Tag: Documentary

  • My Darling Vivian

    My Darling Vivian

    The legacy of Johnny Cash is eternally tied to the concept of, “walking the line.” The 1956 ballad is one of his most enduring hits. The 2005 Hollywood biopic took its name from the same song. His public struggles with substance abuse (and later declaration of Christian faith) all played into the weaving meta-narrative of…

  • Traverse City Film Festival 2019: Top Films

    Traverse City Film Festival 2019: Top Films

    After a leave of absence of reviews from last year’s Traverse City Film Festival (TCFF) even though I was there, I return with short reviews of the most impressive films that I saw this year. I have only reviewed films that are scheduled for distribution now or later this year. So rather than write about…

  • First Man / Free Solo

    First Man / Free Solo

    Our audio equipment failed us in October, but we’re back and better than ever. Welcome to our first double feature podcast! That’s right, this month you get two movies for the price of one. Starting things off is First Man. After launching two masterpieces into the universe with Whiplash and La La Land, director Damien…

  • Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

    Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

    Could there be a movie more needed in 2018 than Won’t You Be My Neighbor? As fear and tribalism reach fever pitch, we desperately need a mirror held up to our humanity. Fred Rogers was that mirror, not by pointing a finger, but by living a life of selfless love that still resonates today. The…

  • Beauty in Simplicity – A Conversation with Anna Frances Ewert

    Beauty in Simplicity – A Conversation with Anna Frances Ewert

    Lovers of the Night is equal parts tender and rapturous, acting more as an on-screen relationship than a documentary. With her camera trained on the intimate monotony of everyday life, Anna Frances Ewert takes us into an Irish monastery, imbuing her work with the very soul of its walls and residents. You wouldn’t be mistaken…

  • I Can Only Imagine

    I Can Only Imagine

    For the approximately six of you who have read my previous, somewhat (mostly?) pretentious, overly-hyperlinked reviews here, you’ll recall my contention that if Christians should prevail at any sort of filmmaking, it will be documentaries. That’s because we Christians have stories to tell, and documentaries are about story first. Cinematography is a nice to have,…

  • True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 4

    True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 4

    On its face, 96 hours feels like a lot of time, especially when you’re thinking in terms of 90 minutes movies. But in reality, it flies by, leaving you in a kind of glorious exhaustion. Your head is swimming with ideas and images, and all you want to do is drink a cup of tea…

  • True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 3

    True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 3

    After a difficult day two at the 2018 True/False Film Festival, there was a sense of lost time I was battling. Having only seen a handful of films in two days, I wondered if that time could be made up in the ensuing two days, busy days though they would be. There was a conflicting…

  • True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 2

    True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 2

    Films: Lovers of the Night; Caniba; Three Identical Strangers As magical as it can be, one of the unfortunate realities of True/False is that one bad experience can set your day off course. The festivals programs trend both heady and heavy, and while they’re (mostly) all entertaining in their own ways, the wear-and-tear of one…

  • True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 1

    True/False Film Festival 2018 Day 1

    Films: Shorts: Red Wine 73 (Mini Miss; Duelo; La Bouche; Palenque), American Animals One of the best parts about True/False is the near-guarantee of being transported to another world. I say “near-guarantee,” because there are always films that are willing and able to take you to places about which you’d never think or dream. However,…