In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks with documentary producer Clyde Petersen about the making of Even Hell Has Its Heroes, a documentary about the Seattle rock band Earth and “3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life”
Persistence Of Vision (2012) Gates Of Heaven (1978) By Hook Or By Crook (2001)
“3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life” is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the alarm goes off for five minutes we move on to the next film.
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Persistence Of Vision (2012) Gates Of Heaven (1978) By Hook Or By Crook (2001)
“3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life” is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the alarm goes off for five minutes we move on to the next film.
Powered by RedCircle...
- 12/6/2023
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
Less a last will and testament than a mischievously mutual final troll, Errol Morris’s documentary The Pigeon Tunnel sees both its director and its subject, the late spy turned novelist John le Carré (né David Cornwell), engage in a circuitous dialogue, shot over four days near the end of 2019, that’s as charming and playful as it is oblique and ominous.
Contradictions abound, beginning with the film’s title visual, which is taken from le Carré’s 2016 memoir of the same name. It refers to a hotel in the Mediterranean that a young le Carré would visit with his father Ronnie, a career swindler. Pigeons were bred on the roof, and at certain points of the day the birds were forced to fly through a tunnel where they would emerge over the ocean and be shot at from below by wealthy clientele. Those that survived, rather than break for freedom,...
Contradictions abound, beginning with the film’s title visual, which is taken from le Carré’s 2016 memoir of the same name. It refers to a hotel in the Mediterranean that a young le Carré would visit with his father Ronnie, a career swindler. Pigeons were bred on the roof, and at certain points of the day the birds were forced to fly through a tunnel where they would emerge over the ocean and be shot at from below by wealthy clientele. Those that survived, rather than break for freedom,...
- 9/28/2023
- by Keith Uhlich
- Slant Magazine
When it comes to documentary filmmakers, Alex Gibney, Errol Morris and Raoul Peck are at the top of their game. Along with tremendous talent, each helmer possesses what every successful documentarian needs — business savvy — which in turn has allowed them to experience continued success over many years. The trio also has what most documentarians desire — clout and final cut.
But despite their respective success and power, Gibney, Morris and Peck agree that the film festivals where they first found success are still as important to their respective careers as ever before.
This year, Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” Morris’ “The Pigeon Tunnel” and Peck’s “Silver Dollar Road” will all screen at TIFF.
“The celebratory nature of festivals is awesome,” says Gibney. “It’s one of the reasons you make movies.”
Gibney spent three years making “In Restless Dreams,” a 209-minute film about Simon’s...
But despite their respective success and power, Gibney, Morris and Peck agree that the film festivals where they first found success are still as important to their respective careers as ever before.
This year, Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” Morris’ “The Pigeon Tunnel” and Peck’s “Silver Dollar Road” will all screen at TIFF.
“The celebratory nature of festivals is awesome,” says Gibney. “It’s one of the reasons you make movies.”
Gibney spent three years making “In Restless Dreams,” a 209-minute film about Simon’s...
- 9/9/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Apologies to André Bazin, Pauline Kael, and Andrew Sarris, but Roger Ebert was unquestionably the most influential film critic of the cinema's first century. In fact, unless the media landscape is drastically altered over the next few years, he may also wind up being the last film critic who ever truly mattered.
I do not mean this as a put-down of my colleagues. If you actually read film criticism nowadays, you know that there's never been a more thrillingly diverse assortment of voices in this too-cluttered arena. Manohla Dargis, Justin Chang, Scott Tobias, Angelica Jade Bastién, and Bilge Ebiri are must-reads in this house, and I could name a few dozen more who are reliably incisive and original in their thinking. I don't have time to read all of the critics I respect, which is both a frustrating and good thing.
But be honest, do you actually read film criticism nowadays?...
I do not mean this as a put-down of my colleagues. If you actually read film criticism nowadays, you know that there's never been a more thrillingly diverse assortment of voices in this too-cluttered arena. Manohla Dargis, Justin Chang, Scott Tobias, Angelica Jade Bastién, and Bilge Ebiri are must-reads in this house, and I could name a few dozen more who are reliably incisive and original in their thinking. I don't have time to read all of the critics I respect, which is both a frustrating and good thing.
But be honest, do you actually read film criticism nowadays?...
- 9/7/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Oscar-winning filmmaker Errol Morris unveiled his new documentary The Pigeon Tunnel – about the spy-turned-novelist David Cornwell, aka John le Carré – at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday. Audience buzz afterwards ranked it among Morris’s best work, a canon that includes the classics The Thin Blue Line and Gates of Heaven.
Morris said it took years for The Pigeon Tunnel to be completed. But during a Q&a, he referenced a different endeavor that apparently isn’t fated to come together – a nascent documentary project on former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The controversial figure who guided American foreign policy during the Nixon and Ford administrations recently reached the century mark.
Henry Kissinger celebrates his 100th birthday in Bavaria, June 20, 2023.
“Someone wanted me to interview quite recently, on the occasion of his hundredth birthday, Henry Kissinger,” Morris told the audience at the Chuck Jones Theater in Mountain Village. “And as my wife has pointed out,...
Morris said it took years for The Pigeon Tunnel to be completed. But during a Q&a, he referenced a different endeavor that apparently isn’t fated to come together – a nascent documentary project on former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The controversial figure who guided American foreign policy during the Nixon and Ford administrations recently reached the century mark.
Henry Kissinger celebrates his 100th birthday in Bavaria, June 20, 2023.
“Someone wanted me to interview quite recently, on the occasion of his hundredth birthday, Henry Kissinger,” Morris told the audience at the Chuck Jones Theater in Mountain Village. “And as my wife has pointed out,...
- 9/2/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
From RZA to Jon Favreau, artists, filmmakers, journalists and activists gathered on Aug. 26 for Variety‘s inaugural Truth Seekers Summit, in partnership with Rolling Stone and presented by Showtime Documentary Films.
The summit explored the art of documentary and investigative storytelling. Here are 10 takeaways from the two-day event.
RZA Was Inspired By Robert De Niro In Making His Series “Wu-Tang: An American Saga”
Speaking about the difficulties of writing about his own life and career in the format of a TV series, RZA said Robert De Niro helped him understand how to separate himself from the art.
“When I saw ‘Cape Fear,’ my brain clicked, because I’m such a fan of his,” RZA said. “I knew him from ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Goodfellas,’ and then here he was playing this psychopath. And he played it so brilliantly. It’s actually an artistic thing to separate yourself from art. I met Mr.
The summit explored the art of documentary and investigative storytelling. Here are 10 takeaways from the two-day event.
RZA Was Inspired By Robert De Niro In Making His Series “Wu-Tang: An American Saga”
Speaking about the difficulties of writing about his own life and career in the format of a TV series, RZA said Robert De Niro helped him understand how to separate himself from the art.
“When I saw ‘Cape Fear,’ my brain clicked, because I’m such a fan of his,” RZA said. “I knew him from ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Goodfellas,’ and then here he was playing this psychopath. And he played it so brilliantly. It’s actually an artistic thing to separate yourself from art. I met Mr.
- 8/27/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld, Selome Hailu and Jennifer Yuma
- Variety Film + TV
“The Fog of War” and “The Thin Blue Line” director Errol Morris’ next documentary film will be focused on the “High Priest of LSD” Timothy Leary and will debut on Showtime later this year, Showtime Documentary Films announced Tuesday.
The documentary, currently with the working title “A Film By Errol Morris,” is inspired by the memoir “Tripping the Bardo with Timothy Leary: My Psychedelic Love Story” by Joanna Harcourt-Smith. It will examine the romantic relationship between Harcourt-Smith and Leary as he went from an advocate for the psychedelic LSD drug and then became a narc in 1974.
The film will explore Leary’s period of exile, his re-imprisonment and his subsequent cooperation with the authorities and whether Leary and Harcourt-Smith truly had the “perfect love” or if something else was at play.
Also Read: 'American Dharma' Film Review: Errol Morris' Documentary on Steve Bannon Leaves Too Many Questions Unanswered
“This is a dream project,...
The documentary, currently with the working title “A Film By Errol Morris,” is inspired by the memoir “Tripping the Bardo with Timothy Leary: My Psychedelic Love Story” by Joanna Harcourt-Smith. It will examine the romantic relationship between Harcourt-Smith and Leary as he went from an advocate for the psychedelic LSD drug and then became a narc in 1974.
The film will explore Leary’s period of exile, his re-imprisonment and his subsequent cooperation with the authorities and whether Leary and Harcourt-Smith truly had the “perfect love” or if something else was at play.
Also Read: 'American Dharma' Film Review: Errol Morris' Documentary on Steve Bannon Leaves Too Many Questions Unanswered
“This is a dream project,...
- 5/26/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
“Carmine Street Guitars” is a one-of-a-kind documentary that exudes a gentle, homespun magic. It’s a no-fuss, 80-minute-long portrait of Rick Kelly, who builds and sells custom guitars out of a modest storefront on Carmine Street in New York’s Greenwich Village, and the film touches on obsessions that have been popping up, like fragrant weeds, in the world of documentary. “Carmine Street Guitars” is all about the weirdly grounded pleasures of analog culture; about the glory of hand-made artisanal objects in a world dominated by mass corporate production; about the aging, and persistence, of old-school jazz and rock ‘n’ roll; about the fading of bohemia in a world of rising rents, omnivorous bottom lines, and chain-store values; and about how all those themes fuse into a Zen ideal of doing what you love and loving what you do.
The film sounds earnest and touching in a minor, twilight-of-the-’60s way.
The film sounds earnest and touching in a minor, twilight-of-the-’60s way.
- 4/20/2019
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Stephen Bannon’s name arouses controversy and disdain, so Errol Morris expected to face uncertain audiences when he decided to make Bannon the subject of his next movie. However, even the veteran documentarian didn’t anticipate the volume of backlash he received for “American Dharma,” a feature-length interview with Bannon that digs deep on his role as a senior advisor to Donald Trump and as the architect of his presidency. It also reveals his psychology and cultural sensibilities, including thoughts on some of his favorite movies.
For those appalled by Bannon — and yes, there are many of us — “American Dharma” is designed to instigate righteous indignation, and then to consider the source. Morris doesn’t make it easy, but the movie holds tight to its cause, even if it’s hard to watch Bannon gloat about his accomplishments. Since the days of “Gates of Heaven,” Morris has used documentaries as a platform for psychological investigation,...
For those appalled by Bannon — and yes, there are many of us — “American Dharma” is designed to instigate righteous indignation, and then to consider the source. Morris doesn’t make it easy, but the movie holds tight to its cause, even if it’s hard to watch Bannon gloat about his accomplishments. Since the days of “Gates of Heaven,” Morris has used documentaries as a platform for psychological investigation,...
- 10/11/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
“Wild Rose” [UTA]
“Wild Rose” was the first title numerous industry players said was their most anticipated movie of the festival. It follows a young musician from Glasgow who wants to become a star in Nashville. Julie Walters and Jessie Buckley star in the Tom Harper-directed film.
“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”
Ted Bundy was one of America’s most notorious serial killers, and in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” Zac Efron stars as the murderer, alongside Lily Collins, Jim Parsons and Kaya Scodelario. While it’s not screening in-competition, one major buyer told TheWrap, producers are screening the film outside the festival for potential suitors.
“Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy” [CAA]
If you think Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern isn’t the dream casting of the century, what actually is wrong with you? Justin Kelly directs the film based on the true story of a woman who writes under a pseudonym,...
“Wild Rose” was the first title numerous industry players said was their most anticipated movie of the festival. It follows a young musician from Glasgow who wants to become a star in Nashville. Julie Walters and Jessie Buckley star in the Tom Harper-directed film.
“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”
Ted Bundy was one of America’s most notorious serial killers, and in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” Zac Efron stars as the murderer, alongside Lily Collins, Jim Parsons and Kaya Scodelario. While it’s not screening in-competition, one major buyer told TheWrap, producers are screening the film outside the festival for potential suitors.
“Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy” [CAA]
If you think Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern isn’t the dream casting of the century, what actually is wrong with you? Justin Kelly directs the film based on the true story of a woman who writes under a pseudonym,...
- 9/5/2018
- by Beatrice Verhoeven and Matt Donnelly
- The Wrap
Peter Sarsgaard is a strong contender for an Emmy nomination for Best Movie/Mini Supporting Actor this year for playing arrogant CIA agent Martin Schmidt in Hulu’s fact-based limited series “The Looming Tower.” And this one-time Golden Globe nominee could also contend for Best Movie/Mini Actor for his role in another true story: Netflix’s “Wormwood.” But his candidacy there is unique because “Wormwood” is actually a documentary.
“Wormwood” is helmed by filmmaker Errol Morris, who is best known for his nonfiction films including “Gates of Heaven” (1978), “The Thin Blue Line” (1988), “Mr. Death” (1999) and “The Fog of War” (2003), the last of which won him the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. In “Wormwood” he investigates the mysterious death of Frank Olson, an Army scientist who died in 1953 in what may have been a CIA-ordered assassination.
The story is told largely through interviews, particularly with Olson’s son Eric who...
“Wormwood” is helmed by filmmaker Errol Morris, who is best known for his nonfiction films including “Gates of Heaven” (1978), “The Thin Blue Line” (1988), “Mr. Death” (1999) and “The Fog of War” (2003), the last of which won him the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. In “Wormwood” he investigates the mysterious death of Frank Olson, an Army scientist who died in 1953 in what may have been a CIA-ordered assassination.
The story is told largely through interviews, particularly with Olson’s son Eric who...
- 6/22/2018
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Besides giving us billowy sleeves and suede jackets, the '70s ushered in a cultural explosion of ideas as voices in minority communities resisted oppressive traditions. Many of these ideas seeped into the entertainment at the time, especially film, where viewers started to see less censorship around sexuality and language. If you're curious about what cinema was like in this groovy era, you won't have to look very far.
Netflix's collection of '70s movies encapsulates the provocative and independent spirit of the colorful decade, featuring everything from the critically acclaimed crime thriller The Godfather to the quirky pet cemetery documentary Gates of Heaven.
Netflix's collection of '70s movies encapsulates the provocative and independent spirit of the colorful decade, featuring everything from the critically acclaimed crime thriller The Godfather to the quirky pet cemetery documentary Gates of Heaven.
- 5/30/2018
- by Stacey Nguyen
- Popsugar.com
Daniel Talbot, a distributor and exhibitor of enormous influence over specialized exhibition and distribution as well as the international film world, died Friday in Manhattan. He was 91. A memorial was held Sunday, December 31 at the Riverside Memorial Chapel with a capacity audience including many leading New York specialized players. Talbot’s wife and business partner, Toby Talbot, as well as daughters Nina, Emily and Sara attended the memorial, where the family spoke fondly about Talbot’s love for the comedian W.C. Fields.
Another more public post-holiday event marking the closing of the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas is scheduled on January 28 in New York. The last few weeks have seen Talbot’s legacy celebrated with reaction to the unexpected announcement that the six-screen Upper West Side theater would close at the end of January, at the expiration of its lease. Milstein Properties, who have been the Talbots’ co-partners in the theater since...
Another more public post-holiday event marking the closing of the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas is scheduled on January 28 in New York. The last few weeks have seen Talbot’s legacy celebrated with reaction to the unexpected announcement that the six-screen Upper West Side theater would close at the end of January, at the expiration of its lease. Milstein Properties, who have been the Talbots’ co-partners in the theater since...
- 1/1/2018
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
There are documentarians and then there are storytellers, and Errol Morris firmly fits in the latter category. While the director is best known for efforts like “Gates Of Heaven,” “The Fog Of War,” and “A Brief History Of Time,” his latest effort “Wormwood” probably falls more in line with his docu-drama classic, “The Thin Blue Line.” And Netflix has given the legendary filmmaker six episodes to unfold this fascinating story.
Continue reading ‘Wormwood’ Trailer: Errol Morris Explores The CIA, LSD & Mind Control at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Wormwood’ Trailer: Errol Morris Explores The CIA, LSD & Mind Control at The Playlist.
- 12/4/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Errol Morris has been ahead of the curve ever since he broke out with pet cemetery documentary “Gates of Heaven” in 1978. A decade later, “The Thin Blue Line” wowed critics but alienated the hidebound documentary community with its use of “reenactments” and a rousing Philip Glass score. Decades before Netflix created “Making a Murderer,” “The Keepers,” and “Witness,” Morris’ film actually solved a murder mystery and freed an innocent Death Row convict in a Texas prison.
Since then, Glass became a go-to movie composer, earning three Oscar nominations — and could score a fourth for this year’s Oscar documentary frontrunner “Jane.” Reenactments have become standard issue for nonfiction films, filling the void between talking heads, archival footage, cinéma vérité observation, and what isn’t visually available. And Morris isn’t the only filmmaker who is a presence in his films, yelling at his subjects from behind his invention, the Interrotron.
Since then, Glass became a go-to movie composer, earning three Oscar nominations — and could score a fourth for this year’s Oscar documentary frontrunner “Jane.” Reenactments have become standard issue for nonfiction films, filling the void between talking heads, archival footage, cinéma vérité observation, and what isn’t visually available. And Morris isn’t the only filmmaker who is a presence in his films, yelling at his subjects from behind his invention, the Interrotron.
- 11/16/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Errol Morris has been ahead of the curve ever since he broke out with pet cemetery documentary “Gates of Heaven” in 1978. A decade later, “The Thin Blue Line” wowed critics but alienated the hidebound documentary community with its use of “reenactments” and a rousing Philip Glass score. Decades before Netflix created “Making a Murderer,” “The Keepers,” and “Witness,” Morris’ film actually solved a murder mystery and freed an innocent Death Row convict in a Texas prison.
Since then, Glass became a go-to movie composer, earning three Oscar nominations — and could score a fourth for this year’s Oscar documentary frontrunner “Jane.” Reenactments have become standard issue for nonfiction films, filling the void between talking heads, archival footage, cinéma vérité observation, and what isn’t visually available. And Morris isn’t the only filmmaker who is a presence in his films, yelling at his subjects from behind his invention, the Interrotron.
Since then, Glass became a go-to movie composer, earning three Oscar nominations — and could score a fourth for this year’s Oscar documentary frontrunner “Jane.” Reenactments have become standard issue for nonfiction films, filling the void between talking heads, archival footage, cinéma vérité observation, and what isn’t visually available. And Morris isn’t the only filmmaker who is a presence in his films, yelling at his subjects from behind his invention, the Interrotron.
- 11/16/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
New York City’s annual Doc NYC festival kicks off this week, including a full-to-bursting slate of some of this year’s most remarkable documentaries. If you’ve been looking to beef up on your documentary consumption, Doc NYC is the perfect chance to check out a wide variety of some of the year’s best fact-based features. Ahead, we pick out 14 of our most anticipated films from the fest, including some awards contenders, a handful of buzzy debuts, and a number of festival favorites. Take a look and start filling up your schedule now.
Doc NYC runs November 9 – 16 in New York City.
“EuroTrump”
Donald Trump may seem like a sui generis figure, a one-of-a-kind monster who was forged in a perfect storm of racism, tweets, and chaos, but history suggests that he’s really just a new breed of an old type. You don’t even have to look...
Doc NYC runs November 9 – 16 in New York City.
“EuroTrump”
Donald Trump may seem like a sui generis figure, a one-of-a-kind monster who was forged in a perfect storm of racism, tweets, and chaos, but history suggests that he’s really just a new breed of an old type. You don’t even have to look...
- 11/7/2017
- by Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich, Jude Dry, Anne Thompson, Chris O'Falt, Michael Nordine and Jenna Marotta
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: In honor of David Lowery’s “A Ghost Story,” what is the best movie about the afterlife?
Kate Erbland (@katerbland), IndieWire
It will come as no surprise to anyone that, as a child, I watched a lot of television. A lot. I was mostly obsessed with HBO — our single movie channel, number 2 on the dial; yes, my childhood TV had a dial, don’t ask — with intermittent deviations into mostly inappropriate mini-series (thus explaining my rarely disclosed expertise on “The Thornbirds”), and was pretty much given free range to watch whatever the hell I wanted, whenever I wanted. This is why my favorite...
This week’s question: In honor of David Lowery’s “A Ghost Story,” what is the best movie about the afterlife?
Kate Erbland (@katerbland), IndieWire
It will come as no surprise to anyone that, as a child, I watched a lot of television. A lot. I was mostly obsessed with HBO — our single movie channel, number 2 on the dial; yes, my childhood TV had a dial, don’t ask — with intermittent deviations into mostly inappropriate mini-series (thus explaining my rarely disclosed expertise on “The Thornbirds”), and was pretty much given free range to watch whatever the hell I wanted, whenever I wanted. This is why my favorite...
- 7/10/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Amour Fou (Jessica Hausner)
An ecstatically original work of film-history-philosophy with a digital-cinema palette of acutely crafted compositions. Amour Fou seamlessly blends together the paintings of Vermeer, the acting of Bresson, and the psychological undercurrents of a Dostoevsky novel. It is an intensely thrilling and often slyly comic work that manages to combine a passionately dispassionate love story of the highest order with a larger socio-historical examination of a new era of freedom,...
Amour Fou (Jessica Hausner)
An ecstatically original work of film-history-philosophy with a digital-cinema palette of acutely crafted compositions. Amour Fou seamlessly blends together the paintings of Vermeer, the acting of Bresson, and the psychological undercurrents of a Dostoevsky novel. It is an intensely thrilling and often slyly comic work that manages to combine a passionately dispassionate love story of the highest order with a larger socio-historical examination of a new era of freedom,...
- 11/18/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
4 Reasons Distributors Should Buy Errol Morris Gem ‘The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography’
Errol Morris is best known as an influential and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker (“The Fog of War”), but he’s also a master of the short form who commands big bucks shooting commercials and episodic television. Then there’s the New York Times op-docs and essays, his many deep dives into photography and the bestsellers such as “Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography” and “A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald.” However, none of this prepared me for his latest gem of a film,”The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography,” a gentle exploration of a woman who’s also one of Morris’ best friends.
Read More: New York Film Festival Announces 2016 Documentary Lineup, Including New Films by Errol Morris and Steve James
Dorfman started out photographing the Beats in the early ’60s and became friends with poet Allen Ginsberg, who she shot many times over the decades.
Read More: New York Film Festival Announces 2016 Documentary Lineup, Including New Films by Errol Morris and Steve James
Dorfman started out photographing the Beats in the early ’60s and became friends with poet Allen Ginsberg, who she shot many times over the decades.
- 9/29/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
4 Reasons Distributors Should Buy Errol Morris Gem ‘The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography’
Errol Morris is best known as an influential and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker (“The Fog of War”), but he’s also a master of the short form who commands big bucks shooting commercials and episodic television. Then there’s the New York Times op-docs and essays, his many deep dives into photography and the bestsellers such as “Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography” and “A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald.” However, none of this prepared me for his latest gem of a film,”The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography,” a gentle exploration of a woman who’s also one of Morris’ best friends.
Read More: New York Film Festival Announces 2016 Documentary Lineup, Including New Films by Errol Morris and Steve James
Dorfman started out photographing the Beats in the early ’60s and became friends with poet Allen Ginsberg, who she shot many times over the decades.
Read More: New York Film Festival Announces 2016 Documentary Lineup, Including New Films by Errol Morris and Steve James
Dorfman started out photographing the Beats in the early ’60s and became friends with poet Allen Ginsberg, who she shot many times over the decades.
- 9/29/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
StroszekWerner Herzog is funny. It’s unfortunate that this needs to be restated, but such is the cultural conversation—between those who seem not to have taken Land of Silence and Darkness (1971) seriously enough (if at all) and those who prefer their auteurs give off the rarified air of a Tarkovsky, musing under a tree. Of course, the truth is both and neither; that Herzog has always been one for whom exercises in the absurd or even slapstick come in lock step with declarations of his artistic chops. The missing of this proverbial boat is epitomized in “The memeification of Werner Herzog: Why the respected director should be respected for his genius, not regarded as a joke,” published in the National Post last month. The article argues un-controversially that Werner Herzog is a very good filmmaker always worthy of more attention, but then argues that in spite of what...
- 9/29/2016
- MUBI
6 More Filmmaking Tips From Werner Herzog
If there’s anyone who deserves a second Filmmaking Tips column, it’s Werner Herzog. It’s been almost four years since we posted the first list of his advice to fellow soldiers of cinema, and there’s just so much more to learn from the legend. He actually has his own Rogue Film School, where he directly imparts his wisdom to students during weekend seminars. He also leads a new online course at MasterClass, which began this week, where he talks about all facets of fiction and nonfiction filmmaking in a six-hour video course. He does many interviews (this week he participated in a Reddit Ama) and shares his philosophies and strategies often. Not even two of these columns properly sums it all up.
So, as is often the case, this is just an introduction to some essential tips from a unique artist and craftsman. Herzog...
If there’s anyone who deserves a second Filmmaking Tips column, it’s Werner Herzog. It’s been almost four years since we posted the first list of his advice to fellow soldiers of cinema, and there’s just so much more to learn from the legend. He actually has his own Rogue Film School, where he directly imparts his wisdom to students during weekend seminars. He also leads a new online course at MasterClass, which began this week, where he talks about all facets of fiction and nonfiction filmmaking in a six-hour video course. He does many interviews (this week he participated in a Reddit Ama) and shares his philosophies and strategies often. Not even two of these columns properly sums it all up.
So, as is often the case, this is just an introduction to some essential tips from a unique artist and craftsman. Herzog...
- 7/13/2016
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Every year the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Nov 18-29) invites a key documentarian to make a list of non-fiction films to screen in the festival. In the past they've gone to the likes of Werner Herzog, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Ulrich Seidl, Heddy Honigmann and Rithy Panh. Morris’s Top 10 picks, below, include films by Herzog and Luis Bunuel. Morris will also conduct a Master Class moderated by doc maven Bill Nichols. And Idfa will also show six Morris films starting with his first, "Gates of Heaven" (1978), and running through "The Thin Blue Line," "Fast Cheap And Out Of Control," "Mr. Death: The Rise And Fall Of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.," his Oscar-winning "The Fog Of War," the hilarious "Tabloid" and confounding "The Unknown Known." Morris's full list goes back in time and does not include all usual suspects; it leans toward the avant-garde. I share his love...
- 10/2/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The festival will screen ten films picked by the Us filmmaker, who will also take part in a masterclass.
Errol Morris, the reverred documentary filmmaker, has revealed his top 10 programme for this year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Nov 18-29).
Each year, the festival invites an important figure in the world of documentary to compile a list of ten important works of factual film, all of which will be screened as part of the programme.
Morris’ selections include Werner Herzog’s surreal Fata Morgana, which is set in the Sahara Desert and features an exclusively Leonard Cohen soundtrack, and Dziga Vertov’s experimental early film Man With A Movie Camera.
Idfa will also show six of Morris’ films including his 1978 debut Gates of Heaven and his seminal investigative piece The Thin Blue Line.
Further screenings of his films will be: Fast Cheap And Out Of Control; Mr. Death: The Rise And Fall Of Fred A...
Errol Morris, the reverred documentary filmmaker, has revealed his top 10 programme for this year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Nov 18-29).
Each year, the festival invites an important figure in the world of documentary to compile a list of ten important works of factual film, all of which will be screened as part of the programme.
Morris’ selections include Werner Herzog’s surreal Fata Morgana, which is set in the Sahara Desert and features an exclusively Leonard Cohen soundtrack, and Dziga Vertov’s experimental early film Man With A Movie Camera.
Idfa will also show six of Morris’ films including his 1978 debut Gates of Heaven and his seminal investigative piece The Thin Blue Line.
Further screenings of his films will be: Fast Cheap And Out Of Control; Mr. Death: The Rise And Fall Of Fred A...
- 9/29/2015
- ScreenDaily
All week long our writers will debate: Which was the greatest film year of the past half century. Click here for a complete list of our essays. How to decide in the grand scheme of things which film year stands above all others? History gives us no clear methodology to unravel this thorny but extremely important question. Is it the year with the highest average score of movies? So a year that averages out to a B + might be the winner over a field strewn with B’s, despite a few A +’s. Or do a few masterpieces lift up a year so far that whatever else happened beyond those three or four films is of no consequence? Both measures are worthy, and the winner by either of those would certainly be a year not to be sneezed at. But I contend the only true measure of a year’s...
- 4/27/2015
- by Richard Rushfield
- Hitfix
Long before he developed the still controversial cinematic technique of utilizing reenactments in The Thin Blue Line or his confessional-esque straight-to-lens Interrotron which was used for the first time in Fast, Cheap and Out of Control and continues to employ in works like his recent It’s Not Crazy, It’s Sports series for Espn, Errol Morris was struck by the absurdities found within the average American. Superbly paired together in their first HD home releases by the Criterion Collection, Morris’s first two features, Gates of Heaven and Vernon, Florida, simply observe the expressive outpourings of rural folk, the lens taking in their unaccountably amusing opinions, worries and musings on life and local events with local, unadorn color featuring above all.
The start of Morris’s filmmaking career unfolded in the wake of working alongside friend and provocateur Werner Herzog on Stroszek after failing to follow through with his...
The start of Morris’s filmmaking career unfolded in the wake of working alongside friend and provocateur Werner Herzog on Stroszek after failing to follow through with his...
- 4/14/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
This week sees the release of wonderful new Criterion editions of three of the greatest documentaries of all time: Errol Morris’s first three films, Gates of Heaven, Vernon, Florida, and The Thin Blue Line. Re-watching these films, it’s at times odd to think that the same man made them: Gates of Heaven is the deadpan, deliberate tale of pet cemeteries in California; Vernon, Florida is a weirdly meditative, austere portrait of the offbeat personalities in a rural southern town. And The Thin Blue Line, one of the most influential documentaries of all time, is a gripping investigation into a cop killing in Texas — complete with an evocatively tense Philip Glass score, stylized cinematography, and detailed, cinematic slow-motion reenactments. (The film was famously instrumental in the eventual release of Randall Dale Adams, who had been wrongfully convicted of the murder and condemned to die in the electric chair.) But...
- 3/27/2015
- by Bilge Ebiri
- Vulture
A pet cemetery in California, two Secretaries of Defense, and numerous Ronald McDonalds lauding the cuisine of Taco Bell are among the sundry subjects in Errol Morris’ body of work. This Academy Award-winning filmmaker has been working steadily since 1978, crafting a number of invigorating documentaries that examine the way people orate, and what it reveals about themselves and the world around them. He gives special attention not just to how people say the things they do, but also to the things they don’t say. The Criterion Collection has graciously decided to shine a light on Morris’s first three films: “Gates of Heaven,” which chronicles the transportation of hundreds of dead animals from one pet cemetery to another; “Vernon, Florida,” a portrait of various residents of the titular town; and the game-changing “The Thin Blue Line,” which made reenactments a viable asset to documentarians, and more importantly, set a wrongfully convicted man free.
- 3/24/2015
- by Christopher Bell
- The Playlist
Welcome back to This Week In Discs! We were off last week due to SXSW 2015, so new releases from March 17th *and* March 24th are covered below. If you see something you like, click on the title to buy it from Amazon. The Sure Thing Walter (John Cusack) is only in his first year of college, but he already realizes that he’s flunking at life’s most important subject — love. Well, maybe that’s overstating things a bit, but he is lacking in the romance department, so when a friend on the West coast invites him for a visit with the promise of a sure thing in the form of a hot California girl jonesing to hook up Walter sets off on a cross-country drive. The one catch is the forced presence of Alison (Daphne Zuniga) on the road trip, but Walter’s willing to risk this hellish drive for a shot at female perfection. Surprise...
- 3/24/2015
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies We know this won't be the last we hear of The Hobbit as there will have to be the release of the extended edition and then there are box sets to consider, but we are getting closer to the end of our association with Middle Earth and it actually reminds me, what is Peter Jackson going to do nowc
Unbroken It's amazing to think that about a year ago we all thought this one had the best chance at winning Best Picture and now here we are, a year later and no one could really care less.
Into the Woods I really disliked this movie, but Mike, our resident lover of musicals, loved it. It's a story that cares nothing for its characters and feels like two movies smushed together to form a Frankenstein of a musical, and wow, the songs, I'm...
Unbroken It's amazing to think that about a year ago we all thought this one had the best chance at winning Best Picture and now here we are, a year later and no one could really care less.
Into the Woods I really disliked this movie, but Mike, our resident lover of musicals, loved it. It's a story that cares nothing for its characters and feels like two movies smushed together to form a Frankenstein of a musical, and wow, the songs, I'm...
- 3/24/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Many people may know Les Blank most for his association with Werner Herzog, who he filmed while on the brink of creative madness in Burden of Dreams and earlier in Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, in which the notoriously true-to-his-word filmmaker indeed ate his shoe after having promised he’d do so if Errol Morris managed to finish his pet cemetery film, Gates of Heaven. But those ignoring the larger majority of Blank’s overflowing oeuvre would be sorely missing out on the jubilance of life that the quietly curious documentarian managed to strike on film with just his trusty 16mm Eclair, his appreciation for cultures of all kinds, and a fervent hunger for life. Sadly, Blank passed away in the spring of last year, just weeks before receiving the Outstanding Achievement Award and a restored retrospective of his body of work in Toronto at the Hot Docs Film Festival,...
- 12/2/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Bill Hader has come a long way since his stint on Saturday Night Live, creating many popular characters and impersonations such as Stefon, Vincent Price and CNN’s Jack Cafferty. He is one of the highlights in such films as Adventureland, Knocked Up, Superbad and Pineapple Express, and so it is easy to see why author Mike Sacks interviewed him for his new book Poking A Dead Frog. In it, Hader talks about his career and he also lists 200 essential movies every comedy writer should see. Xo Jane recently published the list for those of us who haven’t had a chance to read the book yet. There are a ton of great recommendations and plenty I haven’t yet seen, but sadly my favourite comedy of all time isn’t mentioned. That would be Some Like It Hot. Still, it really is a great list with a mix of old and new.
- 8/28/2014
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The 2014 march of outstanding documentaries about artists continues on with the best of the impressive group of feature films. But this artist’s means of expression are not the brush as in Tim”S Vermeer or still photography as seen in Finding Vivian Maier or cinema itself (along with many superb illustrators) in Jodoworsky’S Dune. Nope, this artist’s (and after viewing this film, that title is not up for debate) means of expression were words with typewriters, computer keyboards, and his own voice utilized instead of brushes on canvas or cameras. The subject of Steve James’s (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters) new feature documentary is celebrated, Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert. He had been a fixture on TV screens for decades, discussing and debating current movies usually with Gene Siskel, so you may think that you know everything about good ole’ “Uncle Rog”. But though he left...
- 7/10/2014
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
In the last decade of his life, Roger Ebert took to the Internet without looking back. While cancer of the thyroid and salivary glands would eventually mean Ebert could no longer share his thoughts with the world with his voice, the Internet gave him an outlet, opening his life even further to fans of the late, Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic as never before. I didn't personally read every word Ebert wrote on his blog or on Twitter, but I read a lot of it and can even say I had the pleasure of meeting him upon my first visit to the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, corresponded over email a couple times and he even took to batting a few comments back and forth on this very site in December 2008. All things considered, a lot of what is presented within Steve James' loving documentary Life Itself, titled after Ebert's 2011 memoir of the same name,...
- 7/3/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Beyond The Edge is a tale of insurmountable odds. As a documentary recounting the 1953 expedition to the tip of Mount Everest, which saw Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay become the first to reach its summit, it takes quotes collected from the years since the journey and blends them with dramatic reconstructions of key points in their story. Reenactment has almost become an artform in its own right within the documentary format; in showing us something constructed as artifice, we’re given a rare chance to glean the truth. But it’s not as old as you’d think. So where did the trend originate from? How has it impacted how we make and – more importantly – watch documentaries?
The popularisation of reenactment can easily be traced back to 1988, when Errol Morris’ The Thin Blue Line first wowed audiences and critics. The film revisited a murder case from 1976, in which Randall Adams...
The popularisation of reenactment can easily be traced back to 1988, when Errol Morris’ The Thin Blue Line first wowed audiences and critics. The film revisited a murder case from 1976, in which Randall Adams...
- 5/23/2014
- by Gary Green
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The video team here at HitFix constantly impresses me with not only the volume of work that they produce, but also the quality. We've gotten very lucky with the people we've hired, and they make any of our collaborations both easy and fun. Last week, they approached me about a new ongoing feature that they wanted to do, and tomorrow, we're going to shoot the first episode of "Ask Drew," which is exactly what it sounds like. I am constantly asked questions via e-mail and Twitter and in our comments section, and I feel like I never fully answer all of them, something that makes me feel terrible. I am grateful for each and every reader of the work we do here at HitFix, and if I can answer something, I try to. To that end, we are going to try something a little different here starting tomorrow. I want...
- 3/31/2014
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
He’s won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. His debut is in Roger Ebert’s 10 Greatest Films of All Time. He was instrumental to solving a murder case. He made Werner Herzog eat his shoe. He needs no real introduction, for Errol Morris is one of the world’s best makers of documentaries, if not the best.
In light of his forthcoming new film, The Unknown Known, which concerns ex-us Secretary of Defense and his interesting use of political language, Errol sat down with HeyUGuys and spoke at length about everything from his own obsessions, the legacy of The Thin Blue Line, the rise of digital technology in cinema, and Rumsfeld’s smile.
I guess I’d like to start by asking a very basic question. How did you manage to get Donald Rumsfeld to sit down and be interviewed?
I asked him. You know, there’s no great...
In light of his forthcoming new film, The Unknown Known, which concerns ex-us Secretary of Defense and his interesting use of political language, Errol sat down with HeyUGuys and spoke at length about everything from his own obsessions, the legacy of The Thin Blue Line, the rise of digital technology in cinema, and Rumsfeld’s smile.
I guess I’d like to start by asking a very basic question. How did you manage to get Donald Rumsfeld to sit down and be interviewed?
I asked him. You know, there’s no great...
- 3/20/2014
- by Gary Green
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
In wake of the massive non-fiction success that was The Thin Blue Line, singular director Errol Morris really could have done any number of things with his new found critical clout and studio interest. Having been contacted by Steven Spielberg’s production company, Amblin Entertainment, who had purchased the rights to A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking’s pop-culture piercing piece of science literature, shortly after its release in 1988. The book, which attempted to explain the physics behind the history of our universe in terms digestible by anyone willing to waltz into an airport bookstore, was of philosophical interest to Morris, but it was the unimaginably brilliant man trapped within his own crippled body that the filmmaker found much more fascinating. How fascinating that the man to envision the cosmos as a thing with a lifespan like any other, a beginning and an end, expanding and collapsing, just as Hawking himself has,...
- 3/18/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
The new trailer for legendary documentarian Errol Morris' (Thin Blue Line, Gates of Heaven) film about Donald Rumsfeld hit the web this weekend. It begins with Morris asking the former defense secretary to read from one of his infamous memos. Rumsfeld recites, "All generalizations are false, including this one," then looks at Morris with a Cheshire cat grin and says, "There it is." This moment, along with many others in the trailer, make one thing abundantly clear: Those hoping for a Fog of War-like confession or sense of humility from Rumsfeld, similar to what Morris extracted from
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- 1/13/2014
- by Chris O'Falt
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ten years ago Errol Morris won the Best Documentary Oscar for his investigation of former Secretary of Defence, Robert S. McNamara. It’s telling that even Morris was surprised, noting in his speech that “I thought it would never happen.” Given his stance as one of the most important documentarians of his time, it genuinely was surprising that he had never even been nominated before let alone won. I guess it didn’t help that titles like Fast, Cheap & Out of Control and Gates of Heaven were likely easily swept aside as unsubstantial, but The Thin Blue Line? A Brief History of Time? It seemed like the documentary branch clearly weren’t fans.
Still, The Fog of War was fairly hard to ignore even for the Academy who have an innate ability to let grudges and bug bears continue for decades and vice versa (I hear Mia Farrow has an...
Still, The Fog of War was fairly hard to ignore even for the Academy who have an innate ability to let grudges and bug bears continue for decades and vice versa (I hear Mia Farrow has an...
- 11/14/2013
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Master documentarian Errol Morris is largely known for his fascinating profiles into the odder and darker corners of humanity that still somehow manage to resonate with nearly everyone who crosses his films. Everything from pet cemeteries ("Gates Of Heaven") to war veterans ("The Fog Of War") to physicists ("A Brief History Of Time") to a woman's adventures in kidnapping and cloning ("Tabloid"), Morris chases his fascinations wherever they take him. However, feature films are something he hasn't completely ignored. In 1991, he directed the not very well received "The Dark Wind," and while a long feature break followed, the pieces seemed to be coming together for "Freezing People Is Easy" last year with a star-studded cast -- Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Kirsten Wiig and Christopher Walken -- but then all went quiet. But now it looks like Morris is getting on-board a different fictional feature. Deadline reports that he'll direct "Holland,...
- 7/10/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Greetings from the apocalypse! That may be this column's reassuring greeting each week, but damn if it hasn't proved prescient as all get-out. It seems like we can't go a week this summer without at least one movie where extinction-level events occur with pornographic intensity ("Man of Steel," "This is the End," "After Earth," the upcoming "Pacific Rim" and "The World's End"). Not that I'm complaining. Bring on the rubble, Brad Pitt!
Friday, June 21
Pow! In Theaters
Brad Pitt, big-budget zombie movie. Those are two phrases you thought you'd never hear put together by anyone not on mescaline, but "World War Z" is upon us and we must act for the preservation of our species! Pitt plays an all-purpose Un investigator/ badass named Gerry Lane who is dispatched to find patient zero in a zombie plague scorching the Earth in an all-encompassing way. Will the human race survive? Will...
Friday, June 21
Pow! In Theaters
Brad Pitt, big-budget zombie movie. Those are two phrases you thought you'd never hear put together by anyone not on mescaline, but "World War Z" is upon us and we must act for the preservation of our species! Pitt plays an all-purpose Un investigator/ badass named Gerry Lane who is dispatched to find patient zero in a zombie plague scorching the Earth in an all-encompassing way. Will the human race survive? Will...
- 6/21/2013
- by Max Evry
- NextMovie
Herzog's films portray humans as frail creatures caught in the gap between an indifferent nature and a punishing God. Ahead of the UK release of As Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing, which Herzog executive produced, Michael Newton celebrates a unique world view
For a man whose "social network" is his kitchen table, Werner Herzog's image is very present on the internet. You can see him (deceptively edited) discoursing in doom-laden tones concerning the "enormity of the stupidity" of hipsters or Republicans. (Originally he was discussing chickens.) He's there (or rather someone impersonating him is) intoning about the dark intensities of "Where's Waldo". (The clip has had more than a million hits on YouTube.) And, most notably, he can be seen in Les Blank's short film (this time for real) eating his shoe to celebrate the successful completion of Errol Morris's Gates of Heaven (1978). While the shoe boils,...
For a man whose "social network" is his kitchen table, Werner Herzog's image is very present on the internet. You can see him (deceptively edited) discoursing in doom-laden tones concerning the "enormity of the stupidity" of hipsters or Republicans. (Originally he was discussing chickens.) He's there (or rather someone impersonating him is) intoning about the dark intensities of "Where's Waldo". (The clip has had more than a million hits on YouTube.) And, most notably, he can be seen in Les Blank's short film (this time for real) eating his shoe to celebrate the successful completion of Errol Morris's Gates of Heaven (1978). While the shoe boils,...
- 6/1/2013
- by Michael Newton
- The Guardian - Film News
Supernatural ended season 8 with some pretty massive changes. Neither the Gates of Hell nor the Gates of Heaven were actually closed, but I'll be damned if the final image of the season didn't leave me in awe. It was beautiful, tragic and sets up a very interesting ninth season. Let's just say I know what song should play over the opening montage of season 9, and it's Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven."...
- 5/15/2013
- by editor@buddytv.com
- buddytv.com
For whatever reason, after seeing the well-crafted episode surrounding Metatron and discovering the final trial to close the Gates of Hell, I'd assumed that the follow up would perhaps be a more light and airy hour focused on reminiscing about the past and inadvertently connecting it to some present case.
Except, while on some level we did get to revisit prior experiences that were directly linked to Sam and Dean's possible future, "Clip Show" was way more involved with the end goal of Supernatural Season 8 than I could have imagined.
This wasn't a breezy look back by any means, but rather an intense rising of action and stakes on all fronts towards what is looking to be a game changing finale.
It was great to see Sam and Dean working together, backing each other up and going through the copious amounts of information at the bunker in order to figure...
Except, while on some level we did get to revisit prior experiences that were directly linked to Sam and Dean's possible future, "Clip Show" was way more involved with the end goal of Supernatural Season 8 than I could have imagined.
This wasn't a breezy look back by any means, but rather an intense rising of action and stakes on all fronts towards what is looking to be a game changing finale.
It was great to see Sam and Dean working together, backing each other up and going through the copious amounts of information at the bunker in order to figure...
- 5/9/2013
- by smckenna412@gmail.com (Sean McKenna)
- TVfanatic
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 363 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies, the Up docs and Decalogue) and of those 363, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 362 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies and Decalogue) and of those 362, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Filmmaker Les Blank died today at age 77 from bladder cancer. He is best known for directing Burden of Dreams, a feature film on the making of Werner Herzog‘s Fitzcarraldo. Roger Ebert, who we lost to cancer just days ago, called it “one of the most remarkable documentaries ever made about the making of a movie.” Two years earlier, Blank made another film with Herzog as the subject. It’s wonderful title is Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. Probably not coincidentally, it also involved one of Ebert’s favorite films of all time, Errol Morris‘s directorial debut, Gates of Heaven. The 20-minute short film is, of course, literally named. Blank shows us Herzog cooking up his shoe and then eating it during a public event, part on stage at the Uc Theater in Berkeley in front of a large crowd and part at a famous Berkeley restaurant called Chez Panisse. Why...
- 4/8/2013
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
A man said to the universe:
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
"A sense of obligation."
--Stephen Crane
 
That man can be found at the center of Werner Herzog's films. He is Aguirre. He is Fitzcarraldo. He is the Nosferatu. He is Timothy Treadwell, who lived among the grizzlies. He is Little Dieter Dengler, who needed to fly. She is Fini Straubinger, who lived in a land of silence and darkness since she was 12. He is Kaspar Hauser. He is Klaus Kinski. He is the man who will not leave the slopes of the Guadeloupe volcano when it is about to explode. He is those who live in the Antarctic. She is Juliana Koepcke, whose plane crashed in the rain forest and she walked out alive. He is Graham Dorrington, who flew one of the smallest airships ever built...
"Sir, I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
"A sense of obligation."
--Stephen Crane
 
That man can be found at the center of Werner Herzog's films. He is Aguirre. He is Fitzcarraldo. He is the Nosferatu. He is Timothy Treadwell, who lived among the grizzlies. He is Little Dieter Dengler, who needed to fly. She is Fini Straubinger, who lived in a land of silence and darkness since she was 12. He is Kaspar Hauser. He is Klaus Kinski. He is the man who will not leave the slopes of the Guadeloupe volcano when it is about to explode. He is those who live in the Antarctic. She is Juliana Koepcke, whose plane crashed in the rain forest and she walked out alive. He is Graham Dorrington, who flew one of the smallest airships ever built...
- 2/2/2013
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
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