Film-Forward

Film History

The Village Detective: A Song Cycle

This new work from Bill Morrison would not have existed had an Icelandic fishing boat not discovered four reels of 35mm film underwater.

Mank

Like Citizen Kane, David Fincher’s film is a puzzle that toys with time structure, interlocking past and present events with precision and wit.

6 Films to Watch | DOC NYC 2020

DOC NYC may be America’s biggest documentary film festival, but its quality happily matches its quantity.

Hopper/Welles

An intense and—to a certain point—confrontational interview that works as an essential documentary about filmmaking.

Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies

The clip and talking-head-fest is a compilation of R-rated reveals, and note the subtitle. It really is a history lesson as well as a catalog of the nude and famous.

The Ghost of Peter Sellers

What could have been a Spinal Tap–like absurdist comedy or an insider’s look into the sometimes tortuous process of filmmaking ends up feeling more like score settling.

Disclosure

A spiritual sequel to 1995’s The Celluloid Closet, this eye-opening documentary zooms in specifically on transgender representation.

Duet for Cannibals

Fifteen years after her death, cognoscenti still debate Sontag’s literary output, cultural influence, and even her hairdo, so her film Duet for Cannibals will likely fall under the same scrutiny.

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound

As an introduction to the history and use of sound in film, this documentary is admirable, enjoyable, and hard to resist.