If Mr. Robot wins Best Drama, there’s a good chance its star will also be recognized. It makes sense that the two would go together. And besides, Malek took on a complicated, potentially disastrous role as the troubled Elliot and turned it into an affecting and exciting example of just how fascinating an unreliable narrator can be when placed in the hands of such a talented perfor
You can look at Towelhead from a couple of different angles, but as the parent of an 11 year old daughter, I look at it as a cautionary tale of exposing kids to sexual images too early, and not being a father that they can turn to for advice and comfort instead of whatever guys is availa
In the end the family manages to at least partially gain back the trust of the art world by finally documenting on film themselves Marla creating a painting called “Ocean” from start to finish. Although that particular painting does share similarities to prior paintings, it actually seems less sophisticated than those that have come before. Since then they have documented another painting from start to finish called “Rain”, which does seem to be closer to the style of the earlier painti
My Kid Could Paint That was the last film I saw at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and is a fascinating look at the story of four year old Marla Olmstead, Full Write-up who a couple of years ago took the art world by storm by rocketing from lower middle class obscurity to international fame through the sale of her paintings. This documentary by director Amir Bar-Lev is extremely well done and is about as close to neutral as I think one could
The documentary has an interview with a New York Times art critic who discusses modern (or abstract) art and the reasons behind the sometimes apparently insane valuations for what looks like some paint splashed on a canvas. Part of his explanation is that the story behind the artwork contributes to the value. What has the artist gone through, for example? In Marlas’s case part of the value is due to the fact of her young age and the apparent sophistication of the w
Other notable wins in the film category were Meryl Streep as Best Actress (drama) for portrayal as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady , Best Actress (comedy or musical) Michelle Williams for My Weekend With Marilyn and Octavia Spencer for Best Supporting Actress in The He
There are some great shows on this list, but none of them managed to make quite as big a splash as Mr. Robot did in its first season. The series debuted at SXSW, winning the audience award, and still it took its sweet time seeping into viewers’ collective conscience. This was a true slow-burn series that eventually became one of the biggest conversations in television in 2015. A phenomenon in many ways, but one that feels deserving of the ti
We meet the family, consisting of Marla, a younger brother and her parents. The first half of the documentary tells the story of what led up to the discovery of Marla’s paintings (first displayed at a local coffee shop just for fun) and the ensuing fame and eventual media blitz. The Olmstead’s introduction to the world came through a local newspaper reporter who comes across as extremely ethical on both the journalism side of things as well as the human side. Before writing her initial story about Marla and her paintings, she asked the Olmsteads very clearly whether they really wanted her to write the story, because although there was a positive side to the publicity there could also be some negative consequences down the r
Shortly the image pulls back to reveal that it’s a movie being shown on television. The picture soon starts to break up and is replaced with strange, undulating patterns and a strange noise. (At the time I’m writing this you can go to the official website to see and hear the sig
At the time of the documentary was shot, the Olmsteads had sold more than $300,000 worth of Marla’s paintings. Those in the art world compared her work to Kandinsky, Pollock and even Picasso. Due to her extremely young age, her work captured the imagination of the world. Art openings, limousines, and television appearances became part of the family’s routine. Then, thanks to a 60 Minutes segment which aired and cast doubt on the authenticity of Marla’s work, and the Olmsteads’ world changed in an inst
The viewer is left to draw their own conclusion and although I liked that the film did that, another part of me would have liked a definitive conclusion. Having said that, it’s probably better that it was left open-ended because too many documentaries have an obvious agenda meant to convince the viewer of some particular point of v
She gets home shortly and discovers that things are quickly getting out of control due to this mysterious signal that is being broadcast everywhere, with more and more people going nuts and murderously attacking each other. Her goal becomes to meet up with Ben and somehow escape the situat
