Randy Barbato Movies
With his life and creative partner Fenton Bailey, filmmaker Randy Barbato carved a distinctive niche in film and television with his nonfiction works about such intriguing pop-culture subjects as the infamously groomed ex-wife of fallen TV evangelist Jim Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000), before trying his hand at dramatic features with the adaptation of his and Bailey's documentary Party Monster (1998) in 2003.A native of New Jersey, Barbato attended graduate film school at New York University in the late '80s, where he met classmate and fellow pop-culture enthusiast Bailey. Along with dabbling in music as the Pop Tarts, the pair dropped out of N.Y.U. to form their production company, World of Wonder, in 1990. Based in their tiny New York apartment, World of Wonder notched its first production with the series Manhattan Cable, a compilation of clips from New York City's strange and risqué public-access cable programs, for British TV. Barbato and Bailey subsequently executive produced Hollywood Fashion Machine (1995) for AMC and The RuPaul Show (1996) for VH1. Building on those credits, Barbato and Bailey relocated to Los Angeles in the mid-'90s, where they focused on such L.A.-based subjects as Ellen DeGeneres' decision to come out on her TV series in The Real Ellen Story (1997) and the O.J. Simpson murder case in Juror Number 5: 58 Days of Duty on the O.J. Simpson Civil Trial (1998). Barbato and Bailey began to earn serious attention as directors as well as producers, however, with the Emmy-winning Cinemax documentary Party Monster, about the strange life and violent downfall of New York City club kid-turned-murderer Michael Alig. Barbato and Bailey garnered more kudos for their next directorial project, the Cinemax documentary 101 Rent Boys (2000), about the lives of 101 Los Angeles male hustlers.
Barbato and Bailey affirmed their cinematic "compassion for outsiders" that same year with their first theatrical release, The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Intrigued by former media punch line Tammy Faye Bakker's self-awareness when they met with her about a potential TV project, Barbato and Bailey instead decided to make a documentary about her, revealing the person behind the infamous makeup and image as disgraced PTL televangelist Jim Bakker's avaricious spouse. Featuring interviews with Bakker's inner circle and judiciously deployed touches of kitsch, The Eyes of Tammy Faye became a hit at the Sundance Film Festival and an award-winning art-house success. Continuing to explore the lives of famous pariahs as well as expose lesser-known facets of pop-culture history, Barbato and Bailey next directed the well-received AMC documentary Out of the Closet, Off the Screen: The William Haines Story (2001), about the former silent movie star who was ostracized by the studios in the 1930s for refusing to play down his homosexuality.
By 2003, Barbato and Bailey had built World of Wonder into a sizable, prolific company, with Barbato and Bailey executive producing, and occasionally directing, such projects as Andy Warhol: The Complete Picture (2002), Gay Hollywood (2003), Dark Roots: The Unauthorized Anna Nicole (2003), and School's Out: The Life of a Gay High School in Texas (2003) for British and American TV. Maintaining their directorial focus on the fallout of America's "celebritocracy" and taste for salacious scandal, Barbato and Bailey let infamous presidential intern Monica Lewinsky speak for herself in the HBO documentary Monica in Black and White (2002). Finally free of the legal gag order regarding her relationship with former President Bill Clinton, Barbato and Bailey filmed Lewinsky as she answered all of the questions posed to her by a live audience, showing that the media bimbo with the stained dress was also a human being. Barbato and Bailey subsequently returned to directing feature documentaries with Inside Deep Throat (2003), delving into another vital moment in the history of American sexual culture. Initiated and backed by producer Brian Grazer, Inside Deep Throat examined the impact of landmark porn feature Deep Throat (1972) on the sexual revolution.
Though documentaries remained their primary focus, Barbato and Bailey added a scripted dramatic film to their credits with the feature version of Party Monster (2003). Based on their documentary and club kid James St. James' book Disco Bloodbath, Party Monster re-created the singular New York City nightclub scene in intimately shot digital video and starred former apple-cheeked Home Alone (1990) imp Macaulay Culkin in an image-changing performance as the Midwestern-born flamboyant party boy/drugged out killer Alig. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- 2009
In 2006, a number of commercial beekeepers began reporting a strange phenomenon in which their insects were suddenly dying off, with some large-scale keepers losing between 60 and 90 percent of their hives. As the death of bees began to spread worldwide, entomologists dubbed the epidemic Colony Collapse Disorder, but initially few could hazard a guess as to what caused it or how it could be stopped. While many laymen failed to see Colony Collapse Disorder as more than a tough break for the honey industry, in time people began to understand the severity of the situation -- bees play a vital role in pollinating many crops, and without them the growth of many staples could come to a standstill. Filmmaker Jeremy Simmons explores the consequences of Colony Collapse Disorder in the documentary The Last Beekeeper, in which he profiles three major commercial beekeepers from different parts of the United States as they struggle to keep their hives healthy and ponder the possible impact of bee extinction on the agricultural industry -- and the world's food supply. The Last Beekeeper was an official selection at the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2008
Inside Deep Throat and Party Monster collaborators Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato pool their talents once again to trace erstwhile Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss' ill-fated attempt to establish the nation's first-ever legal brothel for female clients. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heidi Fleiss
- 2008
When I Knew features interviews with sixteen different homosexual men and women that each began with the same, "When did you know?" The answers offer a mosaic of responses that offer insight into how differences in sexuality are experienced and internalized by gays and lesbians. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 2008
Pin-up model, outspoken animal rights activist, and universal brand name Pamela Anderson states in the first episode of Pam: Girl on the Loose that she'd never star in a reality show. Instead, the eight-part documentary series takes a look at the icon's life with the star herself in the driver's seat, using her own creative control and position as executive producer to construct a focused story about her life and work. Full of Anderson's trademark wit, lightness, and unapologetic sex appeal, the show features examinations of both her personal and professional life, drawn together with her own thoughts and confessionals. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- 2008
Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick earned a well-deserved reputation as a painstaking perfectionist who was willing to spend years researching a project and devote just as much time to shooting and editing one of his pictures. Given Kubrick's obsessive attitude about work, it should come as no surprise that the man was loathe to throw anything away, and after he died in 1999, Jon Ronson, a documentary filmmaker who corresponded with Kubrick, discovered the late filmmaker had literally hundreds of cardboard boxes stored at his estate that were stuffed with production notes, research documents, memorabilia, photos, fan mail, reviews and other material he had collected over the years. With the permission of Kubrick's family, Ronson began sorting through the reams of paper the director had saved, and Ronson's research led to the film Stanley Kubrick's Boxes, a documentary which offers a glimpse at Kubrick's informal archive and what it reveals about one of the singular cinematic artists of the 20th Century. Stanley Kubrick's Boxes also includes some rare behind-the-scenes footage of the director at work during the production of Full Metal Jacket, shot by his daughter Vivian Kubrick. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2006
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Gay, lesbian, and transgender filmmakers, actors, and critics explore the history of queer cinema in this made-for-cable documentary. Eschewing any overarching narration, co-directors Lesli Klainberg and Lisa Ades illustrate archival footage and film clips with dozens of interviews. They also provide timelines and factoids to punctuate the discussion of specific eras. Although the background material and the interviewees allude to the subtext of Hollywood classics, the bounty of world cinema, and the history of experimental film, the focus remains squarely on the American independent movement, from the 1960s underground through the New Queer Cinema of the early '90s to the post-Brokeback Mountain landscape of 2006. Interview subjects range from cultural commentator Michael Musto and actors Alan Cumming and Jane Lynch to directors John Cameron Mitchell, Jennie Livingston, and Randy Barbato. Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema made its bow July 16, 2006, on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Todd Haynes, Ang Lee, (more)
- 2006
Billy Luther's documentary Miss Navajo explores the kind of pageant even pageant-haters can get behind -- one without swimsuits, which values brains over beauty. Each year in Navajo Nation, a select group of young Navajo women compete for the honor of Miss Navajo, a community ambassadorship whose origins date back to the first crowning in 1952. Instead of singing or baton twirling, however, contestants square off in competitions ranging from weaving to sheep butchering, as well as other activities designed to celebrate Navajo heritage. The film follows the campaign of one particular contestant, Crystal Frazier, while introducing the audience to five other candidates for the same honor. While each excels in different areas, the true difference maker may be who has the best fluency in the Navajo language. And as the newer generations of contestants come to identify themselves more with American culture than Navajo, it becomes clear this may be a problem -- for all of them. Through interviews with Luther, a handful of past honorees lend their perspective on the history of the competition. Miss Navajo was first screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Four transgendered people navigate the university experience in this six-part documentary series. Raci, a hearing-impaired Filipino undergraduate at California State University, Los Angeles, juggles her academic aspirations with her desire to pass for a biological female and her need to buy cut-rate hormones from street dealers. T.J., a grad student at Michigan State University, struggles to reconcile his political activism and his achievements as a Fullbright scholar with the demands of his unaccepting family back in Cyprus. Gabbie, a male-to-female University of Colorado sophomore, tries to overcome her awkward social skills and prepare for gender reassignment surgery. And Lucas, who attends Smith College in Massachusetts, studies neuroscience and bonds with Kasey, a fellow female-to-male trans student. As all four protagonists negotiate their relationships with parents, romantic interests, professors, and college staff, they reach a wide range of milestones in their quest for peace with their gender identity. TransGeneration originally ran on the Sundance cable network in September and October 2005 before being rebroadcast on the gay-themed Logo network. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato follow up Party Monster by returning to the documentary form of their most popular film The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Rather than examining evangelists-cum-gay icons, this time the duo takes aim at the cultural phenomenon that is and was Deep Throat, the hardcore porn film that cost 25,000 dollars to make and grossed over 600-million-dollars world-wide, making it the most successful independent film of all time. The impact of the film on the public's perception of pornography is discussed, as is the unlikely relationship the film had to the Watergate scandal. Actress Linda Lovelace who later denounced Deep Throat, claiming she'd been forced to make it at gunpoint, appears in interviews that were shot just before her fatal 2002 car accident. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- 2004
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Was Adolf Hitler a homosexual? Lothar Machtan is a well-respected German historian who, in 2001, published a book called The Hidden Hitler, in which he speculated that the infamous Nazi leader was gay in his secret life. What was the basis for Machtan's theory? And how would our perspective on Hitler and the Third Reich be changed if he was in fact gay? The Hidden Führer: Debating the Enigma of Hitler's Sexuality is a documentary which offers an in-depth look at Machtan's book and the potential implications of Hitler's homosexuality in terms of world history and the gay movement. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
The 2004 presidential election left Log Cabin, the gay republican organization, in a state of extreme turmoil. President Bush had taken an open stand against gay marriage, effectively forcing the members of Log Cabin to chose what was more important to each of them: being gay or being republican. This documentary examines this difficult process and what it meant to many of the people involved. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Bonamigo, Mark Harris, (more)
- 2003
Jeremy Simmons makes his directorial debut with the slick documentary School's Out: The Life of a Gay High School in Texas. Originally aired on MTV, the film examines the lives of a few students at Walt Whitman High School near Dallas, TX. The private school is on the brink of closing its doors due to a low enrollment of only ten students. Simmons talks to kids who are lesbian, gay, transgendered, and HIV-positive. Narrated by Wilson Cruz and featuring the music of Coldplay, Radiohead, and Travis, School's Out was screened at the 2003 San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
After profiling Monica Lewinsky, Billy Haynes, and Tammy Faye Bakker, documentarians Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato make their feature debut with this true-life tale of the rapid climb and lurid demise of a flamboyant young club promoter in late-'80s/early-'90s Manhattan. Based on James St. James' nonfiction account Disco Bloodbath as well as on the writer/directors' own 1998 documentary, Party Monster features former child star Macaulay Culkin as Michael Alig, a Midwestern teen determined to forget his past amidst the bright lights and throbbing house music of New York City's nightlife. Introduced to the club scene by St. James (Seth Green), Alig quickly becomes an event promoter himself, dreaming up bizarrely themed dance parties in such unlikely venues as fast-food restaurants and subway cars. But this archetypical "club kid" orchestrates his own downfall when, stoned on designer drugs, he and accomplice Freez (Justin Hagan) brutally murder their small-time dealer friend Angel Menendez (Wilson Cruz). Party Monster had its world premiere in the Dramatic Competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, (more)
- 2003
Narrated by actor Kyle MacLachlan, the five-part cable miniseries The Reality of Reality investigated the then-current reality show craze. Tracing the genre from its roots in such golden-age TV efforts as Truth or Consequences and The Gong Show, the series offered interviews with the producers of such series as Survivor and Fear Factor, as well as the "celebrities" who emerged from these programs. Additionally, the series slyly revealed that what passed for reality on TV was not always 100 percent authentic -- though there was seldom any outright deception. Individual episode titles included "How Real is Real?," "Behind the Scenes," "America's Instant Idols," "Everything New Is Old," and "Outrageous Worldwide TV." The Reality of Reality was originally telecast from September 8 through 12, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Anthropologist Anne Lescot and filmmaker Laurence Magliore team up to direct the documentary Des Hommes et Dieux (Of Men and Gods). Shot with digital video, the hour-long film concerns several gay men in Haiti who actively pursue voodoo religious practices. Several different men and a few priests in the Port-au-Prince area offer their perspectives on the matter. While homosexuality is still taboo in Haiti, there remains a growing gay community there. Of Men and Gods was shown at the 2003 L.A. Outfest. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 2003
This one-hour cable documentary is a paean to the "new face" of the Hollywood power structure, which for many years was a boys-only club. But thanks to the ascendancy of female superstars and the success of such female-engendered projects as My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, women are every bit as important as men in the Hollywood of the 21st century -- and in some aspects, even more so. Trading war stories about the sexism and chauvinism they encountered while crashing through Tinseltown's glass ceiling is a veritable honor role of actresses and production personnel. Among those interviewed are producers Lauren Shuler-Donner, Polly Platt, and Laura Ziskin; directors Mimi Leder, Mira Nair, and Callie Khouri; cinematographer Ellen Kuras; film editor Sally Menke; and actresses Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, Gena Rowlands, Kirsten Dunst, Penelope Cruz, Kathleen Turner, and Lily Tomlin, among others. Women on Top: Hollywood and Power was narrated by actress Chloë Sevigny (Boys Don't Cry). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chloë Sevigny
