Produced and Directed by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon Released by Magnolia Pictures USA. 87 min. Rated R The interminable presidential campaign cycle is here again, prompting us all to bemoan the degradation of our national political discourse and wonder just how and why it got so dumb. With this election shaping up to be […]
Edited, Written, and Directed by Stevan Riley Produced by John Battsek, R.J. Cutler, and George Chignell Released by Showtime Films UK. 100 min. Not rated “Inferiority. I’ve been close to it all my life.” The voice is unmistakable: sussurant, slurred, sensual, and exhausted. Its meandering cadences emerge from the once beautiful and now bloated Marlon […]
Written and Directed by Sophie Deraspe Produced by Isabelle Couture and Nathalie Cloutier Released by SundanceNow Doc Club English, French, and Arabic with English subtitle Canada. 84 min. Not rated Abduction can be a tool of terror, employed by political regimes to silence opposing viewpoints and conceal the truth. It is ironic that in the […]
Directed by William Gazecki Produced and Written by Susan and Lloyd Ecker Released by Menemsha Films USA. 96 min. Not rated The Outrageous Sophie Tucker takes a breezy, mostly chronological tour through the on- and off-stage life of the singular entertainer, whose singing career extended from the birth of vaudeville to the rise of television. […]
Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer Produced by Signe Byrge Sorensen Released by Drafthouse Films/Participant Media Indonesian and Javanese, with English subtitles 103 min. Rated PG-13 If you happened to have seen The Act of Killing when it was released two years ago (and subsequently earned an Oscar nomination, which it should’ve won) or on Netflix, you […]
Written and Directed by David Thorpe Produced by Howard Gertler and Thorpe Released by Sundance Selects USA. 77 min. Not rated Some documentaries are very serious because they want you to consider their subject matter seriously—sometimes very, very seriously. These somber films want you to consider things through the lens of “history,” and they offer […]
Directed by Les Blank Produced by Denny Cordell, Leon Russell, and Blank Released by Janus Films USA. 90 min. Not rated With Leon Russell, J.J. Cale, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Eric Andersen, Johnny Gimble, and Willis Alan Ramsey Les Blank’s A Poem Is a Naked Person is a beautifully restored 1974 rock ‘n’ roll time […]
Directed by Sean Baker Produced by Marcus Cox, Karrie Cox, Darren Dean, Shih-Ching Tsou Written by Baker and Chris Bergoch Released by Magnolia Pictures USA. 87 min. Rated R With Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, James Ransone, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O’Hagan and Alla Tumanian Writer/director Sean Baker has made wonderful indie films that are sparkling […]
Directed by Matthew Heineman Produced by Heineman and Tom Yellin Released by the Orchard English and Spanish with English subtitles USA/Mexico. 100 min. Not Rated Organized vigilantes have arisen on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border out of frustration with what they see as inadequate government response to the violent cartels terrorizing farmers and ranchers […]