A key passage in Tom Wolfe’s blistering architectural critique, From Bauhaus to Our House, recounts a tumultuous public meeting attended by the residents St. Louis’ Pruitt-Igoe housing project, called by the city to get input on how to salvage the seriously deteriorating facility and notable for ending with the assembled tenants joining in on the …
Tag Archive: Documentary
Nov
30
Cyril Tuschi on KHODORKOVSKY
“World’s richest political prisoner,” now there’s a term you don’t hear much. And while OWS can make a case that there are select representatives of the 1% that deserve to see the inside of jail cell, in the case of Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, now serving time in his home country for charges of tax …
Nov
25
Edmon Roch on GARBO THE SPY
Of all the film clips director Edmon Roch uses to compose his WW II documentary, GARBO THE SPY — and they include such eclectic sources as documentaries, dramas, both Allied and Nazi propaganda, and cartoons — the ones that he seems to rely on most come from Carol Reed’s OUR MAN IN HAVANA, the film …
Oct
28
Andrea Blaugrund Nevins & Cristan Reilly on THE OTHER F WORD
It’s a curious path that takes one from rock outcast to full fatherhood, yet many of the practitioners of that most confrontational of musical forms, punk, find themselves following it. In THE OTHER F WORD, filmmakers Andrea Blaugrund Nevins and Cristan Reilly have tracked down the men who built lives upon artistic rebellion — prime …
Oct
19
Cinefantastique’s New York Comic Con 2011: Roger Corman
You never forget your first Roger Corman film. Mine was THE TERROR, which I admittedly was drawn to out of a combined curiosity over a film that was shot in two days on leftover sets, and that featured a young Jack Nicholson before he became THE Jack Nicholson. But whether it was the cheap-ass drive-in …
Sep
11
Pamela Yates on GRANITO: HOW TO NAIL A DICTATOR
Listen, there’s nothing particularly wrong with a documentary about the war between two Donkey Kong champions; it’s very good, actually (it’s KING OF KONG, in fact). It’s just that you have to admit that there’s a considerable span between that and a film that has a tangible effect in seeing a man responsible for genocide …
Aug
24
Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz on THE INTERRUPTERS
In the movies, one man and one gun is all it takes to keep the peace. In reality, when you’re talking about the fear, anger, and frustration generated from poverty and exacerbated by drugs, territorial conflict, and just plain ego, a more empathetic approach is probably better. In the new documentary, THE INTERRUPTERS, director Steve …
Jun
30
DARK DAYS: 10th Anniversary Re-Release
Before everyone larks out for the long, long weekend, I just wanted to let NY’ers know that Marc Singer’s debut documentary, DARK DAYS is having it’s re-release at the Cinema Village starting July 1. The film will be out on homevid in a couple of weeks, but for those of us in Manhattan, seeing a …
Jun
24
Robert Persons on GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9
I tend to lose patience with people who go the “words cannot describe…” route when they’re talking about something. There are always words, if you know how to use them. I gotta admit, though, GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9, the enigmatic debut work of filmmaker Robert Persons (no relation), is something of a challenge. A meditation …
May
20
Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel on LOUDER THAN A BOMB
I’m basically down with anything that celebrates language, but LOUDER THAN A BOMB is something special. Based around the 2008 Louder Than a Bomb youth poetry slam that took place in Chicago, the film focuses on four high school teams as they face the difficulties of prepping and competing in the event. In the midst …
