Documentary

• Title: Be Water
• IMDb: link

Premiering Sunday as part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, the documentary from director Bao Nguyen examines the life, philosophy, and legacy of Bruce Lee. Filled with interviews from family and friends who knew him best, Be Water also features an amazing amount of photographs and video from the Lee’s life. The director’s take on his subject is a deeply personal one as the son of Vietnamese refugees who saw Bruce Lee as a strong and vibrant Asian man far different from the usual depictions of Hollywood at the time. Over five years Bao Nguyen would trace the journey of Lee’s life culminating in the super-stardom which was only halted by his premature death.

Race plays a central role in Nguyen’s examination of Bruce Lee, as an Asian American who carved out a life for himself in America in opening martial arts schools and finding success on television. But as he struggled against the limitations Hollywood imposed on him, Lee had no choice but return to China in order to become a world star. Both the anti-Asian COVID-19 backlash and the Black Lives Matter movement make the film, and the examination of Lee as far more than just an action star, especially relevant today.

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• Title: Mike Wallace is Here
• IMDb: link

Including interviews and clips, Mike Wallace is Here examines the career of media personality turned newsman and one of the driving forces behind 60 Minutes. Offering details about Mike Wallace‘s personal life and his stature in the news community given his previous job as an actor and a pitch man Parliament cigarettes, director Avi Belkin offers several interesting tidbits to keep the viewer’s interest. Honestly, I had no idea so much of the old school “real” journalists looked down on Wallace and niche he helped create.

Much of the documentary focuses on Wallace’s interview style that began with Night Beat and continued as a staple of 60 Minutes giving him a legendary status for never letting a subject off the hook. Using the large amount of archive footage available including interviews with Wallace and several of his peers, Belkin arguably blends together as complete a picture of the man and his legacy as any documentary who had access to a living subject which both entertains and informs. The film is available on DVD and several streaming platforms.

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