The omnibus is an interesting filmmaking format. It allows for many storytellers to provide their own take on a similar tale. Unfortunately the fatal flaw in the omnibus is that the viewer has to travel every peak and valley whether they want to or not, and while some peaks can be gloriously high, some valleys…
When I think about the best docs I’ve seen, I find that they all land on a sweet spot for me as a viewer. The very best nonfiction films I’ve experienced unspool with a perfect blend of interesting subject matter and perfect execution. It’s not enough just to fascinate, or look pretty. To be truly…
When I was a young sports fan, I considered stadiums and arenas to be cathedrals. They were places where communities of believers came to worship their heroes, and display a sort of civic pride. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized how much building these cathedrals affected me as a citizen. Once I…
There are few things in society that galvanize us more than sex offenders. Without fail, they spark talk of “lock-’em-up, lose-the-key”…they even ignite calls for capital punishment. Oddly, deciding how to punish them is the easy part: what gets tricky is figuring out what to do once they’ve served their punishment. NO ENTRY, NO EXIT…
Kids have wanted to be stars for as long as they’ve had stars to aspire to be. These days though, the drive to be famous seems to have found a new gear, what with shows like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance? ready to pluck young talent eagerly awaiting their shot and…
I consider myself someone fascinated by history – especially athletic history – and a proud Canadian, so the fact that I knew nothing about Harry Jerome prior to last week was pretty darned shameful. Luckily, MIGHTY JEROME – a fantastic film playing this year’s Hot Docs festival – has arrived to take me from the…
We now interrupt this regularly scheduled blog to talk documentaries… Today begins a special series of my regular Matineecast, talking about all thing festival related. The format will be a little different than usual, namely episodes will be a bit shorter, and sometimes more raw as I won’t be finessing all of them through editing…
