Film-Forward

Pop Culture

Sneakerheadz

Produced and Directed by David T. Friendly and Mick Partridge Released by Submarine Deluxe/Gravitas Ventures/Complex USA. 70 min. Not rated They risked it all for a pair of Dunks. At the start of Sneakerheadz, a crowd of young men are arrested by the police. Why? A new sneaker release turned into a riot after a […]

I Am Chris Farley

Directed by Brent Hodge and Derik Murray Produced by Derik Murray Written by Steve Burgess Released by Virgil Films USA. 95 min. Not rated With Lorne Michaels, Bob Odenkirk, David Spade, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Christina Applegate, Dan Aykroyd, Tom Arnold, Bo Derek, Brian Stack, Bob Saget, and Jay Mohr Chris Farley was a bright […]

The Outrageous Sophie Tucker

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. […]

The Wrecking Crew

Directed by Denny Tedesco Produced by Denny Tedesco, Chris Hope, Jon Leonoudakis, Mitchell Linden, Claire Scanlon, Damon Tedesco & Suzie Greene Tedesco Released by Magnolia Pictures USA. 101 min. Rated PG The Wrecking Crew pays fond tribute to the musicians who were behind so much of the rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack of boomers’ lives. It’s […]

Death Metal Angola

Directed by Jeremy Xido Produced by Xido, Joseph Castelo Portuguese, with English subtitles Released by the Vladar Company USA/Angola. 84 min. Rare is the region with no sound of its own. For the Dominican Republic: merengue and bachata. For Lebanon: dabke. For Angola: death metal? In Jeremy Xido’s docu—dare I say-rock-you—mentary Death Metal Angola, we […]

Iris/Ming of Harlem | NYFF

In Iris, world premiering at the New York Film Festival, director Albert Maysles warmly reveals that Iris Apfel is a lot more than her trademark large owlish glasses. The Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute touted her fashion collection and idiosyncratic style sense in a 2005 traveling exhibit, “Rara Avis,” when she was 84. Previously, she appeared […]

The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin

Directed by Nicholas Mross Released by Gravitas Ventures USA. 96 min. Not rated Even after watching this documentary, I’m not sure I completely understand how this product works. As one interviewee states, you need to use Bitcoin before you can understand it completely. In what I’m sure is a poor and incomplete description, it is […]

The Heart of Bruno Wizard

Directed by Elisabeth Rasmussen Produced by Joachim Lyng Available on Netflix Norway / UK.  72 min. Not rated The Heart of Bruno Wizard opens circa 2004 with Bruno performing his first London concert since 1986. In his element, Bruno commands the stage, ever the rock star. His youthful spirit, formed in the British punk scene, […]

20,000 Days on Earth

Directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard Written by Mr. Forsyth, Pollard and Nick Cave Produced by James Wilson and Dan Bowen Released by Drafthouse Films UK. 97 min. Not rated Nick Cave must say the word transformation about a half a dozen times in the quash-documentary 20,000 Days on Earth. It’s what he feels […]