R.J. Cutler Movies
- 2009
R.J. Cutler heads up the adaptation of Richard Zoglin's book Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-Up in the 1970s Changed America with this documentary exploring some of the biggest comedians of the time and their cultural impact on the nation. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- 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
- 2008
- PG13
Vogue has been the most powerful and best-respected fashion magazine in the world for decades, and each year the journal devotes a fall issue to the designs and designers that the editors feel will be influential in the coming year. The September 2007 issue of Vogue, that year's annual Fall Fashion issue, became the biggest single issue in the magazine's long history, and filmmaker R.J. Cutler was given unprecedented access to Vogue's creative team as the issue was being prepared. The September Issue is a documentary which focuses on Vogue editor Anna Wintour as she visits the annual Fashion Week shows, accepts or dismisses the latest creations of the biggest names in fashion, works with the models, photographers, and writers who help bring her vision to the page, and labors with her staff to determine what the world's fashionistas will be wearing for the next 12 months. The September Issue received its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, where it received an award for excellence in documentary cinematography. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2008
In this competitive reality show, twelve teams of dogs and their owners compete in challenges designed to determine which dogs are better trained - and which owners are better at training them. With canines from both the posh kennel club and the modest back yard, the show features an elimination at the end of each episode, where a team of expert judges decides which dog-owner duo should be cast off, until the winning team is finally awarded a grand prize of $250,000, along with the prestige of being crowned the Greatest American Dog. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jarod Miller
Feminist-minded photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield details the ravaging physical and mental effects of anorexia nervosa by following four anorexic women between the ages of 15 and 30 as they struggle to recover from their illness over the course of six excruciating months at a Florida residential treatment center. As the complexity of the disorder emerges through scenes in which the afflicted struggle through dispiriting weigh-ins, revealing therapy sessions, and painful meal times, Greenfield offers a revealing look at the devastating effects of a media driven by impossibly high standards of physical beauty. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2003
One of many reality programs taped on a major American college campus, Freshman Diaries was lensed at the University of Texas at Austin. In true cinéma vérité fashion, a tiny band of documentary-makers followed a group of one dozen "frosh," from move-in day to the second-semester finals. Although the students were real (identified by first names only), they tended to fall into stock "characters" as the series progressed: The funny gay guy, the pampered daddy's girl, the former high-school jock, etc. Freshman Diaries made its August 31, 2003, bow on the Showtime cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
At one time the biggest sitcom "name" on ABC, caustic comedienne Roseanne had been out of the public eye for several years when, in the summer of 2003, she decided to follow in the footsteps of such showbiz colleagues as Ozzy Osbourne and Gary Busey and launch her own reality series. The Real Roseanne Show took viewers behind the scenes as the eponymous star (reverting to her original billing of Roseanne Barr) assembled a new cooking/lifestyle series for the ABC Family Channel, tentatively titled "Domestic Goddess." The off-the-cuff "action" was divided equally between the network's studios and Roseanne's home, with the people in the star's orbit all making drop-in appearances as themselves. Among these co-stars were Roseanne's son Jake, her son-in-law Jeff, her first ex-husband Bill Pentland and his current wife Becky (who was also Roseanne's personal assistant), her head writer Drew, and her makeup coordinator and best friend Shannon. Evidently trying to curry favor with non-fans, Roseanne uncharacteristically went out of her way to be nice and make herself the self-deprecating butt of much of the series' humor. Still, realizing what her true devotees expected, the star also managed to include several abrasive sequences in which she bullied and cajoled her associates, occasionally tossing in a shock or two, such as the scene in which she held a conference with her producer -- in bed. The series was co-produced by the star and R.J. Cutler, the filmmaker responsible for the Oscar-nominated documentary The War Room. The Real Roseanne Show premiered on August 6, 2003, and was canceled soon after due to the cancellation of "Domestic Goddess." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roseanne, Johnny Argent, (more)
- 2002
This six-part cable TV series (two episodes per weekly telecast) endeavored to put a human face on Operating Enduring Freedom, the American military action assembled after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. With full cooperation from the Pentagon, producer R.J. Cutler (the same person responsible for the Oscar-winning documentary The War Room) handed out video cameras to selected participants in the Operation, telling each person to turn on those cameras for 15 minutes each day and record a living diary. Following Cutler's guidelines, the diarists were instructed to explore such abstracts as "Why do I care?," "What does it mean to me?" and "How does it affect my life?," focusing on such concrete topics as their favorite music, their current living space, their past and present military experiences, their goals and ambitions, and their romantic lives. The on-camera subjects recorded their musings at four different locations: Afghanistan, Kuwait, Camp Pendleton, and the U.S.S. Stennis. Military Diaries debuted May 27, 2002, over the VH1 cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Fox's contribution to the reality show craze, American High follows the trials and tribulations of 14 students at a suburban Chicago high school. The students keep video diaries and are also recorded by the series' director. The show follows them through a single school year beginning in the autumn of 1999. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Dani Levy directed and co-stars in this German-Austrian political thriller. Lena Katz (Maria Schrader), living in New York, is the granddaughter of Jewish chocolate-factory owner Eliah Goldberg (Lukas Ammann), whose factory in Germany has been recently set on fire by some anti-Semitic thugs. In NYC, German émigrée Mrs. Fish (Lynn Cohen) reads about the fire and recognizes Goldberg as her father, who she thought was long dead, a victim of the Holocaust. Mrs. Fish phones her son David (Dani Levy), who hires Jewish activist attorney Charles Kaminski (David Strathairn) to contact Goldberg. At the same time, Lena's mom (Nicole Heesters) is visiting New York, and when Lena goes to see her at her hotel, she finds Mrs. Fish near death in the hallway, the victim of an attempted murder. She's taken to the hospital -- where David and Lena meet and begin to learn about their mysterious shared backgrounds and past history. Made with English and German dialogue, this film was shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Schrader, Dani Levy, (more)
A Perfect Candidate documents the 1994 Virginia senate campaign of Oliver North. Filmmakers R.J. Cutler (The War Room) and David Van Taylor (Dream Deceivers) take a look at North and his main opponent, Chuck Robb, but focus most of their attention on North's ruthless campaign strategists, Mark Goodin and Mark Merritt, and on Don Baker, a cynical Washington Post reporter who covers the campaign. North runs as a right-wing Christian candidate, and makes his professed faith a major campaign issue. While his handlers compare North to Elvis, and the candidate compares himself to Jesus on one occasion, Baker refers to North as a demagogue. North constantly faces tough questions about his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal. On the one hand, he claims to want to set the record straight, and his campaign recruits former hostage David Jacobsen to vouch for North's good intentions. On the other hand, North constantly prevaricates about lying to Congress, for which he was convicted of perjury. Robb, meanwhile, deals with a political scandal caused by his personal indiscretions, and can't seem to take a stand on any particular issue. His campaign seems based entirely on what an awful choice his opponent would be. The film follows the campaign as independent candidate (and former Democratic governor of Virginia) Doug Wilder first challenges his long-time rival, Robb, then gives in to the will of the party (manifested by a visit from Bill Clinton) and drops out of the race to help defeat North. Goodin, who faced a political scandal of his own while working for the Reagan White House, is surprisingly forthright with the filmmakers about the political process, at one point admitting, "We provide entertainment, not solutions." ~ Josh Ralske, 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
