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Tag: documentaries

Netflix Doc Examines “all-American” Retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (Review)
Features, Film, Reviews

Netflix Doc Examines “all-American” Retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (Review)

'White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch' is a brand new Netflix documentary from director Alison Klayman ("Jagged"). While the company still exists in an altered form, clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch was an inescapable presence in malls across the country. No really, you couldn't escape it. If you were anywhere near it in the mall's footprint, you could smell their exclusive store scents wafting through the building and you could hear the bass of club remixes reverberating through the walls. If you were enticed through the doors by the often-shirtless young men who were hired as "models," you would see sexualized imagery on the walls, the shopping bags, and inside the A&F Quarterly magazine published by the company. It was "fast fashion" appealing t...
Highly Anticipated Biffy Clyro Tour Set To Kickoff This Week
Events, Features, Music

Highly Anticipated Biffy Clyro Tour Set To Kickoff This Week

It's been five years but Scottish rock icons Biffy Clyro are back in America for a series of high-octane concerts. After opening stadium dates for the likes of Foo Fighters and Muse, the band has earned a reputation for their impressive live shows. But it's not really about who they've opened up for, they've amassed a worldwide fan base on their own. Biffy Clyro's tour kicks off at the House of Blues in Chicago on Sunday. Highlights include shows at New York City's Irving Plaza, Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, and The Fillmore in San Franciso. If you've never heard of these guys and you're a fan of alt-rock anthems, it's time to get on the bus. Photo Credit: Kevin J. Thomson Their latest single "A Hunger in Your Haunt" is working its way up rock radio charts. But unfortunately,...
SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 3 (Reviews)
Features, Film, Reviews

SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 3 (Reviews)

After having a few days to recover, I'm finally ready to close out my look at this year's SXSW Film Festival by featuring the best film I saw. To say it's been a crazy week or so around here is an understatement. Things wrapped up on Sunday with the last few premieres from Saturday screening online. Right after the majority of out-of-towners headed out of Austin, we were hit with an intense storm system that found tornadoes ripping through the area on Monday night. Over the course of the event, I watched 20 feature films. That feels like a lot to me, but I also have friends who attended who got closer to 40. All I can say in my defense is that I was also working a full-time job and still making time for viewing. Ultimately, I really enjoyed almost everything I saw, but the foll...
SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 2 (Reviews)
Features, Film, Reviews

SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 2 (Reviews)

The 29th edition of the SXSW Film Festival has been back in-person (and online) this week in Austin, Texas, for the first time in three years. With nearly 100 feature films on the schedule and 76 World Premiere screenings happening over the course the week, there are plenty of opportunities to be entertained. With today’s dispatch, I'm going to cover a few more films that I really enjoyed this week. When it comes to festivals, I tend to gravitate to the documentaries. I already covered a few in my previous post, but here are some more to keep an eye out for in the months ahead. Kids In The Hall: Comedy Punks Five wild and crazy Canadian guys formed a comedy troupe in 1984. For this documentary, they head back to The Rivoli in Toronto where their earliest shows began and talk abou...
SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 1 (Reviews)
Features, Film, Reviews

SXSW 2022 Film Dispatches, Vol. 1 (Reviews)

The 29th edition of the SXSW Film Festival is back in-person (and online) this week in Austin, Texas, for the first time in three years. With nearly 100 feature films on the schedule and 76 World Premiere screenings happening over the course the week, there are plenty of opportunities to be entertained. With today's dispatch, I'll take a look at some of the best documentaries I've caught so far during the festival and I'll be back later in the week with more updates. The Pez Outlaw Before becoming obsessed with the wide variety of international Pez dispensers available overseas, Steve Glew had never been out of the country. Living with his family in rural Michigan and working in a factory as a machinist was a means to an end, but then his OCD manifested itself in collecting all ...
Catch Up With ‘Flee’ Before the Academy Awards (Review)
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Catch Up With ‘Flee’ Before the Academy Awards (Review)

Danish drama 'Flee' is one of the most unique nominees at this year's Academy Awards. It earned a nomination for Best International Feature Film, but also made history for its inclusion in the categories for Best Animated Feature and Best Documentary Feature. The film, which world premiered at Sundance last year, introduces us to a man in Denmark who finally breaks his silence on being a child refugee. Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen tells the intensely personal story of one his best friends from high school. We're introduced to him as Amin Nawabi, but that's a pseudonym. Combined with the animation, it allows Amin to tell his story, but remain protected. Born in Kabul, Amin's family was torn apart after their father was arrested and the country was torn apart by war. In...
Academy’s Documentary Branch Whittling Down Shortlist for 2022
Features, Film

Academy’s Documentary Branch Whittling Down Shortlist for 2022

Earlier this week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scientists (AMPAS) announced the full list of feature films eligible for consideration as Best Documentary at the upcoming 94th Academy Awards. There are a total of 138 titles eligible for the category this year and members of the Documentary Branch begin voting today to whittle that list down to a shortlist of 15 films that will advance into the new year. The shortlist should be announced on Tuesday, December 21 and those 15 films will screen on their way towards a second round of balloting which will reveal the final 5 nominees in the category. One of the films you can likely expect to get nominated this year is "Flee" - the Danish film about a queer refugee from Afghanistan is the first to ever qualify in the Document...
12th Annual DOC NYC Festival Happening Now in Hybrid Format
Events, Film

12th Annual DOC NYC Festival Happening Now in Hybrid Format

Now in its 12th year, DOC NYC kicked off over the weekend and is taking place now in a hybrid format. This means that if you're in New York City, there are still screenings happening with hundreds of special guests for Q&As and interviews. The good news is that wherever you are in the United States, you can can actually buy tickets for individual screenings and grab yourself a pass that will allow you to watch some of the best documentaries of the year from the comfort and safety of home. According to their website, for the last nine years, the festival has screened the film that went on to win the Best Documentary award at the Oscars. 24 of the last 25 Oscar nominees were also on recent lineups. If you're a fan of documentary films from around the globe, this is the place to s...
“The Velvet Underground” Hits Apple TV and Select Theaters This Friday (Review)
Film, Music, Reviews

“The Velvet Underground” Hits Apple TV and Select Theaters This Friday (Review)

Fresh off its successful screenings at the New York Film Festival, the first ever documentary from cinematic provocateur Todd Haynes is about to hit theaters and streaming this weekend. The director of "Velvet Goldmine" and "Carol" takes us on a deep dive into the history of one of rock and roll's greatest art rock bands, The Velvet Underground. If you're hoping for a straightforward approach, you won't get it here. Haynes returns to the more experimental techniques of his earliest work and features lots of split screens and rare archival footage presented in a collage method that would make Peter Greenaway proud. There are beautiful close-up establishing shots of each band member (Lou Reed, John Cale, Moe Tucker, and Sterling Morrison) that linger, capturing the intimate nature...
Edgar Wright’s Fandom Pays Off in “The Sparks Brothers” (Review)
Film, Music, Reviews

Edgar Wright’s Fandom Pays Off in “The Sparks Brothers” (Review)

First things first: you don't need to be familiar with the band Sparks to have a great time with Edgar Wright's fantastic new documentary. Before watching it, the extent of my musical knowledge about them came from enjoying their 1983 single "Cool Places," a duet with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's. Hell, I didn't even know they were brothers or from America. https://youtu.be/WNKIba_yZJo Ron and Russell Mael have been making music together since the late 1960s and have bounced around to so many different record labels over the decades, but never found much chart success here in the U.S. They have been decidedly more successful in Europe, although still experienced a wide range of highs and lows when it has come to critical reception and sales. British filmmaker Edgar Wright (...