Tcm

[Chris Knipp]

I didn't know much about Billie Holiday before seeing it and I feel like I got a good idea of who she was.

Not that good an idea. You can say the movie moved you. We all say that, you, me, and Pauline Kael.

"Kael was right, and she loved the movie." I tried to explain how that's reductive of her actual view as expressed in her lengthy review for The New Yorker.

Similarly I'm not convinced the way Pennebaker "strikes" you is a valid judgment if you're not recognizing his historical importance. Your dismissal of his use of a handheld camera doesn't even recognize the importance of his pioneering work. Would you take the trouble of reading Variety's obituary assessment?

[Johann]

I've already given D.A. too much credit, and I recognize his historical importance.
To be honest I don't think we'd be missing him if he didn't exist- he's not essential.

Did you notice that he only has films of big stars? Monterey: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and David Bowie?
Chuck Berry, Brandford Marsalis, Depeche Mode...
He's an opportunist, no matter how much historical importance. Where are his follow-ups? They're only padding!
Where are his in-depth docs? He makes his films as much for the subject as his own glory.
He got a career out of riding coattails, and I noticed he's had several marriages.

[Johann]

Errol Flynn is Maj. Geoffrey Vickers, a British officer who leads a famous counter attack in India.

This is a poor man's Gunga Din, and not very faithful to history or the poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson.
It's got visuals that seem authentic: palaces, forts, vistas, horses and nice costumes.
It's also got the gorgeous Olivia de Havilland, who starred with Flynn in several Warner Brothers classics.
I'm glad I saw this, but I don't need to see it again.