It’s also about much more than the trilogy, following Lewis’ entire career, from his start in nudie cuties (ripping off Russ Meyer with “The Adventures of Lucky Pierre”) to those no-budget horror gross-outs that made him both a fortune and a reputation as a beloved trailblazer — an indie spirit whose influence can be felt […]
documentary
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Going ape
Norman, 1973. A mother chimpanzee named Carolyn held her infant to her chest as two strangers, a man and a woman, approached her cage. The man pulled out a dart gun, turned to Carolyn and shot the mother chimp with a tranquilizer. Carolyn slumped to the floor of the cage, her hands still clutching the […]
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Live from Tokyo
The live scene is healthy, although with so many bands, there aren’t enough rewards to go ’round. As with here, the Internet has taken a huge bite out of CDs, but low album sales doesn’t mean a lot of people aren’t listening. They are. And thanks to the Internet, followings can be built overseas without […]
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Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff
Pretty good for a man who considered his job to be “nonsense,” in an industry he found “full of hypocrisy and hyperbole.” Bookended by footage of the man receiving his honorary Academy Award — the first cinematographer to do so — in 2001, “Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff” celebrates his lengthy and […]
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Beautiful Darling
That she was … although she was born as James Slattery. More famous for being famous than for any discernible talent, she became a fixture of New York’s avant-garde scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s, thanks to her association with artist Andy Warhol. He, of course, coined the famous “15 minutes of fame” […]
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Page One: Inside the New York Times
Startling admission: As a career-long journalist in one form or another, it is difficult for me to be truly objective about the documentary “Page One: Inside The New York Times.” No such problem exists with the Times’ own Michael Kinsley, who panned it as “a mess,” but don’t listen to him — I’m guessing most […]
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The Death of Andy Kaufman
In his effort to prove or disprove the rumor that the outré comedian faked his own death in 1984, director Christopher Maloney’s aim is true, but hampered by budgetary restraints. A great deal of Kaufman’s act hinged on pulling the wool over his audience’s eyes, so it’s no unreasonable for people to assume — as […]
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Bitter Coco
Last year’s debacle over “The Tonight Show” didn’t quite reach Shakespearean proportions, but you sure couldn’t tell it at the time. When Jay Leno left the hallowed television franchise for a stab at prime time, NBC gave the coveted late-night slot to Conan O’Brien, who had been patiently waiting in the latelate-night wings. Things did […]
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Bill Cunningham New York
Some stories can only be told in the Big Apple, and the documentary on New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham is one of them. Anywhere else, an old man riding his bike up and down city blocks, stopping to take pictures of passing strangers — mostly women — would be badgered by police. But […]
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No One Knows About Persian Cats
And if the authorities had their way, there wouldn’t be any. “In Iran, there are laws against blasphemy, free speech and rock and roll,” screams the opening card of the trailer for “No One Knows About Persian Cats,” the lauded feature film/documentary from Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi. The incredible film shows exactly what Iranians are […]