We can thank Errol Morris for a couple of things in his 1988 documentary The Thin Blue Line. First, he successfully exposed some serious flaws in a criminal case which resulted in the death sentence of Randall Adams in Dallas in 1976. His work helped correct this egregious wrong and freed an innocent man from life in …
Tag Archives: NR
Way late review: Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians
Some like to defend their behavior based on (for lack of a better term) the Robin Hood principle, which is taking from the rich and giving to the poor. It is not uncommon to hear this defense when someone is caught in an illegal activity but the person is known to contribute to their community. …
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Way late review: Indie Game: The Movie
30+ years ago the tech startup out of a garage was made legendary thanks to two Steves – Jobs and Wozniak. Today’s version may be best summed up in indie video game developers. And while there is much to romanticize about the “two guys in a garage” mythology, Indie Game: The Movie does its fair …
Way late review: Better This World
Activist documentaries are quite the rage these days. Everyone has their cause and some think that cause is worth documenting as a movie. Most of these movies are of little interest to me. For example, If a Tree Falls was nominated for an Oscar in the best documentary category and I was convinced that if …
Way late review: Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
Chasing down a mystery as the centerpiece of a documentary is tricky. On the one hand, the thrill of the chase should make for a compelling story. On the other hand, solving the mystery may turn out to be a let down if the end result is far less mysterious than it originally seemed. Resurrect …
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Way late review: Nursery University
I’m glad I’m not a parent living in New York City. As Nursery University shows us, there are a lot of parents living in NYC who have lost their minds, and it’s all over enrolling their child into the perfect nursery school. The documentary follows several families in New York City wading through the treacherous …
Way late review: Floored
After watching Floored, a documentary about old-school traders on Chicago’s exchange floors, I wonder (once again) if there is much difference between gambling and trading commodities. One can’t help but notice the subjects of the film, struggling to adapt to the new ways of doing business (computer vs. in-person trades), resemble professional poker players. They …
Way late review: Beauty Day
Before Youtube and before Johnny Knoxville and his crew there was Ralph Zavadil, aka Cap’n Video. A local access cable show in St. Catharines, Ontario, Cap’n Video existed in obscurity until Zavadil’s alter ego attempted one too many dangerous stunts. And it is that stunt, a botched plunge into a covered pool off a shaky …
Way late review: Candyman: The David Klein Story
Way late review: Bill Cunningham New York
Fashion and the industry that revolves around it are not my forte. Therefore it might come as a surprise that I enjoyed Bill Cunningham New York, a documentary that centers on an 80-year-old photographer who captures what people are wearing in New York City. While fashion is Bill’s obsession, the director (Richard Press) obsesses over …
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