Posts filed under 'Documentary/History'
LIFE IN A DAY- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “On July 24, 2010, thousands of people around the world joined together to document mundane and remarkable everyday life in a single day. Filmmaker Kevin MacDonald led a team of editors to condense more than 4,500 hours of footage and 80,000 clips into a portrait of life as it is lived on Earth. From dense cities to remote and forbidding landscapes, the myriad varieties of human experience are celebrated and revealed.” Fairly good reviews for this documentary. TRDB.
Tags: documentary
September 12th, 2011
BOBBY FISHER AGAINST THE WORLD- 2010. Synopsis by Netflix. “One of the most enigmatic of 20th-century personalities, Bobby Fischer rose to fame as a world-champion child chess prodigy who later found himself embroiled in Cold War era politics. Filmmaker Liz Garbus reveals the dark side of his fame, exploring the phenom’s descent into loneliness, despair and life on the lam. Interviews with people who were close to the legend and rare archival footage provide insights into his character.”
9/9/11- Very good review in today’s NY Times and excellent reviews in general. TRDB.
12/14/11- An excellent documentary that kept me in suspence even though I knew the outcome. A genius with all of the good and bad that came with it are well described here. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: documentary
September 12th, 2011
WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM- 2008. Synopsis by Netflix. “Starting this coming-of-age documentary in her own hometown, filmmaker Heather Courtney follows a tight-knit group of friends who grow up together, sign up for the National Guard and are subsequently sent to Afghanistan.”
9/9/11- Very good early reviews and a good review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Tags: documentary
September 12th, 2011
THE INHERITORS- 2008. Synopsis by Netflix. “Eugenio Polgovsky journeys deep into the Mexican countryside to film this documentary chronicling the hardships of children who spend their days in relentless manual labor in order to help feed their families. Polgovsky exposes the chronic injustice of a system that forces youngsters to make bricks, weave cloth and harvest crops instead of attending school, but he also reveals how these children find moments of joy in the bleakest conditions.”
9/9/11- Good review in today’s NY Times and very good professional reviews in general. TRDB.
Tags: documentary
September 12th, 2011
FORDSON- 2010. Synopsis by Netflix. “Dearborn, Mich., is home to the largest population of Muslims outside the Arab world. This documentary focuses on the Muslim members of the Fordson High School football team, who must overcome intolerance and bigotry as they prepare for victory. As the players observe the final 10 days of Ramadan, a holiday marked by fasting, they must depend on one another and their own faith to make their mark on this most American sport.”
9/9/11- Good review in today’s NY Times and very good audience reactions so far. TRDB.
Tags: documentary
September 12th, 2011
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NICOLAE CEAUSESCU- 2010. Synopsis by Netflix. “Track the rise and fall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu through this innovative historical documentary, which constructs his portrait by only using archival footage from speeches, pubic appearances, international visits and home movies. Culling more than 1,000 hours of recordings, director Andrei Ujica spent four years creating this detailed epic, which strives to reveal the powerful leader’s true character.” 9/9/11- Good reviews in general and in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
2/5/14-A masterful documentary that has NO talking heads or narration of any kind but exists only from archival footage that traces his political path. TRDB.
Tags: documentary
September 12th, 2011
WE WERE HERE- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “The AIDS crisis forever changed gay culture in San Francisco, as examined in this absorbing documentary from David Weissman, who explores the disease’s impact on five individuals. Vintage film clips accompany their sobering stories. Co-director of The Cockettes, Weissman contrasts the 1960s and ’70s-era joy and revelry depicted in that film with the sorrow, outrage and activism that followed in the 1980s and beyond.”
9/9/11- Great reviews in general and in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Tags: documentary
September 12th, 2011
RESURRECT DEAD- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “For three decades, strange plaques with messages about resurrecting the dead have mysteriously appeared on streets throughout North and South America, prompting director Jon Foy to seek out the story of their origin. Artist Justin Duerr, who began investigating the tiles in 1993, takes us on a tour of unusual and seemingly random clues, and in the process resurrects not the dead, but the innate human desire for magic and mystery.”
9/2/11- OK review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Tags: documentary
September 2nd, 2011
THUNDER SOUL- 2010. Synopsis by Netflix. “Mark Landsman totes his cameras to a tight-knit North Houston community in this poignant documentary, which celebrates an inner-city high school band leader’s lasting influence on his now-grown students. When Conrad “Prof” Johnson took the reins of the jazz band at Kashmere High School in the 1970s, he had a group that was mediocre at best. But before anyone knew it, the school had a funk powerhouse on its hands. The film picked up awards at both the L.A. Film Festival and South by Southwest.” A few fair reviews. TRDB.
2/14/12- An OK documentary about a man who served as a beacon to a group of students with very little else in their lives. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: documentary
August 31st, 2011
MACHINE GUN PREACHER- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “Gerard Butler stars in this true-life story of Sam Childers, a drug dealer who turns his life around to become a spiritual warrior. His mission? Rescuing child soldiers in the Sudan from lives ruined by their forced participation in bloody conflict.” Poor reviews in general. TRDB.
Tags: documentary
August 31st, 2011
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