© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Up To Date

Up To Date's Indie, Foreign & Doc Critics' 'Three To See,' November 3-5

National Geographic Studios
More than 100 hours of film, which sat in the archives of the National Geographic Society five decades, have been pieced together to illustrate Jane Goodall's ground-breaking work with chimpanzees.

The world is a complicated place full of important decisions and things beyond our control. Which way to vote on the KCI single-terminal ballot question? Will Amazon HQ2 come to the metro or not? Will they ever open all the lanes on I-435? With all this uncertainty, one thing is still for sure: You can count on Up To Date's indie, foreign and documentary Film Critics to recommend the best flicks of the month. It might not make Election Day any less contentious, but it could make movie night a little simpler.

Steve Walker

Jane, PG

  • This documentary about Jane Goodall's first foray into the African jungles to study chimpanzees is composed from 100 hours of footage that's never been seen before.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer, R

  • Director Yorgos Lanthimos' follow-up to The Lobster plays out an eye-for-an-eye allegory between a heart surgeon, played by Colin Farrell, and the teenage boy whose father died on the operating table.

LBJ, R

  • Though Vietnam is barely discussed, this biopic featuring a heavily made-up yet convincing Woody Harrelson captures the 36th president at the height of the battle over civil rights legislation.

Cynthia Haines

Jane, PG

  • This film focuses on the early expeditions of Jane Goodall, a young English woman who would challenge the research of biologists at the time through her extensive in-the-wild observations of chimpanzees.

78/52, Not rated

  • This documentary pulls back the (shower) curtain on the 78 camera set-ups and 52 edits it took to sculpt the three minutes of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, which redefined screen violence and horror forever.

Loving Vincent, PG-13

  • A creative interpretation of the life and allegedly mysterious death of Vincent Van Gogh, depicted in more than 65,000 oil-painted animations that mirror the artist's own style.

Robert Butler

Jane, PG

  • Based on the true story of a former secretary who left England to live with and study chimpanzees in Africa. Jane Goodall's observations and research would go on to challenge established scientific opinions.

78/52, PG-13

  • Despite being 4 minutes long, the shower scene from Psycho is one of the most recognizable moments in cinema history. 78/52 explores the lengthy process of creating a scene that used 78 camera setups and 52 individual edits.

Loving Vincent, PG-13

  • In what's possibly the world's first oil-painted feature film, we follow the fictionalized mystery surrounding the tumultuous life and tragic death of Vincent Van Gogh.
Since 1998, Steve Walker has contributed stories and interviews about theater, visual arts, and music as an arts reporter at KCUR. He's also one of Up to Date's regular trio of critics who discuss the latest in art, independent and documentary films playing on area screens.