All right, I'm gonna squeeze these in before I head off to Cyborg tonight, which I probably won't get written up until a few days from now. I'll try to post something when I get in tonight reardless.

Truth in Terms of Beauty

Elizabeth Avellan attached her name to a winner, and even before I go back over all I've seen this week, I know this is one of my favorite three movies I saw all week.

Herman Leonard is a name you immediately recognize or you don't. Just about everyone will recognize the iconic jazz photos he's famous for, though.

Now 84 years old, Leonard has been through 3 marriages, 4 kids, and Hurricane Katrina. This documentary is essentially him telling us his life story, supplemented by his remarkable photos and tons of home movies he shot over the years. He speculates the French government probably sent his first wife back to Morocco for drugs, and according to the director, Leonard has a...ahem..."saucy" email list he sends out provocative pictures on.

Leonard met the director, Vince Dipersio, in a cafe completely by chance. DiPersio saw an ad for a photo show and from their first conversation, they became fast friends. I hope this one makes it out on DVD at least before someone co-opts his life story for a fiction film biopic, since Leonard tells the story so well himself. HBO, PBS could air this, I don't care! Someone help give this flick an audience.

A telling observation: for all those film purists out there (still and motion), Leonard loves all the new technology out there for digital, including Photoshop, embracing it all ravenously. According to DiPersio, "you can't tear him away from a new toy."

Afterward, I saw a kidnapping doc called Ya Basta! but I can't spend the effort it'd take to write up, since I couldn't stand it and the subtitles were really badly translated.