The West Is the Best

I have little objectivity about my old friend Morgan Neville's documentary about the L.A. art scene of the '50s and '60s, The Cool School, which opens today in Manhattan—I think it's terrific. But don't take my word for it: Lisa Schwarzbaum gives it an A-. Manohla Dargis calls it "an often fascinating, visually charming and intelligently edited mix of found footage, home movies, still images and contemporary interviews," and Nathan Lee says, "All told, and well told, this is essential history" (even while he and Dargis each think it glosses over the larger cultural context of mid-century L.A.). Morgan co-directed another fine L.A. documentary, Shotgun Freeway, and has made some great music documentaries, too. If you're anywhere near New York City, don't miss his latest—which features some really funny patter by those zonked-out art collectors Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell, and is narrated by the Big Lebowski himself.