Parvez Sharma in a Scene from A Sinner in Mecca (All Images Courtesy of Haram Films)
Just when you think you’ve seen everything, a film comes along that tells a completely unique story, and it blows your mind a little bit. Combining highly engaging aspects of a sociopolitical exposé, a deeply engrossing travelogue, and a minutely focused autobiography, filmmaker Parvez Sharma’s A Sinner in Mecca is a one-of-a-kind documentary.
Continue reading Movie Review: A Sinner In Mecca
Reminiscent of inspiring music documentaries such as The Punk Singer: A Film About Kathleen Hanna (which provided the Riot Grrrl movement founder with the substantial props she deserved), and Anvil, the Story of Anvil (a film that completely resurrected an unsung band’s entire career), My Way, focusing on singer/songwriter guitarist Rebekah Snyder-Starr, showcases one musician’s quest to find success in the music business while doing things on her own terms.
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson Get Ready to Take a Bath in Fifty Shades of Grey
Confession: The Fifty Shades of Grey franchise is a pop culture phenomenon that has, to this juncture, been completely ignored/held in contempt by me, because I would rather kill myself than read poorly-written accounts of blank-slate fictional characters having all kinds of ridiculous sex. Hard pass.
Continue reading The Fifty Shades of Grey Review: Not Completely Horrible
Love doesn’t have to look a certain way, and it is a thoroughly compelling love story that anchors the Gay rights battle at the heart of The Circle, a new German language film from Director Stefan Haupt. In this engaging film that mixes a scripted dramatic narrative (set in 1950s Zurich) with present day documentary interview footage with film’s real-life main characters, The Circle (Der Kreis) is also the name of a gay social organization and the multi-lingual, borderline-homoerotic magazine/newsletter it publishes and distributes to an extensive international list of subscribers.
Continue reading Recommended Viewing: The Circle (Der Kreis)
While watching the actions of Mark Landis, the undeniably creepy subject of the recently released documentary, Art and Craft (directed by Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman), I had the same feeling as when I watched I Think We’re Alone Now, an indie documentary that follows two obsessed fans of ’80s Pop singer, Tiffany. While the story of Landis‘ 30-year career of flagrant art forgery is truly fascinating — because, how the hell did he get away with it for so long? — his obvious mental illness gives the film a slight aura of exploitation.