masonfisk

Nominated this year for Best Documentary feature comes this sobering tale of sexual improprieties inflicted by the Catholic church upon Canadian Indigenous children up until shockingly recently. Taking testimony from survivors of the atrocities, now in their later years, which detail multiple deaths (infants born of rape were disposed of in mass graves or in incinerators) that a small group of investigators try to solve (even though we hear in voice over a mass grave was found) while memories of the past are pried open to reveal past evils. Just as a piece exposing historical sins by the church is enough for someone to tune in & be horrified but as these stories keep emerging (similar feats were performed by the church in Australia & Ireland in fictional accounts like RabbitProof Fence & The Magdalene Sisters) people wonder how far the church has fallen in the minds of most parishoners.

A concert documentary from 2018. Shot back in 1972, Aretha Franklin decided to go back to her gospel roots by filming 2 nights of performances at a church in Los Angeles w/her mentor James Cleveland & releasing an album to cover said perfs (which coincidentally became the best selling gospel album of all time). Then the rub, due to a snafu in the recording process, the film sat unfinished for years because of an inability to sync the sound but w/the advent of digital technology, the film was finally finished w/the finished product a lovely time capsule as the Queen of Soul goes through about 12 songs or so w/minimum band accompaniment & the sweet sounds of the backing choir complimenting her voice as she goes through the emotions on some gospel standards. Not being a gospel music devotee, for me it was just a matter of taste for these particular song stylings but I still found myself being entertained nevertheless. Look for Rolling Stones members, Mick Jagger & the late, great Charlie Watts lingering in the back of the church during the concert & also director Sydney Pollack (who passed in 2008), milling about the performance space since he was the director of this film on record.

A 2020 Apple + original documentary chronicling the rise & abrupt end to the seminal hip hop trio (due to member Adam Yauch's untimely passing from cancer in 2012). Presented in front of a live audience surviving members Adam Horovitz & Mike Diamond spin the tale of how they met, where they hung out & what led them to form their first band (which was more a hardcore effort) which morphed into a shambling, white boys can rap collective which stunned the world w/their debut release License to Ill. Expecting great things from their sophomore release, Paul's Boutique, the album (now regarded a masterpiece in typical cultish hindsight) was a nonstarter. Figuring they should go back to their basics, they again donned their musical instruments to craft their subsequent records which established their reputation as the masters of their craft but also respect for playing their own guitars/drums w/the best of them. As families are started by the members, Yauch the most auto-didactic of the three (as admitted by his survivors) would not only constantly push his musical craft but his endeavors in world affairs (specifically the efforts of Buddhists in Nepal) brought him into the international spotlight. Being a big fan from way back when (my heart leapt a bit when they mentioned their supporting berth w/Run DMC on the Raising Hell tour which me & a best bud caught at Madison Square Garden back in 1986), this was almost like a welcome homework assignment w/old friend & collaborator, director Spike Jonze, not overwhelming the presentation w/unnecessary stylized flourishes which would detract from the simple story being simply told.