SXSW Movie Review: Dear Zachary
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, a heart-wrenching, thought-provoking documentary edited and directed by Kurt Kuenne explores, in often excruciating detail, the death of his best friend, Andrew Bagby, a twenty-eight year old doctor completing his residency in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. On the morning of November 5, 2001, Bagby’s bullet-riddled body was found in a public park. Suspicion almost immediately turned to Bagby’s ex-girlfriend, Dr. Shirley Turner, a Canadian woman who studied with Bagby at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She moved to the United States to be closer to Bagby. As Turner’s arrest seemed imminent, she fled back to St. John’s, a small city in Newfoundland, Canada.
Kuenne initially set out to document his friend’s life through interviews with friends, family members, medical students from Memorial University, and Bagby’s fellow residents at the hospital in Latrobe. As the Bagby case focused on Turner, Kuenne began to follow it with greater interest. Turner’s extradition back to the United States, however, proved more difficult than expected. Delay followed delay. Turner was released on bail (twice). When Turner announced that she was pregnant with Andrew’s child, his parents, Kate and David, decided to leave their lives in California behind and move to Newfoundland.
Once Turner and Bagby’s child, Zachary, was born, David and Kate petitioned the Canadian legal system for custody or visitation rights. Again, they encountered obstacles, both with the legal system and, unsurprisingly, with Turner, who stonewalled the Bagbys whenever and wherever she could. The Bagbys had little recourse except to acquiesce in Turner retaining parental rights and wait for the torturously labyrinthine legal system to send Turner back to the United States so could stand trial for the first-degree murder of their son.
What initially started out as Kuenne’s personal project to gather as much documentary information about his friend grew until it encompassed Turner’s extradition hearings, the Bagbys struggles to obtain custody of Zachary, and ultimately, an indictment of the Canadian legal system. Almost as importantly (or more importantly, depending on your perspective), Dear Zachary grew into a character study or portrait of the Bagbys, a couple near retirement age who lost so much, but still managed to find meaning in their struggles. After the resolution of their son’s case, the Bagbys became advocates for reform. They hoped and continue to hope that their advocacy will help reform bail laws and strengthen child protection laws.
If Dear Zachary has any missteps, they’re minor ones that are easy to overlook. The decision to show crime scene photos of Andrew’s body late in the film (as opposed to early on) comes as a complete shock, but there they serve as both a stark reminder of Turner’s crime and to renew the sense of outrage associated with her crime. Some of Kuenne’s editing decisions also seem ill advised, but again, they’re minor when compared to the rest of the documentary’s strengths. In addition to editing and directing Dear Zachary, Kuenne also served as his own cinematographer and composed the score. Kuenne ultimately succeeds in crafting a deeply personal documentary about Andrew Bagby, the great impact Bagby made on his friends, family, and acquaintances and indicts a legal system that protected an accused murderer at the expense of the survivors.
Dina Lohan Denies Lindsay Rehab Release Claims
Dina Lohan Denies Lindsay Rehab Release Claims
Over the past few days it has been reported that Lindsay Lohan was all set to leave the Cirque Lodge rehab facility, which the Mean Girls star has called home for the past few months.
Throwing a wrench into the equation, more recent reports are claiming that Lindsay’s mother, Dina Lohan, has denied the story - saying there are no plans for her daughter’s release.
Just yesterday, Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush e-mailed Mama Lohan to find out if the reports of Lindsay coming home this weekend were accurate, with Dina saying that wasn’t the case. “Not true staying in Utah,” Dina wrote to Billy.
Now it is questioned whether Dina is trying to throw off media members who will no doubt be all over her daughter upon the big rehab graduation day. On Tuesday, LiLo was spotted sharing in a group hug with fellow residents - acting as if she were saying her goodbyes.
Nonetheless, whenever the Georgia Rule actress does get the green light to jet Utah, it’s clearly evident that she’ll be pulled in all different directions.
The NY Daily News reports that: “Her advisers are reportedly urging she stay away from all the alcohol-free “Welcome Back, Lindsay” parties she’s been offered. There also have been reports that she may rent a house in Montana, Colorado, New Mexico or New York.”
Check back with the for updates on this developing story.
It’s Time… For the Beckhams!
It’s Time… For the Beckhams!
The wait is over. For the eagerly anticipating American fans of David and Victoria Beckham, you may now consider yourself fellow residents of the United States with Britain’s hottest exports.
David and Victoria, along with their three sons; Brooklyn, Romeo, and Cruz left London yesterday, setting sail for America. And as they assimilate into the new country and culture, Vic will most definitely have to deal with the American women lusting after her hot soccer stud husband.
“Everyone always says that. I’m proud of him and he is gorgeous. He’s even more gorgeous on the inside. It’s funny whenever anyone goes out with us they say ‘David’s so gorgeous and she’s so funny.’ I’m sick of being funny, you know what I mean? I want to be fit.”
We’ll all get an up-close and personal look at the Posh one this Monday as the new special “Victoria Beckham: Coming To America” premieres on NBC. And the shortening of the series to just one episode is evidence of the family values that the Beckhams bring to their new home.
Victoria told press, “My husband got recalled to play for England, for the national side, so I wanted to be there supporting him. I wanted to be there with the kids, so I had to cut a bit of a hole in my filming schedule. I love my work. I take it very, very seriously, but predominately I’m a mom, I’m a wife and I want to do my thing but I want to be there for my family.”