
Posted on October 12, 2016 at 3:33 pm
Ava Duvernay’s new documentary, a nominee for the inaugural Critics Choice documentary award, is “13th,” named for the amendment to the Constitution that abolished slavery — and, as this film shows, triggered racial injustice in other insidious, law-enabled ways. This is the movie that shows the strikingly different way that black Americans and white Americans interact with law enforcement and the prison system.
Broadcast Film Critics Announce Documentary Awards Nominations
Posted on October 10, 2016 at 8:58 am
It is one of the great honors of my professional life to be a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and participate in the Critics Choice awards. This year, I am delighted that we have established a new, separate awards ceremony for documentaries. Here are the outstanding nominees for the inaugural Critics Choice documentary awards.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
– 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Cameraperson (Janus Films/Fork Films/Big Mouth Productions)
– Fire at Sea (Kino Lorber/Stemal Entertainment/21 Unofilm/Cinecittà Luce/Rai Cinema/Les Films d’Ici/Arte France Cinéma)
– Gleason (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)
– Tickled (Magnolia/A Ticklish Tale/Fumes Production/Horseshoe Films)
– Tower (Kino Lorber/ITVS/Meredith Vieira Productions/GTS Films/Diana DiMenna Film)
– Weiner (Sundance Selects/Motto Pictures/Edgeline Films)
– The Witness (FilmRise/Five More Minutes Productions)
BEST DIRECTION OF A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
– Ezra Edelman – 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Ron Howard – The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (Hulu/Imagine Entertainment/Apple Corps)
– Kirsten Johnson – Cameraperson (Janus Films/Fork Films/Big Mouth Productions)
– Keith Maitland – Tower (Kino Lorber/ITVS/Meredith Vieira Productions/GTS Films/Diana DiMenna Film)
– Clay Tweel – Gleason (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– Roger Ross Williams – Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)
BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
– Otto Bell – The Eagle Huntress (Sony Pictures Classics/Kissaki Films/Stacey Reiss Productions)
– David Farrier and Dylan Reeve – Tickled (Magnolia/A Ticklish Tale/Fumes Production/Horseshoe Films)
– Adam Irving – Off the Rails (The Film Collaborative/Zipper Bros Films)
– Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg – Weiner (Sundance Selects/Motto Pictures/Edgeline Films)
– James D. Solomon – The Witness (FilmRise/Five More Minutes Productions)
– Nanfu Wang – Hooligan Sparrow (The Film Collaborative/Little Horse Crossing the River)
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
– 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Audrie & Daisy (Netflix/Actual Films)
– Newtown (Abramorama/Mile 22/Independent Television Service)
– Weiner (Sundance Selects/Motto Pictures/Edgeline Films)
– Zero Days (Magnolia/Jigsaw Productions/Participant Media)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE (TV/STREAMING)
– 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– 30 For 30: Fantastic Lies (ESPN)
– Amanda Knox (Netflix/Plus Pictures)
– Audrie & Daisy (Netflix/Actual Films)
– Before the Flood (National Geographic/Appian Way/Insurgent Docs/RatPac Documentary Films)
– Holy Hell (CNN/WRA Productions)
– Into the Inferno (Netflix/Herzog-Film/Matter of Fact Media/Spring Films)
– Jim: The James Foley Story (HBO/Kunhardt Films)
– Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (HBO/Film Manufacturers/World of Wonder Productions)
– Rats (Discovery Channel/Dakota Group/Submarine Entertainment/Warrior Poets)
BEST DIRECTOR (TV/STREAMING)
– Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato – Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (HBO/Film Manufacturers/World of Wonder Productions)
– Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn – Amanda Knox (Netflix/Plus Pictures)
– Ava DuVernay – 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– Werner Herzog – Into the Inferno (Netflix/Herzog-Film/Matter of Fact Media/Spring Films)
– Morgan Spurlock – Rats (Discovery Channel/Dakota Group/Submarine Entertainment/Warrior Poets)
– Fisher Stevens – Before the Flood (National Geographic/Appian Way/Insurgent Docs/RatPac Documentary Films)
BEST FIRST FEATURE (TV/STREAMING)
– Everything is Copy – Jacob Bernstein and Nick Hooker (HBO/Loveless)
– Holy Hell – Will Allen (CNN/WRA Productions)
– Mavis! – Jessica Edwards (HBO/Film First Co.)
– My Beautiful Broken Brain – Sophie Robinson and Lotje Sodderland (Netflix)
– Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four – Deborah Esquenazi (Investigation Discovery/Motto Pictures/Naked Edge Films)
– Team Foxcatcher – Jon Greenhalgh (Netflix/Hattasan Productions/Madrose Productions)
BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth (Showtime/Left/Right)
– The Eighties (CNN)
– The Hunt (BBC America/Silverback Films/NDR Naturfilm)
– Jackie Robinson (PBS/Florentine Films)
– Soundbreaking: Stories From the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music (PBS/Higher Ground/Show of Force)
BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
– 30 for 30 (ESPN)
– Frontline (PBS)
– Last Chance U (Netflix)
– Morgan Spurlock Inside Man (CNN)
– POV (PBS)
– This Is Life with Lisa Ling (CNN)
BEST SONG IN A DOCUMENTARY
– “Angel by the Wings” – The Eagle Huntress – Written by Sia – Performed by Sia (Sony Pictures Classics/Kissaki Films/Stacey Reiss Productions)
– “The Empty Chair” – Jim: The James Foley Story – Written by Sting and J. Ralph – Performed by Sting (HBO/Kunhardt Films)
– “Flicker” – Audrie & Daisy – Written by Tori Amos – Performed by Tori Amos (Netflix/Actual Films)
– “Hoping and Healing” – Gleason – Written by Mike McCready – Performed by Mike McCready (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– “I’m Still Here” – Miss Sharon Jones! – Written by Sharon Jones – Performed by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (Cabin Creek Films/Starz Digital Media)
– “Letters to the Free” – 13th – Written by Common, Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper – Performed by Common featuring Bilal (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
– 30 For 30: Fantastic Lies (ESPN)
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Dark Horse (Sony Pictures Classics)
– The Eagle Huntress (Sony Pictures Classics/Kissaki Films/Stacey Reiss Productions)
– Gleason (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– Jackie Robinson (PBS/Florentine Films)
– Keepers of the Game (Tribeca Digital Studios/Flatbush Pictures)
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
– The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (Hulu/Imagine Entertainment/Apple Corps)
– Gimme Danger (Magnolia/Amazon)
– Miss Sharon Jones! (Cabin Creek Films/Starz Digital Media)
– The Music of Strangers (Participant Media/Tremolo Productions)
– Presenting Princess Shaw (Magnolia)
– We Are X (Drafthouse Films)
MOST INNOVATIVE DOCUMENTARY
– Cameraperson (Janus Films/Fork Films/Big Mouth Productions)
– Kate Plays Christine (Grasshopper Film/4th Row Films/Faliro House Productions/Prewar Cinema Productions)
– Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)
– Nuts (Amazon/mTuckman Media/Cartuna/Gland Power Films)
– Tower (Kino Lorber/ITVS/Meredith Vieira Productions/GTS Films/Diana DiMenna Film
– Under The Sun (Icarus Films/Vertov Studio/Saxonia Entertainment/Hypermarket Film)
Rad Women Worldwide: A Book About Women Who Challenged Injustice, Solved Problems, and Created Art That Inspires
Posted on October 9, 2016 at 10:47 pm
Copyright 10 Speed Press
The author and illustrator behind the terrific Rad American Women A-Z have a terrific new book featuring women from around the world. Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl have selected a fabulous collection of women who challenged injustice, solved problems, and created art that inspires. They range from sea captain Grace “Granuaile” O’Malley to electrifying dancer/nightclub owner Josephine Baker, scholar-nun Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and protester against the Nazis Sophie Scholl. There are familiar names like Malala Yousafzai and the tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams and lesser-known women like Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, who fought to get women in India the right to vote and the Quintreman Sisters, who advocate for environmental protection in Chile.
The thoughtful, insightful mini-biographies, the courage and curiosity and determination of the wonderfully diverse women, and the striking woodcut illustrations will captivate young readers and lead them to read more about science, human rights, and to think about the “rad” projects they can pursue as well.
Bonding over their love of music, three grade schoolers from Brooklyn spend their weekends playing heavy metal/speed punk in Times Square as “Unlocking the Truth.” When the band’s internet fame explodes and the music industry comes calling, Alec Atkins, Malcolm Brickhouse, and Jarad Dawkins feel like anything is possible, but are soon confronted with the realities that come with being rockstars. Breaking a Monster chronicles the first year as the band goes from three kids just playing the music they love to the very adult world of touring, managers and a $1.8 million record contract – all in pursuit of living out their heavy metal dreams. “Breaking a Monster” chronicles the break-out year of the band, and follows 14-year-old members as they first encounter stardom and the music industry, transcending childhood to become the rock stars they always dreamed of being.
It will be released on digital, VOD and DVD on Oct. 11, 2016. We are delighted to present an exclusive clip.
Rated PG for rude humor throughout, language and thematic elements
Profanity:
Some schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs:
Social drinking (adult)
Violence/ Scariness:
Some peril, sad off-screen death of a child, parental abandonment and marital break-up, cartoonishly exaggerated adult villains, some misbehavior including vandalism and mayhem
Diversity Issues:
Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:
October 7, 2016
Date Released to DVD:
January 2, 2017
Amazon.com ASIN:
B01LTHWXX4
Copyright Lionsgate 2016
This just might be the most accurate movie title of all time. Middle school is pretty much the worst years of everyone’s life. Terrible stress and tragedy happens at all ages, but it is the years from 12 to 14 where the internal turmoil and agonizing uncertainty are so acute that we still wince remembering them decades later. This film, based on the series of books by mega-bestselling author James Patterson (with Chris Tebbetts and illustrations by Laura Park) has some delightfully satisfying moments of fantasy revenge against a tyrannical, rules-obssessed principal and a borderline-abusive potential stepfather. But it sneaks in some quietly touching and surprisingly wise insights about loss and working with a “new normal.” Bright direction and an exceptionally engaging cast of kids make this film a genuine fall family treat.
Rafe Khatchadorian (Griffin Gluck) has been expelled from two schools (we never find out why) and has just one more chance. He would rather stay home all day and draw pictures in his notebook, where he has created a whole world of monsters and aliens, charmingly animated. “There’s a big world out there,” Rafe’s mother (Lauren Graham) tells him. “There’s a big world in there, too,” he says. And it is clear that is the world he prefers.
He does not even make it inside the building, though, when he meets the new school’s Principal Dwight (Andy Daly), who cares about just two things: his rules, and the school’s test score ranking. Dwight’s rules basically outlaw anything that is fun, friendly, expressive of individuality, or likely to keep the school from the #1 test score ranking Dwight cherishes so deeply that he has cultivated a number 1 bush by topiary in front of the school. Dwight’s consigliere/enforcer is Ida Stricker (“Parks and Recreation’s” Retta). So, bright, patterned shirts, talking in the hallways, even drawing in a notebook — all banned. There’s also a school bully who threatens to give Rafe “a wedgie so bad you’ll be able to taste your underwear.”
But there are three bright spots. Rafe’s best friend, Leo (Thomas Barbusca), is always there to make him laugh and spur him on. There’s a friendly girl named Jeannie (Isabela Moner), and a kind, sympathetic teacher (“Happy Endings'” Adam Pally) who uses the Drake and the Wu-Tang Clan to teach the class about macroeconomic trends. Rafe decides to take on Dwight by breaking every rule, with Leo’s help. Meanwhile, Rafe’s mom is getting serious with the boyfriend Rafe and his sister call “Bear” (Rob Riggle in his usual role of a walking Axe body spray).
The revenge fantasy is funny and satisfying, mostly about making the pompous Principal Dwight look silly. And it gives Rafe a way to begin to make new friends, to resolve issues with the school bully, and to think through the other problems in his life.
The film is bright and fun, like its sparkling soundtrack of pop songs. The young actors are refreshingly natural and Barbusca has great comic timing. Rafe’s sister Georgia (Alexa Nisenson) and love interest Jeanne (Isabela Moner) are real characters, smart and capable. When the more serious issues arise, it is organic and sensitively handled. The pranks are signed RAFE, which stands for “rules aren’t for everyone.” But this movie is.
Parents should know that this film includes schoolyard epithets, potty humor, references to death of a child, parental abandonment, and marital breakup, comically exaggerated adult villains, cartoon-style peril, and tween misbehavior including driving and mild vandalism.
Family discussion: What is the best way to challenge unfair rules? What school rules would you like to change?
If you like this, try: “Harriet the Spy,” “How to Eat Fried Worms,” and the book series that inspired the film
