By Jonathon Norcross Spike Jonze is one of those filmmakers (like Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee) whose filmmaking talent transcends all genres and formats. He’s directed iconic music videos (including “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys), stand-up specials, spellbinding narrative films,…
Martin Scorsese Assembled the Work of Greats to Make ‘No Direction Home’
By Gregory Crofton Jeff Rosen doesn’t like attention, at least that’s how it seems if you search for him on the Internet. But he’s Bob Dylan’s manager and his archivist, the one who sorts, categorizes and protects the piles of…
Hilarious, insightful ‘Screwball’ explores baseball steroid scandal
By Jonathon Norcross Billy Corben’s documentary Screwball, now streaming on Netflix, is a delightfully horrifying story about a fake Miami doctor and the Major League Baseball steroid era. The film uses child actors in its recreations to portray a cast…
Pauline Kael changed the movies with her reviews in The New Yorker, but this doc packs in too much
By Gregory Crofton If you like the movies, you’ll probably find plenty of worth in “What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael.” It’s filled with clips from classic films like “Citizen Kane,” (1941), “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) and “One…
Oscar-nominated ‘Honeyland’ is filmmaking by candle light in Northern Macedonia
By Gregory Crofton Expected a cinematic take on a beekeeper’s life, but found an even richer story on honey gathering, the challenge of bad neighbors and the difficulty of living sustainably in a capitalistic world. All told the filmmaking team…