Film-Forward

Pop Culture

A Band Called Death

Directed by Mark Covino & Jeff Howlett Produced by Covino & Howlett, Scott Mosier, Matthew Perniciaro, Kevin Mann & Jerry Ferrara Released by Drafthouse Films USA. 96 min. Not rated The road to rock ‘n’ roll fame is littered with failed bands, but the tale of A Band Called Death grabs attention for its unusual […]

Tribeca 2013 Documentaries

The more than two dozen documentaries at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival aimed for hearts and minds and many succeeded as audience pleasers. This year’s selections, in and out of competition and as special events, straddled the world, and are notable for their timeliness, for celebrating people at a surprising variety of work, and for […]

Room 237

Directed by Rodney Ascher Produced by Tim Kirk Released by IFC Films USA. 102 min. Not rated You’ve all seen The Shining, haven’t you? Stanley Kubrick’s seminal 1980 horror film gave Jack Nicholson a role (or an entire hotel) to chew on while Shelley Duvall ran around frantically, followed by a newly-created Steadicam. (It was […]

Don’t Stop Believin’

Written & Directed by Ramona S. Diaz Produced by Diaz & Capella Fahoome Brogden English & Tagalog with English subtitles Released by Cinedigm Entertainment USA. 105 min. Not rated Even if you can’t name off the top of your head hits by the band Journey, as soon as one of their songs cranks up—on Glee, […]

My Amityville Horror

Edited, Written, & Directed by Eric Walter Produced by Andrea Adams, John R. Blythe & Walter Released by IFC Midnight USA. 98 min. Not rated At its heart, My Amityville Horror is about what happens to a normal person put through extraordinary, horrifying, and traumatic experiences, and how he comes out on the other side. […]

A Liar’s Autobiography

Directed by Bill Jones, Jeff Simpson & Ben Timlett Written by Graham Chapman, David Sherlock, Douglas Addams, David Yallop & Alex Martin, based on the memoirs of Mr. Chapman Released by Epix/Brainstorm Media UK. 82 min. Rated R Featuring the voices of Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin, and with Carole […]

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel

Produced & Directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland Released by Samuel Goldwyn Films/Epix USA. 86 min. Rated PG-13 “Faction,” the blending of real life and fiction, is the word Diana Vreeland uses to describe the most interesting stories of her extraordinary life. Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel makes note that her sense of history, […]

Radio Unnameable

Directed & Produced by Paul Lovelace & Jessica Wolfson Released by Kino Lorber USA. 87 min. Not rated Radio Unnameable is a fan’s portrait of the counterculture radio personality who helped create free-form radio and turned what was considered a one-way medium into a forerunner of the interactive social media that has now almost passed […]

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope

Directed by Morgan Spurlock Produced by Jeremy Chilnick, Matthew Galkin, Spurlock & Thomas Tull Written by Jeremy Chilnik, Whedon & Spurlock Released by Wrekin Hill Entertainment USA. 88 min. Rated PG-13 With Joss Whedon, Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, Eli Roth, Robert Kirkman, Stan Lee, Harry Knowles, Seth Green and Seth Rogen For the first time […]