George Carlin’s American Dream
Judd Apatow’s two-part documentary on the iconic comedian is both serious and wickedly entertaining. His work still hits all the hot button issues we’re facing today: global warming, abortion, book banning, viruses, and more. A must see!
Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres
A fascinating look at the life and career of the legendary rock journalist Ben Fong-Torres. His in-depth interviews during the early years of Rolling Stone magazine (when it mattered) with legends like Jim Morrison, Marvin Gaye, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and others are must-reads for anyone interested in rock and soul music or a career in journalism. Read Michael A. Gonzales’ excellent article linked here…https://www.soulhead.com/…/new-documentary-explores…/
Men at Lunch
An interesting documentary about one of the most iconic photographs ever made. The film explores the origin, the meaning, and the impact the photo has had over its long history. Eleven men perched high up on a steel girder taking a lunch break while working on the construction of a building today we know as 30 Rockefeller Center. Who was the photographer? Who are the construction workers? These are some of the questions asked and remain unknown. Except for two men, none have been identified. Many claims have been made but only two have been verified. That said the photograph says a lot about the history of New York City, its immigrants who worked the dangerous jobs, and the American dream.
78/52
A detailed, informative analysis and tribute to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic, “Psycho.” The documentary’s focus is on the “shower scene” and its influence on future films and filmmakers. Though detailed at times, it’s accessible to all, funny at times, and always fascinating. Talking heads in Peter Bogdanovich, Stephen Rebello, Bret Easton Ellis, Marli Renfro, Jamie Lee Curtis, Osgood Perkins, and others.
Lenny Bruce Without Tears
In the 1950s, there was Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Jack Benny, George Burns and then there was Lenny Bruce. Though much of his material has lost some of its shock value and is dated due to changing pop values, Lenny Bruce remains a brilliant social critic, storyteller and legend. The film itself has a cinema verite style feel to it.
All are available on streaming services including HBO MAX and Kanopy.
Abbott and Costello never received the critical respect they deserved in the comedy world; they were considered too low-brow. Yet, for me back when I was in Junior High School, The Abbott and Costello Show, a mainstay on New York City’s WPIX-TV channel 11, along with The Honeymooners, was must-see TV. It’s lost in my own little file cabinet of mental history how many times I watched those episodes. I do know my mother never understood the repeated viewings as she would ask over and over again, “haven’t you seen this already?” Yes, was my answer, they’re funny. She would walk away shaking her head. 
Photography was in its infancy when Abraham Lincoln was running for President. It was a cumbersome and deliberate process. Cameras were these large boxes, set upon sturdy bulky tripods, using wet plates and a slow exposure making the possibilities of the sort of images captured limited. 
I admire the strength it must take to leave your home, your family, and your country to search and hope for a better life in a far away and foreign land. But it’s that hope for a better life that the American dream has always represented. From the British who left England to come to America in the 1600’s to today’s immigrants America has always been the land of hope and dreams. Sometimes it worked out; sometimes it did not.
My love for movies began after my parents and I, moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn. I was just a few days shy of my eleventh birthday and was, and still am, an only child. I was on the shy side in those days making it hard at times to make new friends. There were plenty of kids around my age in the apartment building we moved to; still, it was not an entirely smooth transition. Movies became my outlet. Nearby was the 
Young Peter Bogdanovich was an obsessive film lover watching over 400 films a year. In the days long before home video, this was an especially impressive count. Peter keep a file of 3×5 index cards with notes on every film he watched. In his twenties, while acting, directing and producing various theater productions including an off-Broadway production of Clifford Odets, The Big Knife, with Carroll O’Conner, Bogdanovich met Dan Talbot. Talbot, owner of the legendary New Yorker Repertory Theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, recently began programming classic films. Peter lived only a few blocks from the theater. In exchange, for free admission to the theater, Bogdanovich offered to write program notes for the films Talbot was showing. They had an agreement. 
Twenty Four Frames 
