Doc Watch: Bizarro World

ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL (A-minus) - The decorated documentary filmmaker Steve James -- who set the bar in the modern era with "Hoop Dreams" in 1994 -- embeds with the Sung family to tell the story of their battle with the New York District Attorney who prosecuted them for questionable mortgage-lending practices during the housing crisis a decade ago.

As a title card at the end of the movie points out, this dinky bank in New York's Chinatown was the only bank, big or small, to be prosecuted for questionable lending practices -- thus the title, a play on "too big to fail." Some shady things were going on at the bank -- corners were cut, individuals went rogue -- but did it all rise to the level of high crimes?

James -- also known for "The Interrupters" and another all-access portrait, "Life Itself" -- seems a part of the Sung family, for better and for worse. Thomas Sung and his wife and daughters open up for the camera and allow him to film intimate moments as we watch them stuggle against the prosecutor throughout the litigation, up through the verdict and beyond. There is not enough journalistic distance here, but James has no pretensions of objectivity. Which isn't to say that he doesn't give DA Cyrus Vance plenty of opportunities on-screen to deny suggestions that his prosecution is misguided at best, racist at worst. (His adversary, the attorney for the Sungs, runs rings around him.)

Journalist Matt Taibbi sums up the situation perfectly when he notes the power of the Manhattan DA versus a family-owned bank situated "between a couple of noodle shops in Chinatown." James conveys a strong sense of community. He draws sharp portraits of Thomas Sung, a proud man pushing 80, and his three distinct attorney daughters, two of whom worked at the bank and a third who actually worked in Vance's office when the indictments came down -- but who quit her job to devote the next couple of years to defending her family's name. Multiple scenes eavesdrop on their conversations as they gather around the dinner table.

The daughters emerge as the bank's champions, determined to fight this case to the bitter end. It helps the viewer to not cheat and look online to see how the verdict came in. Regardless, this film is not about winners and losers; it's a stinging examination of a family of small-business owners standing up to power. What James lacks in impartiality, he makes up for with heart.

DAVID LYNCH: THE ART LIFE (C+) - Not what you might expect. This documentary consists almost entirely of the avant garde director David Lynch ("Blue Velvet," "Twin Peaks," "Mulholland Drive") musing about his art-school days.

It took three filmmakers to produce this thin, obtuse profile, apparently competing with each other to cultivate an artsy aesthetic to go along with the legendary filmmaker's ramblings. Dying to see David Lynch smoke in slow motion, lost in thought in a swirl of clouds? You're in luck here. At one point, Lynch seems to lose his train of thought in the middle of telling a story; the tale goes nowhere and he goes on to another one. Why include that?

The best part of "The Art Life" (Lynch's term for the creative process that has gifted him with a rather charmed existence) involves Lynch's noodlings over his art projects as his disembodied narration drones on and on. He is still an active visual painter working in mixed media. Archival footage from his art school days also provide perspective. Clips from his early films are fun to glimpse.

But don't expect any serious discussion of his films (aside from the seminal "Eraserhead") or any deep insights from a rather ordinary man who has created some extraordinary works of art.