Author: Alabama Liberal

The theme for the day: war movies, and all the different forms they can take. [Hint: It’s not all about WWII.] What’s interesting is that each of these movies are from perspectives other than American’s, and that alone makes any of them different and interesting, even if not all of them are very good. [But…

Today’s movie theme: HBO documentaries about individuals dealing with overbearing governments (usually, they’re worse off for it) or trying to get around them. Okay, so “112 Weddings” isn’t technically related to government oppression at all, but there is a gay couple that mentions their struggle to get married so that’s close enough for a theme…

I know that lumping in two female comics would drive either of them absolutely nuts, but the similarities are uncanny: they’re both named Chelsea, both their specials were on Netflix, they mention that their Jewish fathers like black women, they’re both most famous for shows I don’t care for (Brooklyn Nine Nine for Peretti, and…

5 HBO’s docs being reviewed…the theme? All of them revolve around women or women’s issues. “Dead Mother’s Club”…What does it do to a woman to loose their mother, especially at a young age? This doc deals with that question with three famous examples (Molly Shannon, Rosie O’Donnell, and an especially candid Jane Fonda give interviews)…

The political documentaries that I wished “The Unknown Known” and “Mitt” were are able to found elsewhere. “Nixon on Nixon” and the excellent “All About Ann” are on HBO, and even if you only have Netflix, “Hank: 5 Years From the Brink” is better than “Mitt.” “Hank: Five Years From the Brink”…A documentary on former…

What happens when a slew of inconsequential movies (some better than others) need to be reviewed? How about a review in 15 words or less? Trust Me…Keeps shifting tone. Uneven but interesting. Deep humanity runs through it. Grade: B Cuban Fury…Parking garage dance-off shows it’s unserious. But great Ian McShane and Rashida Jones. Grade: C+ 3 Days…

Two documentaries that feature Gore Vidal. In one, he’s the star, and in the other (which is really about The New York Review of Books) his sparring matches with Norman Mailer are the most interesting parts. “The 50 Year Argument”…A very dry, somewhat boring doc about The New York Review of Books, that could really…

An eclectic movie mix from HBO as I take a look at a cancelled TV show having a feature length film send-off, an award-winning TV movie, and a notable documentary. “Hello Ladies”…A slightly unusual send-off for an HBO series that was cancelled after only one season of 8 half hour (at most) episodes. In fact, the 82…

A movie that deserves the praise it’s getting, a near (and deserving) lock for Best Actor, Director, and Picture nominations. It gets you to think about Michael Keaton and formerly-too-somber director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu in a totally new way. What Works: From a technical standpoint, “Birdman” is flawless, thanks to these flowing tracking shots famed cinematographer Emmanuel…

Every now and then a film slips through the cracks, and these three documentaries (all about artists and the process of creating art) are—to various extents—worth pulling out of those cracks. [Yep, that’s what passes for an allegory these days.] “Jodorowsky’s Dune”…The best of the three, but also one of the best films I’ve seen…

Otherwise known as “The Edward Snowden documentary,” CitizenFour (no, that’s not a typo, the movie takes its name from an internet username that isn’t spaced) is a fairly good movie about the state of American surveillance and the creeping Big Brother aspect into the military industrial complex. It’s essentially asking, “If a government knows literally…

I’m going to come right out and say that I really didn’t like this movie very much, and think that a lot of the effusive critical praise (and Oscar buzz that comes with that) should really be going to some of the better films out there. [Foxcatcher and Whiplash come to mind.] I have no…