1000 Women in Horror – Documentary Review
1000 Women in Horror is a fascinating feminist primer and analysis of the horror genre, chronicling its evolution from the earliest days of cinema to the present — 1895 to 2018, to be exact. The enlightening documentary covers the impressive history of women creatives who’ve focused on horror and have fully developed female-centered subgenres such as those base in experiences of abuse and rape revenge, challenging postpartem psysiological and psychological conditions, coming of age and dealing with aging, along with others that storytell about strictly female issues.
Read MoreNATCHEZ – Documentary Review
Natchez is filmmaker Suzannah Herbert’s documentary about the small Southern city with a huge history. The titular town is actually the oldest city on the Mississippi. Residents take pride in boasting their city’s two year seniority over New Orleans. Historically, Natchez has been a prosperous community, a Mississippi hub for cuture and the arts, endowed with an awesome array of beautiful historic mansions that have been cafrefully maintained through the ages. Today, Natchez is a popular destination for US and international tourists who want to view the historic mansions and experience the city’s legendary Southern charm and hospitality.
Read MoreWE STRANGERS – Movie Review
Filmmaker Anu Valia’s first feature, We Strangers, is a subversive, darkly funny and bitter narrative commentary on socio-economic racial profiling. The story centers on Ray, a young, intelligent, responsible, well-mannered Black woman who works as a for-hire house cleaner. She is diligent and thorough in her work. Her clients are well-to-do families, mostly White, who recommend her to each other, passing along her good services in the same way they’d share a recipe for pesto.
Read MoreHOLA FRIDA – Movie Review
HOLA FRIDA is a charming, beautifully animated biopic about artist Frida Kahlo’s childhood. Co-directors Karine Vezina and Andre Kadi focus on young Frida, the smart and curious girl whose indominable spirit gives her the strength to soar past her physical afflictions and imagine a world of wonders. The storytelling is deceptively simple in its understated delivery of wise advice.
Read MorePina (2011) – Documentary Review
About Pina, By Pina, For Pina In subtitling this documentary A Film For Pina, filmmaker Wim Wenders clearly announces his intention to deliver a cinematic tribute to the brilliant German dancer and choreographer, Pina Bausch, who is its leading subject and character. Wenders and Bausch were in pre-production for the film in 2009 when Bausch […]
Read MoreMovie Review of ‘The September Issue’ – 2009
The September Issue covers the preparation of Vogue Magazine’s annual style-setting issue, and profiles the book’s prima fashionista, Anna Wintour, who is arguably the most influential taste-maker in the world. R.J. Cutler follows Wintour into editorial meetings, fashion shows in Europe and to her own home, where she asks her teenage daughter’s opinion about fashion […]
Read MoreDON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT – Movie Review.
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dog’s Tonight is a very compelling first feature from actor-turned-director Embeth Davidtz. Based on the personal memoire of Alexandra Fuller, the story is set in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) during the final stages of the Bush War. The tale is told from the perspective of Bobo, the eight-year-old daughter of White […]
Read MoreFAMILIAR TOUCH – Movie Review
Familiar Touch is a profoundly poignant narrative about Ruth, an octogenarian women who is moving from her own home, a lovely and beloved house where she can no longer take care of herself, into an assisted living facility, where she must adjust to and accept an entirely new way of life for the rest of her life.
Read MoreADULT BEST FRIENDS – Movie Review
Adult best Friends is a charming comedy about two grown up women who’ve been best friends since childhood but find their relationship challenged because their adult selves have different needs, feelings, desires and habits than their younger selves did — and they must come to terms with that or lose each other. The film is […]
Read MoreUnBroken – Documentary Review
UnBroken is a compelling documentary that tells the story of the Weber siblings — six sisters and one brother — who, as a family, survived the holocaust by miraculously evading transport to Auschwitz, where their mother was incarcerated and murdered. A Unique Holocaust Survival Story The Weber children are the only set of seven Jewish […]
Read MoreALL HAPPY FAMILIES – Movie Review
All Happy Families is director/co-writer Haroula Rose’s highly amusing foray into dysfunctional family dynamics. With all of the film’s endearing characters’ quirks and through all of the plot’s engaging twists, everything is wrong — until it’s right.
Read MorePORTRAIT OF JASON (1967, 2013) – Documentary Retroview
As part of its ongoing Shirley Clarke Project, Milestone Pictures has completely restored Portrait of Jason, and is re-releasing the film theatrically, on DVD and via broadcast. Portrait of Jason had its theatrical premiere on October 2, 1967 in New York. After a successful art house run, the masterful film was added to the inventory of several film archives and collections, including that of the Museum of Modern Art. However, the prints eventually became worn and/or damaged to the degree that the fine qualities of the film were obscured. And, the original master was lost for more than 45 years.
Read MoreORNETTE Made in America – Movie Retroview – 1986/2012
Filmmaker Shirley Clarke’s experimental approach to movie making matches up perfectly with jazz man Ornette Coleman’s experimental approach to music making in this classic documentary profile and tribute film. The project was initiated during the early 1980s in response to producer Kathelin Hoffman’s wish to document the debut performance of Ornette Coleman’s symphony, Skies of America, at the opening of Fort Worth’s new Caravan of Dreams Performing Arts Center. As Clarke and crew worked on the film, ORNETTE Made in America developed into an experimental foray into the previously untried amalgamation of different film stocks and video format into a film that could be released theatrically.
Read MoreNostalgia For The Light (2010) – Documentary Retroview
Searching For Truth in Chile’s Atacama Desert Icarus Films Patricio Guzman’s beautifully filmed documentary is an exploration of Chile’s remote and pristine Atacama Desert, an arid area that attracts three groups of researchers, each searching for answers to essential human inquiries. With his refined and rather pensive narration, Guzman connects the three apparently disparate searches […]
Read MoreGIRLS WILL BE GIRLS (2024) – Movie Review
Girls will be Girls is Indian director Shuchi Talati’s narrative feature about Mira (Preeti Panigrahi), a smart but naive teenage girl who is trying to figure out what being a woman is all about. Mira is the best student in her coed high school and, as such, is given the position of prefect, which puts her […]
Read MoreDocumentary Retroview: THE END OF AMERICA (2008)
The End Of America presents the ten step blueprint that Hitler and other dictators used to subvert democratic process and put an end to personal freedoms. It compares, step by step, events leading up to establishment of the Third Reich with what has happened in the United States in recent years. Very convincing. Very scary. Should be required viewing for anyone old enough to vote or join the army.
Read MoreHOUSE OF THE DRAGON: Character Essentials – Interview with the Cast
HBO Max’s series House of Dragons creates its own fantastic universe around a cast of mythic characters who weave themselves into the fabric of an immensely complicated and twisting history. The series doesn’t shoot in sequence, so Keeping track of where they are in the tale and in their personal character arcs must be a daunting task for the actors. At a recent press conference, I had the opportunity to ask them about the choices they’ve made to help them with their journey. One question, in particular, surprised them and garnered a lively discussion with some revealing — and amusing — answers from several members of the acting ensemble.
Read MoreLATE BLOOMERS – Movie Review
Late Bloomers is a soulful film that gives way to compassionate consideration of some heart heavy subjects like loneliness, abandonment, self esteem and the agonies of aging. The story has enough quirky embellishments to to be thoroughly engaging throughout. And the performances by Karen Gillan as Louise and Margaret Sophie Stein as Antonina are so utterly charming that you can’t help rooting for their endearingly troubled characters to find their way to joy.
Read MoreTHE COMMANDANT’S SHADOW – Documentary Review
The Commandant’s Shadow is Daniela Volker’s revelatory Holocaust documentary about life after Auschwitz. More specifically, it focuses on Auschwitz Commandant Hoss’ son and daughter and grandson, delving into how they’ve come to terms with knowing that their beloved forebear mass murdered more humans than any other human in history. Hoss’ wife is also questioned about her husband’s ‘work,’ executing Adolf Hitler’s command for the death camp.
Read MoreSIRA – Movie Review
Burkinabé filmmaker Apolline Traoré’s Sira is a tale of a woman’s revenge. Sira (Nafisatou Cisse), the titular character, is the joyful and beloved daughter of the chief of a Muslim village, and she is about to be wed to her childhood sweetheart, Jean Sidi (Abdramane Barry), the son of a prominent and wealthy Christian farming […]
Read MoreFOOD INC (2008)- Documentary Review
Food, Inc. is an alarming expose of the way food is produced and distributed in the United States. Interviewing investigators, journalists and farmers, filmmaker Robert Kenner shows how almost everything we eat is produced and distributed by a very few huge multinational corporations, such as Monsanto and Tyson, and that quality of nutrition is secondary […]
Read MoreAmerica The Beautiful (2007) – Documentary Review
America Is Obsessed With An Unattainable Standard of Beauty America’s obsession with beauty is the subject of filmmaker Darryl Roberts wide-ranging investigative documentary. Using archival footage and interviews with image-makers and beauty battle victims, Roberts reveals how how media, marketers and retailers manipulate women into thinking they must be avid beauty product and service consumers […]
Read MoreSEAGRASS – Movie Review
Canadian writer/director Meredith Hama-Brown’s debut feature, Seagrass, is a moody drama about a troubled interracial couple — Judy (Ally Maki) is Canadian-Japanese and Steve (Luke Roberts) is White — who vacation with their two young daughters — ages eleven and six — at a self-development retreat on a remote island off the coast of British […]
Read MoreSMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD – Documentary Review
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is an intimate, enlightening feminist documentary from Estonian filmmaker Anna Hints. We are invited to observe a group of women who’ve come together to cleanse their bodies, minds and spirits by celebrating the ritual of a traditional Estonian sauna
Read MoreBEYOND UTOPIA – Documentary Review
Beyond Utopia is Madeleine Gavin’s gripping documentary about North Koreans enduring the dangers of trying to escape their repressive country, risking their lives to reach Thailand, so they can eventually make their way to settlement in South Korea. We often hear reports of abusive and inhumane conditions in North Korea, bur rarely get an inside glimpse like the one provided by this galvanizing documentary. It it is very hard to watch, but it is essential viewing.
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