✦ WAYNE SHORTER: ZERO GRAVITY Reviews:
"Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity" is ranked 100% on RottenTomatoes.com
The Hollywood Reporter
"Especially in the superb selection of vintage performances, the material is edited with a sure rhythmic connection to the music (Doug Blush, Kevin Klauber and Edward Osei-Gyimah did the cutting). And the filmmakers let Shorter’s later orchestral experiments unfold and simply fly — “beyond harmony, rhythm and melody,” as Hancock sums it up."
Wall Street Journal
“One of the intoxicating things about Zero Gravity is that writer-director Dorsay Alavi not only appreciates her subject’s space-child inclinations, but makes them an essential part of her musical, celestial, must-see documentary.”
Decider
"Zero Gravity immerses us in it all. Wonderfully unpredictable editing layers drawings, animation, movie clips, and reenactment, so that the result is expansive and even dreamlike; it strives to reach the creative heights that Shorter so often found, and often does [...] With a wealth of archival performance footage and an intriguing visual style, Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity is an open door to exploring the saxophonist’s legacy, but also creativity as a beacon of light. "
The New Yorker
"a portrait of Shorter that is both illuminating and moving."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ FANTASTIC FUNGI Reviews:
"Fantastic Fungi" is ranked 100% on RottenTomatoes.com
RogerEbert.com
"One of the year's most mind-blowing, soul-cleansing and yes, immensely entertaining triumphs."
The Guardian
"With it spectacular footage of growth and decay and impassioned speeches about the magic of mushrooms, this documentary is a treat for the eye and ear"
The Wall Street Journal
"Fantastic Fungi is never uninteresting, and often startling in the natural beauty it reveals."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ BRIAN WILSON: LONG PROMISED ROAD Reviews:
Variety
"even if you think you know it all, "Long Promised Road" is an affectionate and satisfying movie [...] stirringly insightful, a collection of pinpoint testimonials to Wilson's artistry by such authoritative fans as Springsteen and Elton John, and a movie that lets the enchanting qualities of Wilson's music cascade over you."
The Hollywood Reporter
"Working with 70 hours of these driving sequences — and, no doubt, long stretches without a word of conversation — the director and editors Hector Lopez and Kevin Klauber have crafted something compelling, ever attentive to Wilson’s moods, anxieties and joys, to the way he listens to the songs and to the way he answers Fine’s questions with a childlike (or sage-like?) simplicity."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ ECHO IN THE CANYON Reviews:
Deadline
"Sensational... it's irresistible in every way"
Entertainment Today
"A quietly monumental documentary"
The Hollywood Reporter
"Rich with revealing observations and engaging anecdotes, Slater’s documentary skirts the nostalgia trap by entertainingly connecting with an impressive lineup of contemporary singer-songwriters referencing the influential '60s pop style with their own releases."
Film Threat
" a music documentary right up there with the all-time greats. Smartly, Jakob Dylan and company focus on the slightly lesser known songs of the period. Their versions switch nearly seamlessly between them recording it in a studio and live performances. I have no idea how the joins were done -- some kind of editing voodoo — but the transitions are magical. [...] No amount of words can truly give you the experience of this film [...] you just get something we’ve never really seen before. Echo in the Canyon will be watched for decades into the future."
LATFUSA
"An engrossing and illuminating inside look at a group of legendary musicians who created a distinctive sound that continues to resonate across the world. [...] From the revelatory interviews and unearthed home movies to the archival band footage and of course the music itself. [...] The details that emerge from “Echo in the Canyon” are endlessly entertaining."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ ICARUS Reviews:
Variety
"a cyclist who set out to prove he could outsmart athletic doping tests stumbles upon one the biggest cheaters in this game-changing documentary."
IndieWire
"So many shocking twists [...] A peculiar kind of buddy comedy [...] which then shifts into a Kafkaesque thriller that involves no less than the shadowy maneuverings of Vladimir Putin."
Collider
"ICARUS will blow you away."
Birth Movies Death
"As the events of the film become more and more complicated, Fogel and his editors manage the admirable task of maintaining coherence [...] This is a work of strong journalism that nonetheless is guided by a particular perspective, exactly what one would want from a story of this magnitude."
The Salt Lake Tribune
"With more foreign intrigue than a spy movie [...] ICARUS is a powerful look at doping by world-class athletes-- and a conspiracy that it breathtaking in its size and scope [...] It helps get to the heart of Rodchenkov's reasons for bringing Putin's house of cards around him."
Screen Daily
"a cinematic patchwork that gets rougher in texture as bodies either drop or disappear."
The Wrap
"a wildly timely movie for our current moment, as issues of cheating, legitimacy and geopolitical bullies take center stage."
The Wrap
"Though the documentary's early musings about athletic integrity in general are ultimately usurped by a tale of personal responsibility and nefarious global power, the disruption feels acute and essential."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ UGLY DELICIOUS Reviews:
Decider
"UGLY DELICIOUS is officially the best food show on Netflix "
"it’s one of the only food documentaries with the cajones to reflect on the food doc genre itself. Ugly Delicious doesn’t just serve up a tremendous visual feast for foodies, it also examines what makes food, well, food. Chang and his compatriots travel the globe in search of the best eats, and in doing so, they question why we like the things we like. "
"While most food shows are about the splendor of food or the moral and economic cost of it, Ugly Delicious wants to get down to how our tastes reflect our humanity. It’s the only food documentary series I can think of that asks questions that we don’t have easy, obviously, moralizing answers for. What even is good food? Is the best food from the most creative minds? Or is it something born from love and toil? Or is it just the shit we like to eat even though we know it’s bad for us? "
NBC
"A sleeper hit [...] The show leaves those at home craving both more episodes and perhaps a late night trip for carry-out. It tells the beautiful story of America and how we got here, one taco at a time. Whether you're a Food Channel addict or have never watched a cooking show in your life, "Ugly Delicious" offers something tasty for everyone."
The New Yorker
"The show isn't about what food is, it's about what it means, and about the choices people make that change its meaning"
The New York Times
"Ambitious, an extended television essay in the form of free-associative, globe-trotting conversations about food and culture."
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✦ CHICKEN PEOPLE Reviews:
The New York Times
"a fun and at times astonishing film."
Peter Goldwyn
"Christopher Guest couldn't have written this better"
Kurt Loder - Reason.com
"equally curious, and unexpectedly moving, [...] If Errol Morris had ever wandered into the world on competitive poultry, he might have been moved to make a documentary like CHICKEN PEOPLE."
Cut Print Film
"What initially plays like nonfiction Best in Show with pampered fowl soon becomes an affectionate, engaging and contemplative look at obsession, addiction and social alienation. It lets us see ourselves in the kind of people you'd like likely never imagine giving a second glance."
The Los Angeles Times
"The beguiling documentary CHICKEN PEOPLE proves that truth is not only stranger than fiction, but often more poignant and illuminating as well."
Variety
"An illuminating and amusingly entertaining look at this thriving subculture of competitive poultry breeders."
Film Ink
"a particularly powerful and moving story on the resilience of the human spirit."
Urban Cinefile
"Jaw dropping at times [...] We lay people may not take chickens or chicken people seriously at the start, but by the end of this doc all that is changed."
Film Journal International
"Far more enjoyable and entertaining than one might expect [...] It will put a smile on your face, if not have you outright laughing."
IndieWire SXSW 2016: 8 Exciting Films From this Year's Festival
"a Christopher Guest movie stuffed into the mold of the competitive spelling bee classic "Spellbound."
STIFF
"a wonderful and fun documentary [...] often funny and heartbreaking and triumphant."
The Macguffin
"The film never judges these individuals but finds a way to examine them by allowing the audience to get not just a sense of what actually goes into chicken raising but also enough information about their lives so that we can feel connected."
------------------------------------------------------
✦WINTER ON FIRE Reviews:
The Washington Post
"this Academy Award-nominated, Netflix-produced film plays out like a harrowingly bloody, real-life “Les Miserables.”
Excelsior
"This is a heavy documentary where the director and his team became actual war correspondents... you can't miss it."
The Wrap
"Being able to bear witness firsthand to this three-month struggle is an incredible privilege, albeit a heartbreaking one."
The Los Angeles Times
"Winter on Fire" never takes its eye off the story's underlying and very dramatic theme, and that would be nothing less than revolution."
The New York Times
"Modern technology may not yet be able to capture the smell of gunpowder and tear gas, but Mr. Afineevsky takes the viewer closer to the action than might have seemed possible."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK Reviews:
New York Times
"an editing tour-de-force"
Rolling Stone
"The most intimate rock doc ever."
Entertainment Weekly
"Without question, the best film I saw at Sundance this year."
DIY
"gives viewers a well-rounded, three dimensional representation of one of music’s greatest influences not just as a musical hero but as a son, husband and father[...] radical and absolute[...] this film deserves to be adored, studied and talked about for as long as Kurt’s influence does."
Internet buzz on Smells Like Teen Spirit Choir scene:
- "this is incredible - probably the best part of the documentary"
- "I was floored by this part, it's eerie and beautiful and does foreshadow the beginning to the end, Kurt unravelling - God it's tragic, even after all these years, He just didn't know what he did for music, for us"
- "It's so cryptic how Kurt doesn't have an answer to the question at the beginning. He's searching, thinking..... Kind of foretold what was to come. Then to have that lead in to Teen Spirit, the thing that made him and his band explode... this movie is true art! <3"
The Independent
"extraordinarily intimate"
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✦ROMEO IS BLEEDING Reviews:
San Francisco Appeal
"Inspiring, but be warned: the movie doesn’t hold back. Lives are lost during the course of it, and it’s devastating."
The Inquirer
"It brought the audience to tears and drew a standing ovation. An extremely moving and sad depiction of what living in an area with such turmoil can do to young people."
Berkeley Daily Planet
"An unforgettable journey into the beating, emotional core of urban America. It delivers."
Indiewire.com
"Though moving and compelling, there are just as many moments in the film that will gut you. Death is a constant as if it plays its own character in the film... Still, the film forces its audience to continue to face the realities that far too many of people are dealing with on a daily basis. It's a film about laws, loss and heartbreak, but also one of optimistic inspiration and new beginnings."
Seattle Globalist
"It tells the story taking place in cities around the U.S. It’s a story about police, poverty, murder, blackness, the role of industry and the lack of environmental protection in communities of color. It’s a story about grief, rage, and how it creativity can lead to transformation."
Seattle Daily Mail
"The film never holds any party solely responsible for the system of violence and poverty disproportionately affecting people of color. The police, the criminal justice system, corporate America, the gangs themselves – Romeo is Bleeding smartly calls all of them into question, for the issue is much more complex than being able to point a finger at a single source. As many of the film’s interviewees confirm, this violence has been going on for many decades." ***MUST SEE***
Berkeley Daily Planet
"immerses viewers in a dangerous world of drive-by shootings and poverty. But there's more to this film than blight and peril. There is also the promise of redemption."
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✦ HARMONTOWN Reviews:
Rolling Stone
"...perverse, uncensored, deeply nerdy, and spit-take hilarious..."
Film Threat
"an eye-opening, soul-wrenching experience, in the best way possible."
One Movie Five Reviews
"a fascinating psychological portrait... surprisingly moving, with a genuinely touching message about accepting yourself for who you are. The result is a festival standout that is hilarious, heartfelt and wonderfully inspirational for anyone who has ever felt like a social misfit."
Now
"a riveting, brutally honest and hysterically funny examination of a unique creative talent."
Dork Shelf
"fascinating, funny, and touching."
IndieWire
"The best metaphor to describe Dan Harmon's career might be that machine that shakes up cans of paint at the hardware store -- the end result might be beautiful, but it comes from noise and chaos. And nowhere is that more evident than "Harmontown," the upcoming documentary directed by Neil Berkeley."
IGN's "Six Breakdowns and a Movie"
"...instead of bowing at Harmon's alter, the film grapples with fandom and Harmon's turbulent career without ever letting either off the hook. Claims of genius don't inflate Harmon's ego, they devour it, leaving behind an anxiety-ridden performer addicted to the good vibes of a crowd. For anyone who has dabbled in the creative, Harmontown is both sweet and terrifying."
Way Too Indie
"a funny, raw and enjoyable documentary that can appeal to fans of Harmon as well as people unfamiliar with his work."
Pretty Clever Films
"gives new meaning to the term 'revealing documentary'... fascinating, funny, and– oddly– touching."
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✦ 20 FEET FROM STARDOM Reviews:
Billboard
"it transcends the typical music documentary... it's an emotional loop de loop, a picture that elicits gasps of disbelief, spontaneous applause and tears. It's a winner."
New York Times Magazine
"Both times I’ve seen the film the audience broke into applause."
VeryAware
"An enrapturous, entertaining and effervescent blend of docu-style storytelling with a clear, inspiring and triumphant narrative. Other highlights include fluid cuts and forward momentum from editors Douglas Blush, Kevin Klauber and Jason Zeldes. 5 out of 5"
Not Coming to a Theater Near You
"it approximates the rush of a seeing a great musical performance live, and not all rock docs can manage that feat."
The New York Times
"This generous, fascinating documentary about the careers of backup singers, most of them African-American women, seeks to rewrite the history of pop music by focusing attention on voices at once marginal and vital... a chronicle of exploitation and appropriation — in other words, the music business — the picture it paints is gratifyingly complicated."
The Los Angeles Times
"Their voices are powerful enough to tear you apart and put you back together again, and their stories will do the same."
The Binge
"one of the most superbly entertaining music documentaries I've seen."
Los Angeles Times
"'Twenty Feet from Stardom' wows crowd... spotlighting the voices that helped make songs such as 'Gimme Shelter' enduring hits."
Variety
"nothing short of absorbing... it recaps the essential role African-American background singers played in shaping the sound of 20th-century pop music."
National Post
"Pitch-perfect documentary explores the unsung heroes of pop music"
Popthomology
"extraordinary, exhilarating.... [the film] quietly reminds us that the definition of success is a deeply individual one... Perhaps success is found most through learning what is truly important in life and what is not, knowing that giving freely the best of what we have and what we are to others, with an open heart, with joy is the best that anyone can ever do."
Movies With Butter
"beautiful, empathic, and honest ... a passionate ode to the value of creating simply for the love of it."
Cinema Blend
“Captivating and inspiring. 20 Feet from Stardom is a gem that captures both the thrill and devastation of working in the entertainment industry.”
HitFix
"Spectacular . . . arguably one of the best opening night films at Sundance ever"
The Village Voice
"It does what the most powerful films and music have always done, which is to spark contemplation of our own lives and choices, and our place in the world, while also stoking compassion and empathy for lives far removed from our own."
The Miami Herald
"An infectious and compelling film with a killer soundtrack . . . it brings to the fore the familiar voices behind the hits."
Wicked Local
"If you see this film, you will never listen to music in the same way again."
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✦ BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING Reviews:
The Austin Chronicle
"a future perennial favorite on the order of Crumb."
Leonard Maltin
"a funny, enormously entertaining film... one of the most pleasurable moviegoing experiences I’ve had this year."
The Hollywood Reporter
"zippy, delightful . . . Beauty is Embarrassing exudes the relieved good vibes of a narrowly-averted tragedy, and has a broad enough appeal to draw arthouse audiences from both high-falutin' and punk-rock constituencies."
The Washington Post
“A thoughtful, skillfully executed pure pop pleasure, from start to finish.”
The New York Times
“The creativity grows like kudzu in Beauty is Embarrassing, and it yields a thousand blossoms. Enlightening and hilarious.”
SLANT Magazine
"As Todd Oldham says of White: 'There's nothing amateurish about anything he does.' The same can be said of the film. Though it was shot on a tiny budget and almost entirely on a $600 Canon Vixia consumer videocam, Beauty Is Embarrassing always seems to know where it's going and how to get there."
LA Times Magazine
"Every bit as clever, playful, and inspiring as White himself... This movie ought to be required viewing, not just for Oscar voters but for every aspiring artist wondering how to build a life doing what they love."
Ain't It Cool News
"Bottom line, the documentary is great, a truly entertaining examination of the power of art and how being true to your passions can have a noticeable impact on the world."
Criterion Cast
"One of the most engaging documentary features in a very, very long time"
The Austin Chronicle
"Studded with stirring moments of surprise... a glimpse into the galvanizing effect art – good art, bad art, fine art, folk art, or 5th-grader art – can have."
Wired Magazine
"The movie is frantic, sentimental, surreal and very funny. But because the subject is such an oddball, it works."
IndieWire
"An apt portrait of a unique personality and pop culture artist... and the result is both inspiring and heartwarming."
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✦ PEARL JAM TWENTY Reviews:
Next Movie
"A groundbreaking rock doc."
Poptimal Review: Still Alive
"A revelation for fan and non-fan alike. PEARL JAM TWENTY as it exists, it will no doubt go down as one of the great music documentaries of all time, holding its own with GIMME SHELTER, THE LAST WALLTZ, and THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT."
SugarBuzz Magazine
"PEARL JAM TWENTY might just be the best Rock and Roll documentary since Martin Scorsese made THE LAST WALTZ."
The Hollywood Reporter - Toronto Review
"Pearl Jam Twenty, Cameron Crowe’s feature doc — receiving its world premiere at the Toronto festival — is among his most effective and deeply felt work. Crowe and his two nimble editors, Chris Perkel and Kevin Klauber, have orchestrated archival footage from a wide range of sources, frontman Eddie Vedder among them, and concert excerpts are well identified for DIY band historians in the audience."
Daily Vault
"The movie is a trove of clippings from home movie tapes by members of the band, which are edited brilliantly to flow with the interviews, but are still sloppy enough to have the element of spontaneity; afterall, this is not some sort of serious documentary, it is a rockumentary."
San Francisco Chronicle - Documentary Worth Seeing
"Must-see viewing even if you think grunge is the stuff you scrape off your shower tiles."
Anti-Music Film Review
"Pearl Jam Twenty is more than a run of the mill music documentary. It doesn't merely tell you an A-Z story or even cover the writing and recording of every album, but it explores the band's soul and how they managed to make it through two decades of inconceivable triumph and equally extreme trauma."
"Crowe and his team carefully weaved and edited the film in such a fashion that it puts the viewer in the thick of it all making them feel the highs and lows. The film's most potent performance is a series of shows edited together featuring "Porch" from 1991 and 1992 where Vedder would hang himself from the lighting rigs at festivals and clubs. If that wasn't enough, he would let go and have the audience catch him. Moments like these can't be recaptured or reconstructed and the extensive overhaul of all this video recordings is used masterfully throughout Pearl Jam Twenty."
‘Pearl Jam Twenty’ is Amazing Rock Doc - Hollywood Chicago
"Very few music documentaries in the history of the form have more successfully conveyed the inner workings and outer artistic expression of a band than Cameron Crowe’s brilliant “Pearl Jam Twenty,” a joyful, inspirational examination of the importance of creative integrity and great rock ‘n’ roll."
"Crowe cuts back and forth with his musical selections, often using them as commentary on where the band was in their careers and personal lives. It’s one of the director’s most notable accomplishments – the way he doesn’t just tell the tale chronologically but brilliantly weaves their entire career into one piece about creative integrity and the importance of artistic expression."
"It is a love letter to not just Pearl Jam, but all rock and roll. And it rocks!"
"Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity" is ranked 100% on RottenTomatoes.com
The Hollywood Reporter
"Especially in the superb selection of vintage performances, the material is edited with a sure rhythmic connection to the music (Doug Blush, Kevin Klauber and Edward Osei-Gyimah did the cutting). And the filmmakers let Shorter’s later orchestral experiments unfold and simply fly — “beyond harmony, rhythm and melody,” as Hancock sums it up."
Wall Street Journal
“One of the intoxicating things about Zero Gravity is that writer-director Dorsay Alavi not only appreciates her subject’s space-child inclinations, but makes them an essential part of her musical, celestial, must-see documentary.”
Decider
"Zero Gravity immerses us in it all. Wonderfully unpredictable editing layers drawings, animation, movie clips, and reenactment, so that the result is expansive and even dreamlike; it strives to reach the creative heights that Shorter so often found, and often does [...] With a wealth of archival performance footage and an intriguing visual style, Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity is an open door to exploring the saxophonist’s legacy, but also creativity as a beacon of light. "
The New Yorker
"a portrait of Shorter that is both illuminating and moving."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ FANTASTIC FUNGI Reviews:
"Fantastic Fungi" is ranked 100% on RottenTomatoes.com
RogerEbert.com
"One of the year's most mind-blowing, soul-cleansing and yes, immensely entertaining triumphs."
The Guardian
"With it spectacular footage of growth and decay and impassioned speeches about the magic of mushrooms, this documentary is a treat for the eye and ear"
The Wall Street Journal
"Fantastic Fungi is never uninteresting, and often startling in the natural beauty it reveals."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ BRIAN WILSON: LONG PROMISED ROAD Reviews:
Variety
"even if you think you know it all, "Long Promised Road" is an affectionate and satisfying movie [...] stirringly insightful, a collection of pinpoint testimonials to Wilson's artistry by such authoritative fans as Springsteen and Elton John, and a movie that lets the enchanting qualities of Wilson's music cascade over you."
The Hollywood Reporter
"Working with 70 hours of these driving sequences — and, no doubt, long stretches without a word of conversation — the director and editors Hector Lopez and Kevin Klauber have crafted something compelling, ever attentive to Wilson’s moods, anxieties and joys, to the way he listens to the songs and to the way he answers Fine’s questions with a childlike (or sage-like?) simplicity."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ ECHO IN THE CANYON Reviews:
Deadline
"Sensational... it's irresistible in every way"
Entertainment Today
"A quietly monumental documentary"
The Hollywood Reporter
"Rich with revealing observations and engaging anecdotes, Slater’s documentary skirts the nostalgia trap by entertainingly connecting with an impressive lineup of contemporary singer-songwriters referencing the influential '60s pop style with their own releases."
Film Threat
" a music documentary right up there with the all-time greats. Smartly, Jakob Dylan and company focus on the slightly lesser known songs of the period. Their versions switch nearly seamlessly between them recording it in a studio and live performances. I have no idea how the joins were done -- some kind of editing voodoo — but the transitions are magical. [...] No amount of words can truly give you the experience of this film [...] you just get something we’ve never really seen before. Echo in the Canyon will be watched for decades into the future."
LATFUSA
"An engrossing and illuminating inside look at a group of legendary musicians who created a distinctive sound that continues to resonate across the world. [...] From the revelatory interviews and unearthed home movies to the archival band footage and of course the music itself. [...] The details that emerge from “Echo in the Canyon” are endlessly entertaining."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ ICARUS Reviews:
Variety
"a cyclist who set out to prove he could outsmart athletic doping tests stumbles upon one the biggest cheaters in this game-changing documentary."
IndieWire
"So many shocking twists [...] A peculiar kind of buddy comedy [...] which then shifts into a Kafkaesque thriller that involves no less than the shadowy maneuverings of Vladimir Putin."
Collider
"ICARUS will blow you away."
Birth Movies Death
"As the events of the film become more and more complicated, Fogel and his editors manage the admirable task of maintaining coherence [...] This is a work of strong journalism that nonetheless is guided by a particular perspective, exactly what one would want from a story of this magnitude."
The Salt Lake Tribune
"With more foreign intrigue than a spy movie [...] ICARUS is a powerful look at doping by world-class athletes-- and a conspiracy that it breathtaking in its size and scope [...] It helps get to the heart of Rodchenkov's reasons for bringing Putin's house of cards around him."
Screen Daily
"a cinematic patchwork that gets rougher in texture as bodies either drop or disappear."
The Wrap
"a wildly timely movie for our current moment, as issues of cheating, legitimacy and geopolitical bullies take center stage."
The Wrap
"Though the documentary's early musings about athletic integrity in general are ultimately usurped by a tale of personal responsibility and nefarious global power, the disruption feels acute and essential."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ UGLY DELICIOUS Reviews:
Decider
"UGLY DELICIOUS is officially the best food show on Netflix "
"it’s one of the only food documentaries with the cajones to reflect on the food doc genre itself. Ugly Delicious doesn’t just serve up a tremendous visual feast for foodies, it also examines what makes food, well, food. Chang and his compatriots travel the globe in search of the best eats, and in doing so, they question why we like the things we like. "
"While most food shows are about the splendor of food or the moral and economic cost of it, Ugly Delicious wants to get down to how our tastes reflect our humanity. It’s the only food documentary series I can think of that asks questions that we don’t have easy, obviously, moralizing answers for. What even is good food? Is the best food from the most creative minds? Or is it something born from love and toil? Or is it just the shit we like to eat even though we know it’s bad for us? "
NBC
"A sleeper hit [...] The show leaves those at home craving both more episodes and perhaps a late night trip for carry-out. It tells the beautiful story of America and how we got here, one taco at a time. Whether you're a Food Channel addict or have never watched a cooking show in your life, "Ugly Delicious" offers something tasty for everyone."
The New Yorker
"The show isn't about what food is, it's about what it means, and about the choices people make that change its meaning"
The New York Times
"Ambitious, an extended television essay in the form of free-associative, globe-trotting conversations about food and culture."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ CHICKEN PEOPLE Reviews:
The New York Times
"a fun and at times astonishing film."
Peter Goldwyn
"Christopher Guest couldn't have written this better"
Kurt Loder - Reason.com
"equally curious, and unexpectedly moving, [...] If Errol Morris had ever wandered into the world on competitive poultry, he might have been moved to make a documentary like CHICKEN PEOPLE."
Cut Print Film
"What initially plays like nonfiction Best in Show with pampered fowl soon becomes an affectionate, engaging and contemplative look at obsession, addiction and social alienation. It lets us see ourselves in the kind of people you'd like likely never imagine giving a second glance."
The Los Angeles Times
"The beguiling documentary CHICKEN PEOPLE proves that truth is not only stranger than fiction, but often more poignant and illuminating as well."
Variety
"An illuminating and amusingly entertaining look at this thriving subculture of competitive poultry breeders."
Film Ink
"a particularly powerful and moving story on the resilience of the human spirit."
Urban Cinefile
"Jaw dropping at times [...] We lay people may not take chickens or chicken people seriously at the start, but by the end of this doc all that is changed."
Film Journal International
"Far more enjoyable and entertaining than one might expect [...] It will put a smile on your face, if not have you outright laughing."
IndieWire SXSW 2016: 8 Exciting Films From this Year's Festival
"a Christopher Guest movie stuffed into the mold of the competitive spelling bee classic "Spellbound."
STIFF
"a wonderful and fun documentary [...] often funny and heartbreaking and triumphant."
The Macguffin
"The film never judges these individuals but finds a way to examine them by allowing the audience to get not just a sense of what actually goes into chicken raising but also enough information about their lives so that we can feel connected."
------------------------------------------------------
✦WINTER ON FIRE Reviews:
The Washington Post
"this Academy Award-nominated, Netflix-produced film plays out like a harrowingly bloody, real-life “Les Miserables.”
Excelsior
"This is a heavy documentary where the director and his team became actual war correspondents... you can't miss it."
The Wrap
"Being able to bear witness firsthand to this three-month struggle is an incredible privilege, albeit a heartbreaking one."
The Los Angeles Times
"Winter on Fire" never takes its eye off the story's underlying and very dramatic theme, and that would be nothing less than revolution."
The New York Times
"Modern technology may not yet be able to capture the smell of gunpowder and tear gas, but Mr. Afineevsky takes the viewer closer to the action than might have seemed possible."
------------------------------------------------------
✦ KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK Reviews:
New York Times
"an editing tour-de-force"
Rolling Stone
"The most intimate rock doc ever."
Entertainment Weekly
"Without question, the best film I saw at Sundance this year."
DIY
"gives viewers a well-rounded, three dimensional representation of one of music’s greatest influences not just as a musical hero but as a son, husband and father[...] radical and absolute[...] this film deserves to be adored, studied and talked about for as long as Kurt’s influence does."
Internet buzz on Smells Like Teen Spirit Choir scene:
- "this is incredible - probably the best part of the documentary"
- "I was floored by this part, it's eerie and beautiful and does foreshadow the beginning to the end, Kurt unravelling - God it's tragic, even after all these years, He just didn't know what he did for music, for us"
- "It's so cryptic how Kurt doesn't have an answer to the question at the beginning. He's searching, thinking..... Kind of foretold what was to come. Then to have that lead in to Teen Spirit, the thing that made him and his band explode... this movie is true art! <3"
The Independent
"extraordinarily intimate"
------------------------------------------------------
✦ROMEO IS BLEEDING Reviews:
San Francisco Appeal
"Inspiring, but be warned: the movie doesn’t hold back. Lives are lost during the course of it, and it’s devastating."
The Inquirer
"It brought the audience to tears and drew a standing ovation. An extremely moving and sad depiction of what living in an area with such turmoil can do to young people."
Berkeley Daily Planet
"An unforgettable journey into the beating, emotional core of urban America. It delivers."
Indiewire.com
"Though moving and compelling, there are just as many moments in the film that will gut you. Death is a constant as if it plays its own character in the film... Still, the film forces its audience to continue to face the realities that far too many of people are dealing with on a daily basis. It's a film about laws, loss and heartbreak, but also one of optimistic inspiration and new beginnings."
Seattle Globalist
"It tells the story taking place in cities around the U.S. It’s a story about police, poverty, murder, blackness, the role of industry and the lack of environmental protection in communities of color. It’s a story about grief, rage, and how it creativity can lead to transformation."
Seattle Daily Mail
"The film never holds any party solely responsible for the system of violence and poverty disproportionately affecting people of color. The police, the criminal justice system, corporate America, the gangs themselves – Romeo is Bleeding smartly calls all of them into question, for the issue is much more complex than being able to point a finger at a single source. As many of the film’s interviewees confirm, this violence has been going on for many decades." ***MUST SEE***
Berkeley Daily Planet
"immerses viewers in a dangerous world of drive-by shootings and poverty. But there's more to this film than blight and peril. There is also the promise of redemption."
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✦ HARMONTOWN Reviews:
Rolling Stone
"...perverse, uncensored, deeply nerdy, and spit-take hilarious..."
Film Threat
"an eye-opening, soul-wrenching experience, in the best way possible."
One Movie Five Reviews
"a fascinating psychological portrait... surprisingly moving, with a genuinely touching message about accepting yourself for who you are. The result is a festival standout that is hilarious, heartfelt and wonderfully inspirational for anyone who has ever felt like a social misfit."
Now
"a riveting, brutally honest and hysterically funny examination of a unique creative talent."
Dork Shelf
"fascinating, funny, and touching."
IndieWire
"The best metaphor to describe Dan Harmon's career might be that machine that shakes up cans of paint at the hardware store -- the end result might be beautiful, but it comes from noise and chaos. And nowhere is that more evident than "Harmontown," the upcoming documentary directed by Neil Berkeley."
IGN's "Six Breakdowns and a Movie"
"...instead of bowing at Harmon's alter, the film grapples with fandom and Harmon's turbulent career without ever letting either off the hook. Claims of genius don't inflate Harmon's ego, they devour it, leaving behind an anxiety-ridden performer addicted to the good vibes of a crowd. For anyone who has dabbled in the creative, Harmontown is both sweet and terrifying."
Way Too Indie
"a funny, raw and enjoyable documentary that can appeal to fans of Harmon as well as people unfamiliar with his work."
Pretty Clever Films
"gives new meaning to the term 'revealing documentary'... fascinating, funny, and– oddly– touching."
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✦ 20 FEET FROM STARDOM Reviews:
Billboard
"it transcends the typical music documentary... it's an emotional loop de loop, a picture that elicits gasps of disbelief, spontaneous applause and tears. It's a winner."
New York Times Magazine
"Both times I’ve seen the film the audience broke into applause."
VeryAware
"An enrapturous, entertaining and effervescent blend of docu-style storytelling with a clear, inspiring and triumphant narrative. Other highlights include fluid cuts and forward momentum from editors Douglas Blush, Kevin Klauber and Jason Zeldes. 5 out of 5"
Not Coming to a Theater Near You
"it approximates the rush of a seeing a great musical performance live, and not all rock docs can manage that feat."
The New York Times
"This generous, fascinating documentary about the careers of backup singers, most of them African-American women, seeks to rewrite the history of pop music by focusing attention on voices at once marginal and vital... a chronicle of exploitation and appropriation — in other words, the music business — the picture it paints is gratifyingly complicated."
The Los Angeles Times
"Their voices are powerful enough to tear you apart and put you back together again, and their stories will do the same."
The Binge
"one of the most superbly entertaining music documentaries I've seen."
Los Angeles Times
"'Twenty Feet from Stardom' wows crowd... spotlighting the voices that helped make songs such as 'Gimme Shelter' enduring hits."
Variety
"nothing short of absorbing... it recaps the essential role African-American background singers played in shaping the sound of 20th-century pop music."
National Post
"Pitch-perfect documentary explores the unsung heroes of pop music"
Popthomology
"extraordinary, exhilarating.... [the film] quietly reminds us that the definition of success is a deeply individual one... Perhaps success is found most through learning what is truly important in life and what is not, knowing that giving freely the best of what we have and what we are to others, with an open heart, with joy is the best that anyone can ever do."
Movies With Butter
"beautiful, empathic, and honest ... a passionate ode to the value of creating simply for the love of it."
Cinema Blend
“Captivating and inspiring. 20 Feet from Stardom is a gem that captures both the thrill and devastation of working in the entertainment industry.”
HitFix
"Spectacular . . . arguably one of the best opening night films at Sundance ever"
The Village Voice
"It does what the most powerful films and music have always done, which is to spark contemplation of our own lives and choices, and our place in the world, while also stoking compassion and empathy for lives far removed from our own."
The Miami Herald
"An infectious and compelling film with a killer soundtrack . . . it brings to the fore the familiar voices behind the hits."
Wicked Local
"If you see this film, you will never listen to music in the same way again."
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✦ BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING Reviews:
The Austin Chronicle
"a future perennial favorite on the order of Crumb."
Leonard Maltin
"a funny, enormously entertaining film... one of the most pleasurable moviegoing experiences I’ve had this year."
The Hollywood Reporter
"zippy, delightful . . . Beauty is Embarrassing exudes the relieved good vibes of a narrowly-averted tragedy, and has a broad enough appeal to draw arthouse audiences from both high-falutin' and punk-rock constituencies."
The Washington Post
“A thoughtful, skillfully executed pure pop pleasure, from start to finish.”
The New York Times
“The creativity grows like kudzu in Beauty is Embarrassing, and it yields a thousand blossoms. Enlightening and hilarious.”
SLANT Magazine
"As Todd Oldham says of White: 'There's nothing amateurish about anything he does.' The same can be said of the film. Though it was shot on a tiny budget and almost entirely on a $600 Canon Vixia consumer videocam, Beauty Is Embarrassing always seems to know where it's going and how to get there."
LA Times Magazine
"Every bit as clever, playful, and inspiring as White himself... This movie ought to be required viewing, not just for Oscar voters but for every aspiring artist wondering how to build a life doing what they love."
Ain't It Cool News
"Bottom line, the documentary is great, a truly entertaining examination of the power of art and how being true to your passions can have a noticeable impact on the world."
Criterion Cast
"One of the most engaging documentary features in a very, very long time"
The Austin Chronicle
"Studded with stirring moments of surprise... a glimpse into the galvanizing effect art – good art, bad art, fine art, folk art, or 5th-grader art – can have."
Wired Magazine
"The movie is frantic, sentimental, surreal and very funny. But because the subject is such an oddball, it works."
IndieWire
"An apt portrait of a unique personality and pop culture artist... and the result is both inspiring and heartwarming."
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✦ PEARL JAM TWENTY Reviews:
Next Movie
"A groundbreaking rock doc."
Poptimal Review: Still Alive
"A revelation for fan and non-fan alike. PEARL JAM TWENTY as it exists, it will no doubt go down as one of the great music documentaries of all time, holding its own with GIMME SHELTER, THE LAST WALLTZ, and THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT."
SugarBuzz Magazine
"PEARL JAM TWENTY might just be the best Rock and Roll documentary since Martin Scorsese made THE LAST WALTZ."
The Hollywood Reporter - Toronto Review
"Pearl Jam Twenty, Cameron Crowe’s feature doc — receiving its world premiere at the Toronto festival — is among his most effective and deeply felt work. Crowe and his two nimble editors, Chris Perkel and Kevin Klauber, have orchestrated archival footage from a wide range of sources, frontman Eddie Vedder among them, and concert excerpts are well identified for DIY band historians in the audience."
Daily Vault
"The movie is a trove of clippings from home movie tapes by members of the band, which are edited brilliantly to flow with the interviews, but are still sloppy enough to have the element of spontaneity; afterall, this is not some sort of serious documentary, it is a rockumentary."
San Francisco Chronicle - Documentary Worth Seeing
"Must-see viewing even if you think grunge is the stuff you scrape off your shower tiles."
Anti-Music Film Review
"Pearl Jam Twenty is more than a run of the mill music documentary. It doesn't merely tell you an A-Z story or even cover the writing and recording of every album, but it explores the band's soul and how they managed to make it through two decades of inconceivable triumph and equally extreme trauma."
"Crowe and his team carefully weaved and edited the film in such a fashion that it puts the viewer in the thick of it all making them feel the highs and lows. The film's most potent performance is a series of shows edited together featuring "Porch" from 1991 and 1992 where Vedder would hang himself from the lighting rigs at festivals and clubs. If that wasn't enough, he would let go and have the audience catch him. Moments like these can't be recaptured or reconstructed and the extensive overhaul of all this video recordings is used masterfully throughout Pearl Jam Twenty."
‘Pearl Jam Twenty’ is Amazing Rock Doc - Hollywood Chicago
"Very few music documentaries in the history of the form have more successfully conveyed the inner workings and outer artistic expression of a band than Cameron Crowe’s brilliant “Pearl Jam Twenty,” a joyful, inspirational examination of the importance of creative integrity and great rock ‘n’ roll."
"Crowe cuts back and forth with his musical selections, often using them as commentary on where the band was in their careers and personal lives. It’s one of the director’s most notable accomplishments – the way he doesn’t just tell the tale chronologically but brilliantly weaves their entire career into one piece about creative integrity and the importance of artistic expression."
"It is a love letter to not just Pearl Jam, but all rock and roll. And it rocks!"