Doc Corner: Taylor Swift is 'Miss Americana'

By Glenn Dunks

A film like Miss Americana is always going to be something of a piece of image rehab. It’s just a part of the process of making a documentary about the biggest pop star in the world whose mega-fame makes her equally loved and loathed (as these sorts of things always do; hi, Madonna) by large swathes of the population. And while it is unlikely that the many shouting “fuck Taylor Swift!” in boorish unison at a Kanye West concert or those whose deep-dive into stan culture is unhealthy in its obsession are unlikely to be moved – or, probably more likely, reminded that they ever cared enough about her in the first place– from the looks of it, Lana Wilson’s doc appears to have worked.

Many journalists and listeners who once criticised her for any number of reasons (her perceived lack of sincerity, her cunning, her dating life, her choice of friends, a craven need for attention, etc) have come out to perform mea culpas and many casual observes of its subject’s meteoric rise to fandom acknowledging that maybe, just maybe, she’s human after all despite everything that they had been previously led to believe. 

Premiering as one of the opening night films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Miss Americana may seem like something of a peculiar choice for it’s director, too.

Click to read more ...

Doc Corner: Ranking the Documentary Short Nominees from Least to Most Depressing

By Glenn Dunks

We have done this very particular ranking twice before now. Does that make it a tradition? We have only had to skip one year (2017) of Best Documentary (Short Subject) nominees because that year’s batch were a happy lot for a change.

This year’s nominees for what is often the most dour of categories could have certainly been darker – trust me, I’ve seen the other films that were shortlisted. They didn't nominate the one about murderous street gangs or the one about the humanitarian crisis following Hurricane Maria! Still, there are big themes among this year’s strong selection of titles (although it must be said, the feature category is far superior): we are taken from a warzone in Afghanistan to a man-made tragedy in South Korea, refugee stories from Vietnam to Sweden, and back to the streets of Missouri.

The nominees are:

In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
Life Overtakes Me
St. Louis Superman
Walk Run Cha-Cha

Let’s take a deeper look…

Click to read more ...

Ai Weiwei's "Vivos" - Pretty to look at but too detached

New contributor Ren Jender reporting from Sundance...

 

In 2014, Mexican police attacked students from a rural teachers' college, Ayotzinapa (known as a hotbed of leftist activism) in Iguala, Guerrero. They killed six of the students but injured many more and abducted another 43, who have never been found. In his new documentary Vivos, artist Ai WeiWei (Human Flow) focuses on the families left behind (and in limbo) When the families speak about the disappearance of their sons, siblings and partners, Ai captures the lyricism of their stories. One father memorably states:

That night, it rained and rained and rained."

Click to read more ...

Doc Corner: The 2019 Oscar Nominees!

By Glenn Dunks (returning from a writing break, I hope y'all missed me)

Following last year’s surprising line-up for Best Documentary Feature that ignored multiple major box office hits and favoured critical and festival hits, I asked how much the Academy’s changing dynamics had affected the nominations in this category that was often considered a musty piece of furniture. It was undeniable that a significant shift had been made and I am thankful to say that it wasn’t a fluke. The 2019 nominations for documentary have yet again marked the branch as one on its own course through the greater Oscar season narrative. A narrative that is otherwise marked by predictability, a distinct lack of adventurousness, and even outright laziness.

This year’s nominees took us from the bombs and missiles of a warzone of Syria (two times! The Cave and For Sama) to the silent beekeeping traditions of North Macedonia (Honeyland), through the muddy democratic waters of Brazil (The Edge of Democracy) and the blue collar working yards of America's midwest (American Factory). They represent American and international filmmaking at their finest made by newcomers and veterans alike...

Click to read more ...

Year in Review: 50 Biggest Documentary Hits

Our year in review party begins. A different list each day. Here's Glenn Dunks...

The documentary box office of 2018 was always going to be hard to beat - impossible, even. Last year we had five documentaries reach totals greater than $10mil. This year, unfortunately, we had none, although one of those five, Peter Jackson's colorized war doc They Shall Not Grow Old made the bulk of its money in the new year so there's that, as did Oscar winner Free Solo.

 Nevertheless, the realm of non-fiction more or less thrived in cinemas across America. Where indie flicks with big names faultered, sputtered and got chewed up by the markets divergance towards streaming, documentaries continued to post solid numbers for their boutique distributors. The clear winner for 2019 was Apollo 11, which capitalized on the 50th anniversary of man's first walk on the moon as well as being marketed as an event movie in IMAX. It missed an Oscar nomination, but as last year's snubs for Won't You Be My Neighbour and Three Identical Strangers suggest, box office doesn't always make that a done deal.

Still, we are here to talk box office so let's look at the list. 

TOP 50 GROSSING DOCUMENTARIES FOR 2019
Domestic Box Office Totals Only - Figures as of March 12th, 2020
RANK | TITLE | (DISTRIBUTOR, RELEASE DATE) | DOMESTIC GROSS

01 Apollo 11 (Neon, March 1st) $9.0  [REVIEW] 

02 Penguins (Disney, April 17th) $7.6...

Click to read more ...