If you’ve never seen one of Frederick Wiseman‘s many documentaries (I think the total rests somewhere near 40 now), watching National Gallery, his latest opus, might throw you off. He has been called a filmmaker who works in observational cinema or cinema verité, although he detests the term, but it’s easy to see why some people may call it so. Unlike most documentaries these days, Wiseman never veers into Errol Morris territory, meaning that he doesn’t interview the subjects present in his films. He captures them as they are in real time doing what they do. There are no interviews, no “talking heads” and no clever witticisms spoken directly into the camera and this takes getting used to. But it works, this technique. It allows us as the viewer to participate, something that many documentaries can’t do as they are too busy addressing us with a certain (biased?) viewpoint. We get none of that here. We, like the patrons and staff of the National Gallery in London, are free to move around in the space and address what it is that we want while taking in what Wiseman has shot. Read More →
Category Archives: Documentary
Jeremy’s Review: Aoife Kelleher’s ‘One Million Dubliners’ an Absolutely Touching Portrait of Ireland’s Glasnevin Cemetery
In the opening sequence of Aoife Kelleher‘s One Million Dubliners a funeral is being set and there is an incredibly pertinent quote from James Joyce‘s Ulysses: “In the midst of death, we are in life,” which is a careful reminder to us that even though we are inching closer to death with each day, there is still life to be lived. While pertinent, it may not make much sense to us in the beginning of the film as we allow ourselves to be taken on the journey that Kelleher takes us on in chronicling the history, the energy, the pulse of Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, Ireland. Read More →
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Liz’s Review: The Blu-Ray and DVD release of ‘Alive Inside’- Proof that music is a magic medicine
Music is life’s breath. When you attend a concert, there a thousands of people from different backgrounds, races, religions, ages, what have you. Everyone has one thing in common; they are all connecting to the music. In the emotionally charged and viscerally compelling documentary ALIVE INSIDE, is finally coming to Blu-Ray and DVD. Minutes into this film you will realize why I say what I do. Just for an example, check out the clip from the movie that got the world talking. Rest of the world; May I introduce Henry and ALIVE INSIDE. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Doug Pray’s Documentary ‘Levitated Mass’ About Artist Michael Heizer’s Installation/Sculpture Is Astonishing
A rock. A very large rock. That is ostensibly what Doug Pray‘s Levitated Mass is about. While that may not seem like a subject of interest, it’s the context in which the rock is taken that makes this film, and the rock, so interesting. A little background to clarify – since the 1960s, artist/sculptor Michael Heizer has been working in large-scale earth art (like Andy Goldsworthy who may be more a household name than Heizer) that is too big to be contained within the traditional confines of an art gallery or museum. Since 1969 he had planned a piece, the titular Levitated Mass – a gigantic rock suspended on concrete rails that allows viewers to walk in a trench under the massive stone, the work, according the the LACMA website where the project now sits, “speaks to the expanse of art history, from ancient traditions of creating artworks from megalithic stone, to modern forms of abstract geometries and cutting-edge feats of engineering.” After a failed attempt, Heizer put the project on hold until a suitable stone could once again be found. Read More →
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DOC NYC: November 13-20 – ‘Citizen FOUR’ – ‘Banksy Does New York’ – ‘Do I Sound Gay?’ – ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ – Newly Restored ‘Hoop Dreams’
Tickets:
Tickets for all screenings are on sale now. Advance tickets for all DOC NYC films and events are available online at docnyc.net or in-person at the IFC Center box office, 323 Sixth Ave. (at West 3rd St.). Day-of tickets are available at the respective screening venues.
Ticket prices: Opening night screening of Do I Sound Gay? – $30. Closing Night screening of The Yes Men Are Revolting – $25. Regular screenings – $17 adults, $15 seniors/children, $14 IFC Center members. Doc-A-Thon Panels and Masterclasses – $12 adults, $10 seniors, $9 IFC Center members and students. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Ian McDonald’s ‘Algorithms’ Falls Victim to the Budapest Gambit
What is the Budapest Gambit, you ask? Well, it’s a chess opening that apparently was able to draw top players into making mistakes only to lose the game. I think it’s an apt appraisal of Ian McDonald‘s Algorithms, a film about chess following three young players from India, which just so happens to be the birthplace of chess, as they vie for prominence in their home country and for a world championship. The catch with these young men is that they are all blind or are partially sighted. Picture that if you can. Chess, a game where there are 318,979,564,000 possible plays in the first four moves, being played by blind players. While these players can certainly be aided by technology that blind players in the past did not have access to, the undertaking is immense. Much is the task that McDonald undertakes in the documentation about three junior players. Read More →
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Heartland Film Festival 2014 Jeremy’s Review: ‘Off the Floor’ Is a Well-Constructed and Incredibly Engaging Documentary About Contemporary Pole Dancing
When the film opens, we see Jessica Anderson-Gwin, founder of Jagged, a contemporary pole dance company that’s the first of its kind, frustrated as she tries to find a venue that will allow her company to use its space for an upcoming performance. The frustration is palpable as so many of the people she talks to confuse what they do with stripping and refuse to host them. This is what Jessica is up against in Matt & Katie Celia‘s spectacular documentary Off the Floor. Read More →
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NYFF52- Liz’s Review: ‘Merchants of Doubt’ is a Fact-Checking Fangirl’s Dream
Director Robby Kenner (Food, Inc.) brings us an eye opening documentary on the sleight of hand of the rich and on the right in terms of media manipulation. Often, we wonder why folks vote against their best interest and don’t even know it. Some of the “why” has to do with highly paid “con artists”; lobbyists and spin doctors hired by people like the Koch Brothers, big tobacco, and climate change deniers. Despite actual scientific evidence, much of America is somehow under the impression that human beings are not the cause of climate change. While baffling to half of the country, these people are being spoon-fed talking points that are created by some very talented characters. Read More →
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NYFF52 Liz’s Review: ‘Seymour: An Introduction’ is a master class on life
It should come as no surprise to anyone that I went to a performing arts conservatory for my college experience. Not to burst readers’ bubbles, but I am pretty sure I have never been described as shy or ambiguous in my opinions. However, it wasn’t until a 2nd semester Voice Production and Speech class in which I got up in front of my ridiculously talented classmates and admitted that I have an oftentimes crippling case of stage fright. No one knew. I guess I hide it well. That being said, it has been the bane of my existence as performer for as long as I can remember. Seeing one of this year’s NYFF 52 Spotlight on Documentary selections hit very close to home. I present my thoughts on ‘Seymour: An Introduction.”
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NYFF 52- Review: ‘The Look of Silence’ is loud in its message.
In the 2013 New Directors/New Films fest, we were privileged enough to see Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing. The film chronicled the leaders of a government led military killing brigade whose goal was to irradiate “communists” (mostly farmers, artists, and freethinkers) in Indonesia in 1965-66. We met the men who slaughtered hundreds of people under the regime of pure ignorance and evil. At this year’s NYFF 52, we are introduced to Oppenheimer’s follow up doc, The Look of Silence. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Documentary ‘Born to Fly’ About Dancer/Choreographer Elizabeth Streb Reaches Great Heights
I will admit that I am largely ignorant of dance and its history. Sure I can name George Balanchine, Bob Fosse and Bill T. Jones, but that’s because of the trivia buff in me. So going into Catherine Gund‘s Born to Fly, I had no idea who Elizabeth Streb is or anything about her aesthetic. Needless to say, this incredibly engaging documentary changed all of that. Read More →
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Liz’s Review: ‘I AM ELEVEN’ is universally charming.
When I was 11, I was dancing 5 days a week, going to girl scouts and slumber parties. Life was pretty incredible. I had not a worry in the world then. I did what I wanted, wore what I wanted, (when not in school uniform), loved The New Kids on The Block, and scrunchies. Everyday I came home from school and ate two pieces of American cheese folded into fourths. I was kind of peculiar, graceful yet awkward, bright and precocious, but I had a ton of friends and loved every day I was alive. Australian documentarian, Genevieve Bailey, recalls being just as happy at age 11. As an adult, she wondered if that was the case for kids today. Taking time off to travel, she decided that along here journey she would interview kids that were 11 and find out if they were as happy as we remembered being then. I AM ELEVEN proves to be a beautiful phenomenon and on the heels of the release of Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD, the timing could not be more perfect. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Doc ‘The Hornet’s Nest’ Is an Incredibly Intimate Look at the Toll of Combat
I’m not a fan of war. I think I’m in the vast majority when I say that. Despite the best of intentions, war is ugly and far too often, innocent people die because of it. On top of that, we lose many of our best and brightest. Fighting in the military is a calling to which few answer and it affects those who do for the rest of their lives, some profoundly, others quite the opposite. So when we are allowed a look into this world as people who are so far removed from what is happening on the battlefield (if it’s really even called that any more), it is jarring, harrowing and overwhelming. There have been a glut of films released about US involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since our incursions in both places dating back to 2001 and 2003 respectively. Some have been pro-military action, others not so much and some have taken no stance but simply told us of the human element involved in the operations. Poignant and incredibly respectful, The Hornet’s Nest is the latter.
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Jeremy’s Review: ‘No No: A Dockumentary’ Is an Incredible Portrait of a Baseball Original
We now live in a time where outspoken athletes are a dime a dozen, standing up for causes or against prejudices that exist inside of the sports where they ply their trade and outside in the world where their influence can change opinions. Michael Sam, formerly of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, is smack in the middle of knocking down ridiculously built walls of homophobia as I write this review. In the late 60s and early 70s, it was rare to have an athlete, especially one of African-American descent, speak out about race in sports and in the world at large. Muhammad Ali is one notable example, but another that many may not have heard of is Dock Ellis, a major league baseball player, who, from 1968 as a rookie with the Pittsburgh Pirates, until his retirement from baseball in 1979 from those same Pirates, stood up and spoke his mind about ANYTHING. Read More →
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Melissa’s Review: ‘Rich Hill’ Is An Heart-Breaking Portrayal of Small Town Missouri
Actions speak louder than words and that can’t be more true with Rich Hill. This is a snapshot of the struggle of three boys in Rich Hill, a rural area of Missouri, seventy miles south of Kansas City. They each have different stories, but all crave the same thing: stability. Read More →
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‘The Balancing Act’ Focuses the Spotlight on the Passionate Ladies of the House of Yes
Anna Leah, Elena Delgado, Kae Burke, Anya Sapozhnikova and Matt Stuart
From Awake Films and directed by Anna Leah, The Balancing Act is an intimate and emotional journey of three best friends who will let nothing stop them from realizing their dreams. The film lets you step into their lives as they create, plan and collaborate an event space filled with the wonders of circus theatre. Read More →
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Liz’s Review: ‘Altman’ documentary airing tonight on EPIX
As a writer, actor, and avid reader, there are certain artists who resonate with me on a very personal level. Robert Altman is one of them. From M*A*S*H* to Gosford Park, Robert Altman’s ability to capture an audience like no other. His passion for truth and realism is tough to match these days. He is a legend in the business and one to be studied. Read More →
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Jeremy Goes to the Indy Film Fest: Rory Kennedy’s Documentary ‘Last Days in Vietnam’ Poignant and Fascinating
While I lived through the final gasps of the Vietnam War, I was way too young to recall any of it. This war hangs over our country’s history like a rain cloud and it’s rare that we ever hear of much in the way of good that came from it. Enter Rory Kennedy‘s superb documentary, Last Days in Vietnam, which tells the story of the not-so-secret operation to remove as many of the South Vietnamese who helped the U.S. during the war with the Viet Cong and the communists from the North. This is a tale that has seemingly gone untold in the near 40 years since the end of the war. As our troops that have been engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan are finally being returned home, the time seems perfectly ripe for a film like this one. Read More →
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New Trailer: Netflix Documentary ‘Mission Blue’ – Available August 15th
More than four years in the making, MISSION BLUE is legendary oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle’s eye-opening wake-up call to save the ocean. Directed by Fisher Stevens (“The Cove”) and Robert Nixon (“Gorillas in the Mist”), the film follows Dr. Earle on her global quest to protect the ocean — and the extraordinary marine life that call it home — from the powerful forces of pollution, overfishing and climate change. The film also sheds light on Sylvia’s remarkable personal story and professional journey, from her earliest memories exploring the ocean as a young girl to her days leading daring undersea missions, offering insight on the sacrifices, difficulties and tough choices she faced along the way. Read More →
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On Demand: 5 Documentaries You Can Watch This Weekend
Video Games: The Movie
These are the movies that are newly available online to stream or download before or during their time in theaters.
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