hd cinema
Aspect ratio 1.66 : 1
Summary: Most nature documentaries take the perspective of the intent human observer looking into the curious world of nature. The delightful Kestrel's Eye begins high in the air, looking down on the human world from a bird's eye view. Director-photographer Mikael Kristersson spent years filming a pair of handsome kestrels (European falcons) in the church tower of a small Swedish town. He captures their life of hunting, eating, grooming, mating, nesting, and raising a brood with astounding intimacy and little human intrusion. We watch the male hunt, hovering like a hummingbird before diving for a field mouse or a lizard, than take the kill to his mate. Two hidden cameras in their cave-like nest record the almost ritualistic details of nesting (a chore the male engages in, however briefly) and mothering the newly hatched chicks. There's no narration, only the chirps and clicks and fluttering wings of the birds and the ambiance of the human activity below. The amusing kestrel's-eye view of the odd activities of their human neighbors--weddings and funerals and the endless grooming of the cemetery below their nest--may be merely Kristersson's fancy but the birds seem genuinely amused by the curious spectacle. They cock an eye downward, bob and bounce to the oompah music of a passing parade, then return to their more immediate pursuit of survival. --Sean Axmaker
Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1
Summary: American and Japanese soldiers, stranded on a tiny Pacific island during World War II, must make a temporary truce and cooperate to survive various tribulations. Told through the eyes of the American and Japanese unit commanders, who must deal with an atmosphere of growing distrust and tension between their men.
Aspect ratio 1.33 : 1
Summary: This exemplary documentary about seminal jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk reaps the benefits of multiple blessings, including the skilled editorial hand of director Charlotte Zwerin and the patronage of executive producer (and erstwhile jazz pianist) Clint Eastwood. Most vital is the use of extensive 1968 footage, shot by Michael and Christian Blackwood, documenting the sometimes moody, sometimes puckish Monk in the studio, on tour, and off stage, which on its own would make this essential jazz viewing.
In post-World War II America, few cultural upheavals matched bebop for sheer exhilaration. Spawned by jazz musicians whose paydays typically came with larger swing ensembles, bop was as much bastard as stepchild, refining the technical ambitions of its parent while breaking free of swing's formalism to play fast and loose with harmony, melody, and tempo. That mercurial spirit made heroes of high-flying, technically flamboyant players like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. Monk, by contrast, was as distinctive for his silences, crafting often skeletal melodies distinguished by unexpected, skewed harmonies. At one point dubbed the "high priest of bebop," he was more Zen archer, threading notes, warping chord structure, or stabbing "wrong" keys with a seeming looseness that in hindsight sounds as precise as haiku.
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser provides an intelligent portrait of this often reclusive, sometimes difficult artist, including telling glimpses of his volatility. A stormy studio session with Teo Macero, then Columbia Records' preeminent jazz producer, speaks volumes about Monk's very private approach to his muse. Perceptive interviews and glimpses of Monk's sunnier moments provide added depth, yet the real triumph is the generous catalog of classic Monk songs captured on camera. --Sam Sutherland
HD Cinema (104): Kestrel's Eye ***+ (2000, Doc)
Aspect ratio 1.66 : 1
Summary: Most nature documentaries take the perspective of the intent human observer looking into the curious world of nature. The delightful Kestrel's Eye begins high in the air, looking down on the human world from a bird's eye view. Director-photographer Mikael Kristersson spent years filming a pair of handsome kestrels (European falcons) in the church tower of a small Swedish town. He captures their life of hunting, eating, grooming, mating, nesting, and raising a brood with astounding intimacy and little human intrusion. We watch the male hunt, hovering like a hummingbird before diving for a field mouse or a lizard, than take the kill to his mate. Two hidden cameras in their cave-like nest record the almost ritualistic details of nesting (a chore the male engages in, however briefly) and mothering the newly hatched chicks. There's no narration, only the chirps and clicks and fluttering wings of the birds and the ambiance of the human activity below. The amusing kestrel's-eye view of the odd activities of their human neighbors--weddings and funerals and the endless grooming of the cemetery below their nest--may be merely Kristersson's fancy but the birds seem genuinely amused by the curious spectacle. They cock an eye downward, bob and bounce to the oompah music of a passing parade, then return to their more immediate pursuit of survival. --Sean Axmaker
HD Cinema (103): None but the Brave **+ (1965, War)
Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1
Summary: American and Japanese soldiers, stranded on a tiny Pacific island during World War II, must make a temporary truce and cooperate to survive various tribulations. Told through the eyes of the American and Japanese unit commanders, who must deal with an atmosphere of growing distrust and tension between their men.
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1989)
Aspect ratio 1.33 : 1
Summary: This exemplary documentary about seminal jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk reaps the benefits of multiple blessings, including the skilled editorial hand of director Charlotte Zwerin and the patronage of executive producer (and erstwhile jazz pianist) Clint Eastwood. Most vital is the use of extensive 1968 footage, shot by Michael and Christian Blackwood, documenting the sometimes moody, sometimes puckish Monk in the studio, on tour, and off stage, which on its own would make this essential jazz viewing.
In post-World War II America, few cultural upheavals matched bebop for sheer exhilaration. Spawned by jazz musicians whose paydays typically came with larger swing ensembles, bop was as much bastard as stepchild, refining the technical ambitions of its parent while breaking free of swing's formalism to play fast and loose with harmony, melody, and tempo. That mercurial spirit made heroes of high-flying, technically flamboyant players like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. Monk, by contrast, was as distinctive for his silences, crafting often skeletal melodies distinguished by unexpected, skewed harmonies. At one point dubbed the "high priest of bebop," he was more Zen archer, threading notes, warping chord structure, or stabbing "wrong" keys with a seeming looseness that in hindsight sounds as precise as haiku.
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser provides an intelligent portrait of this often reclusive, sometimes difficult artist, including telling glimpses of his volatility. A stormy studio session with Teo Macero, then Columbia Records' preeminent jazz producer, speaks volumes about Monk's very private approach to his muse. Perceptive interviews and glimpses of Monk's sunnier moments provide added depth, yet the real triumph is the generous catalog of classic Monk songs captured on camera. --Sam Sutherland
