Update: Andrew is Moving to Secular Cinephile
Andrew Spitznas announces his new movie blog, Secular Cinephile.
Author: Andrew Spitznas
-
-
Because I Was a Painter (Cognet, 2014)
In contemplating art by concentration camp survivors, this austere yet affecting documentary offers a novel contribution to our understanding of the Holocaust.
-
In Country (Attie and O’Hara, 2014)
War reenactment…huh…yeah…what is it good for? “Possibly something,” is the reply emanating from this documentary tracking a group of Vietnam War reenactors in Oregon.
-
2015 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Day 3: Outsider Art, Afghan Archeology, African Democracy, and the Black Panthers
My last day in Durham featured documentaries about artwork by institutionalized psychiatric patients, an imperiled archeology dig near Kabul, the battle to maintain democracy in Senegal, and a comprehensive history of the Black Panthers.
-
2015 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Day 2: Afghan Soldiers, Evel Knievel, and an Unconventional Marriage
Today’s documentaries showed us brave filmmaking in Afghanistan, a flawed biography of a legendary American stuntman, and a daughter’s joyous, smile-inducing reflections on the marriage between her mother and transgender father.
-
2015 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Day 1: Lies, Tigers, and Mountains, Oh My!
Today’s trio of films featured a journey inside the deceiving mind, as well as adventures in the forests and mountains of South Asia.
-
Red Army (Polsky, 2014)
This briskly paced documentary about Soviet hockey excels both as a gripping personal story and a microcosmic portrait of life in the USSR.
-
Do You Believe? (Gunn, 2015)
While lacking the full-court press anti-intellectualism of its predecessor, this new movie from the makers of God’s Not Dead still suffers from preposterous storylines and ugly bigotry.
-
Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014)
"Nightcrawler" is a solid piece of film craftsmanship and a decent challenge to the “if it bleeds, it leads” journalistic mentality. While waiting for the winter cineplex dregs to wash away, it's worth your home viewing attention.
-
Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005) — 10 Years Later
Revisiting "Brokeback Mountain" after 10 years feels a bit like an archeological dig. After all, director Ang Lee’s film about a pair of covert cowboy gay lovers has more socio-cultural layers of meaning to burrow through than most movies.