Somewhere in my list of cinephile pet peeves is the notion, loosely held, that direction doesn't matter much in documentaries--that a filmmaker need only find an interesting subject and turn on the camera. Direction does matter.
Bright Days Ahead is a notch better than both Le Week-end and The Face of Love.
My complaints are two, and they are both the more frustrating for obscuring the occasional relevant and important pieces (such as claims that the Bush administration had decided they wanted to "do something" about Iraq prior to the 9/11 attacks).
Moms' Night Out is the first (and so far only) "Christian" movie that I could maybe, sort of, imagine a non-Christian enjoying. Not every non-Christian, certainly, Maybe not most. But some...and that's progress after a fashion.
Few events in history have been the subject of as many books and films as the Holocaust, yet paradoxically each new narrative serves to remind us that we can only ever scratch the surface of tragedies composed of the loss of human lives.
If 2014 is, as has been rumored, the final year of Film Fest DC, the selection of films proved a fitting microcosm of both why regional film festivals will continue to struggle and why this one will be missed.
Does depicting torture automatically earn a movie three stars or more if it is inspired by a true story?
That's probably one reason why there are so few genuinely engaging movies about abortion. Most interesting dramas have at least a bit of internal conflict. But in melodramas about polarizing issues, if such internal conflicts are too heavy, the drama risks alienating those viewers who may perceive such misgivings as signaling uncertainty. If they are too light, it risks accusations of treating a grave matter too superficially. Rare is the film that seriously challenges its characters to feel reservations about their position, much less face them.
Ming Lai's Art Recession is comprised of a series of testimonials, relentless in their focus. The thesis? Art education is devalued (and hence vulnerable) in our culture despite helping students excel in other disciplines and improving the quality of life for society as a whole.
"God didn't say in the Bible: 'thou shalt be 110 pounds,'" the actress replied wryly when asked what advice she had to young women watching movies and questioning whether they conformed to the perfect feminine Hollywood prototype.
