Tag: documentaries
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Jazz in China
Robert Barry Francos takes a look at professor, pianist, and now filmmaker Eugene Marlow’s documentary about jazz music in China called, well, Jazz in China. Jazz is an oxymoron, such as is playing the sitar: there are relatively strict rules dependent on subgenre, but within those rules there is also a freedom of form and…
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Suzi Q
Robert Barry Francos relives his awesome 1975 Suzi Quatro experience and learns more about the woman and her career with the recent documentary, Suzi Q. My first experience of Suzi Quatro was on May 5, 1975, when I went to see Alice Cooper play at Madison Square Garden as part of the Welcome to My Nightmare Tour.…
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Cold Case Hammarskjöld
While there are some ego-driven missteps by Danish filmmaker Mads Brügger, Cold Case Hammarskjöld is a well spun yarn with plenty of shocking wtf moments. The seemingly accidental flight crash that killed United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld in 1961 is an intriguing mystery, but it’s the branches that spread to and from it that…
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Band vs. Brand
The documentary Band vs Brand looks at the idea of bands, brands, and everything in between — the industry and the branding of artists. The premise of this film is simple, and is explained on the box: “When does a band become a brand?” This refers to when the band name becomes a synergy of…
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Koneline: our land beautiful
Koneline: our land beautiful is playing in Regina, starting later this week. Here is a photo essay from the movie, visual poetry about British Columbia. Koneline: our land beautiful is a new film from director Nettie Wild that takes place in the northwest of BC. It’s about the people who live there and change that’s…
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Sad Vacation: The Last Days of Sid and Nancy
After his excellent Johnny Thunders music documentary, director Danny Garcia is back with a movie called Sad Vacation: The Last Days of Sid and Nancy. I’ve certainly been in the same room with Sid and Nancy, especially the latter considering the sheer number of times I’ve seen the Heartbreakers (Johnny Thunders, Walter Lure, Billy Rath,…
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Cartel Land
Cartel Land is a truly fascinating, Oscar-nominated documentary film about the Mexican drug cartels and a few groups of vigilantes who would defend against them. There are (at least) three sides to every story. That isn’t the point of Cartel Land, per se, but by the end of this Oscar-nominated documentary, that phrase is definitely…
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Muscle Shoals
The documentary Muscle Shoals joins the ranks of some of the terrific movies for music nerds that have been released in the last few years, in the vein of Standing in the Shadows of Motown, 20 Feet From Stardom, and the first ¾ of Sound City (the last ¼ was a bit of a wank).…