It is a tried and true formula, and when it works well, one that can be endearing. Not original, but endearing. And so it is with THE HOLDOVERS, Alexander Payne’s beautifully realized coming-of-age tale set at an exclusive New England boarding school where the real lessons are not the ones taught in the classrooms. This… Read More »
JIMMY IN SAIGON — Peter McDowell Interview
Click here to listen to the interview. Peter McDowell decided that after 38 years of silence on the subject by his family, the death of his older brother, Jimmy, should finally be discussed by them. The result in his haunting documentary, JIMMY IN SAIGON, which looks at the emotional impact of Jimmy’s death as a… Read More »
ANGKOR AWAKENS: A PORTRAIT OF CAMBODIA
Robert H. Lieberman’s ANGKOR AWAKENS: A PORTRAIT OF CAMBODIA asks difficult questions and provides answers that are as illuminating as they are troubling. His portrait of Cambodia is refracted through the genocide that was inflicted on it by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, a genocide that reduced the number of doctors in in a once prosperous… Read More »
Bill Siegel Recounts THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI
When I spoke to Bill Siegel on September 19, 2013, it was the day that Bradley Manning, the soldier who had leaked classified documents to Wikileaks, had announced a change of name to Chelsea Manning, an announcement that, for some, was as newsworthy as the actions that had led to her arrest and conviction. It… Read More »
HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN’T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN
HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN’T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN is a robust telling of the historian’s life and times that does the spirit of the man credit. First Run Feature has re-released the 2004 documentary with a plethora of bonus features, and were smart enough to realize that the only thing better than this… Read More »
John Pirozzi Promises DON’T THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN: THE LOST MUSIC OF CAMBODIA’S ROCK AND ROLL
John Pirozzi was a camera operator on assignment for a Matt Dillon film in Cambodia when he discovered the treasure that was and that country’s history of rock & roll. It was one of the first things we talked about on March 19, 2015. His documentary on the subject was one of the gems at… Read More »
THE FOG OF WAR
For years now, Errol Morris has been turning out visually sophisticated, intellectually dexterous documentaries about life’s eccentrics. Those who not only march to the beat of a different drumming, but who also may not be using any form of percussion at all with which to keep time. With the FOG OF WAR, he turns his inquiring lens… Read More »
DAUGHTER FROM DANANG
Gail Dolgin and Franco Vicente’s heartrending documentary DAUGHTER FROM DANANG shows not only the long-term effects of the Vietnam War in very personal terms, but also looks at how fragile the bonds of blood and family can be. Both insights are disturbing, but in the able hands of these filmmakers, the story of one family’s… Read More »
Judith Ehrlich & Rick Goldsmith Introduce You to THE MOST DANGROUS MAN IN AMERICA – DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS
When I spoke with Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith on February 4, 2010, their documentary had just been nominated for an Oscar, and so naturally that was a subject up for discussion, along with the implications for future financing and distribution of political documentaries. Politics is certainly at the center of THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN… Read More »
Tom Weidlinger Has A DREAM IN HANOI
I doubt that there’s ever been a documentary quite like Tom Weidlinger’s A DREAM IN HANOI. It follows the collaboration between an American theater company with a Vietnamese on on a production of Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS’ DREAM staged in Vietnam, and performed partly in English and partly in Vietnamese. The cast and crew blend… Read More »