Documentaries

The early scenes of the documentary look like some lost reel from "This Is Spinal Tap," spanning what seems like half of rock history -- complete with hem lengths and haircuts. But the protagonist is not a metalhead but a Zelig-like figure: Here he is as a squeaky-clean pop idol in the Frankie Avalon mode, gazing bashfully. He shows up on L.A.'s Sunset Strip at its wildest. Next he's part of a mop-topped boy band in swinging London.

Chris Schultz breaks down as he worries that his younger brothers will become homeless because his family is four months behind in rent. Evelyn Aguilar's home was foreclosed, so her family is among a dozen people sharing a one-bedroom apartment. Victoria Gonzalez may delay college for a year to support her family. These students, all 17, and 14 of their classmates tell their tales in "Is Anybody Listening?", a nine-minute video made by students at Village Academy High School in Pomona.

At first blush, most people probably wouldn't consider a documentary about New York City's most notorious public sex club the ideal "date movie." But that's exactly what Mathew Kaufman calls "American Swing," the nostalgic, often amusing film he co-produced and co-directed with Jon Hart about the legendary swingers' haven Plato's Retreat. "The movie's got everything," Kaufman said during a conference call with Hart from Manhattan.

Los Angeles was painted Valentino red on Wednesday night when the legendary Italian fashion designer was feted at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The museum's Costume Council screened the West Coast premiere of Matt Tyrnauer's documentary "Valentino: The Last Emperor," and presented its Legend Award to the designer and his longtime partner Giancarlo Giammetti at a dinner afterward at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Dancer Rachelle Rak climbs "up a steep and very narrow stairway" to a dressing room at the Broadhurst Theatre to await the worst news of her professional life: She will not be getting the role of Sheila in the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line," an ambition she has poured her whole life into, not to mention the rigorous eight months of the audition itself.

The real benefits of being a film critic are not the ones people usually envision. It's not the chance to be among the first to see big studio blockbusters like "Wolverine." Rather, it's the opportunity to see unapologetically small films that don't last long in theaters though they offer a completely satisfying experience. Such a film is "Ballerina."

In the eyes of Swedish documentary filmmaker Fredrik Gertten, his documentary "Bananas!" is a balanced, nuanced depiction of a trial pitting Nicaraguan banana plantation workers and a prominent L.A. attorney against a powerful multinational agribusiness. "It is a classical David-Goliath story," the director said in a phone interview last week. In the eyes of Dole Food Co.

It's not easy being green. Kermit knew it ages before the rest of us. Still, if you're wondering what a more environmentally sensitive life would look like, you can see it without having to feel it in "No Impact Man."

Earlier this year, Dole Food Co. won a major victory in the L.A. courts when a judge threw out lawsuits brought by Nicaraguan banana workers purportedly rendered sterile by pesticide, saying the plaintiffs' case was a product of massive fraud. Now Dole is headed back to court but this time, it's Dole that's claiming to be the victim.