The Last Straw is a film documenting the very last live poetry reading given by Charles Bukowski, even though he lived and wrote for another 14 years. The reading was given at The Sweetwater, a music club in Redondo Beach, California on March 31, 1980. It is produced and directed by Jon Monday for mondayMEDIA.
Pierre Schoendoerffer revisits his life and career, with a strong focus on the impact that his experience as a war cinematographer for the French army during the Indochina War had on him, as well as a war reporter during the Vietnam War when he filmed his 1967 Academy Award winning documentary The Anderson Platoon named after the leader of the platoon - Lieutenant Joseph B. Anderson - with which Schoendoerffer and his crew were embedded.
This movie depicts Frantz Fanon's life. A psychiatrist from Martinique, he became a spokesman for the anti-colonialist struggle. In 1952, Frantz Fanon wrote Black Skin, White Masks, an analysis of racism and the ways in which its victims internalize it. In the 50s, he aided the rebels of the Algerian anti-colonial war. Expelled from Algeria in 1956, he moved to Tunis, Tunisia, where he wrote for the rebel newspaper El Moudjahid, founded one of Africa's first psychiatric clinics and wrote several books on decolonization. He died from leukemia in Washington, D.C., at the age of 36.
, 1h39 Directed byJames Franco OriginUSA GenresDrama, Biography, Documentary, Historical ThemesFilms about writers, Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film ActorsJames Franco, Michael Shannon, Dave Franco Rating48% The film begins with a plot structure based on a progression of chapters titled as "Voyages" in Hart Crane's life loosely related to Crane's lyric poem of the same name. In the first "Voyages", a depiction is made of an early attempt by Crane to take his own life. Among the other opening "Voyages", the audience is also shown depictions of several same sex relationships which Crane had throughout his lifetime in semi-graphic portrayal consistent with the film's rating. Crane's life is shown progressing through the various "Voyages" in the film, largely portrayed through his troubled relationship with the father, his close relationship to his mother, and his frustrating relationship to his job in advertising as a copyrighter in New York City. In the final "Voyages", Crane's difficult relationship to alcoholism is depicted, ending with his final "Voyage" on a small cruise ship at sea in the vicinity of Mexico where Crane ended his life by his own hand.
, 1h26 OriginUSA GenresDocumentary ThemesFilms about writers, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentary films about cities ActorsJames L. Brooks, Nora Ephron, Carrie Fisher, Gary Ross, Steven E. de Souza, Scott Alexander Rating62% The film follows three aspiring screenwriters as they struggle to turn their scripts into movies. David is a hip talent agent's assistant with three scripts circulating around town. He's plugged into "young Hollywood" - and when he's not working or writing, he's usually hanging out at the beach. Joe is a middle-aged family man who has split time over the last three years between caring for his autistic daughter and writing what he believes could be the great American screenplay. And Deborah is trying to become one of the few African-American women to ever write and direct a feature film, though she's struggling just to pay her bills while she searches for money to produce her script. Between these stories, the film intercuts critical insight from such Hollywood screenwriters as James L. Brooks, Nora Ephron, Carrie Fisher, Gary Ross, Steven E. de Souza, Ed Solomon, Paul Guay, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.