Doc Corner: A to Z of the Longlist (Part 3)

By Glenn Dunks

Continuing our A to Z march through the documentary longlist (yes, even if has already been whittled down) in the lead up to our best of the year list.

In previous weeks we have looked at letters A through C and then D through F. This week brings a few big hitters of documentary in 2022 including one high profile absentee from the Academy’s shortlist of 15 (Good Night Oppy), a surprise inclusion on that same list (Hallejulah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song) and a quiet indie achievement that won acclaim and awards on the festival circuit (I Didn’t See You There).

Good Night Oppy begins with elaborate visual effects, generous narration from Angela Bassett, and an introduction to a robot character with eyes on being a Wall-E for the science nerds. I was immediately turned off.

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Soundtracking: Take This Waltz

by Chris Feil

Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz gets its name from Leonard Cohen’s indelible song, announcing itself immediately as musically astute. The film is a nuanced look at love and personhood, following Michelle Williams’ Margot through her affectionately dull marriage and flirtatious dalliance with a handsome neighbor. Cohen’s track arrives towards the film’s close, a swirling punctuation point on the film’s observations on love and sex as escape before reality (and mounting baggage) sets in. It’s the film’s largest stylistic flourish, but its richest musical insights lie elsewhere.

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Soundtracking: "Watchmen"

by Chris Feil

Ten years on and Zack Snyder’s Watchmen is remembered as a overly loyal misfire. But originally our hopes were sky high for this adaptation, a long-awaited superhero take for adults sourced from one of the most lauded tomes in graphic novel history. Maybe when it arrives this year, Damon Lindelof’s incoming HBO “continuation” series can satisfy our passion for Alan Moore’s original creation - however unlikely it is that is satisfies Moore himself.

Perhaps the single thing that set the film up for failure was the very one that made us think Snyder had pulled off the impossible: it’s stunning teaser trailer set to The Smashing Pumpkins’ “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning”. It was one of the best teasers of an era when that still mattered, and we fans went crazy. But ultimately the song choice was writing checks musically that the film itself couldn’t cash...

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