I'm just going to quote the official website for an explanation of the upcoming documentary Phyllis and Harold:
"Phyllis and Harold is an astoundingly frank journey through a disastrous 59-year marriage. Drawing on a lifetime of her family's home movies and interviews made over 12 years, filmmaker Cindy Kleine mixes reportage, cinema verité and animation to uncover family secrets and tell a story that could not be shown publicly as long as her father was still alive. Phyllis and Harold delves into the mystery of time passing, the nature of living a life, and the challenges of losing those we love. But it is also a loving, funny exposé on the sins of suburbia. Imagine Bergman’s Scenes From a Marriage seen through the prism of I Love Lucy."
The film has been making the rounds at smaller festivals but might gain a nice little theatrical run if big name directors like Ken Burns continue to praise it. Head on over the website to watch the trailer and learn more about the film.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Freakonomics the movie!
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s (seriously, they couldn’t agree on the spelling of their first name? It’s beyond confusing to make sure you have the right spelling with the right person. Geez!) book Freakonomics has been out for nearly five years now and more or less continues to cause worldwide debate and intrigue with their ideas. I would dare say it’s the most influential book of the new millennium if it wasn’t for, you know, the Harry Potter and Twilight
But what does their book have to do with documentaries? Well it seems some wise producer decided to take the book’s idea, hire a bunch of highly regarded directors and make a documentary about Levitt and Dubner's opinions. Freakonomics (the movie!) will premier at the Tribecca Film Festival at the end of this month followed by a theatrical release later in the year.
For those of you curious enough, the film hired Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room; Taxi to the Dark Side), Morgan Spurlock(Super Size Me), Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight) and Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady(Jesus Camp) to direct portions of the film with Seth Gordon (The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters) piecing together the entire documentary.Raise your hand if you’re excited!
Editor’s note: no longer able to write due to overwhelming excitement (i.e. both hands currently raised).
Monday, April 5, 2010
Trailer: Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Alex Gibney is back to doing what he does best: covering major political and financial scandals (yes, I know he won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, but I enjoyed Enron so much more, deal with it). I'm sure most of you already know about his upcoming film Casino Jack and the United States of Money, but in case you need more proof to see this film there's now a trailer posted over at Apple.com/trailers.
The trailer looks spectacular and I personally couldn't be more excited for its May 7th release date.
If you're not aware, Casino Jack covers former Washington super lobbyist Jack Abramoff from the beginning of his career to his ultimate imprisonment. It might sound boring, but Gibney is known for turning thousands of pages of documents into the most fascinating and enthralling stories imaginable. Don't miss this one!
The trailer looks spectacular and I personally couldn't be more excited for its May 7th release date.
If you're not aware, Casino Jack covers former Washington super lobbyist Jack Abramoff from the beginning of his career to his ultimate imprisonment. It might sound boring, but Gibney is known for turning thousands of pages of documents into the most fascinating and enthralling stories imaginable. Don't miss this one!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Theatrical Releases
Every Friday we update you all with the week's theatrical documentary releases. Now, this is not a perfect process as our beloved genre prefers the rolling/limited release schedule instead of a big nationwide or international-wide release. So apologies if a film isn't out in your area or if you are a filmmaker and we missed the boat on announcing your documentary's big day (if that is the case, please let us know and we'll correct the mistake).
Now, with that introduction out of the way, here's this weekend's releases with their current rating on the amazing website Rottentomatoes.com:
The Sun Behind the Clouds – (88% rating) updates the struggle for Tibetan independence, focusing upon the March 2008 demonstration against Chinese rule, the largest ever since the 1959 take-over of that nation. The Dalai Lama, living in exile in Northern India, is interviewed extensively and given the opportunity to explicate his “middle way,” a compromise position he has to date been unsuccessful in getting the Chinese to accept. Supporters of Tibetan independence who are devoted to the Dalai Lama, but who nonetheless feel “the middle way” is an ineffective solution, appear in the film, detailing their more militant position.(Rottentomatoes.com)
Breath Made Visible: Anna Halprin – (no rating provided) the first feature length film about the life and career of Anna Halprin, the American dance pioneer who has helped redefine our notion of modern art with her belief in dance's power to teach, heal, and transform at all ages of life. This cinematic portrait blends recent interviews with counterparts such as the late Merce Cunningham, archival footage, including her establishment of the first multiracial dance company in the U.S., and excerpts of current performances such as “Parades and Changes” at the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, to weave a stunning, inspiring account of one of the most important cultural icons in modern dance. (Rottentomatoes.com)
Now, with that introduction out of the way, here's this weekend's releases with their current rating on the amazing website Rottentomatoes.com:
The Sun Behind the Clouds – (88% rating) updates the struggle for Tibetan independence, focusing upon the March 2008 demonstration against Chinese rule, the largest ever since the 1959 take-over of that nation. The Dalai Lama, living in exile in Northern India, is interviewed extensively and given the opportunity to explicate his “middle way,” a compromise position he has to date been unsuccessful in getting the Chinese to accept. Supporters of Tibetan independence who are devoted to the Dalai Lama, but who nonetheless feel “the middle way” is an ineffective solution, appear in the film, detailing their more militant position.(Rottentomatoes.com)
Breath Made Visible: Anna Halprin – (no rating provided) the first feature length film about the life and career of Anna Halprin, the American dance pioneer who has helped redefine our notion of modern art with her belief in dance's power to teach, heal, and transform at all ages of life. This cinematic portrait blends recent interviews with counterparts such as the late Merce Cunningham, archival footage, including her establishment of the first multiracial dance company in the U.S., and excerpts of current performances such as “Parades and Changes” at the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, to weave a stunning, inspiring account of one of the most important cultural icons in modern dance. (Rottentomatoes.com)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Doc News Bits of the Day
There are a few short but sweet documentary news nuggets out there today so lets dive into them:
Part of the team behind Oscar winning sensation The Cove isn't wasting time getting back into the documentary genre in one of the broadest reaching projects I can recall. Fisher Stevens and Mark Monroe are partnering with former NBC Universal co-chairman Ben Silverman to develop a documentary on decision making. Sounds a bit to 'metaphysical' right? Well the idea actually might work as the group will send 20 cameras to follow 20 people across the globe (from a man on death row to a wealthy home buying couple) who are all making life altering decisions in a single day. Sure it's a crazy idea, but crazy sometimes turns out awesome!
In the "more likely to be awesome than the previous story" news, the great/bizarre director Michel Gondry has taken time away from his Hollywood path to turn the camera on his own family in his documentary The Thorn in the Heart. If there is one thing the documentary genre needs, it's the inventiveness of Gondry and his imagination is in full effect in this personal narrative. There is a trailer posted on Youtube and I must say it just might be a 'must see' for film fans everywhere.
Part of the team behind Oscar winning sensation The Cove isn't wasting time getting back into the documentary genre in one of the broadest reaching projects I can recall. Fisher Stevens and Mark Monroe are partnering with former NBC Universal co-chairman Ben Silverman to develop a documentary on decision making. Sounds a bit to 'metaphysical' right? Well the idea actually might work as the group will send 20 cameras to follow 20 people across the globe (from a man on death row to a wealthy home buying couple) who are all making life altering decisions in a single day. Sure it's a crazy idea, but crazy sometimes turns out awesome!
In the "more likely to be awesome than the previous story" news, the great/bizarre director Michel Gondry has taken time away from his Hollywood path to turn the camera on his own family in his documentary The Thorn in the Heart. If there is one thing the documentary genre needs, it's the inventiveness of Gondry and his imagination is in full effect in this personal narrative. There is a trailer posted on Youtube and I must say it just might be a 'must see' for film fans everywhere.
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