Bill Cunningham New York [Blu-ray]

Unforgettable! A Classic!
Prior to watching BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK, my unexamined assumptions about him - a Times fashion photog - were that he must be a man who spends his days and nights hanging around fabulous people and documenting all the fabulous things they do. In short, not typically my thing. However, after watching BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK, what emerges in this terrifically edited film is a deeply profound and beautiful study of a TOTAL artist working within the grayer than ever world of journalism. This is one of the most carefully and delicately plotted documentaries I've seen in some time and the ending of this film is ... devastating! Yet, even with the rather dark and sad turn that this film takes toward the end (you'll have to see it), you'll walk away from this doc feeling buoyed by the spirit and character of this remarkable and remarkably unusual man. This is a classic and he is a class act.

The Sage of Seventh Avenue
I came across this doc film clicking around on Netflix streaming late one night. At first it seemed puzzling why anyone would make a documentary about an old guy who works for the New York Times riding a bicycle around and photographing street fashions. But I quickly got drawn into the film and understood how the filmakers had chosen this unusual man.

Bill Cunningham, now in his 80's, has worked for many years as a street photographer, riding precariously around Manhatten on his bicycle and snapping (film) photos of what people are wearing. In an age when there is so much corruption in all walks of life, what comes out in the film is Cunningham's unique sense of personal integrity. In a city obsessed with status, he seems to care nothing for status or celebrity or personalities; he is only interested in the clothes, the ideas. When he attends society and fashion functions in the evening, which he does almost every evening, he declines to accept food or drink; it would...

The best movie of the year
This is one of the warmest charming movies I have ever seen. Everyone that lives in a major city (and everyone else too for that matter) should see this movie. I love you Bill!

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