Watch Jay-Z's Barclays Center Concert Doc
Jay-Z posted a special mini-documentary to his website yesterday, which gives fans a behind-the-scenes look of the planning that went into his performances at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.... read more
Found in: Music, NewsBeyoncé Releases Trailer for Self-Titled HBO Doc
After making her name as a singer, dancer and actress, Beyoncé is adding director to her resume. Recently, the pop diva directed and starred in a self-titled documentary that will give viewers an intimate look at the singer. Beyoncé will feature footage from childhood home movies as well as self-recorded video.... read more
Found in: TV, NewsMea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, the latest documentary from Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, delves into the history of sexual molestation in the Catholic Church as cases began to emerge in the late ’50s. While examining the scandals, cover ups and generally appalling abuse of power throughout the church on a global scale, the film also focuses on the story of Father Lawrence Murphy, a Milwaukee priest who sexually molested more than 200 deaf children and remained a free, unprosecuted man until the day of his death from natural causes. The story of the church’s dark history... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsChasing Ice
The Earth is dying. Not in a metaphorical way and not dying over a geologic timescale of billions of years. But dying in a very real and observable way. Chasing Ice from director Jeff Orlowski offers striking evidence of a dying Earth in footage of events that have rarely ever been seen, much less recorded. Orlowski’s documentary profiles famed environmental photographer James Balog who, together with a small and dedicated team, has sought to capture on film the retreat of Earth’s glaciers using an army of time-lapse cameras positioned across the globe—from Alaska and Glacier National Park in Montana to... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsThe Dust Bowl
It’s probably not unfair to make the claim that most people who choose to watch a Ken Burns documentary know exactly what to expect going in: Uniquely American subject, “How’d they find that?” archival footage, talking heads both academic and first-person witness, masterful photography and editing, all in service to a solid (if uncontroversial) thesis. The Dust Bowl, Burns’ unsurprisingly exceptional 22nd feature, doesn’t stray from his well-established model. But, really, why the hell should it?... read more
Found in: Movies, Reviews, TVBuffalo Girls
Let’s get one thing out of the way: The feature directorial debut of Todd Kellstein is guaranteed to court controversy, or at least some seriously heated debate, after its premiere. Though his film lightly touches upon the question of whether the audience is witnessing a culture’s reckless exploitation and endangerment of children, Buffalo Girls is far more interested in demonstrating how, for 30,000 child Muay Thai boxers and their families, the sport means a potential ticket out of poverty. For this review, we’ll leave the incompletely explored, contentious child welfare questions to the social workers and focus on the story... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsDecoding Deepak
Gotham Chopra, the son of Deepak Chopra, spent a year following his father around the world in order to create his first documentary, Decoding Deepak. The film focuses on the strain put on this father-son relationship as Gotham attempts to rectify the two conflicting sides he sees in his father (the icon versus the real man). Filmed under the guise of being a project about Deepak’s initiation as an honorary Buddhist monk in Thailand, the film is really Gotham’s attempt to expose the flawed, human side of this international holy man who he sees every day.... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsThe Flat
When Arnon Goldfinger’s grandmother Gerda passes away, he’s left with the task of cleaning out her flat in Tel Aviv. A Jewish couple who moved from Berlin on the eve of the World War II for obvious reasons, Gerda Tuchler and her husband, Kurt, filled their apartment with enough German novels, furniture and knick-knacks to disorient any houseguest. It was a move of physical necessity, so they brought their physical environment with them and created a European oasis in their new locale. But as Goldfinger begins to go through the stashes of photographs, letters and assorted paper stowaways, he finds... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsYogawoman
It’s hard to pinpoint when yoga really took off, but sometime in the past decade, women started going to yoga like they were going to lunch or picking up the drycleaning. Studios began popping up like Starbucks in big cities, and suddenly there was such a thing as yoga apparel. Ironically—considering that for centuries, exclusively men practiced yoga—not just the followers were women, but the leaders were, too. The documentary Yogawoman, directed by theater producer and yogi herself, Kate Clare McIntyre, charts how female yoga teachers have transformed yoga into the popular hobby, expertise and lifestyle that it is now.... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsDiana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
For someone who was the editor-in-chief of Vogue for nearly a decade, it’s amazing how well Diana (dee-yahhh-na) Vreeland lived out the philosophy that the best things in life are free. In Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, a dazzling fashion documentary directed and produced by her granddaughter-in-law, Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Diana’s legacy is shown to have more to do with imagination, personality and a bit of lunacy than with anything sold on her pages.... read more
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