‘Sr.’ Review: Robert Downey Jr. Gets Vulnerable in This Oddball Collaboration With Cult Director Dad
Just how polished does a career-spanning documentary about the anarchic underground filmmaker behind “Greaser’s Palace” and “Putney Swope” need to be? If you’ve seen any of Robert Downey’s films, the answer is obviously: not very. You might even say, the scrappier the better. So goes the thinking behind “Sr.,” a loose seemingly seat-of-your-pants portrait of the antiestablishment director (perhaps best known for siring “Iron Man” star Robert Downey Jr.) that sneaks up on ya, emotionally speaking, seeing as how it doubles as a kind of farewell exercise between the two generations (plus grandson Exton) in the months before Downey succumbed to Parkinson’s Disease.
“Oddly, it’s sort of what your family does. You guys make art of your lives,” analyzes Junior’s therapist fairly late in the process, not long before dad’s passing. There’s no question that’s what’s really going on in an...
“Oddly, it’s sort of what your family does. You guys make art of your lives,” analyzes Junior’s therapist fairly late in the process, not long before dad’s passing. There’s no question that’s what’s really going on in an...
- 9/5/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This August will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Tuesday, August 1
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train
Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Tuesday, August 1
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train
Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.
- 7/24/2017
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Since any New York cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Film Forum
The amazing films of Robert Downey Sr. play as part of “Robert Downey (The Original).” The still-shocking Putney Swope screens throughout this weekend; Greaser’s Palace can be seen on Saturday and Sunday, while the latter day offers a print of Chafed Elbows.
The restoration of Fritz Lang‘s Destiny begins its run.
The King and the Mockingbird...
Film Forum
The amazing films of Robert Downey Sr. play as part of “Robert Downey (The Original).” The still-shocking Putney Swope screens throughout this weekend; Greaser’s Palace can be seen on Saturday and Sunday, while the latter day offers a print of Chafed Elbows.
The restoration of Fritz Lang‘s Destiny begins its run.
The King and the Mockingbird...
- 5/19/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The Friends of Cinefamily Weekend
presents Truth And Soul Inc.,
a celebration of the films of Robert Downey Sr.
For Immediate Release, Los Angeles, November 12, 2014 - The Friends Of Cinefamily announced today that it will present a weekend celebration of the films of legendary filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. on December 5th - 8th. This inaugural fundraiser event for The Cinefamily, presented by the newly formed Friends Of Cinefamily, will include never before seen rarities, new prints, special appearances, and newly restored versions of his most acclaimed films.
Events include a career spanning conversation between father and son, Robert Downey Sr. and Robert Downey Jr. with a 35mm restoration screening of his breakthrough underground hit, Chafed Elbows; an intimate Q&A with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson and screening of a new 35mm print of Greaser's Palace that will include a cast & crew reunion and tribute to the music of Robert Downey Sr.,...
presents Truth And Soul Inc.,
a celebration of the films of Robert Downey Sr.
For Immediate Release, Los Angeles, November 12, 2014 - The Friends Of Cinefamily announced today that it will present a weekend celebration of the films of legendary filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. on December 5th - 8th. This inaugural fundraiser event for The Cinefamily, presented by the newly formed Friends Of Cinefamily, will include never before seen rarities, new prints, special appearances, and newly restored versions of his most acclaimed films.
Events include a career spanning conversation between father and son, Robert Downey Sr. and Robert Downey Jr. with a 35mm restoration screening of his breakthrough underground hit, Chafed Elbows; an intimate Q&A with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson and screening of a new 35mm print of Greaser's Palace that will include a cast & crew reunion and tribute to the music of Robert Downey Sr.,...
- 11/12/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
New Yawk New Wave has been running at Film Forum since January 11 but still has a couple of precious days of life left. In a way, it’s one of the more ambitious curatorial projects to emerge from the theater’s august archivists. The series isn’t bound to a single era (it encompasses the period from 1953 to 1973), genre (everything from madcap comedy to downcast drama makes an appearance), or even style (there’s New Wave, cinema vérité, post-noir, and whatever you want to call Robert Downey Sr.’s still-photos-plus-voiceovers oddity, Chafed Elbows). Besides New York origins, the main thing this wildly …...
- 1/30/2013
- by Jim Allen
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
"I have a brain tumor."
"It's all in your head."
What to make of Moment to Moment, Robert Downey's 1975 sketch-format feature film? Following in the wake of rather more professional, organized and (relatively) big budgets romps like Putney Swope, Pound and Greaser's Palace, it in a sense marks a step backwards to the shambling, purposeless derangement of Chafed Elbows (1966) and similarly centers around a series of deft and goofy comic performances from Downey's writing partner and muse Elsie (L.C.) Downey.
"Why don't you go outside and make a movie?"
"And ruin my skin?"
In a sense, this 85 minute affair, available in its original cut as an Avi ripped from a DVD-r ripped from VHS (until recently the fate of most of R.D.'s films), or in a new re-edit on the Eclipse Box Set Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr., can perhaps best be understood as...
"It's all in your head."
What to make of Moment to Moment, Robert Downey's 1975 sketch-format feature film? Following in the wake of rather more professional, organized and (relatively) big budgets romps like Putney Swope, Pound and Greaser's Palace, it in a sense marks a step backwards to the shambling, purposeless derangement of Chafed Elbows (1966) and similarly centers around a series of deft and goofy comic performances from Downey's writing partner and muse Elsie (L.C.) Downey.
"Why don't you go outside and make a movie?"
"And ruin my skin?"
In a sense, this 85 minute affair, available in its original cut as an Avi ripped from a DVD-r ripped from VHS (until recently the fate of most of R.D.'s films), or in a new re-edit on the Eclipse Box Set Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr., can perhaps best be understood as...
- 1/3/2013
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
This week’s Must Read comes from donna k., whom I link to a lot every week. But her description this time about how Brent Green’s sculpture To Many Men Strange Fates Are Given was created is unbelievably fascinating. After reading this, you’ll have a new appreciation on how your LCD monitors work — and how visionary Green is.Curator and filmmaker Brenda Contreras has launched a new blog that you need to check out. Her first big post about seeing some experimental filmmakers — Bruce McClure, Marie Losier and Ricardo Nicolayevsky — is a great read already.Preservationist Mark Toscano writes about preserving Lous Hock’s 1975 film Studies in Chronovision.At the Filmmaker website, Eddie Mullins gives a great review to a new DVD box set of Robert Downey Sr.’s early films called Up All Night With Robert Downey Sr. and includes Babo 73, Chafed Elbows and more.Superstar...
- 6/17/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Robert Downey Sr.’s films are ribald, socially-conscious, highly experimental works that make Richard Lester’s oeuvre seem polite and Godard’s plot-heavy. Though he achieved cult success with 1969’s Putney Swope, some of Downey’s other, more radical works from the period are arguably more interesting, and their revival by way of an Eclipse box set is exceptional news. Up All Night With Robert Downey Sr. brings together five early films which show the director at his unhinged best, and if nothing else should prove a hedge against Downey becoming a mere footnote to his more famous son’s career.
A part of New York’s avant-garde film scene in the 60s, Downey screened his works alongside underground icons Shirley Clarke, Bruce Conner and Kenneth Anger. What he shared with his contemporaries was a patent disregard for convention and an ability to make films on the cheap. He cast his friends and family,...
A part of New York’s avant-garde film scene in the 60s, Downey screened his works alongside underground icons Shirley Clarke, Bruce Conner and Kenneth Anger. What he shared with his contemporaries was a patent disregard for convention and an ability to make films on the cheap. He cast his friends and family,...
- 6/14/2012
- by Eddie Mullins
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
It really doesn't get more irreverent and outlandish than the cult films of Robert Downey Sr. and let's face it, every cinephile worth his salt loves an excuse to talk about the underground filmmaker's outré classic "Putney Swope."
And so one of the more strange and wonderfully offbeat box sets to come to DVD late last month was Criterion's Eclipse set dedicated to the unconventional works of Robert Downey Sr. titled, "Up All Night With Robert Downey Sr." The father of Robert Downey Jr. and a satirical, experimental and counter cultural filmmaker in New York in the late 1960s, many of Downey Sr.'s vehmently uncommercial and mischievous pictures have been virtually awol for decades outside of small, appreciative arthouses like New York's Anthology Film Archives.
Often featuring taboo and trangressive topics, shot on shoestring budgets (guerilla style without permits), utilizing non-actors, told with often whimsical aesthetics ("Chafed Elbows" is mostly visualized via 35 mm photographs,...
And so one of the more strange and wonderfully offbeat box sets to come to DVD late last month was Criterion's Eclipse set dedicated to the unconventional works of Robert Downey Sr. titled, "Up All Night With Robert Downey Sr." The father of Robert Downey Jr. and a satirical, experimental and counter cultural filmmaker in New York in the late 1960s, many of Downey Sr.'s vehmently uncommercial and mischievous pictures have been virtually awol for decades outside of small, appreciative arthouses like New York's Anthology Film Archives.
Often featuring taboo and trangressive topics, shot on shoestring budgets (guerilla style without permits), utilizing non-actors, told with often whimsical aesthetics ("Chafed Elbows" is mostly visualized via 35 mm photographs,...
- 6/4/2012
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
by Steve Dollar
Something like the Dead Sea Scrolls of 1960s (and '70s) underground comedies, the five films assembled in the new Criterion Collection Eclipse set Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr. have been out of sight for so long that their release this week marks a major rediscovery. Deliriously imaginative and madly subversive, black-and-white romps like Babo 73 and Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight deploy manic pacing and counter-cultural absurdity to critique Mad Men-era America while inhaling deeply on their own stoned grooviness. "I've paid my dues," exclaims one of Downey's impish observers, played by actor friends or maybe someone he met at a phone booth, "why should I pay my debts?"
The best-known feature, Putney Swope, achieved cult status for its outrageous satire of Madison Avenue, proposing what happens when a white, patrician agency is taken over by a black militant who renames it "Truth and Soul Inc.
Something like the Dead Sea Scrolls of 1960s (and '70s) underground comedies, the five films assembled in the new Criterion Collection Eclipse set Up All Night with Robert Downey Sr. have been out of sight for so long that their release this week marks a major rediscovery. Deliriously imaginative and madly subversive, black-and-white romps like Babo 73 and Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight deploy manic pacing and counter-cultural absurdity to critique Mad Men-era America while inhaling deeply on their own stoned grooviness. "I've paid my dues," exclaims one of Downey's impish observers, played by actor friends or maybe someone he met at a phone booth, "why should I pay my debts?"
The best-known feature, Putney Swope, achieved cult status for its outrageous satire of Madison Avenue, proposing what happens when a white, patrician agency is taken over by a black militant who renames it "Truth and Soul Inc.
- 5/23/2012
- GreenCine Daily
Well we're back again with the bumper crop of must-have DVDs and Blu-rays for the month of May – from historic Italian epics to underground American sensations to a chilly, expressionistic film noir to movies where Raquel Welch plays a Vegas showgirl fleeing a murderer – we’ve got them all hear for you. So look on below to see what's worth your money this month....
"1900" (1976) Blu-ray
Why You Should Care: At the time of its release, Bernardo Bertolucci's historical epic was said to be the most expensive (requiring the financial commitment of three major studios – 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and United Artists) and ambitious ever mounted in Italy. It's a tale of two friends (played by Robert De Niro and Gerard Depardieu), born on the same day at the dawn of the 20th century, and the way that their lives crisscross, intersect, and diverge wildly over the rocky course of history.
"1900" (1976) Blu-ray
Why You Should Care: At the time of its release, Bernardo Bertolucci's historical epic was said to be the most expensive (requiring the financial commitment of three major studios – 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and United Artists) and ambitious ever mounted in Italy. It's a tale of two friends (played by Robert De Niro and Gerard Depardieu), born on the same day at the dawn of the 20th century, and the way that their lives crisscross, intersect, and diverge wildly over the rocky course of history.
- 5/3/2012
- by Drew Taylor
- The Playlist
Putney Swope
Directed by Robert Downey
United States, 1969
Don’t you wish there were more films like Putney Swope? It’s . It’s William Klein meets Melvin van Peebles. It’s satire that’s garnered nods from the likes of Bamboozled, How to Get Ahead in Advertising and Network.
When the executive at a major advertising firm dies unexpectedly the lone black employee, Putney Swope (Arnold Johnson), is accidentally voted into power. Putney wastes no time: he renames the firm “Truth and Soul, Inc”, fires much of the white staff and takes the marketing world by storm with his unique and absurd ads.
It’s easy to write Putney Swope off as another manic brainchild of director Robert Downey Sr., but unlike his earlier, less successful films – Sweet Smell of Sex, Chafed Elbows – this one has real direction. It’s an out-and-out takedown of Madison Ave-style politics, including a complete...
Directed by Robert Downey
United States, 1969
Don’t you wish there were more films like Putney Swope? It’s . It’s William Klein meets Melvin van Peebles. It’s satire that’s garnered nods from the likes of Bamboozled, How to Get Ahead in Advertising and Network.
When the executive at a major advertising firm dies unexpectedly the lone black employee, Putney Swope (Arnold Johnson), is accidentally voted into power. Putney wastes no time: he renames the firm “Truth and Soul, Inc”, fires much of the white staff and takes the marketing world by storm with his unique and absurd ads.
It’s easy to write Putney Swope off as another manic brainchild of director Robert Downey Sr., but unlike his earlier, less successful films – Sweet Smell of Sex, Chafed Elbows – this one has real direction. It’s an out-and-out takedown of Madison Ave-style politics, including a complete...
- 6/30/2011
- by Neal Dhand
- SoundOnSight
By Aaron Hillis
Lists are breezy reads, but there can be an unfortunate disposability to the data because arbitrarily numbered "Ten Best" somethings or "Five Things You Should Know About" whatevers literally demonstrate quantity's domination over quality. And now that I've sucked all the fun out of the room, here's a practical but otherwise unranked list of ten auteurist gems . nine of which are already on DVD . that deserve their layers of dust blown off. (Sorry, "Zero Effect" and "11 Harrowhouse," but the list dictates the rules!)
"One From the Heart" (1982)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
The fires of over-ambition still smoldering in his belly after "Apocalypse Now," Francis Ford Coppola's follow-up was a decadent fiasco that bankrupted him, and might have seemed at the time as if the director had returned half-mad from the Filipino jungles. Epically staged on the Zoetrope studio lot, Coppola's hypertheatrical Vegas romance-cum-musical fantasy stars...
Lists are breezy reads, but there can be an unfortunate disposability to the data because arbitrarily numbered "Ten Best" somethings or "Five Things You Should Know About" whatevers literally demonstrate quantity's domination over quality. And now that I've sucked all the fun out of the room, here's a practical but otherwise unranked list of ten auteurist gems . nine of which are already on DVD . that deserve their layers of dust blown off. (Sorry, "Zero Effect" and "11 Harrowhouse," but the list dictates the rules!)
"One From the Heart" (1982)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
The fires of over-ambition still smoldering in his belly after "Apocalypse Now," Francis Ford Coppola's follow-up was a decadent fiasco that bankrupted him, and might have seemed at the time as if the director had returned half-mad from the Filipino jungles. Epically staged on the Zoetrope studio lot, Coppola's hypertheatrical Vegas romance-cum-musical fantasy stars...
- 7/31/2008
- by Aaron Hillis
- ifc.com
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