All these wonderful things

Sheffield Doc/Fest Takes JUSTIN BIEBER Seriously, and So Should You

Let's get one thing straight, right off the bat.  Jon Chu's JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER will not cure disease.  It's a bit long (there's a saggy middle section that could have been whipped into better shape) and the central conceit - a build-up to the tween heart-throb's big concert at Madison Square Garden - is, as they say, paper-thin.

Further, most music docs have the benefit of an artist's long history to reflect on, a career and personal arc that includes the ups and downs of year's of hard touring and music biz shenanigans.  Halfway through NEVER, I came to the abrupt realization that Justin Bieber's entire career has been shorter than production on my current film. 

That said, NEVER SAY NEVER, which had its major film festival debut here at the Sheffield Doc/Fest in the UK after a hugely successful stateside theatrical release (#4 all time), is a film that announces early on that it intends to be much, much better than it has to be.  And by the end, the film delivers so many moments of pure, giddy joy that most of the docmakers who saw it (including more than a few repeat viewers) were bouncing through the streets of Sheffield for hours afterward.

I say most, but I did not say all.  At least a couple seemed to view the film with hostility and there were a number of others I spoke to later in the evening who openly scoffed at the film.  Indeed, check the film's IMDb page and you will see a string of 1-star reviews from folks who hate NEVER SAY NEVER, hate Justin, hate the screaming girls who love him so much.

So why did I and a number of others (who have not, as far as I can tell, taken leave of their senses) fall for this 3-D ode to a 16 year old whose music I did not recognize (nor did I find it particularly catchy)? 

Bigger Than Michael?: BieberDoc Becomes Highest Grossing Concert/Music Film of All Time

According to weekend box office estimates, the Justin Bieber 3D documentary NEVER SAY NEVER has now inched past MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT to become the highest grossing music or concert documentary of all time.  NEVER is now estimated to have grossed $72.2M through Sunday, while the postumous Jackson film tapped out at $72.1.  NEVER, which was directed by Jon Chu, was released by Paramount; THIS IS IT was distributed by Sony in October 2009.  Official figures will be released tomorrow.

NEVER SAY NEVER now sits just half a million behind JACKASS: NUMBER TWO (another Paramount title) at number five on the all time nonfiction chart.  The number three film, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, looks safe in its position with $77.4M, as the Bieber doc is shedding screens and ticket sales with each week.

The Monday Brief: IT Does GET LOUD in Theatres, A Tough Week for THE COVE and WOODSTOCK At 39

Good morning.  We're more than halfway through August and just under three weeks away from the World Premiere of Michael Moore's CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY at La Biennale di Venezia...

But the big documentary news of the weekend is the stellar debut of the new film from another Oscar winner.  Davis Guggenheim's IT MIGHT GET LOUD, the story of the electric guitar as seen through Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, broke out this weekend - and big.  Playing at just 7 theaters, the Sony Pictures Classics release made more than $100K, marking the best release for a documentary this year that was playing on more than 2 screens. 

IT MIGHT GET LOUD continues the sensational nonfiction streak for SPC this year, coming on the heels of WALTZ WITH BASHIR (just under $2.3M) EVERY LITTLE STEP ($1.6M and still going) and even TYSON ($886K).

It also marks the latest nonfiction feature from the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival to become a hit with moviegoers (following BASHIR, VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR, EVERY LITTLE STEP and FOOD, INC.  Together, those five titles (including IT MIGHT GET LOUD) have taken in nearly $8.5M.  The highest grossing Sundance film this year is ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL from the 2008 fest (although many haven't been released yet).

One 2009 Sundance title that entered theatres with lofty expectations - huge box office, Oscar nominations, changing maritime law - was THE COVE.  But this was not a good week for that film in terms of the things that worry filmmakers and distributors - box office and press. 

First, despite strong reviews and a new promotional push - including an appearance by director Louie Psihoyos on the Today Show - the film slipped to a per theater average of just $1,660 this weekend and a total cume of $424K.  It now looks like the film will have to struggle to make it to $1M at the box office Worse was a piece in the LA Times by John Horn that used THE COVE as the poster child for why environmental docs aren't working at the box office (we wondered why Horn never bothered to mention Disney's EARTH in his story).  It's never a good sign to have your distributor (in this case, Roadside Attractions' Howard Cohen) quoted as saying, "It's not what we would have hoped" and "the concept of the movie is much more off-putting than the experience of watching it".

SXSW 2008: Music Films From Martin Scorsese, Julian Schnabel, David Leaf, Jerry Rothwell & Sascha Paladino

Last, but certainly not least, the music documentaries of SXSW 2008.  As before, descriptions come from the festival, notes are supplied by yours truly:

SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES

BANANAZ
Directed by Ceri Levy

An in-depth and revealing glimpse at the cryptic cartoon band, Gorillaz. (North American Premiere)

Of further note: Levy previously worked with Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Albarn on a '90s-era Blur documentary, STARSHAPED.

LOU REED'S BERLIN
Directed by Julian Schnabel.

An artful document of musical legend Lou Reed, performing his influential record, "Berlin," to audiences in New York City. (U.S. Premiere)

Of further note: Premiered in Venice last year and had it's North American premiere in Toronto.

SHINE A LIGHT
Directed by Martin Scorsese

A career-spanning documentary on the Rolling Stones, with concert footage from their "A Bigger Bang" tour. (North American Premiere)

Of further note: Premieres in Berlin tonight as the opening night selection.  An all-star team of cinematographers worked on the film, including Ellen Kuras, Emmanuel Lubezki, Albert Maysles, Declan Quinn and Robert Richardson.

[email protected]
Directed by Stephen Walker

The touching and heartfelt portrait of a New England senior citizens chorus that has delighted audiences worldwide with their covers of songs by everyone from The Clash to Coldplay. (Closing Night Film)

Of further note: Had US premiere at Los Angeles Film Festival and also screened at Sundance.  Searchlight is planning a spring release.  Has already aired on UK television.

The Docs of Sundance 2008: ANVIL Meets PATTI SMITH (Part Two)

Festival coverage sponsored by IndiePix.

As a student and practitioner of the sub-genre known as the music documentary, I was very interested in two titles at this year's Sundance Film Festival - the competition doc PATTI SMITH DREAM OF LIFE and the Spectrum doc ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL. What I didn't quite expect was that the two films would remind me of the themes and styles of my own films, so apologies in advance for a post that will be more self-referential than I normally allow.

There was good word-of-mouth coming into the festival for Sacha Gervasi’s ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL, and the film did not disappoint, providing a welcome relief from some of the more serious nonfiction films at the festival.

Telling the tale of a Canadian heavy metal band that apparently rivaled Megadeth, Anthrax and Metallica in the burgeoning days of metal, the film is a hilarious and surprisingly touching story of how two musicians – friends since high school – have fought to keep making music even as they reach 50 and as they’ve watched their contemporaries reach stratospheric levels of fame and fortune.

Right off the bat, this story plays right to my personal preferences. GIGANTIC, after all, is also a story of two boyhood friends who are two decades into a career that has been filled with ups and downs, yet who are still looking for ways to make music. At the time of its making, They Might Be Giants had reached a kind of sweet spot in their careers - able to record and tour and still have a decent, comfortable (if not opulent) lifestyle. The two leaders of Anvil find themselves at 50 still searching for the audience they glimpsed in the metal '80s.

ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL has frequently been referred to as “a real-life Spinal Tap” and, in fact, there are several deliberate references to the 1984 mockumentary classic (not the least of which is the fact that Anvil’s drummer is named Robb Reiner). A couple of these spot-on homages straddle the line between brilliant and contrived, such as a visit to the real Stonehenge, but the film is so fun that it seems petty to complain.

U23D Becomes - In 1st Wknd - the 1st 1M Nonfiction of 2008

U23D, the concert film by Mark Pellington and longtime U2 associate Catherine Owens, was a huge nonfiction hit over the weekend, following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, taking in an average of more than $15K on each of its 61 screens, for a total of $964,000. Add in late night Thursday shows and the film has already become the first nonfiction title of 2008 to gross more than 1 million dollars at the box office. It's also the best opening for a music doc since TUPAC: RESURRECTION, which had an opening weekend of 4.6 million when it opened on over 800 screens.

While we won't be doing our regular box office feature until later in the year, it's worth noting that the two Oscar nominees in release - THINKFilm's TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE and WAR/DANCE - didn't get much of a box office bump from their nominations. TAXI added a theater and averaged $2,142 (down from last week's opening average of $5,465) while WAR/DANCE returned to 6 theaters for an average of $1,408, putting its cume at $66,137. Since TAXI is considered a front runner (with SICKO and NO END IN SIGHT) for the Oscar, it will be interesting to watch what happens as THINK expands the film to other markets.

SXSW Announces Features: New Films from Doug Pray, Macky Alston, Lauren Lazin, Stephen Kijak Among Doc Highlights

Via Indiewire, SXSW has announced its 2007 Feature Film Lineup, and among its premiere doc titles are new films from nonfiction veterans Doug Pray (Hype!, Scratch), Lauren Lazin (Tupac: Resurrection), Stephen Kijak (Cinemania), Macky Alston (The Killer Within), Steven Cantor (loudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies) and Gary Hustwit, whose day job is heading up the influential DVD label Plexifilm, but who will premiere his directorial debut, Helvetica (yes, about the font), in Austin next month.

In addition to its premieres, SXSW is screening a number of films straight outta Park City, including Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern's The Devil Came on Horseback, Judith Helfand and Daniel Gold's Everything's Cool, Seth Gordon's The King of Kong (which premiered at Slamdance) and Robinson Devor's Zoo. In addition, three nonfiction titles from Toronto 2006 made the cut: Lucy Walker's Oscar-shortlisted Blindsight, Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein's The Prisoner, or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair and my own Kurt Cobain About A Son. I am returning to Austin for the first time since 2002, when my first film, Gigantic, had its world premiere there.

Also returning to Austin is director Matt Bissonnette, who premiered there with his first film Looking For Leonard, with his latest narrative - Who Loves the Sun. And SXSW fave Joe Swanberg is back for the third year in a row with a new film. His latest is Hannah Takes the Stairs.

A full list of all 110 titles is on the SXSW website and at Indiewire. Here are the titles in the Documentary Competition and in the music-centric 24 Beats Per Second:

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

Audience of One
Directed by Michael Jacobs.
A Pentecostal minister receives a vision from God to create an epic science fiction movie based on the bible story of Joseph, sending he and his followers on a journey of extreme faith. (World Premiere)

Billy the Kid
Directed by Jennifer Venditti.
By turns humorous and disturbing, this portrait of a 15-year-old outcast named Billy, transcends diagnostic labeling and challenges the viewer to understand a triumphant teen on his own terms. (World Premiere)

Campaign
Directed by Soda Kazuhiro.
Can a candidate with no political experience and no charisma win a Japanese city council election, if he is backed by Prime Minister Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party? (North American Premiere)

Cat Dancers
Directed by Harris Fishman.
The mysterious and bizarre story of Ron Holiday, an exotic animal trainer and performer who, along with his co-star/wife and their co-star/lover, found big fame until great tragedy struck in 1998. (World Premiere)

Greensboro: Closer to the Truth
Directed by Adam Zucker.
Despite extensive television footage of the Greensboro Massacre of 1979, involving the local KKK and Communist Workers Party, no one was ever convicted. The film portrays a number of the participants - five of the survivors and two Klansmen - who reveal their scars when the town decides to re-investigate the case 25 years later. (World Premiere)

Hard Road Home
Directed by Macky Alston & Andrea Meller.
A cinema verite documentary that tells the story of the Exodus Transitional Community, an organization that was founded and is run by formerly incarcerated people, whose mission is to help recently released folks find their way back into society and keep them out of prison. (World Premiere)

Run Granny Run
Directed by Marlo Poras.
With just four months until the election, 94-year-old Doris "Granny D" Haddock and her motley crew of political aces and amateurs, begin a grassroots campaign for U.S. Senate and defy all expectations. (World Premiere)

When Adnan Comes Home
Directed by Andrew Berends.
After a prison fire leaves him horribly burned, 16-year-old Adnan makes a plea for his family's forgiveness and aid, despite their resistance to assist their troubled son. (North American Premiere)

24 BEATS PER SECOND

1 More Hit
Directed by Shauna Garr.
Featuring: J Swift, Kelly Zhander, Paul Mooney, Jamie Kennedy, Method Man, Steve-O, Akon.
The filmmaker finds her friend, a once-successful rap producer, homeless and addicted to crack. For two and half years, the two try everything to overcome the musician's 10-ton habit. (World Premiere)

Companeras
Directed by Matthew Buzzell and Elizabeth Massie.
An intimate profile of America's first all-female mariachi band: Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles. Taking on a male-dominated culture and musical tradition, this group has been shatters stereotypes while expanding the popularity of mariachi music. (World Premiere)

Dirty Country
Directed by Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher.
Meet Larry Pierce: a small-town factory worker and family man who happens to be the raunchiest country music singer in America. (World Premiere)

The Gits
Directed by Kerri O'Kane.
The story of a promising underground Seattle band, fronted by charismatic vocalist Mia Zapata. Poised to explode onto the national music scene, a cold-blooded killer destroys their dreams. (World Premiere)

James Blunt: Return to Kosovo
Directed by Steven Cantor.
Platinum-selling musician (and former soldier) James Blunt, returns to the battlefield at which he served, for an emotional journey of reflection. (World Premiere)

The Last Days of Left Eye
Directed by Lauren Lazin.
An in-depth look at the sad tale of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, from revolutionary pop act, TLC. Weaving video-diary footage of Lopes' last days before dying in an automobile accident, with the story of her personal and professional roller-coaster ride, this new film is both a memorable music doc and a personal account of the fragilities in fame. (North American Premiere)

Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death, and Insects
Directed by John Edginton.
British singer/songwriter Hitchcock and band The Venus 3, featuring Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Bill Rieflin (Ministry, REM), and Scott McCaughey (Minus 5, REM, The Young Fresh Fellows), as they spend a week in July of 2006 recording an album of new material at Hitchcock's house in West London. (World Premiere)

Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
Directed by Stephen Kijak.
A journey into the mind and studio of reclusive musician, and modern-rock hero, Scott Walker as he continues to make acclaimed recordings decades into his career. (North American Premiere)

Silver Jew
Directed by Michael Tully.
An intimate portrait of reclusive poet/musician David Berman and his band the Silver Jews, in the midst of their first-ever world tour. Berman, his wife Cassie, and the rest of the group traveled to Israel to play two shows and visit Jerusalem. (World Premiere)

Wetlands Preserved: the Story of an Activist Rock Club
Directed by Dean Budnick.
Featuring: Dave Matthews, Blues Traveler, Warren Hayes, ?uestlove.
The story of a truly original New York rock club, which fused music with activism, earning an army of famous fans in the process. (Regional Premiere)

Chicks Open Well, DOAP DOA on a Crowded Doc Weekend

The new Dixie Chicks documentary, Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck's Shut Up and Sing, had a successful launch in 4 New York and Los Angeles theatres this weekend, grossing an average of $12,525.  That total made Shut Up and Sing the fifth music-related doc of 2006 to open with an average of more than $10,000 (the others were Neil Young: Heart of Gold, Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man, The U.S. vs. John Lennon and American Hardcore). 

Shut Up and Sing debuted in Toronto and has been playing select festival engagements in the run up to its theatrical launch by The Weinstein Co.  I saw the film in Rome and wrote about it here.

The faux-cumentary Death of a President, which sucked all the air out of this year's Toronto Film Festival, ended up being a non-starter at the US box office, averaging less than $2,000 in its debut in 143 theatres.  By comparison, The Last King of Scotland, considered a box office disappointment by some, outgrossed Death of a President even though Scotland played in 1/3 less theatres and has been in release for five weeks.

Surprisingly, due to the proximity of this year's midterm elections, the theatrical debut of Death of a President garnered no where near the amount of controversy that accompanied the announcement of the film's premiere at Toronto.  Then, talk radio stations, internet blogs and even presidential aspirants were abuzz about the Bush assassination film, condemning it, sight unseen, as an outrage, but little fuss was raised this weekend when the film actually played on American soil.  (In fact, more was made over NBC's decision not to air ads for the Dixie Chicks movie, as mentioned here earlier.)  Prior to this weekend, the Hollywood Reporter's Martin Grove was speculating that Newmarket could launch an Academy campaign for D.O.A.P., but that seems as fantastical as the movie's premise now.

One of my favorite reviews of Death of a President came from James Rocchi over at Cinematical when he compared the film to this summer's Samuel L. Jackson internet sensation:

Death of a President isn't art, or even entertainment: It's the art-house, indie-doc equivalent of Snakes on a Plane, where someone thought of a single idea and then, it seems based on the end-resulting film, stopped thinking altogether.

Beyond the two films in which George Bush played at least a supporting role, it was a busy  doc weekend at the box office as, in addition to Shut Up and Sing, three other high profile nonfiction films hit theatres - Stanley Nelson's Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, Eric Steel's The Bridge and Billy Corben's Cocaine Cowboys.  All had tame debuts, with only Jonestown placing on the indieWIRE i-Bot Top 10 with just over $4,000 on each of its two screens - the Quad in New York and the Nuart in Los Angeles.

The Bridge, which I also saw in Rome and wrote about here, opened in NY, Chicago, Los Angeles and, of course, San Francisco on 19 screens total, averaging just $2,600.  The film continued to spark heated debate in Northern California, with a writer at the Contra Costa Times calling the film "perverse" and "a snuff film with (supposedly) good intentions" and grading it a "D".  The film recently found its way to the Drudge Report, after a screening at the recent London Film Festival led to press reports that suicide experts were upset with the film.  One London professor said, "showing, in detail, methods of suicide does result in an increase of those methods immediately afterwards, so portrayal of methods of suicide is ill-advised."

Cocaine Cowboys, which was released by Magnolia Pictures in 12 theatres in New York and around South Florida cleared just over $3,000 per screen.  The film's director was queried by indieWIRE's Brian Brooks in an interview posted last week on the site.

Meanwhile, in ongoing nonfiction news, Jackass Number Two is nearing the end of its run and now looks unlikely to challenge March of the Penguins for #2 on the all-time nonfiction list.  The sequel passed the original earlier this month to rank #3 all time.  Meanwhile, the aforementioned John Lennon documentary is closing in on $1 million, which would make it the 6th nonfiction film this year to hit that marker. 

   

Doc Box: Jackass Tops, Hardcore Scores, Jesus Comes Home to NYC & John Lennon Holds

The news at the documentary box office was very good this weekend, as the reality nonfiction sequel Jackass Number Two, outperformed its predecessor to top the charts with a cume of over 29 million dollars, immediately becoming the highest grossing non-fiction film of the year, as well as the first non-fiction feature to lead the box office charts since Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004.

Meanwhile, Paul Rachman's American Hardcore, fresh from screening in Toronto, was a big hit on a single screen at the Angelika in New York, grossing more than 18,000.  That tally makes American Hardcore the 4th successful music-related doc opener of 2006, following Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man (which opened with $17K on a single screen), Neil Young: Heart of Gold (which averaged over $13K on 4 screens) and last week's The U.S. vs. John Lennon (which averaged over $11K on 6 screens).  The Lennon film had a good second weekend as well, dropping only 37% from its initial tally.

But the big news may be the successful New York opening of Jesus Camp, following the much discussed "Bible belt first" strategy employed by distributor Magnolia.  Steven Rosen reports in Indiewire that Jesus Camp grossed nearly as much as American Hardcore did at the Angelika - a whopping $16,781 - and an additional $8k at the uptown Empire 25.  While it's per screen average is low due to holding on at the more rural outposts where the film premiered last weekend, the New York take suggests that the audience for docs continue to be centered in the cities, no matter the subject.

Additionally, it seemed that audiences generally were ready to turn to indie fare this weekend, as Michel Gondry's latest, The Science of Sleep, and Kelly Reichart's Old Joy each had excellent debuts.  (See my earlier post for more about Old Joy.)

Shouts!: Black Gold, Brothers of the Head, Cinemad, Darryl Hunt, Pixies & Young American Bodies

Time for the debut of a new feature on All these wonderful things in which we direct attention to what's happening with some of our favorite films, writers, filmmakers, etc. in a Larry King-influenced, Green Cine-ripoff that we like to call Shouts!

First off, Black Gold, the Fair Trade coffee film that I saw at this year's True/False and praised here has been picked up for distribution by California Newsreel, which bills itself as a leading resource for films about Africa. Black Gold is set to return to the US in June with a screening at the Seattle Film Fest, which should be quite interesting considering the nervous behavior of coffee giant Starbucks during Black Gold's run at Sundance. That story is well recounted in filmmakers Marc and Nick Francis' post-Sundance post at the Huffington Post (man that's a lot of posts). Should be interesting to see what happens on Starbucks' home turf.

Next up is Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe's Brothers of the Head, which I saw last year just before it premiered at Toronto. It has since gone on to play just about every festival since - Berlin, SXSW, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Cleveland and, soon, Tribeca. And today, Newsweek named it one of the 15 must-see films of the summer:

     It's a wild, haunting tale about identity and
     exploitation, with spot-on period detail and a
     pair of astonishing performances by first-time
     actors—and real-life brothers—Harry and Luke
     Treadaway. It might not be playing at a theater
     near you, but if it is, don't miss it.

I couldn't agree more.

Meanwhile, the latest issue of Cinemad, Mike Plante's online film 'zine is now up, including interviews with Deborah Stratman, Phil Solomon and the late Garrett Scott.

Two Sundance films - A Lion in the House and The Trials of Darryl Hunt shared the documentary prize at the Nashville Film Festival. The latter film, which was one of my favorites in Park City also recently took the audience award at the Full Frame Fest in Durham.

Our pal Sarah Jo at Documentary Insider recaps the recent screening of the new Pixies film loudQUIETloud at the AFI Music Documentary series at the Arclight. I've been hearing great things about the film and Sarah Jo posts a rave:

     (T)he film does something most music films don’t
     do; it shows vulnerability, honesty and dare I say
     it, reality. As soon as you see Pixie sister Kelly Deal
     doing cross-stitch and drummer David Lovering on
     the beach with his metal detector, it’s all over, the
     film’s gotcha.

Finally, Joe Swanberg, who I wrote about in February, sees the online launch Tuesday of his new project Young American Bodies. It's airing at Nerve on their Nerve Video site - but apparently the programs will air for free, so there's no Nerve membership required. The first three episodes of Joe's sexy soap opera for the post-collegiate crowd are reportedly available for viewing starting May 2.