Film Reviews Archive
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Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
2008-05-01
Warrior Poets. 90 minutes.
Film Review: Chicago 10
2008-02-29
What do slick CGI and Rage Against the Machine have to do with 1968?
Taxi to the Dark Side
2008-01-17
THINKFilm. 106 minutes.
Sharkwater
2008-01-17
Sharkwater Productions. 89 minutes.
Prepare for the Shopocalypse
2007-11-22
A timely documentary chronicles one man's zany quest to spread a simple message: "Stop Shopping."
Joe Strummer Calling: Know Your Rights!
2007-11-08
A film about the Clash frontman includes all the little people that Strummer befriended, inspired, and pissed off along the way.
Manufactured Landscapes
2007-11-
Zeitgeist Films. 86 minutes.
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox
2007-11-
Reckon So Productions. 88 minutes.
King Corn
2007-10-30
The tale of our number one crop and its most loyal fan: the American consumer.
Into the Wild
2007-09-28
Sean Penn's telling of a young man's quest to break free.
The Devil Came on Horseback
2007-09-26
A new documentary and book chronicle how genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan has transformed a country—and a former Marine who witnessed it.
The War's for Sale, and There are Plenty of Buyers
2007-08-15
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers profiles individuals and families affected by private companies that have acquired huge military contracts in Iraq.
After the Bomb Dropped
2007-08-07
On the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, HBO's White Light/Black Rain tells the stories of those who survived‹and those who triggered the nuclear age.
Asger Leth: Ghosts Of Cité Soleil
2007-07-
THINKfilm. 88 Minutes.
Here the strong rule, but they don't necessarily survive.
Can Sicko Influence Healthcare Reform?
2007-06-29
Call Michael Moore what you will, but if he can persuade Americans to improve our healthcare system, he will have succeeded where many others have failed.
Rockin' Hip Hop's Bells
2007-06-21
Wu-Tang Clan reunion documentary builds the hype, but doesn’t deliver the goods on the hip hop super group.
Game Not Over
2007-06-18
Frontline’s latest investigation, Endgame, dissects how the military went from a "light footprint" in Iraq to a last-ditch troop surge.
Tonto's Curse
2007-05-30
HBO's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is all smoke, no fire, and even a Native American-produced documentary fails to bring that history to life. What is it about the bad blood between the United States and Native Americans that makes for bad films?
The Trials Of Darryl Hunt
2007-05-
HBO/TH!NKFilm. 106 minutes.
In the summer of 1984, 19-year-old African American Darryl Hunt was arrested for the rape and murder of a white woman, Deborah Sykes, a newspaper copy editor in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Third Monday In October
2007-05-
Big Year Productions. 91 minutes.
Billed as a mash-up of Election and Spellbound, this film is a charming portrait of four middle-school presidential elections.
Offside: Iranian Film Calls Foul on Gender Rules
2007-04-19
Inside Iran's not-so-secret world of female soccer fans.
America at the Crossroads: Far from a Turning Point
2007-04-19
PBS's mega-budget project ought to do more to enrich our understanding of the Middle East.
The Prisoner: Iraq as Tragicomedy
2007-03-22
The second documentary from the director of Gunner Palace is a quirky portrait of one man among thousands of innocents detained by the United States.
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
2007-03-03
Thanks to Jones' megalomaniacal staging, Nelson is able to present an almost cinema verité vision of the Temple.
An Unreasonable Man: IFC Films, 122 minutes.
2007-03-01
The film's look at Nader post-2004 explores the vitriol the crusader engenders among his critics and the bittersweet respect he still garners from colleagues.
Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?: a rousing look at a political underdog.
2007-02-26
A rousing and entertaining portrait of a political underdog on the campaign trail.
Chasing Ghosts: Documentarian Asks Abu Ghraib Guards Why They Did It
2007-02-20
In the absence of a complete report on Abu Ghraib, director Rory Kennedy makes her own.
New Orleans: A Rich History Almost Washed Away
2007-02-09
A new documentary looks beyond Katrina to tell the history of this thoroughly original city.
Friends of God: Nancy Pelosi’s daughter takes a long, strange trip into the evangelical heartland.
2007-02-05
Nancy Pelosi’s daughter takes a long, strange trip into the evangelical heartland.
Romántico
2007-01-01
Kino International. 80 minutes. Billed as an "immigrant tale in reverse," this beautifully filmed documentary follows a 57-year-old Mexican troubadour from his adopted home in San Francisco back to his hometown in Guanajuato.
A Filmmaker's Two-Year Journey Into an Unraveling Nation
2006-11-27
A filmmaker's two-year journey into an unraveling nation.
Fast Food Nation
2006-10-30
Film adaptation delivers some meat if you can get past the gristle.
"Death of a President" misses its target.
2006-10-27
A controversial fake documentary misses its target.
"This Film is Not Yet Rated" and "Fuck"
2006-09-01
Zombie Movies That Pick Your Brains
2006-05-01
The politics of horror.
The Edward R. Murrow Collection
2005-11-01
Docurama/CBS News. 393 minutes.
Film Review: Salvadoran War as experienced by those who suffered most
2005-10-24
A new film depicts the Salvadoran War as lived by those who suffered most—ordinary civilians
After Innocence
2005-10-21
A documentary film looks at how prisoners exonerated by DNA evidence cope with life on the outside.
Film Review: The Brooklyn Connection
2005-07-01
The Brooklyn Connection: How to Build a Guerrilla Army
Klaartje Quirijns. A Quirijns/Amago/VPRO/ Sullivan/’t Hart Production. 57 minutes.
Airs on PBS’s P.O.V. July 19.
Film Review: The Education of Shelby Knox
2005-05-01
Marion Linschutz and Rose Rosenblatt
InCite Pictures. 76 minutes
Airs on PBS's P.O.V. June 21.
Film Review: Mondovino
2005-04-28
A new film looks at the effect of globalization on the wine industry.
No. 17
2005-03-01
David Ofek. Eden Productions. 76 minutes.
Heart of the Congo
2005-03-01
Tom Weidlinger. Moira Productions. 57 minutes.
Blogumentary
2005-01-01
Chuck Olsen. Blogumentary.org. 65 minutes.
The Day My God Died
2004-11-01
Andrew Levine. Independent Lens. 60 minutes. Airs on PBS, Nov. 30.
American Jobs
2004-11-01
Greg Spotts. Spottsfilm. 62 minutes.
Monumental: David Brower's Fight for Wild America
2004-09-01
Kelly Duane. Loteria Films. 77 minutes.
Thirst
2004-07-01
The Yes Men
2004-07-01
Libby, Montana
2004-05-01
Super Size Me
2004-05-01
What America Needs: From Sea to Shining Sea
2004-03-01
Mark Wojahn Whatamericaneeds.com. 93 minutes.
Anonymously Yours
2004-01-01
Gayle Ferraro's disturbing look into sex trafficking in Myanmar.
Steve Earle, Public Figure
2004-01-01
Musician Steve Earle's whirlwind public life is captured, roughly, by documentarian Amos Poe.
Film Review: Fog of War
2003-11-01
Documentarian extraordinaire Errol Morris takes on Robert McNamara.
Film Review: Two Views of La Frontera
2003-09-01
A pair of documentaries offer different, but complementary views of life along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Film Review: The Camcorder as a Shield
2003-09-01
From Mexico to the Czech Republic, camcorder-toting nonprofessionals are turning video into a human rights tool.
The Hype and the History
2003-07-30
Has the overwrought publicity surrounding 'Watergate Plus 30' diminished the documentary's impact?
Film Review: Bus 174
2003-07-01
Terror, real and blockbuster-inspired.
Film Review: Love & Diane
2003-07-01
Addiction, disfunction, and collision in Brooklyn.
The Same River Twice
2003-05-01
Robb Moss. | 78 minutes. Next Life Films.
Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony
2003-05-01
Lee Hirsch. | 103 minutes. Artisan Entertainment.
This Is Nowhere
2003-03-01
Doug Hawes-Davis.| 87 minutes. High Plains Films.
The Weather Underground
2003-03-01
Sam Green, Bill Siegel. | 92 minutes.
The Free History Project.
Razing Appalachia
2003-01-01
Sasha Waters. | 72 minutes. Room 135 Productions.
Alcatraz Is Not an Island
2002-11-01
James Fortier. | 60 minutes. Turtle Island Productions.
Uncle Saddam
2002-11-01
Joël Soler.| 67 minutes. Joël Soler Productions.
Journeys With George
2002-09-01
Alexandra Pelosi | 76 minutes | Purple Monkey | Trailer
War Photographer
2002-09-01
Christian Frei | 96 minutes | Suissimage | Trailer
Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story
2002-01-06
Garrett Scott | 56 minutes. Subdivision Productions.
The Top Five
2001-11-01
Moms Against the Man
The Top Five
2001-09-01
Revolucion!
Going Antiballistic
2001-07-01
Five entertaining, if unscientific, takes on missile defense
Almost Famous
2001-05-01
HAL Hath No Fury
2001-01-01
An interview with THE HAL 9000, SUPERINTELLIGENT COMPUTER on the occasion of the rerelease of Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.'
River Trips Gone Awry
2000-11-01
Without a Paddle
Hollywood Handles the Terrorist Peril
2000-09-01
Box-Office Boom
New Native Legends
1999-09-01
The presence of Native Americans in mass media has progressed light-years since the days when white actors in bad makeup grunted their way through stereotyped roles. Diverse and genre-challenging, the works in this selection of recent native media have forgone laments and diatribes in favor of forceful self-expression -- providing insight into the ways Native Americans reconcile their roles in a culture from which they continue to feel alienated.
Film Reviews: the Military-Entertainment Complex; "Return With Honor"
1999-07-01
More bang for your media buck
Film Reviews: "Pi" and "Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street"
1999-03-01
Media like Jesus would do
Film Reviews: Classic Newsroom Films; "Don't Look Back"; "Sonatine"
1998-09-01
Stuff we thought you should know about
Invasion of the Plot Snatchers
1998-05-01
Spalding Gray's Suggestions
1997-09-01
Hot!media
1996-05-01
The following are suggested books and other resources on topics covered in this issue.
John Sayles' Top 20 (cont'd)
1996-05-01
The Big Picture: John Sayles
1996-05-01
Filmmaker John Sayles gives us his take on the 20 best political films of the past two decades.
Ebert's Top 20 (cont'd)
1996-05-01
The Big Picture: Roger Ebert
1996-05-01
Critic Roger Ebert gives us his take on the 20 best political films of the past two decades.