In many respects, The Interrupters showcases the dichotomy of documentary filmmaking: the execution of the film is flawed but the story is spellbinding. Shot over the course of a year, the documentary follows “Violence Interrupters” affiliated with the group Cease Fire as the roam the streets of Chicago’s most at-risk neighborhoods, mediating confrontations and diffusing dangerous situations. The group’s goal is two-fold: to reduce violence as much as possible because acts of violence beget violence and lobby to address some of the root causes of which violence is a symptom. The group is founded by a doctor named Gary Slutkin …
T.I.F.F. 2011, Part V: Into the Abyss
Werner Herzog returns to the Toronto film scene with Into the Abyss, another existential work strangely similar yet totally unlike his last documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams. The documentary is both a rumination on the meaning of life and a true crime story, a version of In Cold Blood for the twenty-first century. Herzog recounts a triple-homicide in Conroe, Texas in 2001 when Michael James Perry and Jason Burkett killed three people in order to steal a Camaro. Interviewing friends and family of the victims and perpetrators, Into the Abyss exposes the audience to lives impacted by poverty and marred …
Page One
Page One is a documentary about The New York Times as it struggles to remain relevant in the twenty-first century. The documentary originally chronicles how editors debate and decide what should be featured on page A1 although the paper itself later becomes a story itself as it addresses issues such as new media, subscriber fees, layoffs and media ethics. Advertising and classified revenue has plummeted and subscribers are choosing to access the paper online. Blogs, YouTube and Twitter provide a new way for consumers to access the topics that interest them but they do not provide much review to the …
Senna
Ayrton Senna was considered one of the best drivers ever, a wizard in the rain and someone who could push a car beyond its capabilities. He was not a driver who relied on tactics but one who would use his intensity to impose his will on his opponents. Senna combines race and archival footage from the 1980s and 1990s with some voiceovers to paint a portrait of an emotional yet exceptional athlete. Though his career in Formula 1 barely lasted more than a decade, Senna won three World Drivers’ Championships, dozens of races and countless pole positions. He became a …
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Computer animation and 3-D technology have bestowed upon the public a bevy of blockbusters and dozers of disasters. Some soared atop the box office charts while others faded quickly out of sight. 3-D is capable of more than merely blowing up every landmark in the world; it can also transport the views to locations they would have otherwise been unable to visit. Cave of Forgotten Dreams is one of those films which endeavours to transport the audience where no man has gone before. Filmed in Chauvet Cave, in southern France, a series of Lascaux-like caverns which had been concealed for …
Bob Hurley
There are three high school coaches in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame: Morgan Wootten of DeMatha Catholic High School (Hyattsville, Maryland), Bertha Teague of Byng High School (Ada, Oklahoma), and Bobby Hurley of St. Anthony’s High School (Jersey City, New Jersey). Hurley was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. In all, there are eighty-two coaches in the Hall (in addition to Pete Newell, Clair Bee, and Teague who are listed as contributors for unknown reasons). Hurley – who has been the subject of a book in 2008 (The Miracle of St. Anthony by Adrian Wojnarowski) and a 2010 …
Hot Docs ’11
Attendance at any film festival needs to be supported by a philosophy of zero expectations. The tenets of such a philosophy are a hope for the best possible outcome (a memorable screening of a film that would have otherwise been missed) tempered by little emotional involvement ahead of time and no entitlement to anything beyond ninety minutes of entertainment. Grinders seems to be inspired by Sportnet’s incessant coverage of poker events. The tales of anonymous Toronto poker players are balanced with an interview with superstar Daniel Negreanu about the life he lives in Las Vegas. Negreanu has long since outgrown …
Best Films of 2010
I wasn’t able to see all the 2010 films that I wanted to because of late Canadian release dates and there were some films that I didn’t catch until this year (although they were released earlier in other countries). Here is my best effort to rank the best films of 2010. Oddly, I seemed to have seen the same amount of new films as I did last year. 2010 List: The Big Picture **** Irony and film. The King’s Speech **** Everything you would want in a film. Easy Money **** It’s not so easy as it seems. Black Swan …
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
So often, documentaries are praised because they bring interesting information to light, not because of the director’s craft or production values. The documentary combines interviews with archival footage, mixing objective facts with subjective opinions. Viewers leave the theatre believing that they have been totally informed about the latest crisis which is about to erupt when in fact they were only shown highlights of one side of the issue. The works can still be a productive use of two hours but one must keep their critical thinking filters on at all times. At first glance, Client 9: The Rise and Fall …
Discourse on Documentaries, Part II: Education and Finance
The good documentary will chronicle the events which comprise an important issue, explaining exactly what is happening and outlining its significance. The excellent documentary will not only accomplish those goals but determine how the events transpired and suggest how the issue might be resolved. Due to the visual medium, it does not hurt to grab the audience’s attention with a hint of humour or a drop of drama. Two films – Waiting for Superman (**½) and The Inside Job (***½) – entertain and inform viewers. While both raise interesting questions, only one provides answers and proposes the next steps to …
Discourse on Documentaries, Part I: War and Sheep
Complex criteria are employed to evaluate documentaries, even more than other genres. Is a documentary judged based on the story or cinematography and direction? The best documentaries showcase a bit of both but a film about a controversial and enthralling issue can surpass a tiresome topic filmed with more craft. Restrepo is a shocking film, chronicling an American platoon’s fifteen month tour in the Korengal Valley. The Korengal region is one of the most dangerous in Afghanistan, on par with Kandahar and the Pashtun regions. Two documentary filmmakers imbedded in the unit film dangerous operations and mundane daily activities. The …
Hot Docs ’10
I wasn’t able to devote as much time to Hot Docs as I had the year before but I remained able to attend some enjoyment screenings. Unfortunately, although the topics, like film and sport were interesting, the narrative structure of all three documentaries that I screened was flawed. The People vs. George Lucas recounts the dissonance between Star Wars fans and franchise creator George Lucas. Fans are willing to dress up like their favourite characters or recreate scenes from the original trilogy but they loathe the changes Lucas made for the Special Edition or the new filmmaking of the Prequels. Some …
Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today
“The war was over but there was no peace.” Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today is the documentary complement to the dramatic Judgment at Nuremberg. Both feature the themes of good and evil and how one can determine morality in a subjective world. The opening comments of the prosecutor in the documentary seem as certain as the fictional character in the drama. At that time and place – post-war Germany in 1945 and 1946 – it certainly seemed that those on trial must have steadfastly supported the sinister atrocities of the German Reich. Judgment at Nuremberg shows that that interpretation is …
Best Films of 2009
I see a great deal of films so I decided to rank the forty-four that I had seen so far. These are all films that received their major North American distribution in the past year. I tend to extensively self-select the films which I see and aim to avoid films which are daft, dreary, or dilettante. 2009 List: Leaves of Grass **** Compelling An Education **** Enlightening The Disappearance of Alice Creed **** Innovative The Damned United **** Inspiring La Donation **** Selfless Sin Nombre **** Depraved The Invisible City **** Revealing Up in the Air ***½ Pertinent A Single Man …
Double Bill at the Royal Cinema, Part I: The Future of the Planet Seems to Be at Stake
Patrons of the Royal Cinema were treated this week to two esoteric films featuring two extraordinary gentlemen. Collapse: Michael Ruppert was an L.A.P.D. officer in the 1970s who blew the whistle on possible C.I.A. drug trafficking in the city. Since then, he has written several books about public policy and the dangers of excessive consumption. The film is essentially an eighty-minute interview, juxtaposing Ruppert’s thoughts with campy 1950s documentary footage. The reassuring Cold War era footage contrasts with the strong words expressed during the interview. It is a harsher version of Capitalism: A Love Story, taking the rhetoric to an …
Coaching the Players on the Team
ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentaries have been very intriguing. Some of have covered famous events, others have brought intriguing issues to light. Directed by Billy Corben, The U covers the rise and fall of the Miami Hurricanes football program in the 1980s. To me, the Miami Hurricanes program is interesting because of how a small academic school in Coral Gables won four national titles during a span of twelve years. The University of Miami had flirted with the idea of becoming “The Harvard of the South” but decided to place greater emphasis on football as the 1970s came to a close. …
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