Tanner ’88
May 1, 2005
Just in time for the November U.S. elections, the good folks at Criterion have released Robert Altman’s little-seen (yet influential) Tanner ’88 (1988), an eleven-episode mini-series that he created with Gary Trudeau (of Doonesbury fame). Done for...
Fahrenheit 9/11
April 23, 2005
When Michael Moore delivered his controversial acceptance speech after winning the Best Documentary prize for Bowling for Columbine (2002) at the 2003 Academy Awards, he lashed out at President George W. Bush and the fictious war in Iraq. Little did anyone...
Tom Dowd and the Language of Music
December 9, 2004
As with many art forms there are countless unsung heroes who work behind the scenes and help make things happen. Tom Dowd was such a person. He was a legendary music producer/recording engineer who pioneered all sorts of techniques and worked with such...
Tupac: Resurrection
September 23, 2004
Tupac: Resurrection (2003) is an attempt to tell the legendary rapper, Tupac Shakur’s life story in his own words. This may seem difficult considering he’s dead but Lauren Lazin’s documentary manages to pull it off. She achieves this by editing...
The War Room: Criterion Collection
March 21, 2004
By 1992, the American public had grown tired of Republican rule under the presidency of George H.W. Bush. The United States had become mired in the Persian Gulf War and the economy was suffering. People were looking for change and hope for this came in...
Jackass: The Movie
December 7, 2003
The Jackass Boys are back! If you’re a fan of the MTV show, then you’ll know what this movie is all about; in fact you almost don’t need to read this review. Wait! I said almost! The stunts in this movie are weirder, wilder and more extreme than...
Jump London
September 18, 2003
This DVD documentary tells the story of how a new and up-and-coming urban sport influence has spread from a small sub-burb of Paris (called Lisses) to England’s capital, London. The sport itself is called “free-running”, and the person...
Walt Disney Treasures: Tomorrowland
July 1, 2003
Most people regard Walt Disney as one of the masters of animation. What most people don’t remember is that he was also keenly interested in science and technology and how it would affect the future. He explored this fascination with a series of science...
The Simple Life
March 12, 2003
When asked to look at a DVD featuring Paris Hilton, I was naturally interested. After all, as I’d spent countless hours downloading footage of her I may as well see what she looks like without the grainy poor quality video image. Unfortunately, what...
Ghosts of the Abyss
February 22, 2003
After the phenomenal success of Titanic (1997), James Cameron did the smart thing and cultivated a low profile for a few years. It made sense, after all, how do you follow-up a movie that taps into the zeitgeist in such an unprecedented way? In the interim,...
