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
There are basically two elements of a music documentary that determine its quality for me. The first is the story. Tell me stuff I've never heard before and would never really know other than by doing independent research. The world of the music industry, particularly from the mid-20th century on, is a fascinating and endless … Continue reading The Greatest Band You’ve Never Heard Of – The Sparks Brothers
Today is Memorial Day, the day where Americans honor their fallen military over the course of our history. We're also living in an era where fascism is once again on the rise, anti-Semitism runs rampant, and certain seats of government throughout the country are working with increased zeal to dismantle the very foundations of representative … Continue reading Five Stages of the Third Reich – Final Account
If you didn't watch Sesame Street going up, you either had a very deprived childhood, or you were born well before the 1960s. Just like Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, the Muppet/Human hybrid show was a staple of the PBS lineup for pretty much all of us in our formative years. Whether your favorite was Big Bird, … Continue reading Big Bird is the Word – Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
The first time I watched this category, I made a new friend and I nearly peed mysel. See, the limit for a short subject film is 40 minutes, and occasionally an allowance can be made if the credit roll puts it slightly over that time. When I first saw this category in 2015, basically every … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2021 – Documentary Short
Welcome one and all to the annual Oscar Blitz! At long last, after a year of lockdowns and two months of logistical delays, we finally can begin the countdown to the biggest night in cinema. Now, you may be asking why I call this the Blitz when the articles are called "Oscar Gold." You're probably … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2021 – Documentary Feature
We're one week away from the Oscar nominations, people! It is very nearly GO time, and I am getting psyched up! The anticipation, the trepidation, the sheer worry about availability of nominees in this continuing pandemic have got me all of the dither right now. But at least there's one area where I can safely … Continue reading DownStream – Doc Stuffed!
More so than any other short category, the Documentaries tend to be the most accessible. Thanks to YouTube, Netflix, HBO, and other sources, the short documentary has an outlet for basically anyone willing to seek them out. At the same time, the short documentary also has the trickiest road to making a complete movie. Much … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Documentary Short
I'm really running low on "doc" puns at this point. Anyway, tomorrow the Academy announces its shortlists for several categories outside the main ballot, including Documentary Feature. Since the list of submissions was announced, I've tried to find time to view as many that are available as possible. Sadly, at the moment I'm working two … Continue reading DownStream – Doc Around the Clock
I Actually Paid To See This 