This list is mostly the result of scrounging through Amazon Prime for marginal possibilities, as well as a checking out some PBS and a couple from the library.
Nicky's Family
– 2011 (3.0). In 1938 a young Englishman stumbled into the problem
of Jewish families in Czechoslovakia fearing the rise of Hitler and
wanting to get their children sent out of the country to safety. He
soon put his natural problem solving skills to the task and did his own version of Schindler's list, a story which remained untold for
fifty years. This well made documentary uses archival footage,
interviews with the rescuer and some of the rescued children in their
senior years and some dramatic reconstructions. Individual stories
are told directly to the camera and also presented to student groups.
The resulting movie is moving and inspirational.
Camp Hollywood– 2004 (2.8). A young Canadian stand up comic decides to try the LA
scene and stay at a somewhat seedy hotel with a history of celebrity
guests on the way up or on the way down as he sees if he can land
some profitable gigs. He has enough money for a 60 day stay and
decides to shoot a home movie style documentary about the place and
its current residents. T first he thinks he may have made a mistake,
but then the place and people start to grow on him. The trust level
he establishes is evident in the cooperation he elicits from the
residents he interviews. Ambition buoyed by hubris and most likely
unreasonable hope could be depressing, but the overall sense is a
community of kindred spirits.
Catastrophe (Seasons One through
Four) -2015-2019 (2.8). This
dramedy series from the UK is steadily profane but also has a
dramatic heart as an American businessman and an Irish teacher
inadvertently make a baby in London and decide to try marriage.
Season one sets it up in six episodes through the actual wedding. Two
jumps ahead to a second kid and career and financial stress on top of
ongoing family and friend issues. In three, problems intensify.
Things seem to reconcile a bit in four, which is apparently going to
be the final season. The two leads developed the series. Carrie
Fisher played an American mother-in-law from hell and was beginning
to play a bigger part but sadly died after season three.
Dr. Thorne –
2016 (2.8). Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame adapted a Trollope
novel for a pleasant mini-series set in the 1850 English country
estate turf. The bumbling estate Lord is in hock up to his neck and
the Lady of the house schemes to marry her daughters and son to
money. The good doctor protects niece ward. The mortgage holder on
the estate dies and is succeeded by his drunken son. The good are
good and the bad have at least a smidgen of good and we can expect
all to end well. Trollope wrote 47 novels in spite of having a full
time job as a Postal executive.
Ekaterina (Season One)
– 2014 (2.8). The first season of this Russian series tells how an
arranged marriage that goes bad leads to the rise of Catherine the
Great in Russia. Effective production values and decent acting blend
with a serviceable script to hold viewer interest. It also helps that
the actress playing Catherine is quite good looking. The second
season will tell about some of the things Catherine did as Russian
Empress the win the Great appellation.
Inventing Tomorrow
– 2018 (2.8). Following six teams of high school age competitors in
an international science competition, this documentary continues
attention on issues of environmental concern but also gives hope in
the enthusiastic energy of committed young people world wide. These
kids are bright and engaging and give hope to us as we follow them in
their research and home lives and then to the competition in Los
Angeles where they meet their peers from around the world. If
adequate resources were applied to providing scholarships and ongoing
international collaborations and mentoring to such students around
the world, imagine the good that could result.
Louisa May Alcott
– 2009 (2.8). This American Masters bio documentary combines
interviews with scholars and dramatic reconstructions read by actors
with an actress reading from the authorized biography of Louisa May
Alcott to effectively tell her life story and the story of her family
which she used with artistic liberties in writing Little Women.
Chasing Happiness– 2019 (2.7). The Jonas Brothers of music fame are the subjects of
this documentary about their upbringing, rise to music heights,
breakup and reconciliation. Home movies, interviews of family members
and business colleagues and archival footage are the vehicles of the
story, which is surely more meaningful to their fans, most of whom
are still fairly young.
Going West– 2017 (2.7). The only child of a recently widowed transvestite dad
with whom he has a frosty relationship just got fired from his job as
a music teacher, so he agrees to take a road trip with dad to take
his mother's last quilt to a quilting contest on a remote island. As
expected, they have some quirky adventures and do a bit of bonding.
There are a few funny segments but not really much depth of
communication and bonding. Because it is short, this Norwegian movie
is pleasantly watchable.
Plastic China
- 2016 (2.7). This documentary follows two families in China, one
led by a young man without education who strives to make economic
gain by as thousands of others strive in his area by running a
makeshift plastic recycling business. The other family comes from
elsewhere in China looking for work and has for several years worked
in the business of the first family. Both families have small
children and they all live and work midst the heaps of plastic on
which they work, play and eat. The movie follows them all intensely
without any interviews, commentary or other footage. The result is
discouragingly captivating but the absence of a look at the larger
picture is disconcerting.
The Yellow Handkerchief– 2008 (2.7). An older man newly released from prison in Louisiana
accepts a ride with a young man with wanderlust and a younger girl
who seems emotionally lost. They are heading for New Orleans in an
old convertible during rainy weather. On their road trip they learn a
little more about each other and we learn by flashback the back story
of the convict. Script has some weak points, but acting is good and
roadside places are authentic looking.
Ekaterina (Season Two)
– 2017 (2.6). The second season loses appeal as the computer
generated wide establishing shots become more noticeably fake, the
palace intrigue and romances of Catherine become more tedious and
hard to follow, the accomplishments of Catherine as Empresses are
given short shrift and the actress playing the role does not seem to
age yet becomes less attractive personally and by extension
physically. The serfs are nobly persevering while the actual nobles
are a mess, which reminds us this series had to have the approval of
Putin. There may be a third season coming.
Howard's End
– 2017 (2.6). This mini-series has the look of the classic movie,
but the four episode script seems disorganized and hard to follow,
the characters have relatively little depth and Matthew Macfadyen is
definitely no substitute for Anthony Hopkins.
Rush Hour
– 2018 (2.6). Work commute times can be horrendous in large cities
worldwide and this documentary chose three examples to show: a woman
working in a clothing store in Istanbul, a hairdresser in Mexico City
and a construction engineer on projects in the Los Angeles area. We
see their actual commute and meet their families at home who are
impacted by the commute, but we do not actually learn anything we
should not already know – long work commutes are a big pain.
Dancer in the Dark– 2000 (2.4). Lars von Trier is an eccentric filmmaker and Bjork is
an eccentric singer. Let him write the script and direct the movie
and let her write the songs and act the lead role and you end up with
a doubly eccentric film, an awkward drama with even more awkward
musical interludes. Nevertheless her performance was effective
enough to win the best actress award at Cannes and it was
sufficiently draining for her that she intends never to act in
another movie. Sounds like Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc.