When Elmo (as we know him today) crashed onto the scene of Sesame Street in 1985, probably not even Jim Henson himself could have imagined the elmosteria that would break out across the world. … read more
How To Die In Oregon
In 1994 Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide. If a person is diagnosed with a terminal disease and has less than six months to live, they can chose to kill themselves by taking a lethal dose of barbiturates. Since passing more than 500 people have chosen to end their lives on their own time. … read more
Brutal Beauty: Tales Of The Rose City Rollers
Roller derby attracts a certain type of woman and Mabry’s obvious goal was to display her strengths. He did this through interviews of long time players from the Rose City Rollers while incorporating their everyday lives in Portland, Oregon. … read more
Page One: A Year Inside The New York Times
“Page One” could have been called “Everything I Learned in Journalism 101.” The film informs viewers of the ins and outs of the current day struggles and uncertainty traditional news media outlets face due to fragmentation, loss of advertising revenue and massive lay offs in the industry … read more
!W.A.R.
Have you ever heard of Judy Chicago, Yvonne Rainer or Miriam Schapiro? Marina Abramović or Carolee Schneemann? Your answer is precisely why this film exists. In the not-too-distant past, female artists (and women in general) were not taken seriously by the mainstream art world. … read more
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
