Kevin Rafferty Movies
Kevin Rafferty's documentary Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 looks at this historic 1968 matchup between those two longtime college football rivals. Many recall that year's edition of this annual grudge match as it was the first time in almost six decades that both schools were undefeated going into the game. The filmmakers utilize archival footage, and intercut it with new interview footage provided by many of those who played a part in that memorable game. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
When a young girl is snatched away from her father by a horrifying giant monster that emerges from the River Han to wreak havoc on Seoul, her entire family sets out to locate the beast and bring their little girl back home to safety in South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's big-budget creature feature. Hee-bong is a man of modest means who runs a snack bar on the banks of the River Han. Along with his slow-witted eldest son, Gang-du; Gang-du's young daughter, Hyun-seo; archery champion daughter Nam-joo; and unemployed, shirker son, Nam-il, Hee-Bong has managed to maintain a close relationship with his family despite the hardships that come with being a single father. When a rampaging fiend erupts from the Han and throws the city of Seoul into a state of emergency, Gang-du is heartbroken to see his precious little girl scooped up by the scaly creature and spirited away to an unknown destination. This is one family that always sticks together, though, and as the rest of the city denizens scramble to take cover, Hee-bong, Gang-du, Nam-joo, and Nam-il set out to prove that they're not letting their little girl go without a fight. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-bong, (more)
Since everyone knows that smoking isn't good for you, why do so many people smoke? That's one of the questions posed in this documentary that looks at the role of the cigarette in our culture and how tobacco has become so important in the American mindset. Footage of 1994 congressional hearings, in which tobacco industry representatives attempt to defend their actions and their product, are interspersed with clips from vintage Hollywood films, in which the likes of John Wayne, Bette Davis, and Burt Lancaster enjoy a smoke with no small enthusiasm, and television commercials from the 1950s and 1960s, in which the "smooth," "clean," "fresh" tastes of various cigarettes are praised. The film also includes excerpts from a "smoking porn" video (in which sexy but clothed women smoke and talk about how much cigarettes turn them on) and less amusing footage of nicotine experiments performed on laboratory animals. The Last Cigarette was compiled and directed by Kevin Rafferty and Frank Keraudren; Rafferty previously helped assemble the A-bomb compilation documentary, The Atomic Cafe. ~ Mark Deming, 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
This video is a documentary of the 1992 party nomination contests and the Presidential race. Taken from satellite feeds, it contains candid, off the air, shots of the candidates and gives a little insight into the election process. Centering on the New Hampshire primary the film includes politicians Bob Kerrey, Jerry Brown, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, Ross Perot, Paul Tsongas, George Bush, and Sam Donaldson. ~ All Movie Guide
Blending archival and interview footage, Blood in the Face is a close-up examination of the emergence of far-right-wing groups in the United States in the early '90s. The film takes its title from the central myth of these groups, that because only whites can blush, only they feel shame, and therefore only they are human. In a series of amazing interviews, members of the Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi Party, and the Posse Commitatus reveal the frighteningly over-rationalized logic behind their beliefs. "The Russians and Chinese are amassing tanks at the Mexican border" and "The men behind the Holocaust were Jews" are two of the more preposterous claims recorded by the film. While it's an investigation of the people behind the political power of politicians like David Duke, the film is also a study of how people are overtaken by hate and fear. The result is an essential and powerful documentary. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
Michael Moore's wickedly iconoclastic documentary was inspired by the decline and fall of Flint, Michigan. Once the site of a thriving General Motors plant, Flint went quickly to seed when GM decided to close down and move out. As Moore pokes around what has been described by one magazine as "the worst place to live in America", he finds out how the local populace is coping with GM's betrayal of the American Dream. Among those visited are a family who is evicted just before Christmas, and an enterprising middle-aged woman who set up a thriving business slaughtering and skinning rabbits. Never feigning objectivity, Moore contrasts the impact of the shutdown on the average Joes and Janes with the diffident reaction of Flint's power elite. The latter's patronizing attitude towards the unemployed multitudes is succinctly captured in the scenes in which visiting celebrities Robert Schuller, Anita Bryant, Bobby Vinton and Pat Boone exhort the citizenry to grin and bear it. Even more out of synch is "Miss Michigan" Kaye Lani Rae Rafko, who in her morale-boosting speech to the disenfranchised GM employees begs them to pull for her in the upcoming Miss America pageant! The film's throughline is Moore's futile effort to locate GM chairman Roger Smith, so that he can show Moore first-hand the utter devastation of Flint. Roger & Me is very funny, but it is the gallows humor of soldiers about to embark on a suicide mission. In 1992, Michael Moore more or less updated Roger & Me with his half-hour short subject Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Produced and directed by Robert Stone, this critically acclaimed documentary uses declassified footage acquired through the Freedom of Information Act to tell the story of the Bikini islanders, who were removed from their homes by the U.S. government so that their atoll could be used for high-profile atomic bomb tests known as "Operation Crossroads" at the start of the Cold War. Afterwards, the islanders could not safely return home, as the area remained dangerously radioactive for 40 years. Highlights include radio broadcasts from the area, footage of the atomic bomb blasts, and an interview with a U.S. serviceman who observed the tests. Winner of the San Francisco Film Festival's Golden Gate Award, this film aired as an episode of the Emmy award-winning PBS television series The American Experience. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
The Atomic Cafe is a sometimes hilarious, sometimes sobering collection of film clips taken from American propaganda films of the 1950s. The thrust of the production is to expose the misinformation (and downright lies) dispensed by the government concerning the atomic bomb. We are shown vignettes from such classic instructional films as Duck and Cover, wherein school children are assured that they will survive a nuclear attack simply by huddling together next to the schoolhouse wall. In another sequence, a pack of pigs are dressed in Army uniforms and left to die at "Ground Zero" during a nuclear test to see if human beings (who purportedly have the same skin consistency as pigs) could endure such an ordeal. Fascinating though it is, Atomic Cafe makes its basic point early in the proceedings, then tends to repeat that point over and over rather than expand upon it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
This documentary explores the conditions endured by male inmates in 1975 at the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, California. Of particular concern to the filmmakers was the liberal use of sedatives simply for the greater convenience of the staff, who appear to have little interest in their patients. One highlight of the film is the title song, "Hurry Tomorrow," composed and sung by one of the patients. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
