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Natchez is a masterclass as just letting people get comfortable talking to you and talking to the camera because honestly, it didn't take much before they would just start saying the quiet part out loud. There is a moment close to the beginning where the white Reverend guy clearly thinks that he is doing multiple takes that they will cut between so that he can find the most politically correct phrasing, but they just leave the one continuous take in and it is just beautiful
Also the section on the punkah wallah is just masterfully edited and the park ranger is such a beautiful orator. His story telling and delivery are just stunning and really lands those gut punches of the reality of these antebellum Big Houses that the white house owners would rather just gloss over
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Movie Review - Billy Preston: That's The Way God Planned It
There are a handful of people who have been given the nomenclature of "The Fifth Beatle". There is, of course, former members of The Beatles pre-Beatlemania like Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe. Then there's those in there management or production team like manager Brian Epstein or producer George Martin. But one that gets mentioned a bit as "The Fifth Beatle" is Billy Preston (1946-2006). The keyboardist was a musical legend in his own right an did numerous collaborations, but he is one of the very few musicians to get credited on a Beatles track. When "Get Back" and "Don't Let Me Down" was released as a single it was credited to The Beatles with Billy Preston. With the exception of the early Hamburg compilation credited to The Beatles with Tony Sheridan, it's hard to think of another artists credited like that. But that's the reach of Preston and his tremendous talent both as a solo artist and session player. In 2021 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame too! Now Preston is getting the big music documentary treatment with Billy Preston: That's The Way God Planned It, which premiered at the 2024 SXSW fest and is getting limited theatrical release this month (including Regent Theatre on Wed. night).
movie poster
Preston was a child piano prodigy when he began backing gospel singer Mahalia Jackson and soon appeared on Nat King Cole's TV show. As a teen he toured with Little Richard and while on tour in Hamburg, he befriended Little Richard's opening act, The Beatles. They remembered him and brought him in for the Get Back sessions. In the years that followed, Preston did his own solo albums while also appearing on albums by a who's who of music: Ray Charles, The Rolling Stones, Sly and the Family Stone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash and many more. Post-Beatles, Preston was close with George Harrison and took part in his Concert for Bangladesh. Preston also appeared on solo albums by Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr as well! But I digress. The doc also gets into his struggles with the church and his closeted sexuality. Beyond the incredible archival footage, there's tons of interviewees including George's widow Olivia Harrison (also a producer on this), Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and more.
Preston (left) with The Beatles during the Get Back sessions
Beyond his affiliation with The Beatles, I wasn't too familiar with Preston's solo music. Other than "Slaughter", which was later featured in Inglorious Basterds. I knew a little about his life and career, but was no expert. Credit to director Paris Barclay, a noted TV director, for going deep into the archival footage. For me, the big thing with this doc is that it is a gateway doc, where it makes you want to dive into Preston's music and explore his solo work more. He had a beautiful voice and such a great electric organ sound he brought to everything he played on. Worth watching!
For info on Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It
For info on the Regent Theatre (Arlington, MA) screening on Thurs.
Secret Mall Apartment (dir. Jeremy Workman) x VIFF 2024.
There's so much heartfelt wonder and slice-of-life storytelling to [its] engaging true story that sometimes mirrors itself as a low-level crime heist doubling as performance art. It's easily one of the best subjects for a human interest documentary seen in a long time and a true case for the positive impact of accessible art for everyone.
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I’ve been doing this thing for about a year now, where I’ve made it a goal to try and find the documentary that disturbs me the most.
I stay away from documentaries that focus on animal abuse, since that’s just a massive no-go area, I can’t even think about someone as little as shout at an animal.
But I’ve watched quite a few at this point. I know a lot of people out there are also interested in this kind of thing, so I’ll give you some of the ones that have really had an impact on me. I’ll start with the tamest ones (available on mainstream platforms like Netflix) and it’ll get progressively more upsetting lol.
I’m actually quite a desensitised person, so if a documentary affects me, you know it’s worth it.
Green = unfortunate and upsetting
Orange = Jesus that’s fucked up, that’s latched onto me for a while
Red = The above + will find it difficult to watch again, and this made me cry my eyes out
Bold Red = Kept me up at night for a while + all the above. Still think about it to this day.
Bold with ** = don’t watch if you don’t have a strong stomach and can’t handle emotionless gory images
Take Care of Maya (2023) - Netflix
A nightmare unfolds for Jack and Beata Kowalski after they bring their 10-year-old daughter to the ER with unusual symptoms.
Tell Me Who I Am (2019) - Netflix
When Alex loses his memory after a serious motorcycle accident, he trusts his twin Marcus to tell him about his past, but he later discovers that Marcus is hiding a dark family secret.
Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (2022) - Netflix
The rise of Warren Jeffs in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and his criminal case.
Abducted in Plain Sight (2017) - Netflix
In 1974, 12-year-old Jan Broberg is abducted from a small church-going community in Idaho by a trusted neighbour and close family friend.
Dreams of a Life (2011)
Discovering the truth about the life of a vivacious, intelligent woman - and how she came to be so tragically forgotten. Nobody noticed when 38-year-old Joyce Vincent died in her bedsit above a shopping mall in North London in 2003. When her remains were discovered three years later, her heating and her television were still on. Who was Joyce Vincent, and how could this happen to someone in today's age of communication?
Just Melvin, Just Evil (2000)
In this documentary focusing on his own tortured family tree, James Ronald Whitney chronicles an evil that seems too pure to be real: Melvin Just. Over the span of three generations, Just, who married Whitney's grandmother and was later convicted of child molestation, is revealed to have abused his stepchildren from two marriages. Whitney not only explores the unspeakable acts perpetrated by his grandfather, but also the legacy of self-destructive behavior that can all be traced back to Just.
Tickled (2016)
In a story stranger than fiction, journalist David Farrier uncovers a strange tickling subculture. Delving deeper into the dark world of a tickling competition, he meets with fierce resistance.
Holy Hell (2016)
Filmmaker Will Allen documents the time he spent with the Buddhafield, a Los Angeles spiritual group.
Jesus Camp (2006)
Filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady visit an evangelical Christian summer camp called Kids on Fire, where children take part in programs designed to strengthen and intensify their beliefs. The camp's founder, Becky Fischer, discusses her mission to indoctrinate youths in the word of God, while young campers play certain combat video games and talk about their love for Jesus.
There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane (2011)
The accident made national headlines: a suburban mother drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway in New York and crashed head-on into an SUV, killing herself and seven others. In the aftermath, Diane Schuler was portrayed as a reckless drunk and a mother who cracked. But was she the monster the public made her out to be...or the perfect wife and mother that many say she was? Investigating the case six months after the accident, this documentary searches for answers to a mysterious and senseless tragedy.
Goodnight, Sugar Babe: The Killing of Vera Jo Reigle (2020)
The discovery of the mutilated body of a mentally challenged young mother begins a journey into madness that is so unbelievable the mastermind behind the crime ultimately got away with murder.
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
Paradise Lost was a groundbreaking true crime documentary series released in 1996 that set the bar for the genre and influenced similar productions. The trilogy follows the story of three teenage boys who were wrongfully accused and convicted of a brutal triple homicide in West Memphis, Arkansas. The series explores themes of societal hysteria, wrongful convictions, and the power of media influence, and it launched the careers of filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky.
**Orozco the Embalmer (2001)**
A Spanish-language, Japanese-Colombian mondo film (a subgenre of exploitive documentary films) directed by Kiyotaka Tsurisaki, following a Colombian embalmer named Froilan Orozco Duarte, who is shown living in El Cartucho, an impoverished and crime-ridden area of Bogotá, Colombia, where the homicide rate is high and corpses can be seen on the streets.
The Dying Rooms (1995)
Documentary about a crew going from one orphanage to another in China to investigate these so called "dying rooms" where the orphanage workers leave baby girls to die.
The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan (2010)
In Afghanistan many hundreds of boys, often as young as ten, are being lured off the streets on the promise of a new life. Also known as Bacha Bāzī: an ancient Afghan practice in which men train, buy, and keep adolescent young boys for entertainment and sex in a society that keeps women hidden from view.
Boy Interrupted (2009)
Filmmaker Dana Perry documents the life of her son, Evan, a 15-year-old who committed suicide. The film traces Evan's growing mental illness, including videotapes made throughout his short life and interviews with his friends and doctors.
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
Dear Zachary is a both a touching tribute to a fallen friend and a heart-wrenching account of justice gone astray, skillfully put to film with no emotion spared.
This is a very nice little documentary, especially if you’re a ska-rocksteady-reggae nerd like me.
There are interviews with lots of old reggae gods, several of whom are no longer with us five years later (Toots, Lee Perry, Bunny Lee).
Dandy Livingstone, aged 74, features throughout because he's so good to listen to. He has a beautiful speaking voice, is very composed and happy to share memories. At one point, he sits down at his keyboard and sings a bit of 'A Message to You, Rudy', and it's just wonderful.
There are dramatizations of Jamaicans in London in the 60s and 70s that are low key and not jarring or cringey like you might expect.
'If that shuffle not in the music, it's not reggae' - Bunny Lee
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, as the title says, attempts to tell the story of the renowned chef that travelled the world and was followed by many until his tragic suicide put an end to a wonderous career. The mystery of his suicide lies in the oxymoron of a man that was travelling around the globe to try and discover himself. Of a man that in all the countries he went, everyone knew, but himself felt he had no one in the world. The documentary has the privilege of having access to endless video material since Anthony's life was documented almost daily on camera, but it doesn't shy away from using AI to synthesize a few new lines of narration by the diseased protagonist, reading out letters he once wrote, that shed light to what happened later on. I personally liked Bourdain greatly and was shocked to find out he ended his life. The film does give insights into his persona, with intimate interviews by his closest friends, associates and ex-wife. And it's very sad to see a man so successful strangle so hard with his demons and never be able to find peace, even in the most beautiful and remote places of the world.
