“Little Richard: I Am Everything” is an exceptional and moving documentary that takes us on a journey through the life of one of music’s most influential figures. The film, directed by Lisa Cortes (The Apollo, The Remix), offers a deeply personal and inspiring portrait of the legendary musician. The documentary comprehensively examines Little Richard’s life, […]
The story of a revolution told by artists is so different from the same story told by political scientists or historians—not that I’m discounting the latter. What strikes me, though, is that artists have a way of conveying the social/emotional and individualized experiences of what actual people go through during a revolution such as the uprising
Even among documentaries this film is likely to be one of the most unusual accounts of a human being. Michael James Brody, Jr., was an heir to the Jelke “Good Luck” oleomargarine fortune. Despite this, he started out rather unlucky in that his mother died when he was three years old, and his father was rather distant. He
In the art world, provenance is of great importance in establishing the authenticity of a work. In the case of art created in the 16th Century, investigators may spend years tracing the ownership of a painting, for instance. My guess is that most people would not find that an interesting pursuit, but for museums, art dealers, investigative journalists,
A tender reminiscence about a Mexican man trying to fulfill his dreams in America after he suffers prejudice and heartbreak in his hometown of Puebla. Of course, he discovers through the years that he must deal with something similar in the U.S., but it is different enough that he is able to accommodate and make his
Two researchers have found their calling in attempting to track the sounds of whales—Dr. Michelle Fournet off the coast of Australia and Dr. Ellen Garland off the coast of Scotland. The documentary demonstrates how they are going about tracking and recording the whales’ sounds and their attempts to communicate with them. Specifically, they want to have “a
What a life Rita Moreno has had—and it’s still going on! She got a Hollywood Star at age 64, and at 84 is working on a remake of “One Day at a Time”, a Broadway play. Arriving with her mother in the 1930’s from Puerto Rico on the U.S. shores, Rosita (only later would she be called
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This documentary by Theo Anthony is interesting for our time in its demonstration and discussion of body cameras used by police departments and the larger issue of constant urban surveillance. The first part is a detailed explanation of how body cameras work, hosted by the Axon company, which produces most of the body cameras and tasers
This chronicle of all the times since 1991’s Oslo Accord that Israelis and Palestinians have attempted to come to a peace agreement with the U.S. as negotiator demonstrates how deep-seated the hostility is between the two sides. Israelis were so against Yitzhak Rabin’s signed agreement with the Palestinians he was killed. Palestinians were so much against an
In the beginning of this film, I was impressed with seeing how a music video was made. Then, I was impressed with how many people were fawning over the star, noting that she puts herself down and harshly criticizes her performances. But it’s not clear whether she does this intentionally (to get praise and reassurance) or whether