Category
Tiff
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09.15.11TIFF 2011: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory ReviewBack in 1995, documentary filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky flew down to West Memphis, Arkansas, to cover a murder trial that they thought would represent the callousness of today’s youth and the total deterioration of American values. Three teenagers had apparently decided to kill and decapitate three eight-year old boys on a whim. What they found, however, was something entirely different: a small town witch hunt, an incompetent justice system and mass hysteria. Despite a lack of complete lack of physical evidence, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Miskelly were convicted and thrown behind bars before they could scarcely ...
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01.11.11Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams TrailerOne of the hottest tickets at TIFF last year was Werner Herzog’s 3-D documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams (is it Cave or Caves? I’ve seen it spelled both ways). The film explores the Chauvet Cave of Southern France, which contains the oldest cave art known to man, dated at approximately 32,000 years old. Herzog was given special access to the cave and was allowed to shoot using lights that don’t emit heat so as to avoid damaging the drawings. A trailer has turned up online for the film this week, and although it’s difficult to get a feel for some of ...
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11.02.10The Documentary Blog Podcast Episode #5: (Guest: Ondi Timoner)Hello and welcome! It is time once again for another episode of The Documentary Blog podcast. This week we're lucky enough to be joined by the only filmmaker who has won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival twice, director Ondi Timoner. She joins us to discuss her latest film, Cool It, which premiered at this years Toronto International Film Festival (you can read my thoughts on Cool It here). We also talk a bit about her previous work, specifically her last film We Live in Public. On top of that, we talk about what we've been ...
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10.10.10Guilty Pleasures: Five Documentaries That Made Me Feel Dirty After Watching Them.I'm always cautious when using the term 'guilty pleasure'. It's an overused phrase often meant to describe those 'so-bad-they're-good' genre movies that just don't fit into any other critical description. I'm of the mind that if I like a film, I have no reason to feel guilty about it. That said, within the non-fiction world I do think there are films that could literally fall under this classification. They're those documentaries that push ethical boundaries, walking the fine line between exploitation and entertainment. This list looks at five films that I've found entertaining or fascinating in one way or another ...
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10.05.10The Documentary Blog Podcast Episode #3: (Guest: Malcolm Ingram)On episode number three of The Documentary Blog Podcast Jay and Josh are joined by Malcolm Ingram, director of Small Town Gay Bar and most recently, Bear Nation. You might also recognize Malcolm as the co-host (alongside Kevin Smith) of the popular podcast Blow Hard, a weekly show that's part of Smith's awesome Smodcast Podcast Network. This week we get into an EXTREMELY SPOILER HEAVY talk about the controversial Sundance favourite 'reality thriller' Catfish. While Malcolm is fairly clear cut in his feelings towards the film, Jay attempts to sort out all of the pro's and con's of his experience. ...
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09.25.10The Documentary Blog’s TIFF 2010 Review RoundupCAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS Directed by Werner Herzog USA There was a lot of talk about Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams at TIFF this year. I was surprised to see that it was one of the hot tickets of the festival, likely because of his somewhat controversial decision to shoot the film in 3D. It's a debate that I personally feel has grown a bit tiresome. While I certainly hope all films don't follow this format, I do think there are merits to the technology and when coupled with the right project, it could be quite fun. I don't think anybody expected ...