Category Archives: documentary

New Doc: William S. Burroughs: A Man Within

Written by Scott on 2 January 2010 — Leave a Comment

Premiering at Slamdance January 22 is Yony Leyser’s Burroughs doc, William S. Burroughs: A Man Within:
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Burroughs interviewed by Kathy Acker
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Also posted in Film+Video

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno

Written by Scott on 23 December 2009 — Leave a Comment

A documentary by archivist/restorationists Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea, culled from 15 hours of footage from Clouzot’s unfinished 1964 film L’enfer. Cannot wait to see this.
Trailer:
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The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw—
The 57-year-old director of Les Diaboliques [...]

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Monday: Visual Stimulus

Written by Scott on 22 June 2009 — Leave a Comment

Dimitre Lima’s MTV Brazil IDs using Processing. Cool stuff at his site, too.
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Trailer for awesome Julius Shulman Doc, Visual Acoustics, The Modernism of Julius Shulman.
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Also posted in Animation, Film+Video

Online Viewing: Cosmos

Written by Scott on 24 March 2009 — Leave a Comment

Kottke notes that all the eps. of Carl Sagan’s landmark Cosmos series have been added to Hulu. It doesn’t get awesomer.

Also posted in Film+Video

Hulu Adding Indie-Doc Section

Written by Scott on 19 March 2009 — Leave a Comment

Via Broadcasting and Cable.
Hulu is planning a new section of the site dedicated to documentary programming. The section will feature documentary films as well as short form content.
… it will help the NBC Universal-News Corp. joint venture form relationships with independent filmmakers and studios, which could become a valuable source of content down the line.

Also posted in Distribution, Film+Video

William Eggleston @ The Whitney

Written by Scott on 26 February 2009 — Leave a Comment

Michael Almereyda (William Eggleston and the Real World [2005]) shot this interview/doc with Eggleston at the opening of his recent retrospective at The Whitney, William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008.
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Also posted in Film+Video, Photography

Thursday Audio-Visual Brain Stimulus

Written by Scott on 26 February 2009 — Leave a Comment

Eric Archer’s Sound Cameras. Film cameras modified to transform light to audio. Recordings here.
Charles Coen playing the Buchla Music Easel
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This video features sound artist Charles Cohen improvising on a 1970’s Buchla Music Easel. This [...]

Also posted in Art, Music

Hillman Curtis Artist Series

Written by Scott on 26 February 2009 — Leave a Comment

Great series of short artist docs by Hillman Curtis. Inspirational in content and form.
Mark Romanek
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Milton Glaser
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Also posted in Film+Video

Online Viewing: Hoopeston

Written by Scott on 17 February 2009 — Leave a Comment

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Hoopeston, Illinois was founded by Thomas Hoopes in 1871. Originally a small farming community, the town grew into a canning powerhouse by the 1950s. It became known as the “Sweet Corn Capital of the [...]

Also posted in Film+Video

My Probably Incomplete SXSW Documentary Hitlist

Written by Scott on 13 February 2009 — Leave a Comment

American Prince (Dir: Tommy Pallotta)
After being forgotten for 30 years, filmmaker Tommy Pallotta revisits Scorcese’s lost documentary “American Boy” and its raconteur subject, Steven Prince. (World Premiere)
Objectified (Dir: Gary Hustwit)
A glimpse into our relationship to manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. (World Premiere)
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Also posted in Conferences, Festivals, Film+Video

001- Women in Trouble
One crazy day in the lives of 10 wildly different women -- including a porn star, psychiatrist, flight attendant, housewife, masseuse and others -- forms the basis of this indie comedy from writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez. Starring Carla Gugino as adult film actress Elektra Luxx, the film features an ensemble cast that includes Adrianne Palicki, Connie B […]
002- Thirst
When the smoke clears from a failed experiment to find a cure for a fatal disease, a devout priest finds himself forever changed. Specifically, he's a vampire -- but that isn't the only thing that's different. Now he's also willing to commit adultery with the wife of his childhood friend, a sin he never would have considered before. Kang- […]
003- Switchblade Sisters
Director Jack Hill's kinetic, 1975 cult classic tells a lurid tale about girls, guns and gang wars. The addition of a cool blonde newcomer (Joanne Nail) to the Dagger Debs -- a female gang led by Lace (Robbie Lee) -- sets off an internal power struggle. With a conspirator in their midst, two bluecoats just waiting to bust them and a rival, male-gang lea […]
004- Bronson
Nicolas Winding Refn's vivid and unflinching biopic delves into the life of Britain's most notorious prisoner, Charlie Bronson (Tom Hardy) -- who's been jailed for nearly 35 years -- and attempts to dissect the real man behind the deranged persona. While Bronson's primary ambition was to be famous, he became a celebrity of sorts as a crim […]
005- 24 City
From director Zhang Ke Jia comes this drama about changing times in Chengdu, China, where state-owned factory 420 is closed by the government to make way for a high-end apartment complex called 24 City. The film tells the story through the lens of several distinctive characters, from factory workers to executives to the newly monied, who are all affected in […]
006- American Experience: The Lobotomist
First hailed as a promising cure for mental illness, the lobotomy soon became known as an utterly barbaric procedure that ruined lives. This documentary explores the history of the surgery and its early proponent, Dr. Walter Freeman. Uncover the rise and fall of this "medical miracle" through interviews with historians, health experts and relatives […]
007- Friday Night
Paris, 1995. Laure (Valérie Lemercier) is about to meet friends for dinner to celebrate her moving in with her boyfriend. But on her way out, she discovers that the entire city is stalled by a massive transit strike. When a handsome stranger (Vincent Lindon) offers her a ride, Laure takes a highly charged, impossibly erotic detour. […]
008- La Ronde
Set in Paris on the eve of World War I, Roger Vadim's remake of the 1950 film follows a lusty soldier (Claude Giraud) as he engages in a number of affairs. He sleeps with a prostitute (Marie Dubois), seduces a chambermaid (Anna Karina) and beds a married woman (Jane Fonda) before coming full circle, returning to tryst with the streetwalker once more. Va […]
009- The Silence
Three passengers travel through a foreign country on the brink of war. Taking ill, Esther checks into a hotel room, with her sister Anna and Anna's son, Johan, occupying the adjoining suite. Still unable to travel the next day, Esther gives Johan a list of helpful translations for their journey and stays behind. Part of Ingmar Bergman's trilogy of […]
010- Through a Glass Darkly
Recently released from a mental institution, Karin is on holiday with her family. But their inability to give her love and support causes a mental breakdown that leads to a hallucinogenic episode during which Karin envisions God as a spider. Director Ingmar Bergman's experimental "chamber play", which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, is par […]
011- Schlock!: The Secret History of American Movies
Ray Greene directed this engrossing documentary that features clips of independent movies made in the pioneering era of the 1950s and '60s, along with interviews with the cinematic mavericks who made them (such as Sam Arkoff, Doris Wishman, Vampira, Roger Corman and Peter Bogdanovich). Includes rarely viewed clips by Wishman, David F. Friedman and Harry […]
012- Cockfighter
After an offhand boast costs him his best fighting cock -- and his chances at the Cockfighter of the Year award along with it -- Frank (Warren Oates) swears not to speak again until he has redeemed himself by winning that medal. But his fortunes continue to decline, and soon, he's lost much more, including his girlfriend. Monte Hellman directs this bloo […]
013- Dark City: Director's Cut
Alex Proyas directs this shadowy sci-fi masterpiece about a man (Rufus Sewell) who awakens to find himself accused of murder in a strange city. Now, he must untangle his jumbled memories while eluding both the police and a woman claiming to be his wife (Jennifer Connelly). This special edition director's cut boasts 11 minutes of new footage, plus commen […]
014- Alexandra
Nominated for a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, this meditation on the effects of war from director Aleksandr Sokurov follows an elderly woman named Alexandra (Galina Vishnevskaya) as she travels to Chechnya to visit a grandson posted there. As seen through Alexandra's eyes, the barracks and its inhabitants reveal the staggering costs -- bo […]
015- Near Dark
In the dusty heart of the American southwest, innocent country boy Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) is handily seduced by a beautiful girl (Jenny Wright) into joining a pack of vicious drifters, which turns out to be no ordinary band of outlaws. Soon, Caleb is trapped in a nightmarish world of soulless evil and hellish mayhem that thrives on blood and absolute horror. […]
016- The Quiet Earth
After surviving the apocalypse, scientist Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) faces a dangerous and uncertain new world in this thriller. The government researcher wakes up to find all human life on the planet completely destroyed. That is, until he encounters a lovely young woman (Alison Routledge) and a trucker (Pete Smith). Tension mounts as the survivors adapt t […]
017- Ace in the Hole
Fired from a number of big-city papers, reporter Charles Tatum (Kirk Douglas) tries to reestablish himself in New Mexico. When a local store owner is trapped in a cave-in, Tatum turns the victim's misfortune into a media frenzy to further his own career. A local sheriff agrees to help prolong the rescue efforts, thereby helping build up the story. This […]
018- Wide Awake
This disturbing Korean thriller centers on a little boy who -- due to a lack of sufficient anesthetic -- remains in a conscious but immobile state during open-heart surgery. Not surprisingly, he's severely traumatized by the torturous experience. Many years later, the now-grown man embarks on a homicidal tear in an attempt to exact revenge on the powers […]
019- Burnt Offerings
A vacationing family rents a sprawling mansion for the summer and soon discovers that all is not as it should be. Among other equally strange things, dead plants come back to life, and the swimming pool kills bathers -- which makes a quick dip out of the question. Stars Oliver Reed, Karen Black, Bette Davis and Burgess Meredith. […]
020- La Collectionneuse
The third of director Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" finds foxy and licentious Haydee (Haydee Politoff) bedding a different male each night on the French Riviera. When Haydee's moral well-being becomes the concern of self-absorbed Adrien (Patrick Bauchau) and his friend Daniel (Daniel Pommereulle) -- neither of whom will sleep with Hayde […]