Chris Hegedus Movies
- 2008
Sixteen years after following Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign in the 1992 documentary The War Room, filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pannebaker reflect on the changes in politics over the past sixteen years by speaking with the very people whose careers were launched with that pivotal election. By speaking such familiar faces as James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, Dee Dee Myers, Paul Begala, Mary Matalin, and Bob Boorstin, Hegedus and Pannebaker are able to provide an authoritative overview of the ever-shifting landscape that is American politics. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Robet Wuhl: Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl features a combination stand-up routine/history lecture performed before a classroom of attentive college students. His goal is to expose the stories about America, and the stories America makes up about itself. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wuhl
The documentary Al Franken: God Spoke follows the comedian-turned-pundit as he goes about his daily business. Through the course of the film, Franken discusses his transformation from comedy to politics, and discusses his ambitions. Franken also takes every opportunity to jab at his political opponents in the right wing. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Franken
- 2004
While she never became a household name for her film and television work, Elaine Stritch is one of the true living legends of the New York stage, with a career that's spanned a remarkable seven decades and seen her work side by side with some of the greatest names in the American theater. In 2002, Stritch collaborated with playwright John Lahr to create Elaine Stritch at Liberty, a Tony award-winning one-woman show in which Stritch shared the ups and downs of her private and professional life with her audience as she sang some of her favorite songs (including tunes by her friends and collaborators Noël Coward and Stephen Sondheim), talked about her partners on-stage (Ethel Merman) and off-stage (Marlon Brando, Ben Gazzara), and recounted her long battle with alcoholism. Andy Picheta directed this film adaptation of Elaine Stritch at Liberty (in collaboration with Nick Doob, Chris Hegedus, and D.A. Pennebaker), in which highlights from the show are intercut with archive material shot throughout Stritch's career, as well as rehearsal footage documenting how the show took shape. Produced for the premium cable television service HBO, Elaine Stritch at Liberty was screened at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elaine Stritch
Roger Friedman is an entertainment journalist and music fan with a particular love for R&B and soul music from the mid-'50s to the pre-disco era of the early '70s. Owing in part to segregated booking policies and simple lack of proper archiving, Friedman discovered there is little or no surviving film footage or videotape of many of the greatest artists of the era performing on-stage. However, a large number of the performers in question were still active and performing on a regular basis, and with the help of documentary filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker, Friedman set out to capture some of his favorites on film while they were still in good form. Only the Strong Survive features knockout performances from such R&B legends as Wilson Pickett, Jerry Butler, the Chi-Lites, Carla Thomas, Mary Wilson, Ann Peebles, and many more, as well as interviews in which the artists discuss the ups and downs of their lives in music. Only the Strong Survive also features performance footage of Memphis R&B pioneer Rufus Thomas, who had passed on at the age of 84, less than two months before the film was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Bell, Jerry Butler, (more)
Two men discover the perils of going into business with their friends as they observe the rise and fall of their Internet firm over the course of its first (and only) year in this documentary produced by D.A. Pennebaker. Tom Herman and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman first met while they were in high school; they studied business together in college, and they remained close friends after graduating, often bandying about the idea of working together. In May of 1999, they made their dream a reality and opened Govworks.com, a Web-based firm devoted to helping people deal more efficiently with local governments (it began as a notion to pay parking tickets online). Govworks.com soon exploded, going from a one-room office with a tiny staff to over 200 employees and a bankroll of $50 million. However, like many other Internet firms of their day, Govworks.com was not destined to succeed, and by January of 2001, the company had let nearly all its employees go, and was eventually swallowed up by a larger firm, with Herman and Isaza Tuzman having little to show for their efforts. Just as significantly, after their initial burst of enthusiasm, Herman and Isaza Tuzman found themselves locking horns, as they displayed their naivete about the nuts and bolts of making an Internet start-up work; Herman's gentle nature clashed with Isaza Tuzman's all-business approach, and eventually Herman was forced out of the company he had helped to found by his longtime friend. Directors Jehane Noujaim and Chris Hegedus shot Startup.com using digital video equipment, and to keep the film as timely as possible, screened a digital copy of the film, which went through its final edit only days before its premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
For their film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, set in the American South during the 1930s, filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen collaborated with musician, songwriter, and producer T-Bone Burnett to compile a score that reflected the rich variety of musical influences of the rural South during the Depression. Burnett brought together a veritable who's who of American roots music for the project, and while the film was a moderate success, the soundtrack album to O Brother, Where Art Thou? was a surprise hit, topping the country charts for several weeks and helping to open the ears of a new audience to the beauty and rough-hewn poetry of bluegrass, traditional country, rural blues, and gospel music. Shortly before the film's release, Burnett assembled many of the artists who appeared on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack for a special concert at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium (the original home of the Grand Ole Opry) to benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum; the evening was filmed, and Down From the Mountain documents this very special night of music that celebrates America's musical past as it points to the future. Performers include Emmylou Harris, Dr. Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss, the Cox Family, the Fairfield Four, the Whites, Chris Thomas King, and Gillian Welch. Holly Hunter, one of the stars of O Brother, makes a cameo appearance, as does noted country music enthusiast Billy Bob Thornton. Songwriter, musician, and historian John Hartford served as master of ceremonies for the concert (and the film); sadly, he died after a long bout with cancer less than two weeks before Down From the Mountain premiered in New York and Nashville in June 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hartford, Ralph Stantley, (more)
Directed and edited by Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker (one of the key figures of the cinema verite style of documentary-making) and filmed in 1995, this documentary offers an intimate look at the staging of a major Broadway show from casting through endless rehearsals to the almost anti-climactic opening night. The production is Ken Ludwig's Moon Over Buffalo and stars Phil Bosco and comedienne Carol Burnett. Though producers Elizabeth Williams and Rocco Landesman seem relatively laid back about the show, the director Tom Moore, playwright Ludwig, and the stars are all on edge during a lengthy rehearsal schedule that takes them from New York to Boston back to New York. In between, all must suffer through previews and rewrites before the show is fit for the Great White Way. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A look inside the 1992 presidential race, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hedgus' documentary The War Room explores the backstage side of national politics by examining the day-to-day operations of Bill Clinton's campaign staff. The behind-the-scenes leader of the group is James Carville, the demonstrative, charismatic campaign manager who relies on a plain-speaking manner and emotional appeals to motivate his subordinates. He is complemented by the quieter, smoother personality and photogenic looks of young press spokesman George Stephanopoulous. The filmmakers follow these two contrasting personalities from the January New Hampshire primary to Clinton's eventual victory, as they attempt to cling to an overall strategic plan while dealing with unforeseen problems and negative press, as their candidate is saddled with accusations of adultery and draft-dodging. Subplots include the rivalries between Democratic campaign staffs -- which can become amusingly petty, as when they accuse each other of tearing down campaign posters -- and the romantic relationship between Carville and Mary Matalin, chief strategist for George Bush's campaign. Co-director D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, Don't Look Back, Primary) is renowned as an innovator in the use of cinema-verite, used here to show both the mundane complications and the emotional highlights of the modern political process. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- 1992
- R
In the mid-'80s, saxophonist Branford Marsalis emerged as one of the most acclaimed (and most popular) new artists in jazz. A member of a distinguished musical family and a stylistic innovator as comfortable working with pop and rock musicians as fellow jazz artists, Marsalis brought challenging contemporary jazz to a mass audience as the bandleader of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; he also toured and recorded with Sting and the Grateful Dead, as well as recording and performing with his own ensemble. Branford Marsalis: The Music Tells You is a 1992 documentary about Marsalis' life and career that explores the challenges and the realities of life as a jazz artist, as well as featuring Marsalis and his group performing several of their compositions. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Branford Marsalis, Robert Hurst, (more)
- 1991
- Add Jerry Lee Lewis: The Story of Rock & Roll to QueueAdd Jerry Lee Lewis: The Story of Rock & Roll to top of Queue
Directed by D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back), this is a close look at the life and career of Jerry Lee Lewis, a man whose life seemed to mirror the flavor and content of the songs he chose to sing. Full-length performances are woven with segments detailing his rise and ultimate fall from rock stardom, culminating with his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin. Lewis performs 13 of his classic hits, captured during a 1969 performance. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide
- 1989
This release collects a number of songs performed live in 1967 by soul legend Otis Redding. Taken from European tour stops, as well as his landmark set at that year's Monterey Pop Festival, this title includes renditions of "Try a Little Tenderness," "Hold On! I'm a Comin'," and "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Booker T. Jones, Al Jackson, (more)
In 1988, moody synth pop band Depeche Mode had managed the remarkable feat of becoming a major draw in the United States without the benefit of mainstream radio play or more than token exposure on MTV, and as the band was gearing up for a show at Pasadena's Rose Bowl they were being followed by a camera crew led by famed documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker. At the same time, Pennebaker's associates were focusing on a group of Depeche Mode fans, who, after winning a contest to see their heroes, traveled by bus to California as they debated the finer points of the band's music and dealt with the daily minutia of their lives. Depeche Mode: 101 cross-cuts the daily adventures of the group and their fans, climaxing with the band's Rose Bowl concert. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Depeche Mode
- 1981
Esteemed cinema direct documentarists Donn A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus teamed up in the late 1970s to shoot this biographical portrait of legendary maverick automaker John Z. DeLorean. The film retains enormous historical interest given the period in which it was shot; filmed between 1979-1981, it presents DeLorean at a point immediately following his construction of the DeLorean Motor Company's Belfast automobile plant. The scene presented to the audience is a unique one: though the factory was continually surrounded by the bombing and gunfire of IRA and IRA opponents, the plant itself remained absolutely peaceful, an oasis of reconciliatory calm between autoworkers from both sides of the religious/political fence. Pennebaker and Hegedus approach the material with great respect for the visionary executive, his gull-winged DMC automobile, and his efforts in Ireland. Sadly, not long after the completion of this work, the plant experienced calamitous financial difficulty and went into Chapter 11, and DeLorean experienced a life-altering fall from grace that ended with accusations of massive financial misappropriation, arraignment by a federal grand jury, and temporary imprisonment, effectively bringing an end to DeLorean's entrepreneurial vision for the DMC. ~ Sidney Jenkins, All Movie Guide
- 1980
This routine documentary by Chris Hegedus records the much ballyhooed Town Hall Meeting between Norman Mailer defending his views in The Prisoner of Sex, and four independent-minded women, Germaine Greer among them. The intended debate was set up for raucous and raunchy goings-on well before its 1971 date. Intellectuals, lesbians, liberals, and who knows who else loaded the audience with less-than-passive viewers. One eloquent speech from Mailer managed to fight its way into the proceedings but otherwise, audience catcalls and comments and Jill Johnston's antics, especially when she cavorted and made out onstage with a few girlfriends, combined to bring the tone of the evening down to gut or gutter level, depending on one's point of view. This documentary catches it all. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norman Mailer, Germaine Greer, (more)
- 1969
The 1969 Toronto Peace Festival featured sets by some of the most popular rock acts of the day including John Lennon, Chuck Berry, and The Doors. This documentary captures Little Richard's performance at the festival, a nine-song set that includes renditions of classics like "Good Golly, Miss Molly," "Tutti-Frutti," "Hound Dog," and "Long Tall Sally." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Renowned documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker captures Otis Redding in his ascendancy, singing at the historic Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. Comedian Tom Smothers introduces Redding to a crowd that is leaving -- until Redding grabs them with his charged rendition of "Shake." Redding's performance also includes "Respect" (which he wrote), "I've Been Loving You Too Long," "Satisfaction," and "Try a Little Tenderness." Tragically, Redding died in a plane crash six months later. An innovative filmmaker who started in the 1950s making experimental films, Pennebaker garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature in 1993 for The War Room, his behind-the-scenes look at Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. His other subjects have included Norman Mailer, Bob Dylan, and David Bowie. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Few people in the United States had any idea who Jimi Hendrix was when he and his band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, came on-stage at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. By the time his relatively short set had been played, everyone present knew they had heard a guitar genius -- the performance was history-making. This HBO Home Video release contains most of the songs from the festival performance, which was the Jimi Hendrix Experience's U.S. concert debut. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
