A companion piece to A Private War, Under the Wire tells the incredible true story of Marie Colvin and Paul Conroy in their own words. Marie Colvin’s story may have physically come to an end in Homs but her legacy extends far beyond the reaches of Syria. Her colleagues at the Sunday Times make sure of this. More importantly, photojournalist Paul Conroy has written their story in the book of the same name. Marie and…
"DOC NYC 2018: Under the Wire"Category: Movie Reviews
City of Joel takes a both-sides approach while documenting the Village of Kiryas Joel and the Chasdic enclave’s plans to annex land. The discussion surrounding Kiryas Joel is an interesting one. This is a Chasidic community that grew too large for South Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Thus, members of the community were forced to move to a different town in order to grow their community. If you’re unfamiliar with Chasidic Jews, these are very large families. …
"DOC NYC 2018: City of Joel"
Family in Transition profiles the Tzuk family’s experience in northern Israel as Amit Tzuk undergoes a gender transition. Transitioning is not a decision that is made lightly. Some of us transition at a young age while others hold out for as long as possible. Transitioning isn’t without risks. There’s the people we care about and transitioning means possibly losing them. Losing her wife is a risk that Amit makes by coming out as a woman. …
"DOC NYC 2018: Family in Transition"
Little Miss Westie profiles the McCarthy family during one of the most troubling times for families with transgender children. Chris and Shelley McCarthy are parents to not one but two transgender children, Ren and Luca. The film takes its title from the Little Miss Westie pageant, where Ren hopes to compete as the first transgender girl. Besides this, the film focuses on the family at a time when they are dealing with so many changes. …
"DOC NYC 2018: Little Miss Westie profiles Trans Siblings"
The Ghost of Peter Sellers takes director Peter Medak back in time to heal from the wounds of the disastrous production of Ghost in the Noonday Sun in 1973. Even though it’s been some 40+ years since Peter Medak directed the film, there’s still some hurt. Nobody could blame him with the way that Peter Sellers treated those involved with the film. Sellers is a legendary name in the world of comedy. This was the guy…
"DOC NYC 2018: The Ghost of Peter Sellers"
Led by Jason Mantzoukas and Tony Revolori, The Long Dumb Road is able to bring back the road trip comedy with a fun and unique vision. Incoming college freshman Nat (Tony Revolori) and 30-something mechanic Richard (Jason Mantzoukas) are at two very different points in their life. Both of them are at different points in their life when they first meet. Together, the two of them go on quite the journey–no pun intended. The summer before heading to…
"The Long Dumb Road"
Inside Lehman Brothers examines the events that led to the collapse of the banking firm during the 2008 financial crisis. Ten years ago, the United States was undergoing the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. The impact would be felt for many years even when people claimed the recession was over. What happened to everyone who enabled the collapse of the banks? Banks were too big to fail. This is what everyone was saying…
"DOC NYC 2018: Inside Lehman Brothers"
Filmmaker Alyssa Bolsey takes us Beyond the Bolex to share the story of her great-grandfather, Jacques Bolsey. When Emil Bolsey died in 2004, he left behind a vast archive belonging to his late father, Jacques Bolsey. Until this point, filmmaker Alyssa Bolsey thought she was the only one in her family. As fate would have it, her great-grandfather was one of the early Swiss pioneers in filmmaking. This is because he was the creator of the Bolex…
"DOC NYC 2018: Beyond the Bolex"
Disney’s Robin Hood holds up quite well as the animated classic celebrates 45 years since hitting the big screen in 1973. It’s not a perfect film by any means as the film has its faults. In the time since it’s release, we’ve seen a number of incarnations of the hooded Sherwood Forest outlaw. This includes another film here in the next few weeks. Disney modeled their version of Robin Hood after Reynard the fox as they…
"Disney’s Robin Hood at 45"
After an 18 year gap, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch gets its first animated big-screen adaptation of the 1957 classic book without much to enjoy. Because the story is one that airs as a television special every year, I’m not going to discuss much of the plot. The biggest difference from the book appears to be the larger role for Cindy-Lou Who (Cameron Seely). This goes back to the Ron Howard-directed film in 2000. With regards to the…
"Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch: Bah Humbug"