Hello all, and welcome to 2023! I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday, regardless of how you celebrated. Mercifully, 2022 is finally over, but that doesn't mean we're done with its cinematic slate, not by a long shot. The unofficial tally for the year, cut off at calendar's end, is 116 films viewed, but obviously … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Doc’s Orders, Part 1
If there's one thing we can all agree on when it comes to David Bowie, it's that he was impossible to pin down. I mean, that was always sort of the point, wasn't it? He was eclectic, transformative, mercurial, and of course, a fucking genius. He could appear as a meek waif on the streets … Continue reading He Knows It’s All Worthwhile – Moonage Daydream
Each of the three Short Subject categories offers something unique and extreme when compared to the other two. For Animated Short, you have the biggest variety of artistic styles, as animation comes in just about all shapes and sizes. For Live Action Short, you usually have more international fare than the other two, as well … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2022 – Documentary Short
The purpose of any documentary film - regardless of subject matter - is the search for truth. It's the entire point of nonfiction storytelling, to deal in facts, to educate, to highlight elements of our world that deserve to be seen and appreciated, even if we don't agree with the overall point being made. That's … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2022 – Documentary Feature
Man, it's been a while, hasn't it? I covered the vast majority of the Academy's shortlist for Documentary Feature nearly two months ago. And even after that, I watched two of the three remaining films within a couple of days. There was just one left, which OF COURSE also got nominated, and I couldn't watch … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – I’ve Got a Little List, Part 4
Welcome to the third part in our miniseries on the 2021 Documentary Feature shortlist. You can find the recaps for Part 1 and Part 2 in their accompanying links, and as previously mentioned, I have individual reviews for Summer of Soul, The Rescue, and Flee. Today's installment will bring us up to 12 on this … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – I’ve Got a Little List, Part 3
It's Christmas Eve, and while soon I will engage in my annual tradition of watching It's a Wonderful Life, I figured now was as good a time as any to knock off a few more entries on this year's Documentary Feature shortlist. To recap, of the 15 films up for the award, three have had … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – I’ve Got a Little List, Part 2
In the leadup to next year's Oscar Blitz, I focused a lot of time over the past two months on clearing as many International Feature submissions as possible, netting myself 10 of the 15 films eventually shortlisted by the Academy. On the flipside of things, this means I wasn't nearly able to spend as much … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – I’ve Got a Little List, Part 1
In 2018, a youth soccer team in Thailand got trapped deep inside a mountain cave after heavy rains flooded the tunnels and passages that they used to get in, an early storm that signaled the onset of monsoon season. In the nearly three weeks that followed, a massive international effort was undertaken to get those … Continue reading You Couldn’t Script it Better – The Rescue
Part of my major problem with this year's Oscar-winning documentary, My Octopus Teacher, was that it was in large part a vanity project, a form of self-therapy for the film's creator. I'm happy for the emotional breakthroughs he made, and the footage of the titular octopus was gorgeous, but it felt like watching something that … Continue reading A Cry in the Dark – The Loneliest Whale
I Actually Paid To See This 