So there was a lot of hype when this came out last year. My more conscientious friends told me I had to see it. Well, I put it off for a long time, because, growing up the way I did, in a hippie new age environment, I felt that I probably knew all about its [...]
Read More documentary, DVD, Food, Inc., PG-, TovahSuspension of disbelief. Subverting the analytical part of the brain that says “that can’t be” is key to the experience of film, more so for the theatre. Is it easier, in these days of movies driven by computer enhanced special effects? A striving for realism or an overwhelming of the senses, a CGI three card [...]
Read More Adam Del Deo, documentary, DVD, Every Little Step, James D Stern, PG-13, western boyAnvil! The Story of Anvil is the true story of the failing 80′s real life “Spinal Tap”. Having said that, don’t go into this hoping to see miniaturized European landscapes, cucumbers wrapped in tin foil or any sort of amp that goes to eleven because you won’t. Unlike Spinal Tap, Anvil is a real band, [...]
Read More Anvil! The Story of Anvil, documentary, DVD, musicTrumbo, based on a stage play of the same name, tells the story of Dalton Trumbo. Mr. Trumbo was a novelist, a screenwriter, and an accused communist. As one of the Hollywood Ten, he was blacklisted for his supposed beliefs, and for refusing to name names during the HUAC trials.
Read More biography, Dalton Trumbo, David Strathairn, documentary, Donald Sutherland, DVD, Joan Allen, Michael Douglas, Noah, Paul Giamatti, PG-13, TrumboA fascinating little film on an infamous fashion designer, Valentino was born in Italy in 1932. He became interested in fashion at the young age of seventeen. After many years of study, he opened up his very own small fashion store in Rome. Although small, his fashion house became the signature for couture fashion. Valentino [...]
Read More documentary, PG-13, The Last Emperor, Tovah, ValentinoA film whose star persona looks like an exotic, feral animal; one who makes a living doing something you or I wouldn’t consider participating in in a million years, right? This must be a review for The Girlfriend Experience. After all, the star also seems to be much more than just the jaw-dropping surface and [...]
Read More Bruce, documentary, DVD, James Toback, Mike Tyson, R, TysonTo simply say that Waltz with Bashir is just another war documentary would be an understatement of sizzler-sized proportions. Writer, director, and fellow interviewer Ari Folman‘s roto-scoped documentary (think A Scanner Darkly) examines painful yet sometimes beautiful accounts of the Lebanese invasion of 1982. The interviews held are all proposed by Folman in his attempt [...]
Read More animation, Ari Folman, biography, blu-ray, documentary, drama, DVD, Jeremy, R, Waltz With Bashir, warThis month, politics, sex and religion seem to dominate the Documentary Roundup, but art, science and nature all make a strong showing as well. That’s an awful lot to learn about, so let’s get right to it and take a look at the non-fiction feature films that are new to our rental shelves:
Read More doc, documentary, roundupWhen somebody asks me about my religious views, I usually respond with a verbal shrug, i.e. “I’m agnostic.” Sometimes, when I’m feeling especially philosophical (or drunk), I’ll don my hypothetical powdered wig and talk about deism. I’m not much fun at parties. Bill Maher‘s extended and riotous attack on all things holy and hypocritical, Religulous, [...]
Read More Bill Maher, documentary, R, religion, religulous, will