Everything else is just made up
Review of Page One: Inside the New York Times directed by Andrew Rossi Rating **** This documentary looks at the impact digital media has had on the moribund print media. It’s also an inside look at the New York Times. The biggest question raised by the film is whether or not the New York Times [...]
This blog is full of stories that show that one person with an idea can make a difference in the world. We live in a time of hyper media, where stories can quickly go viral, where a video uploaded to Youtube can be viewed by millions in a matter of days. Such is the case [...]
Review of If a Tree Falls written & directed by Marshall Curry Rating ***** This was one of five documentaries nominated for this year’s Oscars for best documentary. Since I’ve been unable to view the winning documentary Undefeated, I can’t compare the two. But this was certainly a worthy contender. The film is about the [...]
Like many others watching last night Oscars, I was interested in seeing which documentary film would take home the award. I normally try to see all five films prior to the show. Afterall, these are the best of the best. Unfortunately, I was only able to see three of the five films, one of those [...]
Review of Hell and Back Again directed by Danfung Dennis Rating *** 1/2 This is a documentary film nominated for this year’s Oscar. I watched the film on my iPad. More on that later. Like Restrepo, last year’s Oscar nominated film about Afghanistan, this documentary goes behind the scenes with a group of soldiers fighting [...]
One of the great things about having a blog like this is knowing that there are people all over the world accessing the content. So whenever a writer or filmmaker reaches out to me, I’m always happy to help them spread the word. Such is the case with this post. A filmmaker/musician from Osaka, Japan, [...]
Review of Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer written and directed by Alex Gibney Rating ***** This film came out around the same time as the documentary The Inside Job. In many ways this film is a prequil to that documentary, because before Eliot Spitzer resigned from office he was well on his way [...]
I don’t think anyone watching the Dateline episode The Mystery on Halloween Night could conclude other than an innocent person was convicted of a crime he did not commit. If the judge currently deliberating on Ryan Ferguson’s fate doesn’t overturn his conviction, it will be a miscarriage of justice of monumental proportions. The only thing I [...]
Review of Exit Through the Gift Shop written & directed by Bansky Rating *** 1/2 What is it that makes one work of art worth thousands of dollars and another similar work of art worth almost nothing? That is a question that has been addressed on this site a number of times. First there was [...]
A review of Casino Jack written and directed by Alex Gibney Review ***** In my most recent review of the documentary Gasland, I commented that it was a must see film. The same can be said about this film, especially right now. If you want to know what’s going on behind the scenes in Washington with [...]
A review of Gasland written and directed by Josh Fox Rating ***** Remember a while back how outraged we all were over the BP oil spill in the Gulf? What if I were to tell you that there is a much more damaging environmental catastrophe occurring right now in the U.S. that dwarfs the BP [...]
A review of Inside Job written and Directed by Charles Ferguson Rating ***** Over the past couple of years I’ve started but never finished several books about the financial meltdown. I had the best intentions, as did the authors who wrote the books. But everytime I got to the section on credit default swaps, derivatives, [...]
Review of Chow Down Directed by Julia Grayer and Gage Johnston Rating *** 1/2 I just got back from grocery shopping today. I spent $140 for groceries for two people. While that’s a little higher than normal, the one thing different about this trip to the grocery store is that I returned with not a [...]
Forks Over Knives written and directed by Lee Fulkerson rating *** 1/2 I first got tuned in to eating less meat as a way to better health after reading Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma and the documentary that followed called Food, Inc. Michael’s book was an eye opener. The topic of his book, however, was more [...]
This film has been on my radar screen for a while. I knew I wanted to see it when I first heard about it. Then I saw a 20/20 or Dateline episode about the film and put the actual film on the back-burner. Now that I’ve seen it, I’m thinking it should have gotten a best documentary Oscar nod. It was that good.
