Movie Nation

Even today, over 100 years after its release, you can’t call yourself a film buff if you haven’t seen “The Birth of a Nation.”

Yes, it is overtly racist with scenes to make all but the most virulent white supremacist cringe. But it also is the origin story of cinema itself, the motion picture as Ur text, the one that introduced the language of film. The shots, editing and storytelling techniques that director David Wark Griffith pioneered and that remain the foundations of how you tell a story with moving pictures.

But “Birth” isn’t just the starting point for modern film history. It gave birth to two movements on opposite sides of America’s racial schism. The movie revived the defunct, racist minority-oppressing Ku Klux Klan, brought it out into the open and set the stage for another half century of Jim Crow laws and lynchings. And protesting the movie unified Black America like nothing before it, setting the mission of the NAACP in stone and predicting the organized protests of the Civil Rights movement which began just over thirty years after the film became the cinema’s first blockbuster.

“Birth of a Movement: The Battle Against America’s First Blockbuster,” wonderfully sketches in the history leading up to the film’s 1915 release, its artistry and malign racial politics, and then tracks its impact, both as “inspiration” and justification for the spread of Jim Crow racial discrimination laws and the protests — “direct action” — that erupted as well.

It’s a documentary that provides “context,” as Spike Lee puts it, recalling the first time he was exposed to the movie at film school at NYU. Context was long missing from this movie, as it popped up in history of film classes, revival screenings and the like.

Filmmakers Bestor Cram and Susan Gray provide that, and history we’ve forgotten in their concise, smart and thorough film. Historians like Henry Louis Gates, film scholars from here and abroad, social scientists and filmmakers like Lee and Reginald Hudlin detail the film’s place in cinema lore, its problems and a hero who emerged from the battle over the movie in 1915 Boston.

The hero is crusading newspaperman William Monroe Trotter, whose Boston “Guardian” led the charge to get the film censored and suppressed. It was a hopeless cause, but a righteous one, spitting into the wind of long lines at the nation’s box offices (Blacks could not get tickets in many cities) and the endorsement of President Woodrow Wilson, who called the “Klan saves The South and the Nation from Miscegenation” drama “history written with lightning.”

A little-seen 1930 interview with director Griffith, and footage from the many movies he made leading up to “Birth” is sampled. The racist cinema that predated his masterpiece, short stereotype-building pictures by other filmmakers, is shown.

Most importantly, though, is that context, the flux that the nascent NAACP and state of “Black Leadership” was in before the film’s arrival, the larger conflict that pitted Trotter, his Harvard classmate W.E.B. Dubois against civil rights appeaser Booker T. Washington, before “Birth,” their unity in vilifying the movie after its release.

Scholars like Griffith chronicler Ira Gallen and Vincent Brown make the case that the movie still has value, as a “masterpiece,” as “the first film to have the word ‘propaganda’ attached to it,” and as “historically inaccurate, but an honest distillation of American racial thought at that time.”

I particularly enjoyed Gallen’s setting the record straight about Griffith’s real background (“white trash, poor”) and his romanticized view of that childhood and the racist myth-building he fostered through his sepia toned glasses.

With “Birth of a Movement” PBS has financed an essential cornerstone of any film “History of Film” high school or college course, one that you don’t have to go to class to absorb. It’s right here on Netflix right now.

MPAA Rating: unrated, historic depictions of racial violence

Cast: Narrated by Danny Glover, with Spike Lee, Dick Lehr, Henry Louis Gates, Vincent Brown, Dolita Cathcart and many others

Credits: Directed by Bestor Cram, Susan Gray, script by Kwyn Bader, Dick Lehr. A PBS Independent Lens/Netflix release.

Running time: :54

You can eat the sausage, but who really wants to see how it’s made?

The state of high school hoops in America — blue chip prospects ID’d as tweens, recruited to “high school” superteams that aren’t high schools at all, prepped for colleges that sell the myth of “student athlete,” all aimed at the slim chance of NBA millions — gets a dramatically satisfying airing in “Amateur,” the debut feature of Ryan Koo, now on Netflix.

“Amateur” shines a light on a seriously dysfunctional system. It’s a sell-out updating of “Hoop Dreams” for the viral video era, a sharp-edges-rubbed-off film that holds interest even as it loses some of its testy edge drifting towards a wish fulfillment fantasy conclusion.

Michael Rainey Jr. of TV’s “Power” has just enough game to be a convincing point guard whose promise, at 14, is such that the sharks are circling.

That would be the “recruiters” who follow middle school and high school teams and arrange the deals that get the most promising into prep school pipelines to the NCAA “power conference” teams, and potentially the NBA.

Terron (Rainey) is a dominant talent on a middling high school team, earning the attention of “Liberty Prep,” a basketball factory masquerading as high end academia for “trust fund babies.” Josh Charles brings a nurturing oiliness to Coach Gaines, a smooth-talking cynic who sells the big dream to a 14 year-old — NBA millions.

But Terron is a kid with problems. His father (Brian White, terrific) is a former jock wearing the symptoms of too many concussions — vanishing memory, blackouts, temper tantrums. And Terron has a learning disability, “dyscalculia,” numbers blindness.

Algebra is a mystery to him, but he’s smart enough to figure out work-arounds. And since he can’t even make out the scoreboard or clock in the gym, his coaches count down the shot clock to make him effective.

A clever effect — letting us see the garbled shot clock that only Terron sees.

Coach Gaines cons the kid’s mother (Sharon Leal, earthy and engaging), a teacher who values academics and pushes the college degree in case this sports thing doesn’t work out. And Terron joins glamorous Liberty Prep.

Only it’s not glamorous. The players aren’t really at the prestigious school they’re supposed to be attending. They’re crammed into a rundown house, given loaner bicycles to get to school and overwhelmed with workouts that eat up whatever academic time they’re supposed to put in.

The players who haze the “daycare team” recruit are a blend of blue chips, foreigners (some much older than they say) and others who either ignore the kid, or tip him off that classes and grades? They’re all taken care of.

“We too big too fail,” Eastern European Petrus (Stefan Frank) jokes.

As the kid starts to fit in, as such kids inevitably do in such movies, going all the way back to “One on One,” he starts to figure out the war of competing agendas at play here. His father has one, the coach has one, and each player has his own as well.

“We don’t play for coach, we don’t play for colleges, we don’t even play for the U.S.” a teammate (Ashlee Brian) clues him in. “We play for the (sporting goods) brands.”

Charles is quite adept at playing this coach with just enough compassion and understanding to charm the kid, just enough edge to let us question his agenda and true motives. He’s a talented tactician and mentor, but an outsider, a Jim Boeheim or Rick Pitino who never appeared to be clean enough to make the jump to the big time.

Forget the textbooks, “I want you to bury your nose in this playbook, like it’s a pillow made out of Rihanna’s” breasts,” Coach purrs.

But Koo, in reaching for an overall indictment of the system and possible solutions — think about how the rest of the world has no NCAA to appease, where athletes can sell their talents — robs his movie of a real villain in the process.

That breaks the formula, but also makes for a less satisfying viewing experience. Drama requires more conflict than “Amateur” delivers. “Everybody Wins” is not the way the world works.

In not letting the salty but engaging Charles fill that function, and lacking any version of the turn-a-blind-eye to its own corruption NCAA to park in that role, “Amateur” goes all squishy in the third act, just when the stakes should go up and the cost of failure should be its bitterest.

MPAA Rating: TV-MA, profanity

Cast: Michael Rainey Jr., Josh Charles, Sharon Leal, Brian White

Credits: Written and directed by Ryan Koo. A Netflix release.

Running time: 1:36

Virtually every time I have interviewed Terry Gilliam, the conversation turns to “the unluckiest filmmaker in the movies.”

Take all of Orson Welles’ problems finding financing, twist them into constant studio interference leading to “The only movies I can make are ones I shouldn’t be making,” coupled with Heath Ledger, a co-star, dying before “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” was finished, and you’ve got a cinematic visionary who appears to be cursed.

Most famously, his “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” — co-starring Johnny Depp and Jean Rochefort, turned into a debacle worthy of a documentary of its own — “Lost in La Mancha.”

By God, he’s finished it. Finally. With Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce and Olga Kurylenko and Stellan Skarsgard and by cracky it looks crackers.

Let’s hope it actually makes it from Cannes to a theater near you and me.

Gott in himmel, vas ist los?

A gay German “Beguiled” spoof built on comically over-the-top womynist/leftist revolutionary rhetoric?

Oh, it’s from Bruce LaBruce, Ontario’s boundary-bending icon of the queer cinema. He’s made movies about a young into MUCH older men (in a nursing home) — “Gerontophilia” — and gay Goth zombie love (“Otto; or Up with Dead People.”

So over the top? Yeah.

“The Misandrists” is about a remote revolutionary indoctrination camp for the Feminist Liberation Army, German (mostly) lesbians training for a world without men, which takes in an injured young male revolutionary (Til Schindler) on the run from the authorities.

Big Mother (Susanne Sachße, a mainstay of LaBruce movies such as “The Raspberry Reich) doesn’t know about him. Nor do any of her “sisters,” the teachers at this “boarding school.”

Only Hilde (Olivia Kundisch) and Isolde (Kita Updike) do. They hide him in the basement, where Isolde takes to nursing young Volker.

The “school” is a hotbed of encouraged coupling, re-coupling and quasi-comic sexuality, all masterminded by the leather-clad, cane-walking Big Mother. 

“I can’t help if it’s kinky!”

They gather for group meals, sing womynist hymns — “Glory be to the Mother, and to the daughter.”

They give thanks for their gender — “Blessed be the Goddess of All Worlds that has not made me a man!”

They watch gay porn — “I don’t NEED to watch gay porn to be disgusted by men!”

And they plan the Revolution, women plotting a world without men.

Meanwhile, there’s all this flirting and nearly-nude pillow-fighting going on, with only Isolde opting out.

“Of course I like you…as a COMRADE.”

LaBruce toys with stereotypes, softcore porn tropes and ever-so-arch reminiscences of the Golden Age of German Leftist militancy. And who knew you could make “The Beguiled” more gay?

As the quoted lines above demonstrate, he’s got a way with canny, cutting and campy dialogue.

What he doesn’t manage well is comedy in general. The vamping isn’t in the “Rocky Horror” range, the camp characters are never campy enough to be funny. The one-liners just kind of lie there. The movie’s many make-out scenes do what they do in most exploitation films, they stop the movie cold.

And when he takes the story into his spin on a “Beguiled” revenge resolution, he crosses the last few lines available to him, and then anti-climaxes his way to the credits as if he ran out of money or ideas or both.

But he may know his audience, and he may have a point (sort of) when he excuses himself from criticism by having a character voice this apologia.

“There’s no point in trying to explain the right thing to the wrong people.”

MPAA Rating: unrated, graphic surgery, explicit sexual content, nudity

Cast: Susanne Sachße, Kita Updike, Viva Ruiz, Til Schindler, Olivia Kundisch, Victoire Laly

Credits:Written and directed by Bruce LaBruce. A Cartilage release.

Running time: 1:31

I mean, “actuals” come in tomorrow, and although it does appear “Avengers: Infinity War” was cleared the $248 million or so “The Force Awakens” erupted with, the estimates could be a couple of million off.

But right now, $250 million is what it looks like the third Avengers movie — with everybody from Robert Downey Jr. to Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Evans to Chris Pratt, Don Cheadle to Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson to Samuel L. Jackson — hyped to Hell and back, has earned.

Wow.

“A Quiet Place” earned $10.65 million.  Pretty much the only other movie to make a mark.

“Rampage” fell off a cliff, “Super Troopers 2” fell off a steeper cliff.

A PETA approved horror film?

Just kidding. I kid. I mean, meat-eating tourists stop at the wrong diner, order the wrong meal, and next thing you know, THEY’RE on the menu.

Hans Stjernswärd directed this one. Not sure of release status of “The Farm.” Looks…rough. 

It’s the one thing scientists and space entrepreneurs can agree on. That the commercial push into space could very easily be driven by the hunt for resources we use up on Earth.

With the Chinese buying mineral mines of every sort and magical batteries requiring those rare substances, getting our hands on them means a future that looks like “Outland,” a pretty good Space Western about mining a moon of, Saturn was it?

That seems to be the set up for “Prospect,” a Chris Caldwell/Zeek Earl thriller — horror, it appears — about looking for gold or some such in all the alien places.

“Prospect” premiered at South by Southwest and is “coming soon” to a cinema or VOD date near you.

Marvel’s money-minting machine cranks up the hype and pulls in the faithful again with “Avengers: Infinity War” blasting off to the second biggest opening weekend ever.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” still holds the all time US opening weekend record.

UPDATED — The Actual numbers, released Monday, show “Infinity War” capturing the recordThe Actual numbers, released Monday, show “Infinity War” capturing the record, a $257.6 million opening.

Deadline.com, basing its estimates on a $39 million Thursday and $103 million (inc Thursday) Friday, says Disney will pocket $237 million for the film’s domestic take, opening weekend, some $498 million worldwide.

Just in one weekend.

Reviews were somewhat less enthusiastic for this first half of a two-parter, directed by the Russo brothers. Kind of a random roundup of Not-Quite-Every-Avenger, no arc or narrative flow, place-holding ending. But these folks know how to sell a movie that’s pre-sold (every late night stunt, etc., under the sun). So we’ll see what Sat and Sunday produce.

“Black Panther,” in case you were worrying about the Mouse not making enough on that one, is still slated to finish fifth this weekend, over $687 million in the bank since its Feb. opening.

The much more modestly priced horror sleeper “A Quiet Place” falls to second, another $10 million to take it to $147 by Sunday night. “Rampage” is running out of gas, “I Feel Pretty” is closing in on $30, and “Ready Player One” is ready to exit the top ten with a modest $130-135 million as its final cash take.

“Isle of Dogs” drops out of the top ten.

The Verge has a piece on Moviepass’s new restrictions to its “A month of movies at one low low price” ticket packaging that lays out what I’ve been wondering about this “deal” all along.

A movie a day for $10 a month is, as I’ve said, not great for theaters and on its surface, pretty bad for the studios, too. MoviePass was losing money, “on every ticket sold,” as well.

So now they’re restricting “select” (opening weekend of release) tickets. You can’t go more than once.

And they’ve limited you to 4 movies for $9.95. Still a deal, but…surely everybody in the movie making and showing business is still losing money.

Unless, of course, you consider the data mining that comes with it. You make a month’s worth of ticketing decisions, and they know what they are. Studios, for starters, can use that. So can anybody else who knows what the “Fast and Furious” or comic book movie or horror or teen romance demo likes and would consider buying.

That’s right, another “disruptive” Internet “deal” that has hidden benefits — for “them.” 

Alyssa McKay plays the daughter Dad (Ben Foster) leaves behind when he’s nabbed in the public forests of Oregon in this story of living off the grid and on the edge of existence. 

It has “Winter’s Bone” bones. Same director. Yup. There’s Dale Dickey from “Winter’s Bone” in the cast as proof.

It’s based on Peter Rock’s novel “My Abandonment.” Looks promising. I find stories of living out of society’s reach — offline, off the grid — fascinating. “Leave No Trace” will be on a few theater screens and VOD in June.