Welcome to I Have to Return Some Videotapes! Each month, film buffs Rhianna Mehta and Kevin Maguire will take you through their cinematic journeys with all of their usual insight and humour, catching up on their favourite films and exploring new ones.

After a month of mostly documentaries, we are looking forward to getting back into watching just about anything we want. Don’t get us wrong – we watched some amazing films; however sometimes real life can be really heavy (see Kevin’s surprise film below). Our November watchlist was full of some of the darkest corners documentary filmmaking can go, with a few hiccups and snooze fests in between. We hope you enjoy this month’s recommendations on what to watch, what to skip, and what you may want to give a shot.

If you would like to connect with us further on Letterboxd, please find us at rhirhi19 and Kevin_Maguire. If you want to get a sense of our taste, some of our favourites in each genre, and the way we approach film overall, be sure to check out our appearance on The Generalists.

Monthly Favourites:

Rhianna: Hoop Dreams (Steve James, 1994) On the surface, this documentary is about basketball, but beneath its simple exterior, the film is layered and complicated in ways I could have never imagined. The documentary follows two young African American boys, William Gates and Arthur Agee, throughout high school in a predominately white, suburban school known for its basketball program. William and Arthur were scouted to attend this school due to the promising potential they showed at a young age, and came from a similar neighbourhood as future Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas. The documentary has an immense amount of footage of their time in practice, at games, and in tournaments, showing their families who support them in their NBA dreams and even enduring their 90-minute one way commute to school. The film is able to tackle so much – from the seemingly trivial issues such as athleticism and achievement, to things America is still deeply struggling with today such as race and how socioeconomics reaffirms classism. This documentary really highlights how truly unbelievable “real life” can be and portrays extremely intimate conversations with the Gates and Agee family that could not be made up. The sheer honesty and vulnerability William, Arthur, and their families demonstrate in this film is so remarkable, that it is hard not to be completely enthralled by them. There are a myriad of other noteworthy participants in the film as well, such as the coach of the basketball program, Gene Pingatore, and a volunteer talent scout for the high school, Earl Smith, all of whom have a hand in shaping the young lives of William and Arthur. As someone who loves sports, it was pretty awe-inspiring to see the amount of dedication and grit these young athletes showed – even when they were just freshmen at high school. This story is truly unlike any other and is told with such limited narration or intervention by the documentarian, you almost forget they are there, which allows the story to unfold organically. If you love sports, films, or especially both, I think this film will be an absolute delight.

Runner-up: F for Fake (Orson Welles, 1973) This film documents the lives of Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. It is said that Elmyr de Hory has sold and forged thousands of paintings by artists such as Matisse and Picasso to reputable art galleries all over the world. Irving, who wrote a biography on de Hory’s life, later himself forged a biography on the infamous Howard Hughes. Not only is this documentary about such fascinating, morally compromised subjects, Welles also ultimately transforms the concept of documentary filmmaking itself. Using the concept of forgery that is central to the film, Welles blurs the line for the audience between what is real and what is fake, making us constantly question what is and is not art, and who gets to make that decision.

Kevin: Searching for Sugarman (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012) Not often do you walk away from a film with a new favourite music artist, but Searching for Sugarman did exactly that for me! Written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul, this documentary follows two South Africans, Stephen Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom, as they try to track down their elusive idol. The man they are looking for is American musician Sixto Rodriguez, who according to rumour, had perished after failing to find success in the music industry. If the rumours are not true, then what became of one of the best-selling artists in South Africa? Without spoiling anything, I can say that there is definitely something beautiful about his music and absolutely tragic that he was unable to find success in the 1970s. Hearing Sixto Rodriguez for the first time, I could not believe my ears. His music has a strong political message and sounds much like Bob Dylan or Donovan, but with its own unique flair. It became the anthem of the changing times in apartheid South Africa, and helped spark the movement of breaking down those barriers. A lot of what the film focuses on outside of finding the truth behind the myth is how a little bit of luck, good or bad, can completely change someone’s life unexpectedly. While this documentary has dark moments, it serves as a positive reminder to keep reaching for your goals because you never know when you will have a breakthrough. If you really love music you will want to check this out, because Sixto Rodriguez is the best musician you have never heard before.

Runner-up: Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929), Tickled (Darren Farrier & Dylan Reeve, 2016)

Least Favorite:

Rhianna: At Eternity’s Gate (Julian Schnabel, 2018) This film perfectly encapsulates why I do not like biographical films (that are not documentaries). At Eternity’s Gate follows Vincent van Gogh, played by Willem Dafoe, in his final few years in the south of France before his death. Dafoe’s performance is pretty admirable, as is Oscar Isaac’s, who plays notorious painter Paul Gauguin. Like most biopics I have seen, the film lacks depth and growth in its central characters. Although the film’s script is limited, it portrays a hollow shell and a cliched version of van Gogh. One thing in particular that I loathe about this film is that it transitions jarringly within the same scene between French and English dialogue. A scene on the streets of Paris between Paul and Vincent begins with a couple sentences in French, and then immediately switches to English for no apparent reason. If the film could not have been done entirely in French, which I must admit is a shame but understandable, then it would have been sufficient to do the full film in English. Switching between the two seemingly at random is nonsensical and erodes the viewer’s suspension of disbelief. In addition to sloppy writing, the film also has many scenes of the artist interacting quietly amongst nature. I believe the director is attempting to use these scenes to tell the audience about the profound relationship between nature and van Gogh, but to be honest, anyone who is familiar with even a couple of van Gogh’s pieces would already be aware of this relationship and would not need it spelled out explicitly to them in a film. Throughout the film, a lot of contemporary contexts about his life and reputation are expressed in the dialogue, which makes the film feel so contrived. For example, near the end of the film, van Gogh utters the line, “maybe God made me a painter for people who aren't born yet,” alluding to the fact that van Gogh died relatively poor and unknown in his time but is now one of the most recognized artists in the world, and copies of Starry Night are plastered on everything from socks to coffee mugs. This film was sadly yet another biopic that does not live up to the allure of the man behind the film.

Runner-up: The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 (Joshua Zemen, 2021) This film is such a disappointment because the premise and scientists surrounding the film are fantastic, but the film itself never really came together. The Loneliest Whale is a documentary film about the journey to find the “52 Hertz Whale” – a whale that calls out at a 52 Hz frequency that is unrecognizable to other whales, and as a result is believed to live in complete solitude. The film has some wonderful details around how this whale was first discovered and the astounding work modern scientists do to track whales However the director inserts himself directly into the premise of the documentary, which becomes quite distracting. I think this would have been much more enjoyable if the director had stayed behind the camera to tell the story rather than try to be a part of it.

Kevin: Steve Jobs (Danny Boyle, 2015) This movie missed the mark by really focusing on the negative aspects of Steve Jobs which completely removed me from the experience. Jobs is played well by Michael Fassbender and the rest of the cast gave fairly strong performances. However, with so much focus on his strained relationships, it made for such a dull, one-note movie. It was particularly noticeable in how much time was spent on his uneasy relationship with his daughter. While I understand it was an important aspect of his life, the random interjections of their issues between him preparing for product launches seemed to be included just to add unnecessary drama while not providing any character growth. It felt like the only moment of redemption we saw for Jobs was at the very end of the film. It is hard to stick with a film that portrays the protagonist in such a harsh light. There were so many opportunities to show how much more of a complex person Steve Jobs was, but instead you basically had a douchebag version of Data from Star Trek. He was so robotic and cold at times, it felt like I was rewatching Michael Fassbender in Prometheus. This definitely had more potential as a miniseries or TV show, where Aaron Sorkin really thrives.

Runner-up: Free State of Jones (Gary Ross, 2016), Public Enemies (Michael Mann, 2009)

Biggest Surprise:

Rhianna: Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929) Wow. This is one of the most unique documentaries I have ever seen. Filmed in Moscow, Kiev, and Odessa, Vertov filmed urban life in the late 1920s. The documentary is divided into 6 episodes, and although there is no dialogue or through-line narrative, each episode shows glimpses into modern life at that time, with scenes expertly edited together against an astonishingly beautiful soundtrack. There are a few scenes that were clearly staged, but predominantly the audience sees people going about their daily lives, whether that be at work, at the beach, or anywhere else in the big cities. This film displays a large range of now common film techniques that were invented by Vertov such as stop motion animation, slow motion, Dutch angles, split screens, tracking shots and even more! It is hard to fathom just how innovative this film would have been in 1929. What I loved about this film was that even though the editing was fast-paced, every moment captured on film felt special, and every person captured seemed important. This is documentary filmmaking in its purest form – I highly recommend any cinephile to watch this.

Runner-up: The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese, 1978) The farewell concert to end all farewell concerts, The Last Waltz is a documentary film showcasing The Band’s last concert. With on-stage cameos by the likes of Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, to name a few, this film is mostly concert footage with a few behind the scenes interviews sprinkled between. It is so impressive to watch The Band play live, as they are truly one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960’s and 70’s and it comes through in this film.

Kevin: The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012) This was definitely the darkest film I have seen in quite some time. This documentary retells the horrific events of the Indonesian genocide of 1965-66. Taking place in the present day, the documentary shares the unfiltered viewpoints of people who committed the atrocities against those they deemed to be Communist. Though no official number has been given, over a million people may have died at the hands of these war criminals. The killers recount the methods used with gruesome detail, while not grasping the loss of life that they have caused. Co-directors Joshua Oppenheimer and Christine Cynn made the brilliant choice to make this documentary through the eyes of the perpetrators of the violence. They convince the murderers to recreate the abhorrent scenes of terror for the documentary. You watch in disgust as they delight in reminiscing about their actions as if they are reconquering an enemy with every shot. It is not until they are put in the shoes of their victims that they finally begin to realize they may not be the heroes they have built themselves up to be. I was so amazed and yet dismayed at the attitudes these men displayed. There is definitely something that sticks with you long after watching this. If you can stand to hear these tales of horror, I highly recommend watching this documentary.

Runner-up: Hoop Dreams (Steve James, 1994), The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese, 1978)

Coming Attractions:

The holiday season is upon us! We do not particularly enjoy holiday films, but this year we are interested in tackling a specific, wild sub-genre: cheesy Christmas movies. From the few we have seen, we know these are more comical than cheerful, but we cannot wait for the madness. As well, we are trying to wrap up our year with some of the outstanding films from 2021 that we have not seen to date – such as Titane, Red Rocket and the highly anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home. Have a wonderful holiday season – we will be back with our article in the new year!