Directed by Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert Maybe it's not appropriate to love movies like this, but I do. They depict a certain part of America that is often overlooked, and I find these documentaries both troubling and deeply fascinating. Other recent films in this vein are Rich Hill (2014) and Minding the Gap (2018). They … Continue reading American Factory (2019)
documentary
Generation Wealth (2018)
Directed by Lauren Greenfield Generation Wealth covers a lot of territory, and I find it all riveting. It's ostensibly about overconsumption and the corrupting powers of wealth, but from there Greenfield turns the camera on herself to help tell a broader story about addiction. The impulses that drive some to dramatically alter their bodies or … Continue reading Generation Wealth (2018)
The Queen of Versailles (2012)
Directed by Lauren Greenfield The Queen of Versailles has too many interesting details to count. It's both absurd and tragic, a hyper-specific story of the 1% that morphs into one more universal. David and Jackie Siegel are a married couple who want to build the largest home in America, an estate modeled after the Palace … Continue reading The Queen of Versailles (2012)
Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018)
Directed by RaMell Ross RaMell Ross' Hale County This Morning, This Evening is a slice of life documentary both unobtrusive and yet stylized in its own way. It observes at times like a fly on the wall and in other moments with an intimate proximity to the people onscreen. We see some crying with their heads … Continue reading Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018)
We Are Columbine (2018)
Directed by Laura Farber We Are Columbine never once mentions the names of the perpetrators of the event which so loaded the term "Columbine." The documentary, directed by one of the survivors, instead focuses on the community and several of the students, all freshmen at the time, who were there during the shooting on April … Continue reading We Are Columbine (2018)
Apollo 11 (2019)
Directed by Todd Douglas Miller Apollo 11 is a riveting, a cinematic documentary that does away with talking heads, narration and outsider perspectives. This is a movie that, thanks to previously unseen footage, puts us right there on the ground floor with the astronauts, observers and mission control during the entirety of the Apollo 11 mission, … Continue reading Apollo 11 (2019)
Fyre (2019)
Directed by Chris Smith Billy McFarland, the central subject of the fairly recent Netflix documentary, makes for a good villain. He is slimy, mysterious, delusional and, in the end, outright malicious. Just looking at him might stir up feelings of feelings of disgust particularly as he attempts to smother himself with the life he might … Continue reading Fyre (2019)
Spielberg (2017)
Directed by Susan Lacy Steven Spielberg has been making full length films for almost fifty years now, and Spielberg celebrates the director's career by touching on all of the high notes. There isn't much drama to this documentary, not that there needs to be, and the story tries to explain some of Spielberg's impulses but mostly … Continue reading Spielberg (2017)
Minding the Gap (2018)
Directed by Bing Liu Minding the Gap tells the story of three young skateboarders from Rockford, Illinois as they transition into adulthood. They are Zack, Kiere, and Bing, the director himself. For all of them skateboarding is an escape from broken homes and domestic abuse. In the case of one, a recent father, we see … Continue reading Minding the Gap (2018)
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead (2018)
Directed by Morgan Neville Morgan Neville has had quite the year, and the subjects of his two 2018 documentaries, this and Won't You Be My Neighbor? couldn't be more different. One was Mr. Rogers, the man you wish was your grandpa, and the other is Orson Welles. This documentary chronicles the struggle for Welles to finish … Continue reading They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead (2018)
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