''Hal'' is a 2018 American documentary film by Amy Scott about the film director
Hal Ashby
William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an American film director and editor associated with the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking.
Before his career as a director Ashby edited films for Norman Jewison, notably ''The Russ ...
. It premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
on January and was released theatrically by
Oscilloscope Laboratories
Oscilloscope Laboratories is an independent film company and distributor founded by Adam Yauch and former TH!NKFilm executive David Fenkel. It also has a recording studio and film production facilities. Fenkel returned to the company on May 4, 20 ...
on September 7, 2018.
Summary
The film is a celebration of his life and work set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing America and an even more dramatic shift in filmmaking. Once the toast of
New Hollywood
The New Hollywood, also known as American New Wave or Hollywood Renaissance, was a movement in American film history from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence.
They influenced the types o ...
, his rise and fall became another story of art against the film industry.
Reception
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' included the film in its "10 Best Documentaries of 2018" and ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' included it in its "Sundance 2018: The 11 best films of this year's festival".
It earned on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Hal'' pays affectionate tribute to a filmmaker whose offscreen life proves as engaging as his best work."
It was nominated for a
Producers Guild Award
The Producers Guild of America Awards were originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor ...
for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures.
See also
*
2018 in film
2018 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, critics' lists of the best films of 2018, festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.
Evaluation of the year
Richard Brody of ''The New ...
*
List of female directors
References
External links
*
*{{IMDb title, 5844196
*
Hal' on
MUBI
Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...
2018 films
Documentary films about films
2018 documentary films
American documentary films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films