Archive for the ‘Documentaries’ Category

  • 07 Feb

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    Raiding the Lost Ark: A New Filmumentary by Jaimie Benning

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    A couple of years ago the best Star Wars documentary (probably the best film documentary) I’ve ever seen hit the annals of YouTube and blew away fans with the amount of (relatively) unseen footage, stage sound, archival interviews and unbelievable behind-the-scenes evidence edited together in the most meticulous of researched fashion. Star Wars Begins launched Jaimie practically into super stardom amongst Star Wars fans and many cinephiles alike. Now Jaimie, with a little more knowledge and experience under his belt tackles the second most beloved trilogy on earth, Indiana Jones.

    The “filmumentary” is slowly becoming standard lexicon around the webs and I’m happy to see more of them done… as long as they’re half as well done as these exceptionally well made pieces of nostalgic awesome. I haven’t sat down to watch Raiding the Lost Ark quite yet, but as soon as I hit publish on this post, I’m going to head over to the Vimeo site and check it out. I am absolutely stoked and I can blindly recommend you do the same. Do yourself a favor and go watch it. Now.

    PS – if you haven’t seen Star Wars Begins yet, I don’t know what you’re waiting for. It’s brilliant.

  • 01 Feb

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    Review: Pink Ribbons, Inc.

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    Pink Ribbons, Inc. Poster

    Director: Léa Pool
    Screenplay: Léa Pool, Patricia Kearns, Nancy Guerin
    Producer: Ravida Din
    MPAA Rating: G
    Running time: 97 min.

    (4.5/5)

    As the closing credits rolled on Léa Pool’s excellent documentary Pink Ribbons, Inc., I was boiling with anger. I wasn’t angry with the corporations which use an ugly, deadly illness to grow their bottom line. I wasn’t even angry at the organizations that make it their directive to dispense millions of dollars for cancer research that has yet to yield any major breakthroughs. I was angry at myself that this “pinkwashing” (using cancer to sell goods and services) has been happening right in front of me, that I’ve seen it and even contributed to it and never considered the bigger questions. I blindly bought into the capitalist marketing machine that stands behind cancer research and never thought to make a stink about it because I, in some capacity, thought it great that companies were stepping up to the plate and helping the community at large by investing money and effort to try and save lives.

    Pink Ribbons, Inc. StillWhat a joke.

    Based on Samantha King’s book which various sources note as being very academic in its approach to breast cancer philanthropy, Pool’s film takes a much more human and easily accessible approach to the subject. Questions on everything from where the money comes from to where it goes are addressed and Pool doesn’t shy away from the difficult questions. In some cases, we just don’t know the answers and it’s infuriating. How a disease that has been in the public eye since the 1940s with the Women’s Field Army for Cancer Control and for which various organizations have raised billions of dollars, still doesn’t have a cure… it’s staggering. There’s a good reason for this of course: money. It all comes down to money.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 09 Jan

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    The business of cancer: Pink Ribbons, Inc. trailer

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    Pink Ribbons

    Though the trailer for Lea Pool’s Pink Ribbons, Inc. has been kicking around for a while, as has the documentary which has screened at a number of festivals, it’s a rather important message that really needs to get out. Much like The Business of Being Born (review), it sheds light on a topic which we’re all familiar with but have rarely questioned: fundraising.

    When, a few years ago, companies started selling “limited edition” products in bright pink as a way to raise money for cancer research, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of the money from each of those products actually went to research. It was a fleeting thought but it was the first that came into my mind when I read the synopsis for Pool’s documentary which looks at corporate fundraising and what it means for cancer research.

    I’m curious to see how far Pool explores the subject and whether this is a hard hitting documentary or one that only goes halfway, leaving the big questions unanswered.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 23 Nov

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    Errol Morris’ take on the JFK Assassination, “Umbrella Man” is A Cautionary Tale of Non-Conspiracy.

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    I am a big fan of Errol Morris‘ New York Times Opinionator Blog where the documentary filmmaker can burn through 15000 words on the placement of some cannon balls on a road in Crimea in the 19th century, or about the absurdity of a man trying to make himself invisible to bank security cameras by putting lemon juice on his face. Thus, his step up to making short films for the NYT is too good to wait for Friday’s “Shorts Programme” regular feature.

    Morris’ visual essay, or rather his interotronning of an academic who wrote the wrote the definitive book on the Zapruder film, Josiah “Tink” Thompson, focuses on one one of the strange facts in the JFK assassination – a man holding an open umbrella on a beautiful sunny day, mere meters from where the President was shot. It is riveting stuff (OK, if you use Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel on the soundtrack and every this riveting by default, but still…) I adore Tink’s simple thesis on this man with the umbrella as a greater look at evidence, truth, and reality of history which might just be the most succinct summation of Errol Morris’ entire documentary career: “If you put any event under a microscope, you will find a whole dimension of completely weird, incredible things going on. It is as if there is the macro level of historical research where things sort of obey the natural laws and the usual things happen and unusual things don’t happen, and then there is this other level where everything is just really weird.”

    The Umbrella Man is a cautionary tale of non-conspiracy.

    The 6.5 minute short is tucked under the seat.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 13 Nov

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    AFI Fest 2011: Pina

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    (3.5/5)

    Even though I’m fairly vocal about my dislike of 3D, I remain open to the possibility of interesting and appropriate uses of the technology. Last year I was quite entranced by Werner Herzog’s use of 3D to illuminate the Chauvet caves in Caves of Forgotten Dreams, and I was hopeful that Werner Herzog’s dance-filled tribute to choreographer and dance director Pina Bausch would be similarly effective in using 3D to show the depth and movement of the dancers. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, but the movie is definitely a visual feast with or without 3D.

    Wenders has been planning to make a film with and about Bausch for some time, as the two have been close friends for quite a while, but he says he couldn’t figure out how to do the kind of film he wanted to about dance until 3D came along as an option. Then as he and Bausch were working on the film, she died suddenly and he abandoned the film, only to be convinced by the members of her dance company to finish it as a tribute to her. So what we see is a collection of dances, performed both on a stage and in various outdoor locations around Germany, interspersed with very brief interview snippets from various members of the company about Pina and their time working with her.

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  • 27 Oct

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    Trailer for Herzog’s ‘Into the Abyss’ might drop some jaws.

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    Perhaps it is my background in sociology that has me so interested. Perhaps it is my unhealthy obsession with Werner Herzog. Or maybe, just maybe, this is going to be one astonishing film documenting those involved in every aspect of a death penalty sentence – in an approach as far away from Dateline ABC as can be. The film is Into the Abyss and it has already won many awards and much praise.

    What do you think of this trailer? Is your jaw dropped or is it schmaltzy? It is tucked under the seat

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 19 Oct

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    Review: Wiebo’s War

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    With “Wiebo’s War” being released to several theatres this week, I thought I should republish a review I wrote earlier in the Spring while it screened at the Hot Docs 2011 film festival. It’s fascinating, heartbreaking and easily one of the best documentaries I’ve seen all year. A list of cities screening it can be found at the bottom of the review.

     

    Typically, the best documentaries are the ones that make you look at something from a different angle, approach a situation or person in a way you never expected and even further educate you on a topic that you thought you already knew. For example, if you’re Canadian, you may think you know the story of Wiebo Ludwig. If the name rings a bell or two, it is more than likely the warning kind that signals “crackpot”. Director David York’s current day look at the man, his closed community and the history of his battles with the oil companies drilling near his land may not completely change your view of Wiebo, but it might give you some insight into some of his actions.

    Some background first…Ludwig was implicated in several oil pipeline bombings in Alberta and B.C. in the late 90s and involved in the shooting death of a young teenage girl on his property. He was charged and found guilty on several counts of vandalism that related to the explosions and served close to 2 years in prison before being released and allowed to return to his community’s compound. The community is a devout Christian one that he has built up with several families and is mostly self-sufficient which allows them to stay insulated – apart from the occasional trip to town – from the rest of society. Of course, given that oil production is a big part of the economic engine in this region, many people weren’t exactly happy with Wiebo’s alleged involvement with those bombings and he and his family weren’t overly welcomed in town. One night in 1999, a group of teenagers went joyriding on his property and before you could say “stupid prank gone wrong”, a young girl was dead. As reported at the time, Wiebo came across as an eco-terrorist who had a borderline cult deep in the backwoods of Northern Alberta backing him up.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 02 Oct

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    “Prohibition” Starts Tonight on PBS

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    Ken Burns has done it again. A three-part documentary about America limiting a freedom that everyone took for granted, then took advantage of. Looks fascinating to me. Forget “Boardwalk Empire.” Check out: “Prohibition.”

     

  • 17 Sep

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    DVD Review: The Peddler (a.k.a. El Ambulante)

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    Directors: Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano & Adriana Yurcovich
    Writers: Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano & Adriana Yurcovich
    Starring: Daniel Burmeister
    Producer: Adriana Yurcovich
    Country: Argentina
    Running Time: 84 min
    Year: 2010
    BBFC Certification: E (exempt)

    (4/5)

    This sweet little documentary tells the story of Daniel Burmeister who is a filmmaker like no other. Travelling from village to village around Argentina, he approaches the local authorities asking for their permission to shoot his latest film there. All he asks is for food and a place to stay for the month it takes him to shoot, edit and premiere his work. What makes this even more special and desirable for the authorities is that he involves the whole village in the production, finding parts for as many people as possible and enlisting the help of any interested parties in the technical side of things. His offer accepted in one small rural village, we watch as he creates his 58th masterpiece with an old VHS camcorder and the support of the enthusiastic locals.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 12 Sep

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    TIFF Review: CRAZY HORSE

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    The Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris has a reputation, at times bordering on legendary, of running the best cabaret in the world, and as been in business of doing so for over 60 years. One wonders if the establishment didn’t play a small part in the inspiration for Cirque Du Soleil. Indeed, a quick internet search shows that the clubs current choreographer, Phillip Decoufle, did a recent Cirque show. The Crazy’s particular brand of nude dancing often involves patterned light projected onto the dancers; kaleidoscopes on flesh akin to the opening credits of most James Bond films. The elaborate production design and stage dressing elevates this establishment far, far, far beyond your standard strip club. Details right down to how the bottles of sparkling wine are placed (and lit) on the patrons’ table tops are considered and controlled. Famed director Frederick Wiseman, gives us over two hours of the on stage business and the behind the scenes blood, sweat and tears in his signature ‘no talking heads, no voice-over’ style. Thus, Crazy Horse, the film, acts both as the best possible advertisement for the establishment, a sampling of many of the acts are shown, often as complete, gorgeously framed vignettes. It certainly is not hard on the eyes, as the club employs and showcases some of the best looking women on the planet, and Wiseman has a particular knack for shooting them in this particular environment.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

  • 31 Aug

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    DVD Review: Circo

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    Director: Aaron Shock
    Writers: Mark Becker & Aaron Shock
    Producer: Jannat Gargi
    Country: Mexico/USA
    Running Time: 75 min
    BBFC Certification: Exempt

    (4.5/5)

    A sort of ‘slice of life’ documentary rather than the more narrative-focused approach that is most popular these days (Senna, Project Nim etc.), Circo came as a refreshing and pleasant surprise when a copy was sent for me to review.

    The film follows the Ponce family, a group of circus folk who have been touring their big top around Mexico for a number of generations. Although fairly close as a family, the struggles faced by the business as Mexico’s economy fails are mirrored in rifts between the Ponces. Ivonne and Timo (who the film spends most of it’s time with, along with their kids) are especially struggling. Ivonne feels as though Timo’s father, who owns the circus, isn’t sharing the profits fairly, taking advantage of the younger generations, treating his children and grandchildren as employees rather than the flesh and blood that they are. Timo can see the truth in this, but feels so bonded to his family and it’s circus legacy that he shuns any thought of change.

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  • 04 Aug

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    Trailer: Resurrect Dead – The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

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    It is Zodiac meets Exit Through The Gift Shop filtered with an X-Files sensibility in one of the most pleasant surprises on the documentary front this year, Jon Foy’s Resurrect Dead (Kurt’s Review.) Structured like a mystery-thriller the doc offers a primer on the baffling 20+ year old history of the Toynbee Tile mystery: A series of linoleum tiles embedded in asphalt across the eastern seaboard, all the way down to a few cities in South America with a rather esoteric text message carved into each one. Resurrect Dead is well worth a look, whether or not you are a fan of documentaries or street art, mainly due to the plethora of interesting personalities and surprises along the way.

    Screenings in your area? Check here.

    The trailer is tucked under the seat.

    » Read the rest of the entry..

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