In Music Doc ‘Born in Chicago’ Chicago Blues Cross Color Line
Music documentary Born in Chicago captures the white musicians who bristled at 1950s American conformity and turned to Chicago blues for a whole new world.
biography
Telling His Story: An Interview with Bernie Taupin
Bernie Taupin, legendary songwriting partner of Elton John, reveals all in a new book detailing his creative partnership, hatred of touring, and love of cowboys.
The Claustrophobic Drama in ‘In the Name of the Father’ Still Haunts
The claustrophobic atmosphere in biographical crime drama In the Name of the Father creates a world where evil actions are made more remorseless by the silence surrounding them.
Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ Bombs
Like the atomized color in Seurat’s pointillism, Nolan uses a non-sequential progression of meanings to create a larger picture in Oppenheimer. Unfortunately, this method leaves viewers seeing a lot of dots.
Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ Detonates Moviemaking’s Limits
Christopher Nolan’s latest juggernaut Oppenheimer is an earth-shattering study of modern politics and governance that redefines what filmmaking can be.
Shane Warne Biopic ‘Warnie’ Is Not Quite Scorsese-Like
Although it imitates some Scorsese methods, rather than giving us an insight into the real Shane Warne, Warnie instead gives us a series of showreels of the controversies in his life.
‘The Crowded Room’ Has Too Many Angles Crammed Into It
The Crowded Room tries to be a psychological drama, a coming-of-age story, and a law procedural culminating in courtroom maneuvers and meltdowns – all angles that crowd its premise.
The Doors’ Well-Told Story Still Contains a Lot of History and Mystery
In the shadow of the “Happy Together” decade, Bob Batchelor’s the Doors’ biography Roadhouse Blues explores the dark and gloomy side of Jim Morrison and the band.
W.E.B. Du Bois’ Prescient Masterpiece ‘The Souls of Black Folk: A Graphic Interpretation’
Rutgers University Press’ engaging, accomplished interpretation of ‘The Souls of Black Folk’ confirms it as W.E.B. DuBois’ most prescient and indelible work.
Satirical Miniseries ‘White House Plumbers’ Is an Uneven Glimpse into Proximity to Power
HBO’s satirical miniseries on the Watergate affair, White House Plumbers, entertains but struggles to find emotional and political footing.
Harry Belafonte and the Art of Activism
Harry Belafonte’s life and work loom large over this moment when artists of color are exercising their activist voices.
The Excellent ‘Little Richard: I Am Everything’ Captures Just About Everything
Little Richard brought a sheer exhilaration that was sexual, spiritual, and joyous and put it to music like no other. Lisa Cortés excellent documentary does the man justice.