The concept at the heart of MANA: BEYOND BELIEF is defined at the outset of film. A Maori explains the power of objects, both inherent and that with which people imbue them. From the cherry blossoms of Japan that draw avid viewers and drunken, all-night partying to the mystique of a freakishly large tuna. It… Read More »
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (La March de L’Empereur)
It’s not that Luc Jacquet’s documentary, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, tells the penguin lover in all of us anything about them that we didn’t already know. It’s that he frames it in such a way that the audience is allowed to experience the emotional life of these birds in a way that is compelling, intimate,… Read More »
PROTOCOLS OF ZION
It is no surprise to learn that there are still people who believe in the PROTOCOLS OF ZION, the long discredited document outlining a Jewish plot for world domination written by Czarist secret police to fulfill an agenda that disappeared with the royal family. Nor is it a surprise that a Nazi mail-order concern can’t… Read More »
SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY
The irresistible thing about SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY is how it takes the mystery of original vision and workings of the imagination behind it, effervescent and ineffable qualities, and translates them successfully into the confines of a documentary. That is not the only reason to see Sydney Pollack’s first crack at a documentary, but it… Read More »
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
The first startling fact revealed in WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? is that the concept isn’t new. A century or more ago, the electric car gave gasoline-powered ones a run for their money before falling by the wayside because of a starter issue. The other startling facts come thick and fast as this documentary by… Read More »
JESUS CAMP
The compassionate god of love so evident in the Sermon on the Mount is nowhere to be found in the documentary JESUS CAMP. It’s a frank, troubling, and cautionary examination of how fundamentalist Christianity closes the minds of its children while indoctrinating them in a belief system of intolerance, bigotry, and hate, all in the name… Read More »
JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE
It seems odd that there hasn’t been a film made about what happened in Jonestown in 1978 since the early 80s, the events of that time put such a scar on the national psyche. Whatever the reason for that, Stanley Nelson’s JONESTOWN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE more than makes up for… Read More »
CHINA BLUE
Micha Peled uses a tried-and-true device in his documentary, CHINA BLUE, contrasting those at the top of the food chain, in this case the Chinese new economy, with those at the top. Not only does he use this method with startling effectiveness, it may well have been the only way to bring home to audiences in… Read More »
300
300 is a remarkable achievement. Of what, exactly, is a subject open to debate. Visually, it is arresting and beautiful in a Grand Guignol way. In fact, speaking strictly in aesthetic terms, it is a masterpiece. Speaking strictly in terms of tone, mood, and dialogue, well, that’s another matter entirely and one that is uneven at best.… Read More »
SICKO
Click here to listen to the interview with Michael Moore for BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE.Click here for the DVD review of SICKO.There is an “aha” moment in SiCKO that is so stunning, so irrefutable in its logic, that it distills the entire argument against for-profit medicine on its head and then sends it scurrying for cover,… Read More »
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