7 years ago
documentary 10
“The Look of Silence” Is One of the Best Documentaries in Decades
Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing found an idiosyncratic, formally daring means of exhuming the ghosts of the Indonesian anti-Communist purges of the 1950s and ‘60s, cajoling surviving war criminals into confessing their atrocities by getting the proud m...
Read more →
Musical Martyrdom and Asif Kapadia’s “Amy”
It’s not easy for a filmmaker to take on a documentary subject as delicate and complex as a dead musical icon, particularly when they’ve reached mythic proportions in the popular imagination. With tragic figures as well-loved as Kurt Cobain or Amy Winehouse, t...
Read more →
“Do I Sound Gay?”
It’s certainly been an incredible week for LGBT rights in the United States. With the June 26th ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court declared that it was a nationwide constitutional right for same-sex couples to be allowed to legally marry. In the...
Read more →
“Cartel Land”
The drug war in Mexico has raged for nearly a decade and claimed more than 100,000 lives, but America media has been contemptibly reticent to give it much significant coverage. Even documentarians, generally on the forefront on social issues, have been relucta...
Read more →
“Amy”
A sad air of familiarity and a creeping sense of ghoulishness conspire to sink Asif Kapadia’s Amy, an otherwise well-intentioned look at a tragic pop star that’s as frustrating as it is curious. Struggling to strike the balance between life celebration and dow...
Read more →
Blank’s Canvas: On “A Poem is a Naked Person”
Partway through My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge (1994), Les Blank’s look at the Appalachian fiddling and banjo master whose humble instrument landed itself in the Smithsonian after its owner’s death, we’re treated to a tutorial from...
Read more →
“Mala Mala”
We live in an interesting time for transgender visibility. Laverne Cox’s stint on the Netflix series "Orange is the New Black" has allowed her to catapult into an arena where she can call attention to trans rights and the oppression trans people face, particul...
Read more →
“Fresh Dressed”
When I began reviewing movies online by watching a documentary every day, I strongly believed that every doc, even not-too-great ones, still had intrinsic, significant worth. “Even if it didn’t move me too much,” I thought, “at least I learned something new." ...
Read more →
“What Happened, Miss Simone?”
“What happened, Miss Simone? Specifically, what happened to your big eyes that quickly veil to hide the loneliness? To your voice, that has so little tenderness, yet overflows with your commitment to the battle of Life? What happened to you?” —Maya Angelou
Eu...
Read more →
Spotlight on Fandor: This Week’s Picks
Fandor’s ever-increasing selection of well-curated films can be daunting for new and long-time subscribers alike, especially given the obscurity of most of the selections. With that in mind, we select five films every week available for streaming to promote fo...
Read more →