Posts from April 2008
HollywoodChicago.com Interviews John & Brad
Characterizing the film as “passionate” and “charming”, HollywoodChicago.com interviews John & Brad.
It’s accessible enough to charm even non-fans while being comprehensive enough for rabid followers of the sport.
Posted on Apr 19 2008
Filed Under: News
San Diego Union-Tribune: Thrilling Ride
David L. Coddon gives the film 4 stars!
One need not be a horse-racing aficionado to love “The First Saturday in May,” a warm and stirring documentary from directors Brad and John Hennegan.
Posted on Apr 18 2008
Filed Under: News
Newsweek: Perfect Springtime Movie
Mark Starr of Newsweek calls the film a delight!
But even the death of Barbaro–after an eight-month struggle that captivated the nation and broke its collective heart–can’t obscure the beauty and joy surrounding these magnificent animals, the folks who love them and their Derby quests.
Posted on Apr 18 2008
Filed Under: News
Boston Herald: Right Track
Boston Herald gives the film an A-.
“The First Saturday in May” so truly captures the indomitable spirit of not only the trainers, their friends and families, but those of the jockeys and stable hands that you want to hug every one of them.
Posted on Apr 18 2008
Filed Under: News
A.V. Club: Affable, Engaging Love Letter
Despite their quibble with digital our cameras, AV club gives us a solid B.
Hennegans’ affable, engaging love letter to everything equine and tradition-bound, getting there is way more than half the fun.
Posted on Apr 17 2008
Filed Under: News
Philly.com: Great Story
But while this documentary by the filmmaking Hennegan brothers has a great story - seven of them, in fact - this is also primer for the uninitiated, the curious, and anyone who thinks racetracks are the most beautiful places on Earth.
Posted on Apr 17 2008
Filed Under: News
NY Newsday
Rafer Guzman of NY Newsday does an entertainment feature on the film.
Among the characters they found are Dan Hendricks, a trainer who uses a wheelchair but who still rides his thoroughbreds; Kiaran McLaughlin, a Southern good ol’ boy who hobnobs with wealthy sheiks; and Frank Amonte, a hardscrabble trainer so devoted to his work that he lives across the street from Aqueduct.
Posted on Apr 17 2008
Filed Under: News
Awesome review in this week’s Sports Illustrated!!!!!
Sports Illustrated features a write up (”Animal Magnetism”) on the film in SI Players in the April 21st Issue.
The film, directed with a taste for salient, often humorous detail by brothers John and Brad Hennegan maintains a subtle tension.
Download PDF (1.36 MB)
Posted on Apr 16 2008
Filed Under: News
Veitch: More Than Just Roses
Michael Veitch of the Saratogian reviews the film.
With their connection to racing, the Hennegans succeeded in filming a story that captured the drama of backstretch life, particularly when it involves the annual dream of making it to Louisville.
Posted on Apr 16 2008
Filed Under: News
Time Out NY calls it “Essential”!!!
Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York gives the film 5 stars!
The doc culminates in a sequence of extraordinary power, set to a ghostly choral version of “My Old Kentucky Home,” the traditional riders-to-post song. We see young boys in their new suits, the smiles of nervous trainers and grooms, the NASCAR-like circus of paparazzi, Southern ladies and jockeys. In mere moments, the film evokes the whole of Americana. The bell rings, and your heart is already in your throat. Essential.
Read it here.
Download PDF (1.64 MB)
Posted on Apr 16 2008
Filed Under: News