Category: Movie

Bill C’s Review – 4 out of 5

‘Searching for Sugar Man’ played at this year’s SXSW.  I had heard a lot of good things about this documentary about early 70s musician Sixto Rodriguez but wasn’t able to make it to the screening.  I was looking forward to it’s opening in Austin this week and was listening to my ipod in shuffle mode when ‘Sugar Man’ (listen here) by Rodriguez started playing.  This increased my anticipation for the movie as I had no idea that I knew or had any of his music.

This movie did not disappoint.  Sixto Rodriguez, from Detroit, had two albums released in the early 70’s.  They were total flops in the U.S but somehow, unbeknownst to Rodriguez, became  incredibly influential and successful (despite some of the protest songs being banned from the radio) in South Africa during  apartheid.  Rodriguez was dropped by his record company and while his popularity continued in South Africa there were numerous rumors about his fate.  Two South African fans looking successfully search for Rodriguez.  While Rodriguez in many ways remains an enigma the story of what he did with his life both before and after he was found is fascinating especially considering what his life could have been if he had been successful in the U.S.  The music is good and it’s interesting to see the power that music can have (in this case in South Africa).

This is definitely worth seeing and I am now looking forward to Rodriguez coming to Antone’s in Austin this October.

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Bill C’s Review – 3.5 out of 5

Sometimes documentary film makers get lucky and they are at the right place at the right time. In this case, the documentarian set out to make an entertaining movie about a uber- wealthy time share magnate, his much younger wife (by 30 years), and their family as they build the largest private residence in the U.S., a 90,000 square foot house to replace their already ridiculously large mansion. This probably would have turned into a decent and entertaining movie. But then the real estate bubble/financial crisis hit and this became a very good, very different movie.

As a result, the movie explores issues such as: class differences in the U.S.; how people/families handle pressure; the cultural phenomenon of many people in the U.S. living beyond their means (and these people had means); and the crazy growth of some businesses when banks made money so easy to get and how quickly those businesses crumbled when money credit was not available.

While how these people lived didn’t generate any sympathy, the people themselves were very interesting and you did hope things would work out for them. The coming attractions made me expect mostly comedy and there was plenty of that, but the downward trajectory of their situation made this much more of a downer than I expected. Very interesting movie and worth seeing if you like docs.

Bill I’s Review – 3.5 out of 5

I agree with Bill, it’s a captivating documentary, where the director, Lauren Greenfield, certainly lucked out when the economy tanked. Her cinema verite style is amazing, in terms of the access she gets and the way her crew must blend into the background because the people don’t seem to be playing to the camera at all, and it’s not scripted reality like you see on TV. There’s some sit down interviews, but 98% of it is just what happens. The husband and wife are not cliches: David Siegel, the 65 year old timeshare magnate is a self-made man, workaholic and sensitive to his many employees. He tends to ignore his many kids, and treat his oldest son as the executive employee that he is, certainly not as an affectionate father. The mom, Jackie Siegel, certainly loves the spotlight and her shopping, but is very down to earth, also rose from a blue collar background and claims believably that she loves her husband, will stick with him through thick and thin, and would be able to move to a 4 BR house without too much trouble. Contrast this character with the Cate Blanchett character in Woody Allen’s new film Blue Jasmine, where she is the opposite of Jackie Siegel. I laughed out loud when she is forced to rent a car at Hertz when visiting her childhood friend in upstate New York, and asks about the driver that comes with the car. This obliviousness shows how much she’s living in a different world, but she seems like a nice person, not a phony, and a good mother (albeit with multiple nannies!).

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Bill I’s Review – 3 out of 5

A film about a baseball pitch? What’s next, Sky Hook about Kareem? Crossover Dribble about Iverson? There’s already been Slapshot…Actually, this is a superb documentary about that small fraternity of otherwise ordinary athletes who have mastered that freak pitch that moves in unanticipated directions and makes big sluggers look foolish as they swing at empty space. The two pitchers that are focused on, Tim Wakefield (long-time Red Sox ace) and R.A. Dickey (current Mets star), are interesting people with good back stories and of course happy endings (in Tim’s case he retired last year, and in R.A.’s case, he pitched in this year’s All-Star game). We see insights from famous old-timer practictioners such as Phil Neikro, Charlie Hough and Wilbur Wood, who act as mentors passing on their wisdom. At the screeing I attended last night, Tim Wakefield attended and answered questions from the audience. He’s a classy gentleman, and I am now a big admirer of him. He’s most proud of receiving Baseball’s Roberto Clemente award for his off the field contributors to charities and his communities. And R.A. Dickey also seems to be an admirable character, with his wife that he met in 7th grade (he was also in 7th grade, so he’s no cradle robber!). I don’t know if non-baseball fans will find this as captivating as the rest of us though.

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