What I’m watching: I’ve been cruising through NetflixDate: 5/14/2019 What I’m watching: I’ve been cruising through Netflix.
On Netflix: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Earlier this year, Netflix presented an amazing documentary about Ted Bundy, the notorious serial killer of the 1970s and ‘80s. The documentary featured interviews with people who knew Bundy as well as archival interview footage and audio recordings of Bundy.
It is a pretty amazing piece of work and I was fascinated by the recent addition of a dramatized film about Bundy called “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” a phrase used by his trial judge to describe his crimes.
Initially I wasn’t sure why Netflix would purchase the film, considering the fairly recent release of the multi-part documentary the streaming service offers – “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes” – however serial killers are a huge pop culture industry. Audiences undoubtedly will want to see both.
The new film stars Zac Efron as Bundy and Lilly Collins as his long time girlfriend Liz Kendall and is based on Kendall’s memoir, “The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy.”
Director Joe Berlinger and writer Michael Werwie tell the story of a fairly normal healthy relationship that is complicated by the fact that one of the two people is a serial killer. The character of Kendall in the film is one of a person who simply can’t believe that her boyfriend is a serial killer. It takes Kendall years to understand Bundy’s real nature and even longer to try to reconcile what her role is in his narrative.
Berlinger and Werwie make a real commitment not to recreate any of Bundy’s crimes with the exception of one murder toward the end of the film. This gives the film an interesting tone. The audience knows Bundy is guilty and a level of discomfort is built up because of not what the filmmakers show, but from what we already know.
Efron delivers a solid performance as Bundy. He and the filmmakers never attempt to ask the audience for any sympathy, a smart move. Instead what we have is a master manipulator.
Like the real Bundy, the one in this film doesn’t want to admit his crimes or the motivation for them. There is no effort by the filmmakers to try to explain why someone would select arbitrary young women and not just murder them, but sexually assault them and mutilate them as well.
Bundy is presented by the film as he presented himself: a victim.
Although there are some moments in the film that are not true, most of the narrative actually sticks to the facts.
Although this is a well-done dramatic film, I think the documentary is a better production if you have interest in the subject.
Remastered: Devil at the Crossroads
I love the blues and anyone who has at least a cursory knowledge of the musical genre must have heard the name Robert Johnson.
This legendary blues player died in 1938 at the age of 27 and recorded just 29 songs. Yet those songs not only provided some basic of the blues now taken for granted, but also was the musical base for early rock and roll.
The legend is the young struggling blues man made a deal with the devil in order to acquire the guitar playing ability that made his life almost a myth.
This documentary uses a number of sources – including Springfield’s own Taj Mahal – to strip away the legend to present a picture of the real man.
Interviewing musicians, scholars and members of Johnson’s family the director and writers present about as full of a portrait one could imagine. This is, after all, a performer for whom only two photographs exist and during much of his life he was barely noticed.
The musicians explained that Johnson’s long fingers enabled him to do things with a guitar that his contemporaries couldn’t achieve. Johnson also added a seventh string to his six-string guitar that also extended his potential.
This is essential viewing for anyone interested in the development of American roots music.
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