BAD 25- 2012- “Spike Lee toasts the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s monumental “Bad” album with exclusive footage and an assortment of celebrity interviews, from those who worked closely with the King of Pop to those whose careers proudly bear his influence.”
10/19/12-Good early reviews in general and in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment October 23rd, 2012
BROOKLYN CASTLE- 2012. “Brooklyn’s I.S. 318 is home to America’s best junior high school chess team, but budget cuts are threatening to undermine the team’s success. This inspiring documentary goes inside the fight to keep chess alive and well at the struggling school.”
10/19/12- A very good review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
5/14/13- This documentary lacked the passion of some other documentaries involving kids trying to succeed by competing but it still was very good and informative. TRDB. Netflix Streaming.
Add comment October 22nd, 2012
IN MY MOTHER’S ARMS- 2012. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “A desperate phone call requesting donations for a makeshift Iraqi orphanage first brought filmmaking brothers Atia and Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji to a two-bedroom house in the notoriously dangerous Baghdad neighborhood of in Al-Sadr. Husham, an unlikely hero working tirelessly without state support to shelter and protect more than thirty children, had been given two weeks to vacate the premises and had neither money nor resources at his disposal. The children in his care are in dire straits: Saif can’t remember anything about his dead mother but her name; Mohammed struggles to balance school life with his search for self-identity; and Salah, who is too traumatized to speak, fears he may never be able to go to school. In My Mother’s Arms is a powerful reminder that the battlefield is only one of many places one can find the victims of war.”
Great reviews! TRDB.
Add comment October 8th, 2012
THE HOUSE I LIVE IN- 2012. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Why We Fight director Eugene Jarecki shifts his focus from the military industrial complex to the War on Drugs in this documentary exploring the risks that prohibition poses to freedom, and the tragedy of addicts being treated as criminals. In the four decades since the War on Drugs commenced, over 45 millions of addicts have been arrested – and for each one jailed, another family is destroyed. Meanwhile, the prisons in America are growing overcrowded with non-violent criminals, and illegal drugs are still being sold in schoolyards. By examining just where it all went wrong, Jarecki reveals that a solution is possible if we can just find it in ourselves to be compassionate, and see past the decades of paranoia and propaganda.”
10/5/12- Excellent review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment October 6th, 2012
DECODING DEEPAK- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Filmmaker Gotham Chopra examines the life and work of his father, spiritual teacher and author Deepak Chopra, in this documentary. Following his father around the world in 2010, Gotham seeks to understand the man behind the public image.”
10/5/12- An OK review in today’s NY Times, calling it a gentle tribute. TRDB.
Add comment October 5th, 2012
AMERICAN AUTUMN: AN OCCUDOC- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “From the start, Occupy Wall Street was never just another protest movement, as revealed in this documentary that chronicles the event in three cities. Follow the organizers in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., from grass roots to police clashes.”
9/28/12- Mixed reviews in general and an OK one in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment September 28th, 2012
PRIMUM NON NOCERE– FIRST DO NO HARM- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Refuting common beliefs about blood transfusions, global experts share cutting-edge evidence that transfusions may not always be as safe as previously thought, and that issues like DNA and chromosome transfers can be hazardous.”
9/28/12- Mixed reviews. The NY Times called this documentary one-sides. TRDB.
Add comment September 28th, 2012
SIX MILLION AND ONE- 2012. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Past present and future mix in this eloquent, intense and surprisingly humorous portrait of documentary filmmaker David Fisher and his siblings, as they retrace the footsteps of their late father-a Holocaust survivor who was interned in Gusen and Gunskirchen, Austria. David’s journey takes him to the U.S., where he meets American WWII veterans who participated in the liberation of his father and Gunskirchen camp. This sparks a remarkable journey to Austria by the Fisher siblings. They joke, kibitz and quarrel, and remind us that history and memory require active discussion among the later generations.”
9/28/12- This sounds very interesting but I could not find any professional reviews as yet. Audiences have loved it. TRDB.
Add comment September 28th, 2012
HARVEST OF EMPIRE- Synopsis by Netflix. “This documentary traces the history of U.S. relations with Latin America and draws strong links to America’s current immigration crisis. Decaying economies in much of Latin America are viewed as the result of ill-conceived U.S. policies.”
9/28/12- An OK review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment September 28th, 2012
THE FLAT- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “When Arnon Goldfinger’s grandmother died at 98, he was charged with cleaning out her Tel Aviv apartment, where he made a shocking discovery. The filmmaker plays detective as he sorts through decades of the Holocaust survivor’s letters and photos.”
10/19/12- A very good review in today’s NY Times and elsewhere as well. TRDB.
10/28/12- A well done documentary that again makes us wonder that when it comes to the Holocaust there is no end to the number of stories. TRDB. Comcast On-Demand.
Add comment September 26th, 2012