Studio: Repnet Llc Release Date: 10/20/2009
DVD - Documentary
Michael Jackson: This Is It (2009)
It’s hard not to watch This Is It without feeling a mixture of sorrow and elation. When he passed away in the summer of 2009, Michael Jackson was in the midst of rehearsals for his final tour, an ambitious 50-date engagement. In editing 120 hours of rehearsal footage together, Jackson producer Kenny Ortega proves that it would’ve been an event for the ages. Michael performs material that spans his career, from a Motown medley to multi-platinum hits from Off the Wall, Thriller, a Read more…
Grey Gardens / The Beales of Grey Gardens – Criterion Collection (2-disc set) (1976)
Although it’s typically described as a cult phenomenon, Grey Gardens is something more than that by now. The 1975 documentary by brothers Albert and David Maysles (who filmed the proceedings and co-directed with Muffie Meyer and Ellen Hovde) has been turned into a hit Broadway show, with plans for a feature film in the offing; it’s also the title of a song by Rufus Wainwright, and has been referenced on TV shows like The Gilmore Girls, The L Word, and even Rugrats. In the proces Read more…
Every Little Step (2008)
The engaging documentary Every Little Step threatens to be woefully insular–after all, it’s about dancers auditioning for a Broadway revival of a musical about dancers auditioning for a musical. But what makes the musical A Chorus Line work–aside from memorable songs and topnotch choreography–is that while not everyone wants to sing and dance, everyone has had to apply for a job. So everyone can identify with the emotions applying for a job evokes. Similarly, viewers who don’ Read more…
Ken Burns: National Parks – America’s Best Idea
Review
“…A strong candidate for the most beautiful program ever to air on American television. It’s the Burns effort that most closely rivals “The Civil War,” his masterpiece.” –Orlando Sentinel
THE NATIONAL PARKS is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved for everyone. The series traces the birth of the national park idea in the mid-1800s and follows its Read more…
The Horse Boy (2009)
An intensely personal yet epic spiritual journey, The Horse Boy follows one Texas couple and their autistic son as they trek on horseback through Outer Mongolia in an attempt to find healing for him. When two-year-old Rowan was diagnosed with autism, Rupert Isaacson, a writer and former horse trainer, and his wife Kristin Neff, a psychology professor, sought the best possible medical care, but traditional therapies had little effect. Then they discovered that Rowan has a profoun Read more…
Examined Life (2008)
In Examined Life, filmmaker Astra Taylor (Zizek!) liberates philosophy from the sterile world of academia through entertaining and thought-provoking excursions with some of today’s most famous and influential thinkers. Peter Singer’s thoughts on the ethics of consumption are amplified against the backdrop of Fifth Avenue’s posh boutiques. Slavoj Zizek questions current beliefs about the environment while sifting through a garbage dump. Michael Hardt ponders the nature of revolut Read more…
The Cove (2009)
Maybe you’ve seen it all, and maybe you’re already steeped in outraged, activist documentaries. But you haven’t seen anything quite like The Cove, unless you can visualize a disturbing combination of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, Free Willy, and the killing of Bambi’s mother. The Cove is directed by the experienced National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, who sets about to uncover a shocking (but regular) ritual on the Japanese coast: the herding and slaughter of thousand Read more…
It Might Get Loud (2008)
Three generations of rock guitarists come together for It Might Get Loud, a 2009 documentary directed by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth). These are not just your garden-variety guitar gods: Jimmy Page, in his mid-’60s at the time of the film, founded Led Zeppelin, who dominated the 1970s following the breakup of the Beatles. As a member of U2, 48-year-old David Evans, better known as the Edge, created one of the most distinctive and influential sounds of the past quarte Read more…
By the People: The Election of Barack Obama (2009)
Whatever one thinks of his performance as President, there can be no doubt that the two campaigns and election that put Barack Obama in the White House, all chronicled in By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, were extraordinary events in American history. Directors Amy Rice and Alicia Sams appear to be Obama fans, but their documentary is not a liberal tract. They don’t devote a lot of time to policy; nor do we see more than brief excerpts of the public speeches delivered Read more…
