documentary – News Stories About documentary - Page 11

MOVIE REVIEW

Feb 20, 2009 1:44 PM CST

Must Read a Must-See

Doc realizes the horrors of dysfunctional family life

(Newser) - If you’re looking for a fright at the movies, skip Friday the 13th and hunker down with Must Read After My Death. Using archived audiotapes and home movies, the documentary chronicles the tumultuous suburban marriage of the filmmaker’s grandparents, who “lived on the unmapped border between Revolutionary...

Polanski Judge
Wise to Resist
Whitewashing

OPINION

Feb 19, 2009 10:25 AM CST

Polanski Judge Wise to Resist Whitewashing

Director's bias skews media narrative

(Newser) - The judge who refused to throw out Roman Polanski's rape conviction Tuesday—unless he agreed to come back to the country to challenge it in person—was right to resist the whitewashing of Polanski's crime, writes Bill Wyman in Salon. The movement to rehabilitate the acclaimed director was based on...

Right America Divides Critics

Documentary Review

Feb 16, 2009 1:11 PM CST

Right America Divides Critics

Doc offers voice to McCain supporters Feeling Wronged

(Newser) - Right America, Feeling Wronged, a documentary airing tonight on HBO, follows filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi as she chats with die-hard McCain/Palin supporters on the campaign trail, some of whom fear Barack Obama is the anti-Christ. Critics are mixed on the result: While David S. Glasier calls it “one of the...

She Wears Prada,
But Forget the Devil Part

film review

Jan 24, 2009 3:55 AM CST

She Wears Prada, But Forget the Devil Part

The September Issue parlays blanket access into 'engrossing' portrait

(Newser) - A Sundance documentary offering a rare, unfettered look at steely Vogue editrix Anna Wintour proves “engrossing even if you don't care much about fashion,” Andrew O’Hehir writes in Salon, and goes a long way to humanize the subject of The Devil Wears Prada. In a Q&A,...

Waltz With Bashir
Has Echoes of Gaza

OPINION

Jan 13, 2009 8:23 PM CST

Waltz With Bashir Has Echoes of Gaza

Award-winning film on 1982 Lebanon massacre looks plenty familiar

(Newser) - Israel’s Gaza assault is slipping from US front pages, yet ironically, Waltz With Bashir, an Israeli animated film about the 1982 Israel-Lebanon war, is taking America by storm, earning mountains of critical praise and a Golden Globe. The parallels between that atrocity and the current conflict are striking, Gary...

UK TV Broadcasts
an Assisted Suicide

Dec 11, 2008 10:38 AM CST

UK TV Broadcasts an Assisted Suicide

UK debates right to die after terminally ill patient euthanized

(Newser) - A documentary that aired on Sky TV last night showed an assisted suicide, stirring up a major debate in Britain about the right to die and the responsibility of television programmers, the Independent reports. Craig Ewert, 59, who suffered from motor neuron disease, traveled to a Swiss clinic, drank a...

Stone Shooting Chavez Flick

Dec 11, 2008 5:32 AM CST

Stone Shooting Chavez Flick

Director sticking with politics for follow-up to W

(Newser) - Controversial filmmaker Oliver Stone is following up his Bush biopic with a documentary on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the new wave of Latin American leftism, Variety reports. Stone, who joined Chavez earlier this year in an effort to broker a deal to free hostages held by Colombian rebels, has...

Britney Regrets
Her Embrace
of Fame

Nov 20, 2008 4:50 PM CST

Britney Regrets Her Embrace of Fame

Star waxes honest about breakup with Timberlake, '07 meltdown

(Newser) - Britney Spears bares all in a documentary set to air Nov. 30 on MTV, Entertainment Weekly reports. Fans will be interested to know that she ate cheese grits—cooked by her father—before the Video Music Awards, and that she envies Jessica Alba’s relative anonymity. “Do I know...

Brit: 'My Life Is Worse Than Jail'

Nov 18, 2008 7:33 AM CST

Brit: 'My Life Is Worse Than Jail'

Pop princess complains in documentary

(Newser) - Britney Spears thinks her post-breakdown life might be more enjoyable behind bars, the Daily Telegraph reports. In a new documentary airing on MTV on November 30, Spears says her life is “too in control.” The singer, whose dad was granted post-meltdown control of her affairs, believes she’s...

John Paul Wounded in '82 Stabbing by Priest

Oct 15, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

John Paul Wounded in '82 Stabbing by Priest

Testimony reveals pope sustained injuries, covered up by Rome, in attack at Fatima

(Newser) - Pope John Paul II was injured in a 1982 stabbing by a crazed priest, but the wound was kept secret until now, Reuters reports. The late pontiff was visiting a shrine in Portugal to give thanks for surviving an earlier assassination attempt when an ultra-conservative Spanish priest lunged at him...

Palin's First Press Tidbits Will Air on
ABC Tonight

Sep 11, 2008 11:03 AM CDT

Palin's First Press Tidbits Will Air on ABC Tonight

Gibson face-off to be featured on 20/20

(Newser) - Charles Gibson's interviews with Sarah Palin will be featured on a special prime-time edition of ABC's 20/20 tomorrow, reports AP. Gibson is traveling to Fairbanks and Wasilla, Alaska, for the first TV interviews with Palin since she was selected as John McCain's running mate. Excerpts will be shown on ABC's...

Man on Wire a Thrilling Act

movie review

Aug 2, 2008 5:57 PM CDT

Man on Wire a Thrilling Act

Reliving a time when the Towers weren't depressing

(Newser) - A Frenchman's daring high-wire walk between the Twin Towers nearly 35 years ago is chronicled in a documentary that feels "like a real-life heist picture," Dana Stevens writes in Slate. Man on Wire recounts Philippe Petit's 6-plus years of planning, his procurement of equipment and fake IDs, and...

Gonzo Gets It

movie review

Jul 4, 2008 8:24 AM CDT

Gonzo Gets It

'Mesmerizing' documentary tells story of Hunter S. Thompson

(Newser) - There’s a “fascinating history lesson” in the documentary Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson, “a lively collage of interviews and found materials,” writes A. O. Scott in the New York Times. The film cements the journalist's “place in the great American parade...

Gunnin' Sure to Score
With Hoop Fans

Review

Jun 27, 2008 5:25 PM CDT

Gunnin' Sure to Score With Hoop Fans

Beastie Boy produces shallow but pleasing documentary

(Newser) - Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot, the second documentary from Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, is no Hoop Dreams, but critics predict a slam-dunk with roundball and hip-hop aficionados. The film follows eight high school phenoms through a high-profile Harlem pick-up game and “offers a snapshot of the kind of top...

Ventriloquists
Speak Up for
Themselves

Jun 20, 2008 3:03 PM CDT

Ventriloquists Speak Up for Themselves

Well, maybe not. But the form is seeing more success these days

(Newser) - Ventriloquism has been on the outs since the '70s, but its fortunes are starting to turn, the Wall Street Journal reports. Symbolizing the resurgence of the vaudeville favorite is Terry Fator, a winner of NBC’s America’s Got Talent competition, who recently picked up a yearlong headlining gig at...

Joy Division Rocks,
But Enough Already

opinion

Jun 19, 2008 8:01 PM CDT

Joy Division Rocks, But Enough Already

Documentary offers a textbook-style look at the band

(Newser) - Joy Division, writes Nik Mercer for Anthem, “is one of those bands that gains significance exponentially as the years pass.” As testament to their place in pop music consciousness, recent years have seen three films on the band: 24 Hour Party People, focusing on their label and scene;...

Critics Pumped for Steroids Doc

movie review

May 30, 2008 5:45 PM CDT

Critics Pumped for Steroids Doc

Bigger, Stronger, Faster sifts through the pharmaceutical enhancements

(Newser) - The documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster is drawing raves for its clear-eyed, nuanced look at the world of steroid users. Christopher Bell, a bodybuilder and onetime juicer, directs and narrates an "incisive and compulsively watchable look at America's love affair with steroids," Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly writes.

Spike Lee Plans
Jordan Documentary

May 21, 2008 12:41 PM CDT

Spike Lee Plans Jordan Documentary

Director announces project at Cannes

(Newser) - You might remember Spike Lee's classic "Is it the shoes?" ads for Nike. But the director told a Cannes crowd he'll team up with Michael Jordan again for a different purpose: a documentary on the basketball legend, reports Variety. The NBA will finance the flick, which will feature unreleased...

Waltz Explodes at Cannes

movie review

May 16, 2008 2:10 PM CDT

Waltz Explodes at Cannes

After lousy 'Blindness' opening, Bashir shakes up festival

(Newser) - Now that's more like it. After a typically lousy opening—allegorical disaster Blindness—the Cannes Film Festival shook things up yesterday with Waltz with Bashir, a ferocious animated documentary from Israel recounting the 1982 massacre at Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. It’s “stunning,” writes Manhola Dargis in...

Moore's $20M for Fahrenheit 9/11 Sequel Is Mainly Profit

May 15, 2008 2:30 PM CDT

Moore's $20M for Fahrenheit 9/11 Sequel Is Mainly Profit

Studios banking on maverick's popularity with film, budgeted to cost $7M

(Newser) - Who says documentary filmmaking isn’t profitable? Sources tell the New York Post that Michael Moore will receive $20 million in advance to produce the sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11, even though production costs are estimated at only $7 million. Studio Paramount Vantage may be willing to give Moore a $13...