I'm not a film festival guy. In fact, I've never been to one. Maybe one day, I'll get to hang with all you snooty cinephiles at one of those things. Until then, I'll continue doing what I always do where festivals are concerned: ignore them. Yeah, I've heard of all the big ones, but if you held a gun to my head I still couldn't tell you if a movie opened at one or not, let alone which ones did well at a particular one. All of that means I was in a real quandary when it came to this week's topic for Thursday Movie Picks. Our wonderful host, Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves, decided to throw me a curve-ball. She made this week's topic Sundance Favorites. So, a brotha had to do some research. As I doing so, my desire to be different led me to a theme within the theme. And here we go...
Hoop Dreams
(1994)
Won Audience Award Documentary
It's pretty well known that lots of kids dream of being professional athletes. In this documentary we follow a pair of Chicago teens, Arthur Agee and William Gates. They're both highly touted high school basketball players, each with their own set of issues. For my money, it's easily the best sports documentary ever made and is arguably one of the best docs of any type from any era.
When We Were Kings
(1996)
Won Special Jury Recognition
Back in 1974, Muhammad Ali solidified his legendary status by defeating George Foreman in a boxing match now known as "The Rumble in the Jungle." This documentary tells the story of not only Ali's victory, but the amazing story of how the fight came to be in the first place. It's not quite Hoop Dreams, but it's still among the very best sports documentaries of all-time.
Good Hair
(2009)
Won Special Jury Prize Documentary
We step away from sports, but stay with the documentary genre. In this one, host Chris Rock talks to a multitude of African-Americans, both celebrities and regular folks. The celebs, mostly, do normal doc-style interviews. Between those, the comedian visits lots of neighborhood barbershops, hair salons, and eventually, a gigantic hair show. The topic of discussion, as the title suggest, is African-American hair. It sounds simple enough, but reveals the subject to be one of great depth and complexity.