Ava Duvernay’s The 13th comes to Netflix, Häxana haunts Tapcade, and a certain nuclear-powered lizard returns

October 7, 2016

Friday 10.7

Writer-director Ava Duvernay (Selma) kept her new documentary, The 13th, secret during its production. Its title refers to the amendment that abolished slavery, and the trailer posits that that vile concept still exists in America, albeit in a different form.

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The 13th traces America’s racist tendencies from D.W. Griffith’s foundational 1915 silent film, The Birth of a Nation, to the civil rights movement, Bill Clinton’s 1994 crime bill, the growth of the prison-industrial complex, and up to the Black Lives Matter movement. The 13th opened the New York Film Festival last week, and drops on Netflix today.

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Saturday 10.8

Another documentary making waves on Netflix is Audrie & Daisy, a devastating look at the traumatic consequences of sexual assault and consequent social media bullying in high schools across the country. Kansas Citians may remember the 2012 case of 14-year-old Maryville, Missouri, resident Daisy Coleman, and the Internet outcry that followed over a year later, when charges against her attacker were dropped. For 16-year-old Audrie Pott, the humiliation she suffered proved fatal. Audrie & Daisy is truly moving, putting human faces to a growing problem and creating a thought-provoking narrative that will open a lot of eyes.

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Sunday 10.9

Let’s move into Halloween territory but stick with docs available on Netflix. The Nightmare, directed by Rodney Ascher (Room 237) stretches the boundaries of the form by re-creating the nightmares of eight people who suffer from sleep paralysis. Ascher uses all the tricks of the horror-movie trade to illustrate terrifyingly real nightmares while the actual participants narrate, giving each one its own unique visual flair. The film really picks up when it explores commonalities among types of nightmares, dating back centuries and inspiring countless works of art. Stream it free on Netflix or for 99 cents on iTunes.

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Monday 10.10

This month, Screenland Theaters marks Shocktober by showing all kinds of new and classic horror movies. And tonight’s is not only a must-see for any genre aficionado — it’s also free! In 1922, the spooky Häxan was the most expensive Scandinavian silent film ever made, and was banned in the U.S. for graphic re-enactments that included nudity, torture and sexual perversion. This “documentary” is essentially a visual essay that traces demons, witchcraft, and Satanic worship through medieval times and the Middle Ages, ending with the decidedly non-supernatural conclusion that most of this aberrant behavior is now understood to be mental illness. Still, the film’s imagery, amplified by being almost a century old, is sometimes haunting. See it at 8:30 at Tapcade at Screenland.

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Tuesday 10.11

Shin Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence) finds Japan’s Toho Studio effectively rebooting the Japanese Godzilla franchise in 2016. This new outing reportedly has numerous call-backs to the 1954 original (which reflected the fallout of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) while making its own references to the 2011 tsunami and indicting a corrupt government. It’s already grossed more than $72 million in Japan alone. Bit kaiju enthusiasts locally will have to act quickly. Shin Godzilla is showing for just five days in Kansas City, starting tonight. Check listings at the Alamo Drafthouse and Cinemark 20 for details.

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Wednesday 10.12

Somewhere in the California desert in 1977, a typical suburban family (Dee Wallace is the only one worth remembering) is set upon by a group of freakish cannibals who kidnap their baby. The violence is unflinching (if not terribly bloody for an exploration flick), and in the family’s desperation to survive, they must become as brutal as their attackers. The Hills Have Eyes is Wes Craven’s second movie, and it’s real rough around the edges, but the drastic tonal shifts between shock and camp are part of its charm. A new 4K restoration is out today on Blu-ray, with loads of extras.