AMY
Directed by Asif Kapadia
"You are only as good as the people you hang out with". We have all heard this line. The strange thing after watching this documentary is...I think she was a good person and yet the people around her were not so much.
There has to be someone trustworthy in charge of the machine as it moves at full speed, be it the Beatles (they had Freda); Rolling Stones; New Kids; Backstreet Boys; One Direction; and Taylor Swift. They all have that one thing in common, they became/become more than their music. The sad thing is...Amy Winehouse had no one to control the machine and sadly at 27 she passed away after years of alcohol and drug abuse her body just gave out.
I went in to the documentary not really knowing much about Amy. I knew a couple of her songs that is about it. In fact I felt out of touch after seeing how popular she was in the film, especially in England.
The film is remarkable for the fact that there is so much to see. Music videos, photo sessions, concert footage, paparazzi shots, TV interviews, smart phone footage. She always seemed to be watched some how some way. Of course no one wants to take the blame for her health issues, from managers who say, "we could have slowed down if she said so". To friends who wanted to be in her presence at parties. To husbands/boyfriends (Blake Fielder-Civil) who seemed to always be pointing her in the wrong direction and no one around her stepped in. To a father who cashed in on her daughters fame. The machine had no one in charge to watch out for her.
I took away from the documentary that Amy was an overrated singer. To me most of the jazz songs seem to be all in the same tone or rhythm. However at the same time I found her to be an underrated writer where she seemed to be a Taylor Swift of that time writing about personal issues and relations. In fact it seemed like director Kapadia was also taken aback by her lyrics and made a very good decision of showing all her lyrics while she sang on the screen almost like in subtitles.
Like I noted I did not really know much about Amy going in but it left me close to tears because she seemed so overwhelmed and it is sad...you want to reach through the screen and stop the machine. I wish there were more Andrew Morris's in her life, Andrew was her bodyguard and saw everything, the look of sadness on his face is heartbreaking at the end.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars for Amy.
Directed by Noah Baumbach
Screen play by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach
Starring Greta Gerwig and Lola Kirke
A lonely college freshman, Tracy, (Kirke) life is turned upside down by her soon-to-be stepsister Brooke (Gerwig).
I love Greta Gerwig. In fact I was disappointed when they decided not to film How I Met Your Father with Greta starring. However here, shockingly, she is the weak link in this film. Yes her character is hard to like, she is very self absorbed and she seems to be living in a world where she is caught between dreams and the reality of a cruel world. So yes, she is hard to like, but the main problem is she seems to be just reading her lines. It was odd, a couple times I just shook my head wondering what was that, she seemed to be reading and not showing emotions. She was one of the writers of the film, maybe she got caught up in her own words, almost like she was doing a table reading.
The film is odd, New York is a big character in the film, however while they were in NY, this film is annoying, then it changed. It changed when they went to visit Brooke's ex-boyfriend and his wife who stole said boyfriend away! That part of the film takes place in that house for about 40 minutes of the short 82 minute film, and it turns the whole film around. At that point it turns into a stage play and everyone of the actors led by by newcomer Lola Kirke give fantastic performances. There are about 7 people in that house and they all attack their roles/characters. Funny, sad, desperate, lonely, and even snotty. Loved it!! When they do finally leave the house I was kind of sad, and then, back to New York, and.....it felt a little lame again.
3 1/2 out of 5 for Mistress America. Highlighted by newcomer Lola Kirke.
As always thanks for your time from the shadows.
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