Director Peter Medak has made a new documentary entitled, “The Ghost of Peter Sellers.” The movie looks at Medak’s experiences directing Sellers in the the 1973 film, “Ghost in the Noonday Sun.” Well, we say the “1973 film,” but “Ghost… Read More ›
documentary
Movie Review: “The Painter and the Thief”
A painter has a show in an art gallery. A drug addict in the middle of an extended binge breaks into said gallery with another man and steals two of the painter’s works. When the thief comes down and is… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Spaceship Earth”
No, “Spaceship Earth” is not a tale of the ride inside the sphere right at the front of EPCOT, and if some of the architecture in Matt Wolf’s documentary looks similar to that of EPCOT’s Future World, it has to… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Becoming”
Watching the new Netflix documentary, “Becoming,” born from Michelle Obama’s memoir of the same name, there is the inescapable feeling that it is, in no small part, a promotional piece. That is, the documentary exists to work in synergistic fashion… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Elephants” (2020)
Disney has been anthropomorphizing elephants for decades so it doesn’t come as a surprise to see them do so again in the new DisneyNature film, “Elephant” (and, yes, animal documentaries regularly anthropomorphize their subjects). Launching this Friday on Disney+ in… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Cold Case Hammarskjöld”
Appearing front and center in the documentary “Cold Case Hammarskjöld” is the film’s writer-director, Mads Brügger. He tells the story via voiceover, he tells the story directly to those he’s working with, he—quite theatrically—injects himself into everything going on. He… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Mike Wallace is Here”
There is no doubt that director Avi Belkin’s new documentary, “Mike Wallace is Here,” wishes to squarely place itself within the present day journalistic conversation, the conversation which includes the President of the United States and his White House abusing… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché”
Documentaries prompt questions, it is simply in their nature. For instance, there is often the easy and obvious question: why is the filmmaker telling me this; what is their goal? But, the questions don’t stop there at the easy and the… Read More ›
Documentary “For the Birds” is Anything but
What must it be like to keep over 200 types of fowl at your house? What sorts f havoc must that wreak? Wonder no more, because director Richard Miron has documented Kathy Murphy’s trials and tribulations in “For the Birds,”… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Framing John DeLorean”
What exactly is “Framing John DeLorean?” It is a movie, certainly, but is it a documentary? Is it a biopic? Is it simply reenactments? Is it a “making of” movie? Is it a proof of concept for a larger film? … Read More ›
Movie Review: “The Biggest Little Farm”
Sometimes skepticism is healthy, and sometimes it is not. All too often, however, it is impossible to tell to which side one’s skepticism belongs. As an example, take director John Chester’s documentary, “The Biggest Little Farm.” The piece focuses on… Read More ›
The Years Making “Scheme Birds” were well Spent
On this week’s podcast we have directors Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin. The two women spent years filming Gemma, an inhabitant of a housing project, or “scheme,” in Scotland. Although they may not have known where the voyage would take… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Apollo 11”
However it may play on the small screen, or even smaller big screens, in IMAX, “Apollo 11” is a powerful piece of filmmaking. The documentary, as its name implies, focuses on the Apollo 11 trip to the moon in July… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes”
More than halfway through the Alexis Bloom documentary, “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes,” an interesting question comes to the fore – did Roger Ailes believe the stories he had Fox News peddle, or was he just in… Read More ›
Movie Review: “The American Meme”
What if there is a dark side to fame? What if money does not always buy happiness? What if there are actual real-world consequences to one’s actions? Such are the supposedly shocking revelations put forth by the new documentary, “The American… Read More ›
“To Kid or not to Kid” That is Maxine Trump’s Question
This week’s podcast episode features director Maxine Trump, whose new documentary, “To Kid or not to Kid” just premiered at DOC NYC. The movie looks at the decision most people have to eventually make on whether or not to have… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Tea with the Dames”
Roger Ebert said (or, perhaps, wrote), “No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough.” Knowing that, please also know that I lament the fact that “Tea with the Dames” barely cracks 80 minutes. Directed by Roger… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
As with so many children, when I was young I watched “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Who doesn’t remember him putting on his sweater and changing his shoes as he came in at the start of every episode. I was always a little confused… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story”
Even if it doesn’t entirely succeed, there is something admirable about Ashley Bell’s documentary, “Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story.” The piece follows Bell who is accompanying elephant rescuers in Thailand as they attempt to move an ill elephant 500 miles… Read More ›
“Lass is More” Examines “Megan Leavey” & “Born in China”
For today’s Lass is More, we’ve opted to look at two recent Blu-ray releases both of which have a heavy focus on animals. Why? Because animals are awesome. Also because the depiction of animals in films can be nearly as… Read More ›
