Month: January 2011
Shunka
Documentary film can be one of the most powerful of the cinematic genres. Its most useful tools being: story, advocacy, information, and realistic cinematography. “Shunka” seems to lack all but the latter. … read more
Live From Sundance: Lou Reed
Last night, I waited in line for nearly two hours outside of Park City’s Kimball Arts Center to see the one and only, Lou Reed. The venue’s capacity was a little over 300 and only open to Sundance Film festival credential holders or those special enough to score a slot on the guest list. … read more
The Beast Pageant
I’d want to get away from it all too, if my life consisted of feeding pills to dead fish for a living… … read more
Gandu
Gandu is a verboten Hindi term for “ass”, “asshole” or “loser” but this film is none of those. Quixotic Calcutta filmmaker Q (Qaushiq Mukherjee) takes the audience diverse places through a mélange of documentary film, music videos, sex and drug induced hallucinations in this black and white cinema masterpiece. Thank god for Slamdance—Sundance is too sanitized these days—give me blowjobs, heroin, and punk rock music I say, à la “Gandu”. … read more
The Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975
“The Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975” is a film collage made from Swedish archival news footage gathered in the 60s and 70s about the American black power movement. Swedish reporters recorded In-depth interviews with people like Dr. Martin Luther King , Eldridge Cleaver and Bobby Seale. … read more
Hobo With A Shotgun
As soon as the bold vintage yellow font appears on the screen with Darius Holbert and Russ Howard III’s traditional 70s score playing in the background, it’s apparent director Jason Eisener has methodically examined the exploitation genre and adapted to fit today’s appreciation for the over-the-top filmmaking style. … read more
Life In A Day
Executive producers/brothers Ridley and Tony Scott and director Kevin MacDonald invited the world to participate in a global video project that has become a poignant testament to the human condition. Anyone willing to participate was asked to submit a video of whatever was occurring in their life as long as it was captured on July 24th, 2010. … read more
Solo
A story of a lonely BMX dirt rider in a dry and arid landscape, on a plot of land that is terrible for building dirt jumps. … read more
Life Cycles
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}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Often action sports films can be passed off as eye candy, or adrenaline porn, but “Life Cycles” is something different. Setting a new standard for cinematography in action sports films, this movie takes the audience on a journey of the bicycle what has claimed to be man’s “Noblest Invention” from its birth to its death. … read more
Road Dogs
Documentaries about bands on the road can be overwhelmingly disgusting given their ultra lavish lifestyles but this documentary is completely disgusting for different reasons. That isn’t to say it’s bad—but watching a man screw his genitals together and face-painted “freaks” do entirely too much coke makes for a disgusting display, indeed. Don’t get me wrong a little blow on the road is a good thing, right? … read more