Being Elmo (d.
Constance Marks)
Kevin
Clash has voiced and performed the popular Sesame
Street Muppet Elmo for over twenty-five years. During that time, the little
red monster that exudes childlike wonder and unconditional love has become a household
name, a character beloved the world over. But despite his fame (and height)
most would never recognize Clash walking down the street, let alone connect him
with his most famous character. Even when he’s operating the puppet on the end
of his arm, both he and the character are fully alive, fully present, even
though it’s still only Elmo that receives the attention. Being Elmo is a lovable showbiz biography that charts his rise to
success from his early childhood days building puppets for backyard puppet
shows through his initial break into children’s television, to his life today.
It not only appealingly peeks behind the process of creating Muppet magic, but
also provides a look at a man who has found himself living his dream performing
and creating, bringing joy into the world through his art. This is a feel-good
documentary that feels like a labor of love and earns every bit of its earnest
uplift.
Exporting Raymond (d.
Phil Rosenthal)
When
Phil Rosenthal, creator of the popular CBS sitcom of the late-90’s to
early-2000’s Everybody Loves Raymond,
was asked to help adapt his series for Russian television he brought a camera
crew along. The end result is a small documentary that feels like reality
edited into sitcom artifice. There’s an intriguing culture clash happening, as
well as plenty of potential to look into the very core of what makes comedy
tick, but it comes with cumbersome doses of Rosenthal’s befuddled looks into
the camera, his dry reaction shots. When he meets the head of comedy for the
Russian network and finds that the man is also an expert in lasers, that’s a
factoid I wanted to see explored. When he finds that the writers are living
their dream of “writing funny scripts,” even though it means punishing hours, I
wanted him to explore further. Both moments are presented then dropped as
quickly as they arrived. Rosenthal clearly knows what makes Raymond such a successful show in
America, has interesting insights into his craft, and, though he certainly has
interesting things to say about his time abroad, hasn’t found quite the right
way to communicate them.
Hot Coffee (d.
Susan Saladoff)
In
1994, some lady sued McDonald’s because hot coffee burned her lap. It quickly
became a source of laughter and derision around the country, but to this day
few know the full story. In Hot Coffee,
Susan Saladoff has graphic pictures of the burns to use as a shock tactic to begin
setting the record straight. The woman was a 79-year-old who was severely
burned by coffee that was held in the restaurant between 180 and 190 degrees
Fahrenheit. When a corporate representative was asked at trial what it would be
like to drink something that hot he responded that he hoped no one would do
such a thing. Saladoff starts by telling this story as a way of sliding into a
larger argument set on providing clarity to the murky political debate over
tort reform. She argues, often persuasively, that corporate interests use the
specter of frivolous lawsuits and millions of dollars worth of lobbyists and
campaign contributions to greatly diminish the chances of average citizens
receiving financial compensation after finding themselves a victim of
neglectful activity. Though the film often succeeds at laying out its case,
it’s less compelling as cinema.
She has some very good footage, but it follows fairly standard issue-driven
documentary procedure, and no matter how important the subject, it can’t help
but take on the faint air of hopeless preaching to the choir, no matter how
many under informed people-on-the-street are interviewed.
No comments:
Post a Comment