AltWeeklies Wire
Guitar Heroes Talk Axes, Licks and Other Euphemisms in 'It Might Get Loud'new
This compelling documentary explores the inspirations, techniques and creative processes of three of the music world's best-known living axmen, each chosen to represent different generations and sonic approaches.
L.A. Weekly |
Lina Lecaro |
08-14-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Soul Power': Papa's Got a Brand-New Documentarynew
The footage assembled for Soul Power was shot by four cameramen, and it reflects Albert Maysles' "direct cinema" movement, that philosophy of keeping documentaries immersed in the moment. But when that moment has been excavated from the stratum of 35 years, it attains an immense poignancy.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
08-12-2009 |
Reviews
'The Garden' is Another Eco-Borenew
This documentary fails to tease out the dirty particulars of how a city-owned lot in South Central L.A., bought to be a garbage incinerator site in the '80s, somehow reverted back to its owner, and at what price. It's more insinuation than journalism.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
08-10-2009 |
Reviews
Documentaries Don't Get More Compelling Than 'The Cove'new
The Cove is one of the best documentaries of 2009. It deserves an audience for its aesthetic beauty alone. But the film, like almost every issue-driven doc, lacks much-needed nuance, and audiences should remember to approach anything set out to manipulate their heartstrings with a decent level of skepticism.
New York Press |
David Berke |
07-31-2009 |
Reviews
'Unmistaken Child' Crawls Toward Enlightenmentnew
This documentary is a full-immersion glimpse into the ancient traditions of Buddhist reincarnation and one that no filmmaker has ever before explored with this level of freedom and insight.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
07-30-2009 |
Reviews
Bad Things Happen When Fans Get Behind the Cameranew
Digital democratization of the means of film production has brought us to the point where every subculture on the planet seems to have generated its own documentary. Formlessness and boosterism afflict all of these films to some damaging degree, but Until the Light Takes Us is in a class of its own for wasted cinematic potential.
Chicago Reader |
Cliff Doerksen |
07-27-2009 |
Reviews
The Belated Glory of Anvilnew
The recent success of the documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil has brought the mostly obscure, longtime metal band Anvil more mainstream attention than they've ever enjoyed.
Boston Phoenix |
Daniel Brockman |
07-23-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Unmistaken Child' Depicts an Unquestionably Fascinating Love Storynew
Unmistaken Child is one of the strangest romance films I've ever seen. It tells, in documentary form, the story of Tenzin Zopa, a disciple of Geshe Lama Konchog.
Tucson Weekly |
James DiGiovanna |
07-23-2009 |
Reviews
'Outrage' Explores a Caucus of Closetsnew
Our tabloid culture loves to know who's doing who and where. But is this exposure -- often made at the expense of one's privacy -- a social imperative? In the case of closeted homosexual politicians who vote against gay issues, Kirby Dick would say yes.
Boise Weekly |
Jeremiah Wierenga |
07-22-2009 |
Reviews
Grotesqueries In Our Groceriesnew
Food, Inc. may not uncover any new information, but it's a stomach-turning indictment of the unnatural American diet.
SEE Magazine |
Luke De Smet |
07-17-2009 |
Reviews
Norwegian Death Metal Doc 'Until the Light Takes Us' Aims High(brow)new
Norwegian death metal is a fascinatingly dark corner of the musician-as-fanatic landscape. Until the Light Takes Us is an attempt to create the definitive film on the subject, but directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell instead offer a passive, jumpy synopsis that's more artsy than insightful.
Robert Kenner Talks Cloned Meats, Big Agribusiness and 'Food, Inc.'new
Kenner is no stranger to controversial subjects. He won an Emmy for his 2005 "Two Days in October," which examined the domestic response to the Vietnam War during the turbulent fall of 1967. Kenner runs into a even more volatile subject with his new documentary, Food, Inc., an investigate peek into America's big agribusinesses and meat and poultry industries.
Baltimore City Paper |
Bret McCabe |
07-07-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
This Year's Rock Documentaries Are Funny, Moving, Exciting and Tragicnew
This year's crop of rock docs bring us talkes about Arthur Russell, the Monks, the '80s New Haven punk scene, the Hold Steady and Scott Walker.
New Haven Advocate |
John Adamian, Christopher Arnott and Brianna Snyder |
06-30-2009 |
Movies
'Food, Inc.': Appetite Suppressantnew
Doomsday opening aside, Food, Inc. largely forgoes bombast, but you don't need the pictures to get the drift here, which is, more or less, that the American food industry is pretty much fucked.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
06-26-2009 |
Reviews
'Burma VJ' is a Journalistic Masterpiecenew
This gripping doc makes an airtight argument for the absolute necessity of a free press, and it should be required viewing for anyone thinking of becoming any kind of journalist.
Austin Chronicle |
Marc Savlov |
06-26-2009 |
Reviews
