Last year, I had a bit of an adventure as an extra on a movie set. And not just any movie set, either. I ended up as an extra in a bar […]
Review: Searching for Ingmar Bergman Delights in Discovering an Icon of Auteur Cinema
Review: La Divina Tells Her Own Story in Maria By Callas
I’ve attended more opera in the last year than I have in all my years of attending theater (and that’s a lot of years!). I’ve been able to see several productions at […]
Review: Blues Icon Paul Butterfield Gets His Due in Documentary Horn from the Heart
One musician featured in the documentary Horn from the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story jokingly bemoans the fact that it almost isn’t fair that Butterfield was such a talented blues harmonica player […]
Review: Hal is Filmmaker Hal Ashby’s Work and Life From Those Who Knew Him
Cinematic blindspots, those gaps in our film viewing history that mean we have to sheepishly admit to having not seen a certain classic or a hot new release, are a reality. Especially […]
Interview: Jimmy Chin and Alex Honnold on the Risks, Planning and Emotional Investment of Climbing in Free Solo
One of the many success stories in the field of documentary films released in 2018 is the mountain-climbing thrill ride Free Solo. For those fortunate enough to see 2015’s Meru, you witnessed […]
Review: Actor’s Nephew Attempts to Rewrite a Legend in Making Montgomery Clift
Sometimes, it is possible for a documentary filmmaker to be too close his/her subject. Case in point: Robert Clift, the nephew of the late actor Montgomery Clift, co-directs Making Montgomery Clift with […]
Review: Documentarian Frederick Wiseman Turns His Camera to Middle America in Monrovia, Indiana
At age 88, master documentarian Frederick Wiseman (In Jackson Heights, La Danse, Public Housing) continues his breakneck pace of putting out a new, epic-length documentary film about every year or two. Following […]
Review: Entertaining Studio 54 Is a Dance Party And Then Some
One imagines that Studio 54, the new documentary by Matt Tyrnauer about the infamous ’70s nightclub, played very well to NYC audiences when it opened there earlier this month. Chances are, the theater was […]
Review: Major Risk—And Major Reward—in Tense, Impressive Free Solo
For those fortunate enough to see 2015’s mountain-climbing documentary Meru, you witnessed a prime example of high-stakes risk sports that seemed as unprecedented as it was majestic and serene. That film’s co-directors […]
Review: Brisk Kusama: Infinity Gives An Unsung Artist Her Due
It would seem almost impossible to tell the story of world’s most successful living artist and the top-selling female artist in history in roughly 80 minutes, but the new documentary Kusama: Infinity […]
Review: Science Fair Highlights Brightest Young Minds and One Fierce Competition
In a time when the importance and benefits of science are questioned and denied at an alarming pace, the superb documentary Science Fair reminds us that each new generation of would-be scientists […]
Review: Rodents of Unusual Size Is Part Cautionary Tale, Part Folksy Yarn
Welcome to a nature documentary that may test the limits for even the most devoted animal lover. It may not be exactly accurate to call Rodents of Unusual Size a nature doc, […]
