Mystery movies abound!
Friday, Sept. 11 — Happy Friday! We’ve got some huge, Elizabeth Holmes-sized news for you today – Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim have entered the chat.
The biggest news coming out of the Telluride Film Festival is the new documentary “You Can See Everything,” from comic Nathan Fielder and filmmaker Lance Oppenheim. Apparently, about a month before she was supposed to report to prison (where she currently resides) for defrauding investors, Elizabeth Holmes – the founder of the medical testing company Theranos – invited Fielder, Oppenheim, and their crew into her home to try and clear her name. Three years later, we’ve got a three-hour documentary that’s the talk of Telluride.
If you know anything about Fielder and his work (part comedy, part anthropology, part deeply disturbing car crash that’s impossible to look away from), you might be thinking that Holmes has reached new levels of delusion if she thinks this is the thing that’s going to clear her name. But I’m pumped for whatever it is that came out of this endeavor. The look on Fielder’s face in the teaser trailer alone – to quote a parlance, we are SO back!
More on film festival speculation in the blocks to come! Without further ado … Action!
🎷 Off the Wall @ 725 Ponce is premiering Mickey Duzyj’s documentary “Smooth World” tonight at 8 p.m. and then again on Sept. 19 at 8 p.m.
🤝 ATL Jewish Film is hosting a screening of the documentary “All God’s Children,” which follows a rabbi and a Black minister as they attempt to ease tensions between their respective communities in Brooklyn, on Sept. 15 at the Tara Theatre.
🎵 The Atlanta Chapter of the Association of Independent Music Publishers is hosting a creative summit Sept. 15-16 at Morehouse College.
📺 The 78th Emmy Awards ceremony will air on Sept. 14. Click here to read more about what’s up with the Emmys’ new branding strategy this year, and to see what could win big.
💸 Labor Day marked the end of the biggest summer ever at the box office, coming in at $4.76B domestic. That tops the previous 2013 record of $4.75B.
This week’s newsletter has an interview with a former Olympian turned filmmaker, a peek into the Spike Lee series at the Emory Cinematheque, and reviews for the new films “Practical Magic 2” and “Hope.” Plus, what’s playing at the movies this week, a look at the art I’m loving lately, and some reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break.
On a more serious note, today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11. It feels a little gauche to recommend a movie, but if you have the time, I think Spike Lee’s “25th Hour” is the best movie to capture the years afterward, in all their ugliness and pain.
Thanks for reading!
Sammie
🎉 Say thank you on Sept. 25! Two out of three people in the U.S. have worked in food service. Join Giving Kitchen’s National Food Service Worker Day by celebrating the people who make our meals and moments possible. Show a food service worker some love and say thank you! SPONSOR MESSAGE
‘Mighty Mary’ explores all-women sailing team’s race to the top in 1995
⛵ In 1995, a group of women made history as the first all-female sailing crew to compete for the coveted America’s Cup – the oldest international sports competition still in operation.
The endeavor started out as a publicity stunt from the mind of billionaire businessman Bill Koch, but very quickly the women – which included sailors like Dawn Riley, Leslie Egnot, Courtenay Becker-Dey, and JJ Fetter – proved they could be just as competitive as the men.
The story of their attempt to win the 1995 America’s Cup has been turned into a documentary called “Mighty Mary,” named for the women’s boat and directed by Mary Mazzio, a filmmaker and former Olympic rower. Narrated by Hugh Jackman and Elizabeth Banks, “Mighty Mary” details the women’s journey from start to finish, from open tryouts and training, to their epic battle with the notorious yachtsman Dennis Conner, to an infamous deal that changed everything.
🌊 I spoke with Mazzio about the movie before it starts screening in Atlanta. Check out our conversation here.
Atlanta Food Culture Meets Comedy at Dad’s Garage
SPONSORED BY DAD’S GARAGE THEATER
🥘 Comedy-drama “The Bear“ won Emmys and Golden Globes for comedy, but Atlanta’s Dad’s Garage dares to delve into the question plaguing the minds of erudite television gourmands everywhere: what if “The Bear“ was actually a comedy? Presenting: “SCANDAL! The Bare” – a lovingly absurd and spoofish take-off on the critically acclaimed television hit.
While the “SCANDAL!” format is a classic sight at the comedy theatre, no two seasons are the same and feature a unique story, cast, theme, and plot.
“The Bare” runs Fri., Sept. 11 through Nov. 6.
→ See what makes “SCANDAL! The Bare“ unique among Atlanta’s live performance experiences.
Emory celebrates 40 years of Spike Lee with Cinematheque series
📽️ “40 Years of Brother Spike Lee,” a free series celebrating the films of filmmaker Spike Lee, continues next week with the film “Do the Right Thing,” playing on Sept. 16.
The screenings, continuing on Wednesdays through Dec. 9, will look at the themes that populate Lee’s work – such as race, class, gender, and Black life in America – and will include post-film discussions with audience members and visiting film scholars. The series kicked off with a look at the Netflix reimagination of Lee’s 1986 film “She’s Gotta Have It” and will wrap with “BlackKklansman.”
🍿 I spoke with curator and Emory professor Beretta E. Smith-Shomade about Spike and his legacy. Check out our conversation here.
🎉 Say thank you on Sept. 25! Two out of three people in the U.S. have worked in food service. Join Giving Kitchen’s National Food Service Worker Day by celebrating the people who make our meals and moments possible. Show a food service worker some love and say thank you! SPONSOR MESSAGE
‘Hope’ is a bit of a bombastic, epic mess
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
👾 “Hope,” the new science fiction epic from Na Hong-jin, has one of the best first hours I’ve seen of a film this year. So good, in fact, that the bad visual effects – and they are as bad as you’ve heard – didn’t bother me a wink.
“Hope” begins with a discovery. A group of hunters, led by Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), find a dead cow in the middle of the road. This cow isn’t just dead, though – it’s destroyed, ripped through like it was made of silk instead of thick, strong hide. Not knowing what to make of the carnage, they call in the police chief, Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min), who takes the news of a potential great big roaming beast – a bear, or a tiger, maybe – back to Hope Harbor, a small village somewhere near the Korea Demilitarized Zone. But the roaming beast is not a bear, or even a tiger – it’s something far more unfamiliar, and far more terrifying.
Putting the bad CGI of it all aside, “Hope” is better when it’s leaning smaller, and only sometimes can live up to its epic aspirations. After the film’s opening, it continues to take epic swings. But as the world gets bigger, everything feels just a little more unwieldy. And when “Hope” gets shaky, it only calls attention to its other failings.
🇰🇷 Check out my full review here.
‘Practical Magic 2’ continues the trend of nostalgia ploys aimed at women
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
🪄 Lately, there’s been a run of movie sequels aimed at women of my generation. “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.” “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” “Freakier Friday.” And now, “Practical Magic 2.”
I don’t know when studios started to believe that the only way to get women to come out to the theater was to prey on their nostalgia (especially since “Barbie” did so well – although I guess, for all its strengths, that’s also praying on a certain type of nostalgia). But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Original star-driven, female-centric stories – about friendship, sisterhood, and the like – have all but disappeared. When they are made, they’re usually smaller films. But lately, when they’re big – despite the success of movies like “Book Club,” or “Little Women” – they tend to be sequels. The powers that be assume we don’t actually care about Anne Hathaway or Meryl Streep enough to come out and see them, but we do care about “The Devil Wears Prada,” and we’ll shill out our money for that.
I don’t know how right they are in that assumption. And “Practical Magic” is kind of the perfect example for how these sequels rest on the laurels of their performers, and the audience’s relationship to those performers, and squeak by on everything else.
🧹 Read my full review here.
At the Movies!
If you’re looking for a movie to see in theaters this week, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to!
Movies releasing this weekend:
🛸 “Hope”
🧹 “Practical Magic 2”
🏹 “The Uprising”
🎸 “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger” (pictured)
🏃♀️ “Runner”
📜 “Chronovisor”
🦮 “Brailled It”
🪖 “The Fix”
🛥️ “Mighty Mary”
Special Events:
🎹 “The Piano Teacher” @ The Plaza (Saturday-Wednesday)
🎠 Cineprov Riffs Logan’s Run @ The Tara (Saturday)
⚔️ “The Black Cauldron” in 35mm @ The Tara (Saturday-Sunday)
🦖 “Jurassic Park” @ Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Saturday-Sunday)
🤠 “Unforgiven” @ Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Sunday-Monday)
What I’m reading … and watching … and listening to
🌾 Reading: To prep for Zoe Kazan’s upcoming mini series adaptation of “East of Eden,” (pictured above) I recently started what many consider to be John Steinbeck’s masterpiece. I love “Of Mice and Men,” and so far this is shaping up to be just as good. The classics! Who knew?
🎾 Watching: The only thing I’ve really had time for lately (besides movies for work) is the U.S. Open. And if you’re not watching, it begs the question – what’s wrong with you? Tennis is undoubtedly the most cinematic sport (baseball is a close second), and this tournament has been one for the ages. The American women, my beloved Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, are out of tomorrow’s final. But an American man – Ben Shelton or Francis Tiafoe – will make it to the final on Sunday. I’m saying it here – let’s go Big Foe!
🪂 Listening to: I saw Hayley Williams in concert last weekend – something I’d encourage all of you to do, if you ever have the chance. I liked her newest album, “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party,” before the show, but seeing it live was really revelatory for me, and I can’t stop listening. “Mirtazapine,” “Ice in My OJ,” and “Good Ol’ Days” are the favorites right now.
Lights, Camera, Action!
✍️ If I recommend you read anything this week, its E. Alex Jung’s piece “The Wasian Generation” for Vulture. Jung talked to so many people, and tackles thorny questions surrounding race, representation, and identity.
🇮🇹 This week, “The Big Picture” podcast tackled the news coming out of the Telluride Film Festival and the Venice International Film Festival. Listen here to learn which films Amanda and Sean are looking out for this fall.
🍹 Sometimes I too feel a little basic, and I thought this new episode of NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour” exploring the basic shows and movies the hosts unapologetically love was very funny. Check it out here.
🖊️ Today’s Scene was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
