Directed by Amy Scott • Documentary • With Hal Ashby, Norman Jewison, Haskell Wexler • 2018 • 90 minutes
Although Hal Ashby directed a remarkable string of acclaimed, widely admired classics throughout the 1970s—HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAIL, SHAMPOO, COMING HOME, BEING THERE—he is often overlooked amid the crowd of luminaries from his generation. Amy Scott’s exuberant portrait explores that curious oversight, using rare archival materials, interviews, personal letters, and audio recordings to reveal a passionate, obsessive artist. Ashby was a Hollywood director who constantly clashed with Hollywood, but also a unique soul with an unprecedented insight into the human condition and an unmatched capacity for good. His films were an elusive blend of honesty, irreverence, humor, and humanity. Through the heartrending and inspiring HAL, you feel buoyed by Ashby’s love of people and of cinema, a little like walking on water.
Up Next in Oscilloscope Laboratories
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Hello I Must Be Going
Directed by Todd Louiso • Drama • With Melanie Lynskey, Blythe Danner, Christopher Abbott • 2012 • 94 minutes
HELLO I MUST BE GOING features acclaimed actress Melanie Lynskey (UP IN THE AIR, TWO AND A HALF MEN) in her breakout role as Amy, a recent divorcée who seeks refuge in the suburban Conne...
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I Like Killing Flies
Directed by Matt Mahurin • Documentary • With Kenny Shopsin • 2004 • 78 minutes
In 2002, an unusual eatery called Shopsin's loses its lease after 32 years. Filmmaker Matt Mahurin goes inside the diner to figure out its gastronomic appeal, and paint a portrait of its colorful owners Kenny and Eve...
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If A Tree Falls
Directed by Marshall Curry • Documentary • 2011 • 85 minutes
In December 2005, Daniel McGowan was arrested by Federal agents in a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front — a group the FBI has called America's 'number one domestic terrorism threat.'
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