The Central Park Five

First Hit: Very strong factual film done with the type of detail work Ken Burns is known to produce.

This documentary fully examines the 1989 court case where 5 young black and Latino teenage boys that were accused and prosecuted for raping a women in Central Park.

The fact of the matter is that they were pushed and forced by the New York Police to admit on paper and in a video interview that they did the crime. The New York Police were systematic in the way they pushed these scared young boys into admitting they did a crime they never committed.

Burns, as is his MO, makes a strong case by dotting his i’s and crossing his t’s that the police were wrong. What I was especially drawn to was the New York Times columnist that said he, the police and other journalist need to look at themselves and own their part in convicting these boys.

Burns and David McMahon wrote a wonderfully complex screenplay allowing the audience a great insight to this case. Burns and Sarah Burns co-directed this film in strong factual documentary fashion.

Overall:  Memorable.

Girl Model

First Hit:  Ended up feeling sad and disturbed by watching this eye opening and well done film.

Young girls (Ages 12 – 16) from small towns in cold Siberia line up in a cavernous open building in panties and bras while strangers view them for the look that “the Japanese want” to see in their models.

The girls are many things the Japanese aren’t; tall, round eyes, and white skin. The girls are live in towns where education is low, farming and manufacturing are the main sources of income and it is the wish of many parents that their child get out of the life they are destined to have if they stay.

The illusion is that if they get chosen to model in Japan they will be guaranteed two paying jobs paying them $8,000.00, and the reality is that they will be charged for expenses, don’t get the jobs they are promised, and end up owing money.

The film focuses on a couple of models (Nadya Vall and Rachel Blais), a former model who has an eye for selecting the right Japanese models (Ashley Arbaugh), and the owner of the modeling agency who actually believes he’s doing right by everyone.

Ashley is in her thirties, travels all the time, and despite an occasional word about caring for the people she picks, she has no real compassion for the situations she puts the models in. The scene when she visits Rachel and Nadya’s small one room apartment in Japan exemplifies her lack of compassion. Ashley’s conversation with the model company’s owner told the audience she wanted to be as deluded as the owner about the right livelihood he brings to young girls.

This man actually believes he is undoing previous lives of bad karma by offering these girls a chance to model. One of the most powerful sets of scenes, was when Nadya landed in Japan, wasn’t met, didn’t speak the language, finally found where she was staying, stoically travels to her appointments and when she gets to talk to her mom the first time on the phone, she totally breaks down.

She was amazing at hiding what was going on within her, but one could see this was an incredibly scary experience. I was a little surprised at the epilogue of Nadya’s journey but it was understandable.

Ashley Sabin and David Redmon did an amazing job of getting trust and access to film Nadya’s journey and Ashley’s real indifference.

Overall: This was a powerful film and needs to be mandatory watching for all in Siberia who think modeling is the way out.

The Queen of Versailles

First Hit:  A well-executed eye-opener highlighting stupidity and excess.

They are crowded in their current home with 17 bathrooms and Jackie Siegel believes they really need more – really!

Her husband David wants to build this new house because “he can”. He’s prideful that he believes that he alone got George W. Bush elected. Living in Orlando their current home is filled with 8 children, many nannies, house helpers and drivers.

From a film point of view, this is wonderfully done. The access Lauren Greenfield had to both Jackie and David really allows the audience to watch the evolution of the Siegel’s belief of their financial invincibility which leads to their financial demise. Therefore, let me make one thing clear, this is a great documentary film because it lets you see the evolution of this family, unfettered. Greenfield does this without an opinion; she just lets us watch degradation of the household as their financial empire falls apart.

I think my three favorite and telling scenes are:  Jackie renting a car from Hertz and then wondering who their driver will be, the rental agent’s face was priceless. When Jackie discovers that their pet lizard is dead - highlighting the neglect of everything in their family except her botox injections.  And, when they are shopping at Walmart, buying stuff they don’t need, and when the nanny brings the new bike through the garage, we see at least 20 unused bikes while the nanny shakes her head in disbelief.

My opinion about the Siegel’s is that they are not very smart, have little idea about what they are doing from a holistic sense, think that money equates to being smart, and deserve the financial pain they are going through because of the way they treated the people to whom they sold timeshares.

The 90,000 square foot home with its 30 bathrooms may never be finished, and even if they do, I don’t see David, Jackie, and the kids being happy. The illusion has been discovered by them as well.

Greenfield did a fantastic job of giving us a view into this couple.

Overall:  This is a well done documentary of a family facing crisis.

Neil Young Journeys

First Hit:  I loved watching my favorite singer/songwriter in his element.

I’ve probably stated this before, but I will here again. I’m grateful to have been introduced to the music of Buffalo Springfield back in 1966. I saw them once at the Whiskey A Go Go.

Then the weird guy playing guitar touched my soul by writing Mr. Soul recorded in 1967. I admired his songs so much that I learned to play just about everyone of them - my way.

As he would always do, he took a right turn and became a solo artist with occasional forays with other groups and musicians. In Journeys we get a glimpse of the solo Young and his memories. We travel from his home town of Omemee, Ontario Canada to Massey Hall in Toronto.

In 1970 Neil did a solo concert in Massey Hall which is a classic. The concert in this film which is its base, is 41 years after that original concert. In this one Neil is all electric, solo with much of the material coming from his album Le Noise sprinkled with the occasional older hit like Down By The River and an extremely moving Ohio.

Camera work is up-close and personal with cameras even on the microphone. Yes we see a lot of Neil’s mouth and there is spit on the lens for half the “Hitchhiker” but it only adds to the realism Demme is looking for. 

Overall, it is the music and Neil’s rye humor (eating road tar produced his love of cars) that makes this a wonderful film for Young’s fans.

Neil is still fresh and amazing in his ability to create interesting music while being over 71 years old. Jonathan Demme, in his third time at filming Neil, is on target and creates a wonderful experience.

Overall:  I left the theater very happy.

Whore's Glory

First Hit:  I don’t know how the director was able to create this film but the result is powerful and sad.

The intimacy of the filming of this film is phenomenal.

There are conversations with the women but mostly the film is observational. We watch how they obtain their customers.

This film is done in three segments: 1) Thailand, 2) India, and 3) Mexico. The venues are different in how the women obtain their customers. In Thailand the venue is The Fishbowl. Here women punch clocks. When they come to work they first do their makeup, get something to eat, and then sit in a glass room with tiered seating conversing with their fellow workers while men look at them through the glass.

The club manager gives recommendations to prospective clients. Once a selection is made, the girl is paid for at the register, and then enters an elevator to go up to an antiseptic room for sex. The girls complain about there being too many women as competition as well as the type of men they don’t like.

In India the women stand outside small rooms in dirty narrow alleyways and cajole their men customers into their rooms for sex. There is a segment where one girl, who seems a bit troubled, breaks down crying because she loses a client to another woman.

In Mexico, the men drive slowly down a potholed dirt road looking at women who stand in front of the doors to their rooms. Men then converse with the ladies, set a price, park and do their thing.

Here we actually see the act (the only time in the film) openly and watch as woman is clearly the alpha force in the room.

Michael Glawogger wrote and directed this film which was amazing in its intimacy and emotional detachment.

Overall: An excellent view of what people say is the “world’s oldest profession.”