AltWeeklies Wire
Boxing, Sex and Madness: 'Tyson'new
In a new Tyson documentary, the boxer tells it in his own words.
L.A. Weekly |
Scott Foundas |
05-01-2009 |
Reviews
The Year's Most Inspiring Movie Is About Two Aging Canadian Metal-Headsnew
It doesn't matter if you're not a metal fan. You feel immediate affection for Anvil, and you desperately wish for them to succeed.
San Diego CityBeat |
Anders Wright |
04-29-2009 |
Reviews
The Circle Of Inconvenient Half-Truthsnew
Disney's Earth is a stunning spectacle of nature's richness, packaged and delivered without the faintest whiff of corporate deception. But don't worry, it's in there.
San Antonio Current |
Greg Harman |
04-22-2009 |
Reviews
The Heroic Optimism of Anvilnew
It has been a long, strange trip for Anvil, but the trajectory has been smoothly downward. As Anvil! The Story of Anvil trails Anvil through an increasingly dire European tour, what distinguishes the film is Sacha Gervasi's palpable affection for her subjects, and her subjects' awareness of themselves.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
04-22-2009 |
Reviews
New Doc on 'A Chorus Line' Misses the Marknew
Reality TV has squandered the great impulse toward cultural-political exploration by turning democracy and the documentary into bread and circuses. This tragedy defeats Every Little Step, the first doc to chronicle A Chorus Line's creation.
New York Press |
Armond White |
04-16-2009 |
Reviews
PBS Puts a Human Face on Native American Historynew
In terms of exposition, inspiration, and cross-cultural outreach, you can think of We Shall Remain as the Native American Eyes on the Prize. Like that landmark documentary, this series reminds us that true glory lies in the honest histories of people, not the manipulated histories of governments.
Boston Phoenix |
Clif Garboden |
04-08-2009 |
TV
'The Least of These' Looks at the Incarceration of Immigrant Familiesnew
To the list of bizarre, wasteful and cruel failures of the Department of Homeland Security under the Bush Administration, add this program to imprison children.
Doc Finds the Flaws in North America's Approach to Intellectual Propertynew
A new "open source" documentary is a look at the battle between copyright and "copyleft."
Fast Forward Weekly |
Lindsay Bowman |
03-19-2009 |
Reviews
A New Film Imagines Vietnam If Kennedy Had Livednew
A new documentary makes the case that Kennedy's nonconfrontational tactics on the world stage during his presidency would surely have carried over to preventing that "quagmire" known here as the Vietnam War (and over there as "the American War"). Had he lived, of course.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
03-18-2009 |
Reviews
A Damning Look at Watts Goin' Onnew
Hand wringing about the rise of gang activity traditionally combines equal parts racial panic and blame deflection. What marks director Stacy Peralta’s turf is his dedication to undermining these reflexes.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
03-11-2009 |
Reviews
A Filmmaker and Her Subject Chronicle an Epic Immigrant Experiencenew
The Betrayal fascinates like other rare, intimate documentaries shot over long periods -- Michael Apted's Seven Up series being the most famous example.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Dennis Harvey |
02-25-2009 |
Reviews
Fungi Doc Too Goofy to Alter Mindsnew
Ron Mann's Know Your Mushrooms struggles with its own identity. Too goofy and light-hearted to be genuinely interesting but too shallow and ham-handedly "stoner-friendly" to appeal to the incense and Animal Collective set, the end result is stuck in limbo.
Fast Forward Weekly |
Patrick Doyle |
02-12-2009 |
Reviews
Animated Documentary 'Waltz With Bashir' Works Well on Every Levelnew
Waltz With Bashir is about the process of coming to remember, and how we should present those memories. In the way it acknowledges its own myopia and self-concern, it's one of the most honest and innovative films of the millennium.
Tucson Weekly |
James DiGiovanna |
02-05-2009 |
Reviews
Cash Documentary Says Nothing Newnew
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison is not especially penetrating; it's more of a puff piece using archival photographs and current-day interviews.
The Portland Mercury |
Ned Lannamann |
02-05-2009 |
Reviews
Filmmakers Page and Pomerenke Ask the Ultimate Musical Questionnew
There's probably no better way of describing music's regenerative powers and fleshing out its abstract properties than through the equally powerful and abstract medium of film.
Phoenix New Times |
Serene Dominic |
02-03-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
