By Anne Brodie
If you were conscious in 1975 and lived in North America, you will remember it as a turbulent year, of upheaval, new ideas and post hippy social awareness. It was a banner year for bold, impressive and timely films; that’s the lens through which Morgan Neville illustrates what happened and why in his superb documentary Breakdown: 1975. His premise is that America suffered a “nervous breakdown” due to the pressures of old values that were no longer viable. Twenty years fighting the unpopular Vietnam War that few Americans wanted, the tiny nation was captured by North Vietnam; the great and powerful US lost the War. The peace movement it created morphed into a string of movements, seeding social and cultural storms out of which sprang new ideas and a New Hollywood. Two attempts on the life of President Gerald Ford reflected increased political violence as Watergate inspired mistrust of the government inspired dark politically themed films like All the President’s Men, The Conversation and Three Days of the Condor. Women’s liberation saw The Stepford Wives and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Faye Dunaway was power personified in Network. Then Wonder Woman. Self actualisation was rampant, enter Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Narrator Jodie Foster takes us through a kaleidoscope of that year’s films that mirrored social realities; they were different, stirring and new. Unease about the future was reflected in Nashville which had no plot but 24 characters. Jaws came out, and “We lost the war, there was a crook in the White House so they blew up the shark.” The mood was dark. There was also the “radical nostalgia” of shows like Happy Days. There’s a lot to learn in this fascinating think piece and a wealth of interviewees – Albert Brooks, Bill Gates, Ellen Burstyn, Frank Rich, James Risen, James Wolcott, Jefferson Cowie, Joan Tewkesbury, Josh Brolin, Kurt Andersen, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Martin Scorsese, Naomi Fry, Oliver Stone, Patton Oswalt, Peter Bart, Peter Biskind, Rick Perlstein, Sam Wasson, Seth Rogen, Dr. Todd Boyd and Wesley Morris. Now on Netflix.
Serious People, folks. So, you’re Pasqual (Pasqual Gutierrez) the hotshot half of a leading Los Angeles music video production duo and you’ve landed a contract with Drake. But your wife (Christine Yuan) is expecting a baby the day the work is to begin and insists you be home – naturally. You hire a doppelganger to be you in the studio, a rando unfamiliar with video production and barely able to think his way out of a paper bag called Miguel (Miguel Huerta). You coach him the best you can and he agrees to the charade with enthusiasm – he gets to meet Drake! And he’s being paid Pasqual’s salary. Pasqual’s partner and wife think he’s lost his mind, but she refuses to allow him to work when the baby arrives. So, the day arrives for work on Drake’s music video. The stripper is there to use an extremely high pole, wearing a 90 pound wig. Rando Miguel is over his head. His outsize bravado knocks down every commonsense, helpful tip from the video staff and he shouts everyone into submission, directing the shoot right into the ground. The high anxiety the film produces is uncomfortable and seriously, how do the workers not know it’s a stranger who looks like Pasqual and how can Pasqual possibly think this can turn out well? Oh, dear, this slack jammed angst fest offers interesting ideas but lacks motion and engagement ; and so many unanswered questions. Gutierrez wrote and directed Serious People and stars. TVOD Dec. 16
ACORN TV’sThe Madame Blanc Mysteries launches its two-part Christmas Special Dec. 15 and Dec, 22. We’re back in the south of France, the chosen home of British antiques dealer and unofficial private eye Jean White (Sally Lindsay). Her social circle includes Dom (Steve Edge), Judith and Jeremy Lloyd-James (Sue Holderness and Robin Askwith and Alex Gaumond as Chief of Police André Caron. Mrs. White or M. Blanc solves mysteries so it is exciting to be around her – she’s certainly the boss of these expats. Its Christmas Eve and they’re attending an exhibition at the Musée de Sainte Victoire. M Blanc will authenticate a new acquisition, an Ormolu box once owned by Marie Antoinette. One tiny problem. There’s a time bomb inside set to go off in 90 minutes They can’t leave the museum- it’s been expertly sealed and the security guard’s dead. M. Blanc attempts to intuit clues as to how to shut the thing off and manages to contact Caron. Part two finds them with just twenty minutes to dismantle the thing, save their lives and the priceless items inside the museum. Clues are hidden in an artwork of some kind within the museum in a piece representing the Madonna and Child. One guests presses a stop button connected to the device but is losing feeling in his hands. Fraught stuff, with the tension of passing time and infighting amongst terrified guests. Aimed at older audiences.