Reviews - Page 143

Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie (USA, 90 minutes) Dir: Andrea Blaugrund Nevins Programme: Special Presentations (International Premiere)   An involving doc operating on various levels, Tiny Shoulders reveals surprising facts about one of the most recognized women in the world. She’s not a flesh and blood woman, but according to Nevins’s film, 98% of the people in the world know who Barbie is. The movie begins with the doll’s origin story, which at least partially counters the anti-Barbie tirades of feminists like Gloria Steinem, who says in the film, “I am so grateful I didn’t grow up with Barbie. Barbie is

Behind the Curve (USA, 96 minutes) Dir: Daniel J. Clark Programme: Special Presentations. (World Premiere)   In Behind the Curve, director Daniel Clark could have gone for savage mockery in the depiction of people who believe that planet earth is not a “spinning ball flying through space.” Instead, Clark’s amiable doc is affectionate toward its characters, who have devoted their lives to the proposition that the world is flat, sometimes conducting elaborate experiments to prove it. Clark’s tone, enhanced by witty animation, recalls Jonathan Demme’s humane approach to American nuttiness as he presents us with a gallery of West Coast

on’t Be Nice (USA, 96 min.) Dir. Max Powers Programme: Artscapes (North American Premiere)   Filmmakers, programmers, and critics often credit documentary subjects for speaking truth to power. This turn of phrase describes a person who stands up and says what’s right in defiance of the establishment. The subjects of Don’t Be Nice don’t just speak truth to power—they slam it. Slamming truth to power is far more effective, emotional, and empowering. This invigorating film by Max Powers profiles the members of Brooklyn’s Bowery slam poetry team as the group vies in the national competition. The team features five members—Ashley,

The Silver Branch Ireland, 75 Minutes Dir. Katrina Costello. Programme: International Spectrum (International Premiere)   Patrick McCormack is an Irish farmer and poet who lives in an area in the west of Ireland called the Burren (from the Irish word “boíreann” meaning “rocky place”), a famously picturesque area of lunar-like limestone landscapes, which includes a natural park that has Iron Age and pre-historic sites. If McCormack were a rapper, you’d say he had great flow: The rhythm of his sentences matches the editing of Katrina Costello’s lush natural images, while dreamy music is supply interwoven. The film, The Silver Branch,

Eternity Never Surrendered (Mexico, 93 min.) Dir. Daniela Rea Gómez Programme: Made in Mexico (International Premiere)   This review means no disrespect to the dead, but spare yourself 73 minutes of intolerable pain and skip this documentary. Eternity Never Surrendered, which inexplicably took the #1 spot in the Hot Docs Audience Award rankings on the fourth day of the festival, is a tedious exercise in pain and misery. The doc has its heart in the right place, but it’s one of several examples at the fest this year for the argument that subject matter alone cannot carry a film. This

Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground_ (USA, 78 min) Dir. Chuck Smith Programme: Nightvisions (World Premiere)   “Meet the woman who introduced Andy Warhol to The Velvet Underground! Beloved by Ginsberg, Dylan and Mekas! Her only film —_Christmas On Earth_ — is the wildest ride this side of Flaming Creatures! It’s Barbara Rubin!” That’s the gist of If you’re into that scene, the film’s trove of archival footage and anecdotage, rehashing familiar stories while inserting the suggestive, shadowy figure of Rubin, is like candy. Barbara Rubin—artist, muse, scenester, creature of passions—is certainly a worthy subject. And the ’60s New