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Entries tagged with 'Documentary'
Posted May. 7, 2008,
Surfwise!
By Dennis Dermody
Opening this week is Surfwise, the provocative documentary about the unorthodox family life of Dr. Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, who packed up his wife Juliette and their nine children in a 24-foot. camper in the 1960s, traveled and all surfed daily on the beaches of California, Hawaii, Mexico -- home schooling their kids and flaunting convention. This surfing dynasty (eight brothers and one sister) became legendary, but this wild child existence made it hard for the siblings to make their way in the real world. Documentary filmmaker Doug Pray illustrates the positive points of Doc’s strict health-conscious philosophy but shows the downside also. Still, the final family reunion in Hawaii is almost cosmic.
Posted Jan. 9, 2008,
Martin Scorsese's Val Lewton Documentary!
By Dennis Dermody
Whatever you do, don’t miss the excellent documentary on TCM premiering Monday, Jan. 14th: Martin Scorsese Presents Val Lewton: Man In The Shadows. The Russian-born Lewton produced a series of horror movies at RKO in the 1940s that were just unforgettable. Using talented directors like Jacques Tourneur, Mark Robson and others, he released a series of great chillers: Cat People (1942), I Walked With A Zombie (1943) The Leopard Man (1943), The Seventh Victim (1943), Ghost Ship (1943), The Curse Of The Cat People (1944), Isle Of The Dead (1945), The Body Snatcher (1945).
Posted Aug. 20, 2007,
Calling All Mike Mills Fans
By Kim Hastreiter
I just finished watching a preview of Mike Mills' new documentary called Does Your Soul Have a Cold? that will debut on the IFC Channel in October. It was a fairly disturbing film about depression in Japan, which until quite recently has been a fairly taboo subject. I have always loved Mills' work, which I have collected for years since I saw his first graphic posters he did for Kim Gordon's X-Girl clothing line in the '90s and his shows at Alleged Gallery when it used to be in New York City. His graphic sensibility translates amazingly into film and this movie is unlike most docs I've seen, as its layered with Mills' signature graphic and color aesthetic.
Posted Jul. 19, 2007,
Gogol Bordello: Non Stop Trailer
By Shanon Kelley
My boyfriend and I have an understanding that if I ever have the chance to make sweet love to either Eugene Hutz, Gary Oldman or Cillian Murphy, I will not squander such an opportunity. Imagine my delight, then, to learn that my favorite of that trifecta, Eugene Hutz (best buddy of Liev Shreiber) is coming out with a documentary about his gypsy-punk band, Gogol Bordello. Amazing! And according to this trailer, it seems as though the movie is about not just their live act antics, but about coming to terms and making a way for themselves as Eastern European immigrants in America, as well as introducing American to gypsy music. I'm intrigued, are you?
Posted Jun. 25, 2007,
Darwin's Nightmare: See It
By Ann Magnuson
I saw the DVD of Hubert Sauper's 2004 documentary Darwin's Nightmare over the weekend and I highly recommend this movie to everyone. It's one of the most difficult things I've ever seen and probably one of the most essential. This YouTube viewer made the above complilation but you can see more scenes from the film here and here.
Sauper's style is at times quite brutal in it's unflinching directness and yet also poetic. There is no narrator and many things are left unexplained, but he captures the uneasy strangeness of Africa, a place where great beauty and great cruelty too often co-exist. The DVD extras feature a very good interview with the director who explains how globilization and social Darwinism are at the root of much of the evil the befalls the poor souls who are unlucky enough to be born poor and in Africa. Vanity Fair and a host of A-list celebrities are currently propelling "the dark continent" into the limelight but Sauper's films take us places than Annie Liebowitz never could. I could not believe the things I was seeing and will truly never be the same after watching Sauper's films.