Reviewed by GREG KING Documentary Director: Chris Smith.The trailer for this low budget, independently financed documentary made it appear as if American Movie was a po-faced piss-take on the making of The Blair Witch Project. But it is so much more. The brainchild of Chris Smith, American Movie is a journey through the frustrations and anguish of the low budget film maker. It is enough to either inspire all …
42 UP
Reviewed by GREG KING. Documentary Director: Michael Apted.In 1964 director Michael Apted began a remarkable documentary series for television. Fourteen seven year old children, drawn from different backgrounds in London, were chosen as the subjects of an ambitious series that would explore the truth behind the Jesuit saying: "Give me the child at seven and I will show you the man." The series initially set …
20 DATES
Reviewed by GREG KING. Director: Myles Berkowitz Stars: Myles Berkowitz, Robert McKee, Richard Arlook, Tia Carrere.In 1996, Aussie film maker Robert Gibson exposed his personal life and failed relationships to excruciatingly painful scrutiny with his video diary Video Fool For Love. First time film maker Myles Berkowitz attempts something similar, albeit it on a grander and less intimate scale, in this mock …
MCLIBEL
Reviewed by GREG KING Documentary Director: Franny Armstrong.This fascinating documentary records the longest civil trial in England's legal history - a David and Goliath like struggle between the multinational McDonalds corporation and two environmental activists who had made some damaging statements about the company.Dave Marsh and Helen Steel were members of an environmental group. In the early '90's …
WHEN WE WERE KINGS
Reviewed by GREG KINGDocumentary:Director: Leon GastPolitics, sports, and music make for a potent mixture in this insightful and entertaining Oscar-winning documentary from acclaimed film maker Leon Gast. When We Were Kings details the behind-the-scenes story of the famous 1974 Ali/Foreman fight, held in Zaire, a small, fairly obscure African country, that has since gone down in sporting legend as the …
TIMOTHY LEARY’S DEAD
Reviewed by GREG KINGDirector: Paul Davids Documentary Running Time:80 minutes.The Moody Blues were rather prescient with their lyric "Timothy Leary's dead", from the song Legend Of A Mind.Timothy Leary was the counter culture hero, who in the heady '60's, urged a generation to "turn on, tune in and drop out." Through this fascinating but unconventional documentary director Paul Davids (co-writer of …
