“Levitated Mass” is a documentary about the conceptualization, actualization and meaning of the Michael Heizer art piece known as Levitated Mass, which is really just a 340-ton boulder suspended over a carved out walkway in front of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This is a pretty great movie that raises all sorts of questions such as “what does this mean?” and “what is art?” and “how the hell do you move a 340-ton boulder anyway?” Continue Reading …
Florida Film Festival 2014 review: ‘Strike: The Greatest Bowling Story Ever Told’
The great thing about documentary short films? You can make one about just about any subject and for even just a few minutes, the most mundane person or subject can be the most interesting thing in the world. For example, for thirteen minutes, I was enthralled by the journey of one man as he goes after one of the hardest things to accomplish in any organized sport – bowling three perfect games in a row.Continue Reading …
Florida Film Festival 2014 review: ‘Mission Congo’
Man, I swear to the heavens and every single deity listening right now, if there ends up being more of an uproar and activist approach to save the damn orcas because of “Blackfish” then there ends up being in the aftermath of “Mission Congo,” then there truly is no justice in this world and we might as well all just give up. SeaWorld may be abusing whales and everyone freaks the fuck out but The 700 Club mastermind and former Presidential candidate Pat Robertson uses money donated for humanitarian purposes to fund his own personal diamond mine and everyone is just as likely to shrug their shoulders and say “oh well what can we do about it?“Continue Reading …
Florida Film Festival 2014 review: ‘Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution’
“Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution” is a documentary short film that should be seen by everyone, and by everyone I mean people in the Western world and those who really don’t give a place like Syria a second thought because this is the type of experience that really drives home the full impact of what has happened over there and what their current state of living is now. Why is this not on the news regularly? Why are our televisions saturated with faux-reality shows and meaningless drivel? Why are we being encouraged to look away from the horrors happening in the our own world?Continue Reading …
Review: ‘Drew: The Man Behind the Poster’
“Drew: The Man Behind the Poster” is a documentary about artist Drew Struzan, the man responsible for many of the most iconic movie posters and images of the last thirty years. Many people would be shocked to see how many different posters they have seen that have all been made by the same guy, and this documentary gives everyone a chance to apprecaite the work of Drew Struzan through the years and hopefully will even help more people learn this guy’s name and appreciate his contributions to cinema and to art in general.Continue Reading …
Review: ‘The Act of Killing’
“The Act of Killing” works on two levels. First off it is a compelling look at the monsters behind the 1965 mass genocides in Indonesia and how they are still in power and see nothing wrong with their past evil deeds (or present evil deeds). And secondly, this documentary stands as a testament to the transformative power of cinema and how movies can indeed change the world, even if at the rate of just one person at a time.
Sounds like fun, no?
The backdrop of this movie is a harrowing one. There’s a reason why this movie starts with a short clip from the director in which he explains how he does not expect people to “enjoy” the film per se, but instead he hopes everyone will be compelled by it and will learn from it. He says this TWICE. “I won’t say ‘enjoy the movie’ because… .” He REALLY wanted to hammer that point home. You won’t ENJOY this. But you will still probably be fascinated by it.Continue Reading …
Florida Film Festival 2013 movie review: ‘Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp’
Robert Beck a.k.a. Iceberg Slim, was a pimp turned bestselling author who used his ignoble lifestyle and career choices to help propel himself out of that same lifestyle, and at the same time provided a new, fresh, and most importantly, real voice to the landscape of Black authors of the era. According to the documentary “Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp,” this lifelong criminal and defiler of women and robber of people in general became one of the most influential and important Black authors ever. And after watching the documentary and listening to the people who share these views, it is kind of hard to argue against this point.Continue Reading …
Florida Film Festival 2013 movie review: ‘SOMM’
“SOMM” is a documentary about four young gentlemen all in the midst of attempting to pass the Master Sommelier’s Exam, a test established in the 1960s and which only about 200 people have ever passed, a test so hard that people have lost years of their lives to the devotion of all things wine just so they can have a dream of passing it. And if they can pass it, oh boy, do those doors of opportunity swing wide open for a certified Master Sommelier.
“SOMM” is an interesting combination of a mostly no-frills, just meat and potatoes documentary, and a much flashier, artier doc. It’s all footage of these four people, all in different places in their lives, all with very different personalities, all trying to help each other do the same thing, which involves lots of studying and wine tasting and the occasional shit talking, mixed with interviews of copious amounts of people involved in the wine industry, and this is all wrapped in a warm blanket of art, as we are treated to dreamy, slow-motion photography and a wonderful, jazzy cum classical score. I guess it makes plenty of sense to couple wine with jazz. They seem to go hand in hand.Continue Reading …
Review: ‘Searching for Sugar Man’
“Searching for Sugar Man” just won the Best Documentary award at the 85th annual Oscars, and it is pretty easy to see why this very likeable and well made film would get the accolades it has received over the last few months, culminating with the biggest movie award in the land of pretension awards, and to think it all started with a talented musician just falling through the cracks in the early 1970s.
A Swedish-British co-production, “Searching for Sugar Man” is an epic international story, as it starts with an American singer named Rodriguez in the 1970s and ends in South Africa in the present. Basically, Rodriguez was a very talented singer and songwriter who put together a couple of great albums in the early 70s, but his music didn’t go anywhere in America, and he ended up going back to his old construction job.Continue Reading …