Directed by Alex Holmes, Maiden is a documentary about the story of Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old cook on charter boats who became the skipper of the first-ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989.
Alex Holmes is a documentarian. He’s produced and directed many documentaries, including Dunkirk, The Ice King, and Hunting the KGB Killers.
Seeing a movie about women competing against men in a man’s sport is enthralling.
The following movie clips tell a bit about the story, and it is a fantastic story about women achieving the unexpected.
The following movie clips transform the concept of sailing around the world with a crew of dedicated women. The crux of the journey is that this is the first women’s crew to join this sport. Sure, it is daunting but liberating.
Written and directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo and winner of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, Brittany Runs a Marathon follows an unusually poignant portrait of a young woman, played by Jillian Bell, uncovering her long-buried potential.
Brittany Forgler is everybody’s best friend ― except maybe her own. At 27, her hard-partying ways, chronic underemployment, and toxic relationships are catching up with her, but when she stops by a new doctor’s office to try to score some Adderall, she gets slapped with a prescription she never wanted: Get healthy. Too broke for a gym and too proud to ask for help, Brit is at a loss, until her seemingly together neighbor Catherine pushes her to lace up her Converse sneakers and run one sweaty block. The next day, she runs two. And soon, after finishing her first mile, she sets an almost unthinkable goal: running in the New York City Marathon.
The movie is the winner of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award.
The rest of the cast includes Michaela Watkins, Micah Stock, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Alice Lee, and Lil Rel Howery.
This movie could be the next sleeper hit.
Colaizzo won the Helen Hayes award for his playwrighting talent, and now, he is making his screenwriting and directorial debut with a slice of life movie. Brittany Runs a Marathon reminds me of Richard Curtis or Cameron Crowe storytelling.
The three movie clips show Brittany’s attitude before she starts changing her life around and getting in shape. The first clip is obscure, and its purpose of the scene is unconvincing.
The last clip is in the trailer but shows how Brittany managed to get by in life by lying. The doctor is smart and sits her on a path of redemption and a healthier lifestyle.
Directed by Nick Broomfield, the documentary Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love is Broomfield’s personal and romantic film of his multi-level career.
The documentary starts on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960, where Leonard Cohen, then a struggling and unknown fiction writer, and Marianne Ihlen, a single mother with a young son, became part of a community of expat artists, writers, and musicians.
Never-before-seen footage shot by documentarian Broomfield brings to light a unique portrait of an idyllic 1960’s bohemia. It was a time that left a lasting imprint on both Marianne and Leonard, whose friendship would last another fifty years before their deaths in 2016.
The movie trailer is bleak with out of focus shots and undefining frames of a woman and a man. I never heard of these two people. I sense this documentary is for a limited audience. An audience who knows these individuals and can relate to them on a personal or fandom level.
I saw a clip of Cohen talking about the love between a man and a woman. I am not sure how it relates to promoting the movie, but it offers insight into his psyche – who this being is and how he feels about his relationship with Ihlen. The clip blocked, so you cannot see it. I have it posted below in hopes they will release it soon. At least, you can see an image of Cohen and how he looks, in the interview, an older man.
Directed by Rupert Goold, Judy begins during the Winter of 1968. The showbiz legend Judy Garland, played by Renee Zellweger, arrives in Swinging London to perform a five-week sold-out run at The Talk of the Town.
It is 30 years since she shot to global stardom in The Wizard of Oz, but if her voice has weakened, its dramatic intensity has only grown. As she prepares for the show, battles with management, charms musicians, and reminisces with friends and adoring fans, her wit and warmth shine through.
The movie derives from the play End of the Rainbow by Peter Quilter and the screenplay adaption by Tom Edge. On the IMDB website, Quilter says Edge’s screenplay is more edger than the imaginative play.
Judy is available on Amazon Prime or wherever Blu-rays and DVDs can be purchased.
Goold directing credits include True Story, King Charles III, and The Hollow Crown, which won Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for Best Single Drama. Goold works with executive producer Sam Mendes, who directed a couple of James Bond 007 movies. Mendes is not involved with the production of Judy.
The movie looks promising with Zellweger as Judy. We come to find even her dreams of love seem undimmed as she embarks on a whirlwind romance with Mickey Deans, played by Finn Wittrock, her soon-to-be fifth husband. Featuring some of her best-known songs, we celebrate the voice, the capacity for love, and the sheer pizzazz of “the world’s greatest entertainer.”
The next trailer shows more of the movie with is flashbacks and Garland’s drug dependency and separation from her children because she needs to go to London and make money. We see more of the other actors in the movie, including Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell, and Michael Gambon.
Buckley is making quite a name for herself with her starring role in the award-winning Wild Rose.
Zellweger becomes Judy Garland, and she embodies her. She makes the movie.
Judy Garland is an endearing soul who understood the hardships that life can bring. She lived tragically in the end. But I am sure she is doing well.
In this clip, I can see Judy Garland as Dorothy when she comforts the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion. Zellweger is brilliant, and I hope she gets nominated for both the Golden Globe and Oscar.
It’s heartbreaking to watch this scene because of Judy Garland’s life rollercoaster. Here she is on an upswing when we know it will be tragic again.
Directed by Tom Shadyac, Brian Banks is a true story about an injustice made right. The studios are calling it “inspirational true story” when in fact I feel treachery.
The true story follows Brian Banks, played by Aldis Hodge, an All-American high school football star verbally committed to USC. His life is upended when he is unjustly convicted of a crime he didn’t commit.
Despite lack of evidence, Banks is railroaded through a broken justice system and sentenced to a decade of prison and probation. Years later, with the support of Justin Brooks, played by Greg Kinnear, and the California Innocence Project, Banks fights to reclaim his life and fulfill his dreams of playing in the NFL.
Shadyac impressive credits offer encouragement for this movie to rock and entertain. He’s directed Ace Ventura, Bruce Almighty, and The Nutty Professional. Over the past decade or so, he’s involved himself in documentaries as director and producer. In 1983, he became the youngest staff writer for Bob Hope.
The cast also includes Sherri Shepherd, Melanie Liburd, and Morgan Freeman.
The injustice of what Banks went through is tough to face. The young woman lied and destroyed his life. The movie clip is a scene where Banks played the tap of the young woman confessing she lied.
The featurette tells what the story is about through the eyes of those who were there from Brian Banks as executive producer and Justin Brooks as executive producer to the actors who play the people who went through this tragic story about injustice.
The story is real, and injustice happens, unfortunately. In this clip, I understand what Banks mother is saying because I am a mother. I want nothing but good for my daughter.
“The System” movie clip sets the pace for going to trial.
Directed by Dan Pritzker, Bolden follows the tragic life of Buddy Bolden, played by Gary Carr, an unsung inventor of jazz. The movie is filled with compelling images. It’s a story worth telling since his life ended up in a mental asylum. They were placed under their tragic and brutal treatment, never released, and died twenty-five years later.
According to production notes, little biographical information is known about Bolden, and no recordings of his music are available anywhere – tragically gone.
Pritzker uses fragmented memories of Bolden’s past against the political and social context in which his revolutionary music was conceived. The movie is about passion, greed, and a musical genius in the early 1900s in New Orleans.
Wynton Marsalis, who is also one of the producers, wrote, arranged, and performed the movie’s original music. The dance scene in the sweatshop looks promising.
The movie co-stars Erik LaRay Harvey, Yaya DaCosta, Ian McShane, and Michael Rooker. You can also see McShane in Hellboy. He plays men who are outraged in both movies.
The next run of movie clips shows how the movie is not linear but told in flashbacks. My favorite is the “Seamstress Dance” clip. The “Clapping Out” clip is my next favorite. Though there is not much information about Bolden, the movie is told as if Bolden is a mythical character, a legend.
Ron Howard brought together the same filmmaking team that forged the documentaryThe Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years. Pavarotti takes the opera star’s talent, personality, and forbearance by lifting the curtain on the icon. We understand how he brought opera to the people.
The Oscar winner Howard trailer puts us in the front row for an “exploration of The Voice… The Man… The Legend. Luciano Pavarotti gave his life to music and a voice to the world. This cinematic event features history-making performances and intimate interviews, including never-before-seen footage.”
They all brought Dolby ATMOS technology into production, a fancy way of saying a whole new technology that makes the presentation even better.
The movie clip shows Princess Diana in the audience, outside in the pouring rain. She looks delighted and spectacular—a memorable moment in this extraordinary documentary.
The following featurettes show Pavarotti’s ambition and desire to spread opera worldwide. He wanted to give it to the people, as he felt opera was for the people.
The following two movie clips are about Bono’s relationship with Pavarotti and how he was a master at developing relationships with anyone.
Directed by Edward Zwick, Trial by Fire is a true story that took place in Texas. It follows an unlikely bond between an imprisoned death row inmate, played by Jack O’Connell, and a mother of two from Houston, played by Laura Dern. The mother faces staggering odds and fights with all her skills and smarts for his freedom.
The real story is about Cameron Todd Willingham, a poor, uneducated heavy metal devotee with a violent streak and a criminal record. He ended up convicted of an arson-related triple homicide in 1992.
During his 12 years on death row, Elizabeth Gilbert, an unlikely ally, uncovers questionable methods and illogical conclusions in his case, and battles with the state to expose suppressed evidence that could save him.
The movie trailers show fine acting talent, and its good to see these to actors working together.
These two movie clips are the meat and potatoes of the movie with “Life is Fair” and “He Threatened You” as prevailing themes.
The story follows Dern’s character because she is the one who sees Willingham’s innocence. She believes more in him than he does in himself.
Directed by John Chester, an established documentarian, The Biggest Little Farm follows a husband and wife team as they dream of sustainable living on a 200-acre piece of land in the foothills of Ventura County. The documentary received several nominations and awards, including the “Truly Moving Picture Award” from the Heartland Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
A testament to the immense complexity of nature, it all started when they received an eviction notice from their tiny LA apartment. John and Molly Chester decided to hoof it to the rural area and make or break it, building a diverse farm. The goal is to create a kind of farm that coexists with nature.
The area of land they chose is depleted of nutrients and suffering from a brutal drought. Still, Chester saw a chance to make a documentary, so they filmed for eight years. They took on the daunting task and unreal idealism as an attempt to create the utopia they seek, planting 10,000 orchard trees and over 200 different crops and bringing in animals of every kind- including an unforgettable pig named Emma and her best friend, Greasy the rooster.
When they finally sense a reawakening and the hope they will reap the benefits of their hard-earned effort, their plan goes awry and through wild turns. They come to terms with surviving, taking a greater understanding of the intricacies and wisdom of nature and life itself.
Directed by Todd Douglas Miller, Apollo 11 is a documentary that takes a look at Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon. The mission led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin is shown through real-time footage during the time of the preparation and launch of the historical event.
The footage before and during this event is amazing and revolutionary in the fact of what this event meant to the people of Earth on that summer day in 1969 when Neil Armstrong step foot on the moon.
This is Miller’s first attempt at directing a documentary, and the footage looks good.
