Plastic Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys (2014)

I heard about this new documentary about Star Wars toys from the Now Playing podcast [details here], and immediately wanted to check it out. Like many of the people intereviewed for the documentary, I had a bunch of Star Wars action figures in the early 80s and spent hours playing with them and with my friends' collections. With those toys, I encountered my first experiences being envious and jealous: "how I wish I had that Ewok Village playset!", I remember thinking.  "The Millenium Falcon was so COOL!"  It seemed like an ENORMOUS toy - and my friend Aaron (who I envied) had it! I loved going over to my friend Aaron's -- he had almost every figure. And seeing many of those figures again in the film brought back lots of memories. I loved learning about the history of Kenner and their factories and the stories from the Kenner employees and toy designers. They show lots of early sketches and prototypes of toys that never were made. This is a really cool documentary to watch. The guys on the podcast talked about who they thought the target audience for the documentary is. In my opinion, I think you'll enjoy this film if:

1) You're a Star Wars fan

2) You had and played with the toys /action figures

3) You are a toy collector interested in learning more about the history of these collectibles.


Everyone else might be bored!

The Line King: The Story of Al Hirschfeld (documentary, 1996)

An outstanding documentary about Mr. Hirschfeld (1903-2002), the famed artist best known for his caricatures of stage and screen celebrities for over 70 years. I am a huge fan of his work and watching this documentary (which was nominated for an Oscar) was a real treat.

The film features clips from numerous celebs sharing their best Hirschfeld memories, Hirschfeld interviews and home movies, and of course, hundreds of drawings he did through the years. But he didn't just do drawings, he painted and sculpted too

I learned that at age 18 or 19 years old, he worked for Selznick pictures, and did poster artwork and eventually took over the art department. He die many caricatures of movie stars during this period.

In 1926 he started sketching Broadway show for numerous New York newspapers, and did it for the rest of his life. He also did numerous TV Guide covers over the years.

Dolores Hart at the Oscars

Yes, it's true - Dolores Hart attended last Sunday night's Oscar ceremony, walking down the red carpet and everything! A video below

 I was rooting for her documentary - God is Bigger than Elvis - to win! 

But it lost to Saving Face.

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance, is an acclaimed 1982 film - a so-called "experimental film" - directed by Godfrey Reggio, with amazing cinematography by Ron Fricke.

For five years, from 1983-1988, this film held a box office record as the highest-grossing documentary / experimental film of all time, with a total gross of nearly $2 million. (Source: documentary stats @ boxofficemojo.com)

I think people enjoyed this film so much because it was so different, so mind-blowing; the combined use of slow- and fast-motion visuals throughout made for a hypnotic big screen experience, affecting viewers much like Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" did a generation earlier.

Produced by Francis Ford Coppola, it has been called "an art film, a musical, and a cult film all wrapped together": There is no drama. No dialogue. No narration. Just a series of filmed images of nature, technology, and people all set to music composed by "minimalist extraordinaire" Phillip Glass (The Think Blue Line, A Brief History of Time, The Truman Show, The Hours). His brilliant score for this film is fun and whimsical at times, at other times very solemn, such as the opening and closing credit sequences with its haunting (and sometimes parodied) chant.

Visually, we first see breathtaking, bird's-eye-view shots of desert landscapes, ocean waves, and cloud formations. Then - we move away from nature to the city. Traffic, traffic, and more traffic. Then, my favorite part, the streets of New York City, circa 1982. It was at that point that I felt like I was watching a video time capsule of the early 1980s. We see shots of people bowling, and playing video games (including Pac-Man), and everyone is in the early-80s fashions of the day.

The film itself, which is like poetry on screen, is worthy of discussion, and can be interpreted different ways, as was the intent. I was reminded of how chaotic our busy, technologically-filled lives are, and how peaceful and relaxing it is to just enjoy nature for awhile. You get to experience both in this film, well worth seeing!