Seriously. Do not miss this documentary about an old, old, so very old media property that, no matter how new media you think you are, still is more essential to American life than your Twitter feed or Facebook page or super important blog. And no, I am not being condescending toward your Twitter feed or Facebook page or super important blog. I am just saying that after you watch all the labor and money and guts and dedication and sick levels of professionalism that go into producing a year’s worth of the New York Times, you will understand why it cannot be replaced by even 10,000,000 of your most informative status updates. You will also fall in love (perhaps all over again) with David Carr, the show-stealing Times media reporter who has beaten crack addiction and more in order to lurch into battle against those who see no consequence to the very possible, internet-instigated demise of the Paper of Record. (Not too long ago, one share of New York Times stock cost less than one copy of the Sunday edition.) At one point in the film, Carr declares he is going to “vaporize” these Times-demise-cheering idiots, and he does, delightfully. Also delightful: The lack of imperiousness inside what is supposedly the most imperious of all media lairs. What you see is a bunch of super smart people just fucking grateful to still have a job, and doing it balls out until someone tells them to go home. ELI SANDERS
Some other things we recommend that you DO NOT MISS today...
Nothing's All Bad:
It’s usually an irritating setup when four characters’ lives come together by chance. But in this dark Danish comedy, it’s done brilliantly, brutally, and fearlessly. Over and over, they did go there. The four characters all want to feel wanted: an older retired woman whose husband has just died, a young man so hot he doesn’t even have to solicit johns, a father who can’t stop exposing himself, and a beautiful young woman with an ugly mastectomy scar. You love them despite the awful places they go together. JEN GRAVES
Scene one: An old man swims in a pool with a young man. Scene two: As the old and young man walk around the swimming pool, we learn one is the father (a former swimming champion) and the other is the son, and also that both work at a four-star hotel. Scene three: As the father erotically eats slices of watermelon with his wife in a living room, we learn from the TV that the country is in a state of war—government forces against rebel forces. Scene four: As the father hangs out with a cook, we learn that the hotel was recently privatized and is now owned by a Chinese businesswoman, Ms. Wang. Scene five: In the hotel’s business office, surplus workers are sequentially fired. All of this and more comes together to make the most important African film since Djibril Diop Mambéty's Hyènes. CHARLES MUDEDE
(Charles Mudede writes more about A Screaming Man in this week's Art House.)
And, of course, there's plenty more. Click here for a complete list of today's screenings. Click here for all of our festival coverage.
