In the last century, more than ninety percent of Black farmers lost their property, often in schemes that dispossessed them of decades or even centuries of ties to their land. Greed, as it often does, plays a part, especially when backed by a corporate machine intent on seizing property for development. Just one such example of land grabbing is documented in the new film “Silver Dollar Road” ... more >
MOVIES | IN THEATERS NOW
The emotional power of stock taking and self-examination: “JOAN BAEZ I AM A NOISE” | INTERVIEW
Co-directed by Miri Navasky, Karen O'Connor and Maeve O'BoyleJoan Baez I Am a Noise” is less a travelogue of Joan Baez’s six decades in music than it is an exploration of her personality, her hopes, her tragedies, her triumphs and her political advocacy on behalf of the cause of peace. In addition to the music she made early on with Bob Dylan, the film tells of Baez’s difficulties with anxiety as well as her later-in-life wish to confront her parents about ... more >
Almodovar’s “STRANGE WAY OF LIFE” holds more emotion and depth than most of today’s films | FILM REVIEW
Pedro Almodóvar’s thirty one-minute serving of cinematic tapas, “Strange Way of Life," is his first Western, of sorts. The picture has guns and horses and rugged men on both sides of the law, but there is also a burning sexuality to the piece. After all, this is Almodóvar. Fans of Almodóvar films should be aware this is not a subversive and comedically flamboyant look at Westerns but a subdued ... more >
“DEADLOCKED: HOW AMERICA SHAPED THE SUPREME COURT”; interview with filmmaker Dawn Porter
The filmmaker Dawn Porter is also a lawyer. And even though she has the utmost respect for the Supreme Court, she is nonetheless perturbed by what she describes as the public’s loss of faith in its premier judicial institution. “The court did not just turn right suddenly,” Porter said on a recent phone call. “We have a very dramatic and ideological shift. And so I wanted to trace the history so ... more >
The must-have Texas bourbon story gets the documentary treatment | FILM REVIEW
Directed by Chet Garner and Daniel MeceyIt’s said everything is bigger in Texas, perhaps nowhere more so than in the incredible true story of Garrison Brothers, a bespoke whiskey distillery in the humble town of Hye whose Texas bourbon is now the toast of the Lone Star State. “Cowboy Bourbon” is an intriguing new documentary about Dan Garrison, a dreamer who believed that authentic bourbon need not come from Kentucky. And while ... more >
“DARK ASSET”; let’s be honest here | MOVIE REVIEW
A super soldier genetically enhanced for maximum power; a living, breathing killing machine. The soldier escapes from a laboratory and must be stopped. Who is the real villain, the soldier or the scientists who created him? The new action film “Dark Asset” knows audiences have been here before and doesn’t seem to care. Writer/director Michael Winnick plays with time, and fills the screen with ... more >
In “Nina & Irena” filmmaker Daniel Lombroso interviews his grandmother, who survived the Holocaust
The filmmaker Daniel Lombroso continues to amaze me. I learned of his work early in the pandemic, encountering his documentary “White Noise” at the first (but not last) virtual AFI DOCS fest in 2020. That searing film—which was on my best-of-the-year list—introduced us to true believers in the cause of white supremacy, including a young Canadian woman who is among the most intriguing documentary ... more >