Today’s movie theme: HBO documentaries about individuals dealing with overbearing governments (usually, they’re worse off for it) or trying to get around them. Okay, so “112 Weddings” isn’t technically related to government oppression at all, but there is a gay couple that mentions their struggle to get married so that’s close enough for a theme to be consistent.
“Newburgh Sting”…By far, the best of the bunch: a story you wouldn’t believe if it weren’t a documentary, equal parts hilarious and frightening, informative and entertaining. It details the wilder-than-fiction story of an outrageously out of control FBI investigation where they had a shady undercover informant entrap four black men in Newburgh, NY into a plot to blow up a temple in one of the wealthier parts of the Bronx. It’s hard to tell who’s playing who: the black “Muslim” con artist who’s just trying to get paid and clearly doesn’t give two turds about jihad or the FBI informant who is probably more criminal than any of the men he promised 250,000 to in order to blow up empty buildings. This is a must-see documentary that draws scary parallels between the drug war and the new war on terror, where Homeland Security/law enforcement is so desperate to look necessary, their search for new suspects comes uncomfortably close to creating them. Grade: A
“Death Defying Acts”…This is about a political dance troupe in Belarus, which is usually called “Europe’s Last Dictatorship.” Even though the doc is only 75 minutes, it feels overlong, but some of the actual on-stage exhibits are interesting, you wish we’d seen more of them. Still, the film makes a convincing case that the censorship of provocative art is the first act of a dictatorship, but the freeing of that same art may be the first step in undoing one too. Grade: B
“The Last Patrol”…The least interesting of the bunch. We watch four veterans walk AmTrak lines through several states trying to discover “the real America,” but since they usually put train lines in only one kind of spot—desolate—we’re really only meeting one type of person. It’s mostly watching the main soldier of the group ask base questions to inarticulate ramblers, a lot of whom think “times are tough” but have no idea why that is, usually blaming Obama for it all. And I’ve begun to grow tired of this idea that adding veterans to something instantly lends it gravitas. Grade: C-
“112 Weddings”…It’s a good idea for a documentary—a seasoned NYC wedding photographer/videographer goes back and interviews some of the couples he filmed the weddings for and asks them questions about marriage—but not a great execution. For starters, the types of couples we’re seeing are a little too similar to each other (almost all are NY based, all but two of the couples are white, almost all are wealthy, only one couple is black, a lot are Jewish, etc.) to really give us a sample of marriages in America. Plus, too many of the couples who do appear are cagey in answering questions about their marriage or giving out advice on marriage in general. It’s a doc that doesn’t dig deep enough really. Grade: C
“Banksy Does New York”…A solidly frivolous doc that follows Banksy’s one month residency in NYC where he put up a different piece of street art every day for 31 days, even becoming an almost Spider-Man-like figure as the NYPD hunts him for arrest. [NOT missed former Mayor Bloomberg makes drawing on property sound like the Manson murders.] A lot of the pieces are great, but even better is the reaction of the people around them, including certain…ummm…”interesting characters” who charge money to see the work or even “steal” a piece to be auctioned off. This isn’t an important doc that you must see—though most of Banksy’s work does have a larger point, and usually makes it in a much more impactful way than disconnected, aloof-to-the-point-of-irrelevant gallery art—but it’s lively and a lot of fun. Grade: B+