Category
Reviews
-
02.17.11Review: Nostalgia for the LightSet in the Atacama desert in Chile, Patricio Guzmán's Nostalgia for the Light is a beautiful and emotive film that introduces us to the importance of astronomy to his country, and the relevance it has to its turbulent past. Using the desert as a microcosm to explore Chile's past, present and future and beyond that to the universe itself, the film takes us on a journey of ideas and investigation, all of which circle back to the desert. The film begins by showing one of Atacama's many telescopes. The desert is one of the world's centres for astronomers and using this uniquely ...
-
01.24.11Sundance Review: Beats, Rhymes & LifeI went into Beats, Rhymes and Life with extreme trepidation. Like many people of my generation A Tribe Called Quest hold an extremely special place in our hearts and were a huge component to the soundtrack of our youth. I was uneasy about the film being made at all; any film about a band that means so much to a huge group of people has high expectations to meet and has a near impossible task of pleasing everyone. Often these films can fall short of the mark, and where a film on any other subject would be allowed certain leeway, documentaries ...
-
01.22.11Sundance Review: Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975Made entirely of 16mm footage filmed by Swedish journalists between 1967-1975, Black Power Mixtape is their journey through the culture and figureheads of the Black Power Movement. Left in a basement until now, the footage is absolutely stunning and this is combined with a gorgeous soundtrack provided by Questlove of The Roots. There are numerous documentaries about this period and the culture, but what makes Black Power Mixtape stand out is just how classy it is. In audio commentary throughout the film, we hear from artists and activists involved in or influenced by the movement. The lack of talking heads keeps ...
-
10.27.10Freakonomics ReviewThis review is provided by guest contributor Nat Almirall. You can read more of Nat’s writing at Frothygirlz and The Flickcast. My first and, in an academic capacity, only economics teacher was a big, brutish-looking but very intelligent man named Carilli. The official goal of the class was to teach us the basics of the dismal science, but Carilli’s true aim was to challenge our way of thinking. And challenge he did. As an English major, my specialty was simply posing questions—“What does the green soldier in The Red Badge of Courage signify?” “What is Ahab’s nailing of the gold coin ...
-
10.17.1011/4/08 ReviewWhen I first heard about Jeff Deutchman's 11/4/08 project I was instantly interested. Not only did it interest me in subject matter (I love political documentaries) but by the approach and, specifically, the idea of capturing history as it's created by the people experiencing it. 11/4/08 is comprised of footage filmed across the world by 19 different contributing filmmakers, in 14 different cities, on the day of the US election that saw Barack Obama become President. I am going to try and keep this review to an assessment of the film itself, but it is important to mention the fact that the film is ...
-
10.11.10Catfish Review (SPOILERS)WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman's Catfish is probably one of the most talked about documentaries of the year, and with good reason. The film weaves a calculated mystery that makes for an intense theatre going experience. It's only upon reflection that you start to question how such a perfect story unfolded in front of the cameras of a few New York City filmmakers. When photographer Nev Schulman becomes wrapped up in an online relationship with a beautiful model named Meghan, his brother and a friend -- both filmmakers -- decide to document what they thought would be an example ...