Written & Directed By Frank Simon Produced By Roman Polanski Presented By Brett Ratner Released by Submarine Deluxe It isn’t until the present-day postscript to 1972’s Weekend of a Champion that the question is posed to Roman Polanski: What compelled you to make this film? The man asking the legendary director is a legend in […]
Produced & Directed by Mark Mori Written by Douglas Miller Released by Music Box Films USA. 101 min. Rated R Narrated by Bettie Page The black bangs, the sweetly naughty come hither look, the mind-boggling curves. Bettie Page is arguably the most iconic pinup model of all time, with her alluring image gracing everything from […]
Directed by Andrew Cohn & Davy Rothbart Produced by Andrew Cohn, Davy Rothbart & Rachel Dengiz USA. 82 min. Not rated High school basketball occupies a kingly place in Indiana; the film Hoosiers quickly comes to mind. No matter the size of the school or town, people are devoted to their local team. This documentary […]
Written & Directed by Alex Gibney Produced by Frank Marshall, Matt Tolmach & Gibney Released by Sony Pictures Classics USA. 123 min. Rated R “Exhaustive.” That’s the best description for Alex Gibney’s thorough 123-minute scrutiny of Lance Armstrong and his now tainted sports record. In particular, he zeroes in on Armstrong’s ill-fated 2009 Tour de […]
Edited, Written, Produced & Directed by Rob Kuhns Released by First Run Features USA. 76 Minutes, Not rated Feat George Romero, Elvis Mitchell & Larry Fessenden The first thing you must know before you see this documentary about the cultural impact of 1968’s Night of the Living Dead is that it’s not necessary in the […]
Directed by Jung Henin & Laurent Boileau Written by Henin Released by GKids Belgium/France. 75 min. Not rated Currently there is a great deal of debate about the exportation of children from war-torn and other traumatized countries. A large number of adult international adoptees agree that the best option is always for a child to […]
Edited & Directed by Frederick Wiseman Released by Zipporah Films USA. 244 min. Not Rated At Berkeley is director Frederick Wiseman’s 38th film since 1967, in what he calls “my series about contemporary institutions.” His first on a college campus (the University of California at Berkeley) unfolds just over four hours. It’s a teaching lesson […]
Written & Directed by Wladyslaw Pasikowski Produced by Dariusz Jablonski, Violetta Kaminska & Izabela Wojcik Released by Menemsha Films Polish with English subtitles Poland/Netherlands/Russia/Slovakia. 104 min. Not rated With Maciej Stuhr, Ireneusz Czop, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, Zuzana Fialova, Andrzej Mastalerz, Zbigniew Zamachowski & Danuta Szaflarska Aftermath, an intense thriller, exposes the corrosive effect of collective silence and lies […]
Directed by Omar Mullick & Bassam Tariq Produced by Mullick, Tariq, Valentina Canavesio & Sonejuhi Sinha Released by Oscilloscope Laboratories Pakistan/USA. 72 min. Not rated Any documentary that takes a look at an impoverished Third World nation runs the risk of inducing guilt or appearing like a grim “Save the Children” ad, but These Birds […]