From Anthony Kaufman’s blog Oscar Docs Baffle Again: “Grizzly Man” Snubbed Can someone explain to me the biggest snub in the recent history of the Oscar documentary branch: that “Grizzly Man” — Werner Herzog’s masterful meditation on nature’s cruelty — did not make AMPAS’s shortlist for the Best Documentary category? Since “Grizzly Man” is the […]

November 15, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Toni Thompson — (310) 247-3000 Academy Announces Documentary Films in Competition for 78th Academy Awards® Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the list of films that will continue on in the voting process in the category of Best Documentary Feature […]

Before I started attending the Academy’s Oscar’s Docs series I thought I would have something to say every week. And…surprisingly…I haven’t. We are now closer to the end of the series than the beginning and I’m still leaving the screenings trying to think of something to write about besides the plain ole history. The series […]

People who mooooove into the theater. They take up two or three seats with all of their gear and then proceed to put their feet up over the seat in front of them – that’s 4 seats they’re using!

From indieWIRE: In the documentary competition, Zach Niles and Banker White won the Aquafina Pure Vision Award for their film “The Refugee All Stars.” The film is the story of a group of six Sierra Leonean musicians who come together to form a band while living as refugees in the Republic of Guinea. Kelly Duda’s […]

Day 10 I attended the TIMESTALKS 2 – The War Documentary: A Panel Discussion with Eugene Jarecki, Stephen Marshall, Jehane Noujaim, Michael Tucker, Garrett Scott and moderated by New York Times Magazine editor Gerald Marzonati. Admittedly I walked in 30 minutes late, but it seemed to me the panel was really more about why these […]

People who get up 5 minutes into a movie after we’ve been sitting there 30 minutes for it to start. Where are the going? They always come back. Why didn’t they go while we were waiting? It’s a wonder…

Day 8 of the festival and I’m not terribly worse for wear. But…as I have been dozing off a bit (during movies) I could probably use just a little caffeine…maybe. I’ve stopped reading the festival catalog and I’m just walking blindly into documentaries. So…I stumbled into Desire. The film follows a group of young girls […]

There’s just something funny about people saying, “Have you seen FUCK?” “Last night I saw FUCK and I liked it!” “I really…uh…wanted to see…excuse my language…uhhh…FUCK yesterday…sorry again, but I couldn’t make it.” And really, that’s the point of the movie. What is so bad about a word? Who says it’s bad? What makes a […]

Movies that start late: Part 2 Films should not start late due to: Bosnian Standard Time Jewish Standard Time Insert your favorite ethinicity/race/gender/religion here Standard Time That is not an excuse to start a movie late – it is just bad taste.