Emmy-winning actor Michael J. Fox reflects on his life and his fight against Parkinson’s Disease in STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie. Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim takes an interesting approach to his documentary on the Back to the Future star. This is a documentary that could have gone any number of ways. Instead, editor Michael Harte has quite the job of weaving in clips from films and series to match what the actor is saying. There’s…
"STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie – Sundance 2023"Category: Film Festival
Judy Blume Forever is a raw and honest documentary about the beloved children’s author and doesn’t shy away from sensitive subjects. If young teens wanted to know what was happening to their body, all they needed to do was read a Judy Blume book. It certainly applies to the pre-internet era but you could still make an argument today. Well, unless libraries ban them. Blume isn’t alone when it comes to library bans–something that is…
"Judy Blume Forever – Sundance 2023"
Running a tight 51 minutes, Love Dump is the absurdist Hallmark romantic comedy parody that you didn’t know you needed. Chicago is a mecca for improv and sketch comedy. Comedians have been trained in the art of comedy for many years on the city’s stages. Some have gone onto become big names while others remain behind and find bit parts here and there. A pair of comedians, Leila Gorstein and Jesse Kendall, are about to…
"Love Dump – Slamdance 2023"
Queer and Frum is a documentary short that offers some insight into members of the Orthodox Jewish LGBTQ community. In watching this documentary, you’re going to hear quite a bit about JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Healing). The organization was forced to shut down in 2019 even as they operated under a different name for four years. Listen, conversion therapy should be illegal. The fact that it is still legal in 21 states is…
"Queer and Frum – Dances with Films 2022"
The world premiere of The Conspiracy at DOC NYC could not be more timely with antisemitism at its highest levels in several years. To say that this film is not enjoyable or entertaining would not be an understatement. However, it is essential that as many people watch this film–now more than ever. I’m not sure how many other DOC NYC films I’m getting to because of my schedule this month but I made sure that…
"The Conspiracy: An Animated Film About Antisemitism – DOC NYC 2022"
She Said follows a pair of New York Times investigative reporters as they research and report on the Harvey Weinstein scandal. The Harvey Weinstein scandal had a domino effect in Hollywood as it was the biggest story of its day. After he was exposed, many survivors had the bravery to speak their truth. Myself included, albeit around the subject of transphobic abuse. You can call this the Spotlight of Hollywood-adjacent newspaper films but it’s so…
"She Said: One Of The Most Powerful Films Of The Year"
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, the new documentary from Laura Poitras, is playing the major film festivals this season. Make no mistake that portions of All the Beauty and the Bloodshed are powerful. After watching Dopesick, I was thinking that this would be a complementary companion in its taking down of the Sackler family. Suffice it to say, taking them down is just one part of the film. The rest of the film is…
"All the Beauty and the Bloodshed – Chicago Int’l FF 2022"
“Sr.”, a documentary about the late filmmaker Robert Downey Sr., follows him in the final years of his life and is a loving tribute. Chances are likely that you’re more familiar with Robert Downey Jr. than his father. Maybe you’re familiar with the filmmaker’s half-brother, Jim Downey, from his work on SNL. In any event, Robert Downey Sr. was making his mark on the American counterculture through his comedy movies in the 1960s and 1970s.…
"“Sr.”: An Irreverent Portrait of Robert Downey Sr."
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Noah Baumbach takes a break from original works in adapting White Noise for the screen. For the first time in his filmmaker career, Baumbach wasn’t sure what he would film after the release of Marriage Story. As we all know, most of the world went into lockdown shortly after the Academy Awards ceremony in early 2020. During this time, Baumbach decided to revisit Don DeLillo’s novel and it spoke to him in…
"White Noise: This Satire Is Relevant As Ever"
Till is not an easy film to watch but this country still has a horrible problem with racism some 65 years after Emmett Till’s murder. The best way to go into this film is to know that you’re going to leave the theater feeling upset. You’re going to leave the theater with feelings of anger and the question of why is it ever okay to kill anyone, let alone an all-white jury just let the…
"Till is Devastating But Essential Viewing"