Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, December 6: HEART OF A DOG
Laurie Anderson’s essay film on mortality and love premiered at Telluride last year. It went on to screen at Venice, Toronto, San Sebastian, New York, Adelaide, Dublin, Rotterdam, San Francisco, Leeds, and Chicago. The film was shortlisted by the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Feature of 2015. It now comes to DVD via the Criterion Collection.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, December 6: LOVE BETWEEN THE COVERS
Laurie Kahn’s exploration of the dismissed romance literary genre had its world premiere at Hot Docs last year. It went on to screen at DOC NYC, Los Angeles, Provincetown, Woods Hole, Sidewalk, Hot Springs Doc, Mill Valley, and St Louis, as well as at several book events.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, December 6: THE ANTHROPOLOGIST
Seth Kramer, Daniel A Miller, and Jeremy Newberger’s anthropological look at climate change made its bow at DOC NYC last year. The doc went on to screen at Cleveland, Dallas, RiverRun, Minneapolis, IFF Boston, Cucalorus, and San Francisco Green, among other events. It now comes to VOD via iTunes.
I previously wrote about the film here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, December 6: AUTHOR: THE JT LEROY STORY
Jeff Feuerzeig’s behind-the-scenes exploration of the literary wunderkind debuted at Sundance this year. It went on to screen at Nantucket, True/False, Full Frame, San Francisco, DocAviv, Seattle, Sheffield, Sundance London, Provincetown, New Zealand, Sidewalk, and BAMcinemaFest, among other events.
My pre-Sundance profile of the film may be found here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 6: BECOMING MIKE NICHOLS
Douglas McGrath’s indepth look at the acclaimed filmmaker’s early work debuted at Sundance earlier this year. Other screenings included Martha’s Vineyard and the Berkshires, as well as HBO broadcasts.
I profiled the doc before Sundance here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Releases, Sundance
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 6: MUDBLOODS
Farzad Nikbakht Sangari’s look at a Harry Potter-inspired real-world sport debuted at AFI Docs in 2014. Its festival circuit also included Tacoma, IdeaFestival, Hot Springs, Potter Fest, Philadelphia, Hawaii, Gold Crest, and Napa Valley.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 6: THE DYING OF THE LIGHT
Peter Flynn’s reflections on film projection had its world premiere at DOC NYC last year. It has gone on to screen at Rotterdam, Jaipur, Mar Del Plata, and Taipei Golden Horse, among other events.
I previously wrote about the film for DOC NYC’s program, saying:
Within the last decade, movie theaters have made the transition to digital projection, ending the reign of film after more than a century. As the technology has changed, moving obsolete film projectors into the realm of the odd collector, the skills of seasoned film projectionists are also in danger of being lost forever. By turns humorous and melancholic, their candid reflections on life in the projection booth reveal a world that has largely gone unnoticed and is now at an end. Peter Flynn’s thoughtful film is a bittersweet ode to this vanishing craft and a celebration of the men and women who once brought light to our screens.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, December 6: TREE MAN
Jon Reiner and Brad Rothschild’s look at the life of a Christmas tree salesman debuted at Montreal World last year. Its fest circuit also included DOC NYC, St Lawrence, and DocUtah. It now comes to VOD via iTunes.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to VOD this coming Tuesday, December 6: THE MUSIC OF STRANGERS: YO YO MA & THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE
Morgan Neville’s profile of the world music collective debuted at Toronto in 2015. Screenings followed at Berlin, True/False, San Francisco, Montclair, DocAviv, Los Angeles, Sydney, Provincetown, and Biografilm, among other fests.
I previously wrote about the doc here.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Recommendations, Releases
Coming to DVD today, Friday, June 2: BEYOND CLUELESS
Charlie Lyne’s deconstruction of the teen movie debuted at SXSW in 2014. Its fest circuit also included Hot Docs, Rotterdam, CPH:DOX, Cork, SF Indie, and Sheffield
Millennial filmmaker Lyne revisits the teen films of his youth – roughly from 1995’s CLUELESS to 2004’s MEAN GIRLS – in this wry essay, hypnotically narrated by Fairuza Balk, herself a survivor of the genre in films like 1996’s THE CRAFT. While her voiceover often offers brief synopses of the movies under consideration, the project generally feels geared to viewers like Lyne who have intimate, if not encyclopedic, knowledge of this period of teen films – older viewers might find themselves lost – or disinterested – at some points. That aside, the filmmaker’s affection for his source material is clear, having selected clips from some 200 teen flicks to illustrate his consideration of adolescence on screen, from a look at high school cliques, rebellion, sexual exploration, and the struggle between individuality and herd mentality. If the proceedings are given a somewhat offputting reverence that masks tenuous links or overstated readings, this tone nonetheless well matches the melodramatic excesses of the teenage experience, where everything feels like it’s a matter of life or death, and signals that its young director knows exactly what he’s doing.
Filed under Documentary, Film, Releases
what (not) to doc 