Documentary

Detroit Lewis DOC review; Tom Waits: Tales From A Cracked Jukebox

My favorite songwriter of all time.

Using rare archive, audio recordings and interviews viewers are taken on a trip through the surreal, moonlit world of Tom Waits – a portrait of one of modern music’s most enigmatic and influential artists.

Only three musicians make me cry almost instantly, Hank Sr., Lucinda Williams and Tom Waits. I have about 90% of his stuff, and some rare European live crap. I did an art exhibit a few years ago that were paintings based on his music. The only show I sold completely out of. If you are not a fan, I suggest you watch this DOC done by BBC, and learn a little about this fantastic artist.

Detroit Lewis DOC review; I Am Not Your Negro

This incredible film explores the TRUE relationship between whites and blacks in America and how we TRULY view each other;

In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, Remember This House. The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and successive assassinations of three of his close friends-Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time of Baldwin’s death in 1987, he left behind only thirty completed pages of his manuscript. Now, in his incendiary new documentary, master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and flood of rich archival material. I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond. And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassination of these three leaders, Baldwin and Peck have produced a work that challenges the very definition of what America stands for.

I think there is no better time to watch this documentary, no matter how you feel or think you feel about Black Americans.

Detroit Lewis DOC review; Citizen Jane: Battle for the City

Love the above quote.

Some in power in this great town think they are the ONLY one who gets to make the grand decisions, like when it comes to Indoor Pools or Administration buildings.

In this Documentary, Jane Jacobs takes citizen activism to her city, NY, on a large scale;

Citizen Jane is a timely tale of what can happen when engaged citizens fight the power for the sake of a better world. Arguably no one did more to shape our understanding of the modern American city than Jane Jacobs, the visionary activist and writer who fought to preserve urban communities in the face of destructive development projects. Director Matt Tyranuer (Valentino: The Last Emperor) vividly brings to life Jacobs’ 1960s showdown with ruthless construction kingpin Robert Moses over his plan to raze lower Manhattan to make way for a highway, a dramatic struggle over the very soul of the neighborhood.

Jane shows that you can make a difference on a local level, and take on the ‘big wigs’ and win.

Detroit Lewis DOC review; Traceroute

Besides the fact TRACEROUTE has won numerous indie doc awards and has gotten fantastic reviews, you don’t have to be a Nerd or into Nerd culture to enjoy this film, in fact it may get you to understand it more.

What makes TR great is that it is hilarious. Not rolling on the ground, crying, trying to catch your breath funny. But constantly laughing in your head because of the constant comedic comments by the director, producer, writer and and narrator Johannes Grenzfurthner.

“You can’t make fun of LA, it’s beyond parody, like Henry Kissinger receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.”

And while Johannes is covering a topic that has been covered a million times before, he brings originality to the film, by making fun of mundane documentaries, by filming this like a mundane documentary. (oh, and on a personal note, they stop at the Henry Miller museum in Big Sur, a place I have been).

You will either really like this DOC, or you will be cursing me for wasting 2 hours of your life. Oh well.

Traceroute is a 2016 Austrian/American documentary film directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner. The autobiographical documentary and road movie deals with the history, politics and impact of nerd culture. Grenzfurthner calls his film a “personal journey into the uncharted depths of nerd culture, a realm full of dangers, creatures and more or less precarious working conditions”,[1] an attempt to “chase the ghosts of nerddom’s past, present and future.”[2] The film was co-produced by art group monochrom and Reisenbauer Film. It features music by Kasson Crooker, Hans Nieswandt, and many others.