Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe
⋆⋆⋆ out of four stars
Rated: Unrated
Theater: Uptown

"Vaxxed'' is the controversial documentary that was pulled from the lineup of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. It asserts a link between the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) and autism, particularly when given to children younger than 2. It is directed by Andrew Wakefield, the gastroenterologist whose findings in this area have been largely discredited by the medical community. So "Vaxxed'' can be seen as Wakefield's side of the story. But it also contains a lot of interesting new information, which is contained in surreptitiously recorded phone calls with Dr. William Thompson, a former researcher from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control). Thompson, a potential whistle blower, claims that he was present for the suppression of findings that established a connection between the MMR virus and autism. The vast majority of people who see this film will not have the scientific knowledge to assess the film's veracity. But it's fair to say that the documentary, though characterized as anti-vaccination, isn't quite that. The point of view is more nuanced. It's against the vaccination of children 2 and younger. And it's particularly against the MMR — that is, the giving of three vaccinations at once. Viewers will determine for themselves how persuasive they find these anecdotal accounts.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Hockney
⋆⋆⋆ out of four stars
Rated: Unrated
Theater: Lagoon

How did David Hockney, born and raised in working-class Yorkshire, become perhaps the modern painter most associated with Los Angeles? This lively documentary doesn't necessarily answer that question, but it provides entertaining glimpses of the man just the same. Made with cooperation from the artist, who will turn 79 in July, "Hockney" lets us hear from the man's friends, listens to theories about what drives him, and most of all shows us his art in all its fecund diversity. For, like Pablo Picasso, the artist he feels closest to, Hockney worked in a variety of vivid, playful, always colorful styles. Especially as he got more and more successful, he very much, as a friend puts it, "does not want to become a machine for producing items of value." Asked by an interviewer why he thought he was so popular, Hockney replied, "I'm interested in ways of looking, and everyone does look," which is as good an explanation as any for the artist's remarkable success.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times