Filmed over four years, the new documentary Requiem for the American Dream is the final, definitive long-form presentation of Noam Chomsky’s ideas on the interplay of power, capitalism, and democracy. Chomsky, arguably the foremost public intellectual of modern times, has been critiquing power and promoting democracy and solidarity for more than five decades in countless […]
In the late 1960s, a handful of artists garnered attention for using land as both subject and material. Installation pieces featuring rocks and dirt started cropping up in galleries, and much larger works were created in remote areas of the American Southwest. Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art casts light on this moment in art […]
Spoiler alert: Unlike several of this past year’s other touted musician bio-documentaries—Amy, Janis: Little Blue Girl, and Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck—saxophonist supreme Frank Morgan did not overdose on drugs. Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story has resonances with the usual Behind the Music tales of success, addiction, recovery, and comeback. However, the strong […]
Censorship always adds the allure of the forbidden to material, and that notoriety seems to be the case with Censored Voices. With rare archival footage, director Mor Loushy illustrates this collection of audio interviews with Israeli veterans of the 1967 Six Day War that were taped almost immediately after Israel captured the West Bank, East […]
After decades of documentaries criticizing the puzzlements of the American way of life—opposition to gun control despite a decades-long mass murder crisis (Bowling for Columbine), abiding lust for capitalism despite catastrophic results for the vast majority (Capitalism: A Love Story), opposing free public healthcare as a basic right comparable to free public education (Sicko)—Michael Moore […]
With a robust showing of documentaries and foreign and American-made films in 2015, there are more than enough to choose from for a top 10 list. The options make for a more spirited end-of-the-year discussion than usual and are also why so many of the awards and nominations that have been announced thus far have […]
This year brought filmgoers three top-notch biographical films on troubled women pop stars: Amy, Janis: Little Girl Blue; and What Happened, Miss Simone? Amy Winehouse and Janis Joplin took too many drugs and flamed out early. Nina Simone, though, soldiered against high odds on into old age, battling the twin tormentors of mental illness and […]
In The Emperor’s New Clothes, comedian Russell Brand and filmmaker Michael Winterbottom join forces to explore the origins and impact of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the growing disparity in wealth distribution. Polymath Brand is a flamboyant and controversial figure, equally as famous for his short-lived marriage to Katy Perry and overcoming drug addiction […]
It wasnt really that long ago when many had to rely on dial-up Internet service, when listening to live-streaming audio sounded like an underwater long-distant phone call, and podcasts and streaming video on demand were merely ideas on the horizon. In the breezy Dreams Rewired, perspectives on the rapid-fire technical developments of a century ago […]