THE PUNK SINGER: A FILM ABOUT KATHLEEN HANNA (B) - Girls up front!
This is an infectiously entertaining valentine to the leader of the '90s Riot Grrrl movement, Kathleen Hanna, who fronted the influential bands Bikini Kill, Le Tigre and more recently the Julie Ruin.
Newcomer Sini Anderson shows a sure hand with archival footage and extensive interviews with Hanna, former bandmates, fellow riot grrrls, Beastie Boy husband Adam Horovitz, historians, and elders like Joan Jett and Kim Gordon. Hanna is a fascinating subject, mainly because we have a 25-year span to view her evolution from young punk to a middle-age artist recovering from years of a debilitating condition (Lyme disease).
The compilation of music is a revelation, a discography that holds its own against that of any of her contemporaries. In addition, the assertion of third-wave feminism throughout is a shout-down to today's trivialized dialogue.
A more balanced documentary would have gotten a higher grade, but this is must-see viewing for anyone who was plugged in during the Heyday of the Planet of Sound in the late '80s and early '90s. And it's essential history for young women anywhere looking for inspiration. Ms. Hanna is talking to you.
THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI (B+) - This highly sympathetic documentary zeroes in on Ali's conversion to Islam and his refusal to serve in Vietnam, as a conscientious objector. If you're an admirer, as I have been since a kid, you'll revel in the black-and-white footage from the '60s.
Bill Siegel, who succeeded previously with "The Weather Underground," returns to those turbulent times and digs up some of The Greatest's greatest hits, including a snippet of his debate with William F. Buckley, at a time when Ali seemed to be everywhere as a lightning rod and worldwide cultural phenomenon.
Ali comes off as a hero, and Siegel shows the man's evolution from a neophyte from Louisville into a fervent public speaker, who transitioned into a role of statesman above and beyond his familiar boasts and rhymes. I could have done without the coda that jumps from the '70s to more recent times, including the iconic lighting of the Olympic torch. I would have preferred to end on a vibrant note, rather than bathing the man's battle in amber.
IS THE MAN WHO IS TALL HAPPY? AN ANIMATED CONVERSATION WITH NOAM CHOMSKY (B) - Filmmaker Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") has a blast chatting with Noam Chomsky and then riffing on the experience through animation. You have to admire Gondry's gumption, because he's admittedly a neophyte when it comes to the MIT linguist's scholarship, and a good deal of the movie's charm comes from Gondry's drive to nail down an idea, no matter how green he may seem.
There's little structure here and a lot of repetition. The images are crude but at times mesmerizing. At times they detract from Chomsky's complex points; at other times they relieve the tedium. The informal nature works, though. A running gag finds the two men occasionally misunderstanding each other, due mostly to Gondry's heavy French accent. For instance, Gondry struggles to grasp the word "endowment," and when Chomsky says "yield" the director hears "eel."
The old confident Chomsky is refreshingly present, always certain of his assertions. On one topic he notes that what Gondry has stated is accepted by every philosopher and linguist out there -- but that they're all wrong. His worldview is condensed neatly when he makes a passing reference to Colombia, noting that it has one of the worst human rights records of any nation and that it has one of the largest U.S. military presences -- and that, of course, there's a direct correlation between the two.
Toward the end, Gondry gets personal, and Chomsky has trouble talking about the death of his wife five years ago. It would have made a perfect ending, but instead, Gondry brings up the Holocaust and sends the proceedings off on another tangent.
It's all rather slapdash, and that's its appeal. In the end, it's fun to spend time with a brilliant man and a creative genius.
BONUS TRACK
One of the anthems from Kathleen Hanna, the title track from Bikini Kill's second full-length album:
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