Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Heights and I don’t get along too well. They do their thing: being all tall and shit; and I do mine: being…not. And yet, I loved this film, even though several times I had panic attacks and felt like I needed to leave the room.
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Director: Midge Costin
Writer: Bobette Buster
Sound is clearly an important facet of filmmaking. Think about how different the shower scene in Psycho would be without the sound effect of stabbing a casaba, or without Bernard Hermann’s shrieking score. Would Raiders of the Lost Ark have been as successful without Indy’s rousing theme march? How drab would the world of Star Wars be without the hum of lightsabers? The beeps and whistles of droids? The zip of a blaster gun? Without John Williams? And yet, most of us never give sound a second thought. In fact, one might argue that if the sound artists are doing their jobs correctly, we shouldn’t notice it. We want all of the various sounds to blend in, to disappear in the whole of the film. But what might seem, on the surface, to be simple and unobtrusive is actually quite complex and integral to the storytelling process. Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound gives its viewers a crash course on all things related to cinematic sound, and entertains while it does it.
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Are we a product of our environments, our upbringings? Or are we held captive by our genes—simply a result of the genetic markers in our DNA? It’s one of the key questions of human existence, and the question that this documentary by Tim Wardle addresses…at least obliquely.
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(Originally from Facebook – August 11, 2013)
There’s nothing new in the presentation, but this is a must-see because of the content. Nearly 20 years ago I watched the HBO documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. The documentary West of Memphis serves as a coda to that film, the tragic tale of the murder of three young boys, further compounded by questions about the official story of events. West of Memphis, produced by Peter Jackson revisits the three teens, now adults, convicted of the crime. Due in large part to the influence of celebrities such as Eddie Vedder and Johnny Depp, who believe the men are innocent, the case has remained in the forefront. Continue reading
I hadn’t heard much about this film, and I was skeptical—rotoscopic animation always seems a bit “gimmicky” to me. I shouldn’t have been. This is one of the best films I’ve seen all year. It is, at various moments, tense, hopeful, uplifting, and heartbreakingly sad. Continue reading
Wow. I sat down to watch this a little angry at my new neighbors (renters) for building a bonfire so close to the house, and with a nasty headache from the resultant smoke wafting its way through my windows (via the AC units). That’s always a bad time to watch a movie, especially if you want to give it a fair shot. But I knew within 15 minutes that this was one of my favorite movies of the year, and after half an hour, I thought it might be one of my favorites, period. Continue reading
I don’t really know what to make of this film, honestly. I found myself absorbed in it, but I think I would be hard pressed to recommend it to the general viewer, or even explain WHY I was so absorbed. It feels like a documentary, but also like a scripted film. There are no “characters,” per se. All those in the film appear as themselves, but at the same time, they seem to behave so naturally, as though they aren’t even aware of the presence of the camera. If they’re acting, they’re as good as any actor out there. It gives the film this amazing ring of honesty and purity, with no intrusion by the director, which lately seems rare among documentaries. Continue reading
Can one man truly make a difference? After watching this film, I think your answer has to be “yes.” It’s about Stanislav Petrov. What? You’ve never heard of him?! Well, don’t worry; unless you’re a student of Cold War history, you probably wouldn’t have. But take my word for it—many of us are here today thanks to a single decision made by this man. A single, incredible, almost inconceivable decision. Continue reading
Who Cares What You Think? 