Documentary

Long Gone Summer

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  • Title: Long Gone Summer
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Long Gone Summer reviewDirector AJ Schnack‘s examination of the historic home-run chase during 1998 Major League Baseball season is a solid documentary in covering the bases of what occurred, even if it fails for too much of its running time to fully capture the magic of the moment or find a way to better frame events following the exposure of rampant steroid use in baseball (which it saves for a lengthy epilogue).

Scheduled to air Sunday night as part of ESPN’s 30 for 30, the film includes interviews with both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa along with plenty of video from 1998 season and interviews from the likes of Bob Costas, Tony La Russa, Kerry Wood, and others. It also, oddly, spends quite a bit of time on Ken Griffey, Jr., who ended the year well off the pace McGwire and Sosa set, while barely mentioning Barry Bonds breaking the record again just a few years later.

Long Gone Summer is informative at times, especially in delving into the friendship born of rivalry between the two players. However, nothing presented here is likely to change your opinion one way or the other about the legitimacy of current baseball records.

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Be Water

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  • Title: Be Water
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Be Water movie reviewPremiering 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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Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound

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  • Title: Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
  • IMDb: link

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound reviewDirector Midge Costin‘s documentary on the importance and evolution of sound in movies offers a peak back at the progression of sound in film over the decades and the artists and movies which propelled the artistry forward. Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound features interviews from a number of directors (who include George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Robert Redford, Ang Lee, and Sofia Coppola) and sound editors (Walter Murch, Ben Burtt, Gary Rydstrom, Lora Hirschberg, Cece Hall, and others) who speak about both specific films and the use of sound in general.

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Mike Wallace is Here

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  • Title: Mike Wallace is Here
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Mike Wallace Is Here DVD reviewIncluding 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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Never Surrender

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  • Title: Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary
  • IMDb: link

Never Surrender movie reviewFor one night only the documentary looking back at Galaxy Quest played as part of Fathom Events. Just in time for the film’s 20th anniversary, Screen Junkies puts together a solid documentary with interviews from director Dean Parisot, screenwriter Robert Gordon, editor Don Zimmerman, producer Mark Johnson, fans (including a pair of notable Star Trek: The Next Generation stars), and the cast (Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Justin Long, and others) of the 1999 film that examines the troubled history of bringing the film to screen and its enduring legacy as the best Star Trek movie ever made.

Both spoofing and honoring the original Star Trek, with a mix of humor, drama, and sci-fi, it’s not surprising to learn that the studio didn’t know quite what to make of Galaxy Quest. Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary is a loving look at the under-performing box office release that has found a rabid fan base over the years. There are some nice tidbits here, including Harold Ramis signing as the original director for the film, stories from the set, and the studio’s original choice for Jason Nesmith.

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