My Favorite Documentaries of 2012 (And Where You Can See Them)
I don’t really like the idea of making number-ranked or limited-number lists of favorite or best films at the end of the year. Of course, it’s part of my job, and I’ve already done rankings for an Indiewire poll and a roundup at Film School Rejects and I’ve done a categorical list of the best documentaries of 2012 at Movies.com, …
Read MoreWatch: ‘We Will Forget’ Follows a Doomsday Prophet to “The End”
Outside of Y2K and Ghostbusters II, New Year’s Eve isn’t necessarily a time we think about the end of the world. But today does mark the end of something, so I thought it a good time to share a new short film about one man’s prediction of the Rapture by way of coded messages in the Bible (it would have …
Read MoreInterview: Amy Berg on ‘West of Memphis,’ Peter Jackson and the Necessity of Adding to the Story That Began With ‘Paradise Lost’
It’s very hard not to think about Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s Paradise Lost films when seeing West of Memphis. But the latter documentary, which opens this week, does work on its own and has been a necessary, instrumental part of the case of the West Memphis Three. It was produced in part by one of the Three, Damien Echols, …
Read MoreClinton Campaign Doc ‘The War Room’ Wins the 2013 Cinema Eye Legacy Award
It was already a special year for The War Room, D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus‘s Oscar nominee that follows Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign and made movie stars out of George Stephanapolous and especially James Carville. The documentary got a nice Blu-ray edition from the Criterion Collection back in March. Then, while not specifically related to this work (though it …
Read MoreWhat Are the Best Music Documentaries of 2012?
Once again, MusicFilmWeb — “the music documentary hub” — has polled filmmakers, programmers and other notable persons for their annual look at the best nonfiction musicals films of the year. And it’s no surprise at all that Searching for Sugar Man has been chosen as the favorite by a number of participants, including music film directors Keirda Bahruth (Bob and …
Read MoreOscar-Winning Docs ‘Times of Harvey Milk’ and ‘One Survivor Remembers’ Added to National Film Registry
This year’s 25 motion pictures selected for preservation by the Library of Congress and its National Film Registry include a handful of nonfiction works, most notably Rob Epstein‘s Oscar-winning 1984 feature The Times of Harvey Milk and Kary Antholis‘s Oscar-winning 1996 short One Survivor Remembers. The former is a favorite of mine and a well-known classic of the documentary mode, …
Read MoreWatch: Music Video for Oscar-Contending Paul Williams Song “Still Alive”
Last week we learned of the 75 eligible tunes that are contending for the Best Original Song category at the 2013 Oscars. Among the hopeful tracks is “Still Alive,” a new effort from songwriting legend Paul Williams (already an Academy Award winner for “Evergreen,” from A Star is Born), which is actually one of the favorites for a nomination. It’s …
Read More‘How to Survive a Plague’ Interviewee Spencer Cox Has Died at Age 44
“You keep evolving and you keep progressing, you keep hoping until you die. Which is going to happen someday. You live your life as meaningful as you can make it.” AIDS activist Spencer Cox, who spoke those words above, did keep evolving and progressing and living his life as meaningful as he could make it until his own death, which …
Read MoreKaty Perry is an Oscar Contender: Listen to the 9 Original Songs from Documentaries Shortlisted by the Academy
Popular nonfiction films Katy Perry: Part of Me and West of Memphis didn’t make the feature documentary Oscar shortlist, but they’ve at least made the semi-finals for another category, Best Original Song. From the former, the Academy named Katy Perry‘s song “Wide Awake,” which was written by the pop singer with Bonnie McKee, Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Cirkut, while …
Read MoreWatch: ’56 Up’ Clip Reveals Tony is More Famous Than Buzz Aldrin
One of our favorite “characters” in the Up series of documentaries is Tony, the little scrapper from the East End who we’ve watched become a jockey and then a cabbie while always maintaining his outspoken, cockney attitude and pride in his roots. He can be a very sensitive and wise fellow, in spite of his tough-guy appearance, and in the …
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