The Wolfpack grabs your attention right out of the gate. Its premise is the type that leaves you scratching your head in confusion and looking on in wonder. How could you have an apartment in New York City and never venture outside? What could scare a father so much that he would…
We would hardly need to think twice about taking to task a narrative film which conceives a compelling character only to craft it unconvincingly. Yet in the realm of documentary, there emerges that peculiar brand of film whose central figure is commanding enough in its own right to overcome the limitations of the means of representation. Perhaps it’s the sense…
One of the major controversies headed into the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia, was concern for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender athletes. In June 2013, President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law that aims to protect children from the “alternative” ways of the LGT lifestyle that could harm “normal” family values. As a result of the law, there was uncertainty…
Count this as my favorite discovery at SXSW. A Space Program will polarize audiences. In fact, many people walked out during the World Premiere screening. The mockumentary/performance piece is sci-fi by way of Wes Anderson. Writers and directors Van Neistat and Tom Sachs constructed the basics required for space travel: space shuttle, space suits…
The long-lamented lack of an Academy Award for casting may come from the misgiving that the job’s all about booking big talent, but any aware audience appreciates the additions and ironies brought about by the tensions between player and played. That’s the tangential takeaway of Tab Hunter Confidential, a movie whose inability to entirely achieve its…
In 2008, James Marsh’s Man on Wire, a recounting of Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers, was one of the most talked about documentaries. At first glance, the film was merely a historical account of Petit’s quest and success, but it ended up being so much more. It…
Are you wearing ten bracelets on your wrist at once? Does your wardrobe come mostly from hip little thrift shops no one else seems to know about? Have you adopted a pair of glasses with chunky, dark frames as part of your signature look? Then you might be interested to know that nonagenarian socialite and fashion maven Iris Apfel beat you to your own style by a few decades… and she looks ….
Famous Nathan takes us through the history of the world famous Coney Island institution, Nathan’s Famous Frankfurter & Soft Drink Stand, and tells the classic story of the American Dream as Nathan Handwerker transcends his humble beginnings to create a uniquely American institution. Llloyd Handwerker, grandson of Nathan Handwerker, uses archival…
I used to be utterly terrified of Freddy Krueger. I had never seen Nightmare on Elm Street (and to this day, I still haven’t) but I vividly remember the poster that hung in my local video store; that clawed hand creeping over the head of teenager. I can…
For all the good that the internet provides us, it brings a whole lot of crap along with it. While most of us take the internet for its informational qualities, Googling every little thing that we may not know, one of its founding principles is that of connection. The internet is about bringing…