Stuff I've Been Watching September 2021

Bojack Horseman. Season 1. United States. Via the Netflix app. 6 September.

A show about a half-horse half-man who used to be in a family TV show who now struggles with alcohol and relationships was not on my bingo card for a great idea for a show. But I have to say that there is something both funny and touching about this one.

Frontline: America after 9/11. 2021. United States. Via the PBS app. 8 September.

After more than three decades on the air, Frontline remains one of the best shows on television. This episode tries to draw a line from 9/11 all the way through to the insurrection on 6 January 2021. This movie is the most thoughtful look at 9/11 I have seen.

9/11: Inside the president’s war room. 2021. United States. Via the Apple TV+ app. With Michal. 10 September.

I am not sure I really recommend this one. What it tried to do -- give the viewer a sense of what it was like for the White House staff on that day -- was well done. But what the show fails to do is to ask any difficult questions of President Bush or his staff. The producers simply present their version of events and move on.

Blow Out. Directed by Brian De Palma. 1981. United States. Via the Criterion Channel app. 9 September.

Brian De Palma was a filmmaker of such promise who had some good movies and, as he aged, the quality began to go down. Despite the fact that Blow Out did not do well at the box office -- audiences did not like the ending -- I would argue that it is one of his better movies. Blow Out is probably better seen as a movie about making movies rather than as a political thriller. Earlier, I published some thoughts about this movie.

Life During Wartime. Directed by Todd Solodz. 2010. United States. Via the Criterion Channel app. 15 September.

As Susan Sontag might note, a very campy movie. Solondz embraces a very queer aesthetic. Watch for the late Michael Kenneth Williams playing a character very different than his Omar in the Wire. This movie is not for everyone.

The Bad Batch. 2021. United States. Via the Disney+ app. 20 September.

I enjoyed this series and think it was much better than the previous animated series The Clone Wars. I will say that I enjoyed the Mandalorian more than this series, though.

Bacurau. Directed by Kleber Mendonsa Fiho and Juliano Dornelles. 2019. Brazil, France. Via the Criterion Channel app. 28 September.

Bacurau is a difficult movie to describe. But I suppose it could be described as a post-colonial, near-future revenge thriller set in rural Brazil. Oh, and drones are part of the story. President Obama called it one of the year's best movies.

Billions. Season 3. 2018. United States. Via the Paramount + app. 30 September.

A cat and mouse game between a U.S. Attorney and a hedge fund manager. Great acting and solid film-making.

Muhammad Ali. Directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns & David McMahon. 2021. United States. Via the PBS app. ? September.

Perhaps it comes as no surprise that an eight hour documentary goes into depth about Muhammad Ali. Ali's life touched on so many topics in late twentieth century American history: Vietnam, boxing and sports, the African-American religious experience, and many others. However, this movie is NOT a hagiography. To give just one example, Ali could be quite cruel. I learned that Joe Frazier had a bitter falling out with Ali and never forgave him. And this falling out came after Frazier loaned Ali money and helped him when he was unable to box and had trouble earning money. As David Remnick points out in the movie, white America hated Ali when he was in the boxing ring, and, really, only came to love him after he lost the ability to speak.

When We Were Kings. Directed by Leon Gast. 1996. United States, Zaire. Via the 

Criterion Channel app. With Michal. ? September. 

The PBS documentary covers the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle, but Gast's movie goes into far greater depth about that particular match between Ali and George Foreman. In addition to copious footage of Ali, the filmmakers have very useful commentary from the late Norman Mailer, the late George Plimpton, and Spike Lee, among others that helps to put events into context. I saw this movie for the first time on the big screen twenty-five years ago; it was great to see it again.