AFTER INNOCENCE and others

I saw AFTER INNOCENCE today. I think I was working at the Brattle when the film played at IFFB last April and have been waiting for its release.

This is absolutely a one-sided film, but in my opinion that's what makes a documentary personal. If the filmmaker gives a counter example for everything s/he presents, the result is going to be more like analytical essay than a personal tesimony. I'd rather hear a subjective account any day. (Is it possible to be objective?) That said, I enjoyed the film and as always, learning about something that I wasn't previously aware of; in this case the criminal 'justice' system of the U. S. and exonerated prisoners. It was exciting to see some of the hard fought victories: repealing the death sentence or creating a compensation plan for exonorees, but also sobering to know how much could still be done. And how few people (I was one of 4 in the audience) are aware of this and other problems. 4/5

Also recently saw a few other movies that I didn't understand or care for much: WHISKY, BRIGHT FUTURE and TROPICAL MALADY. I'll just guess something was last in the translation (linguistic or cultural) so I didn't follow the stories very well and didn't find other aspects to redeem the films.