What Drives Us is a doc that explores the passion behind touring musicians and some of the vehicles that got them there. From big names like Ringo Starr, U2, AC/DC to under the radar bands like Radkey and Starcrawler, this… Read More ›
documentary
Allow the joy of documentary “Lily Topples the World” to knock you over. [SXSW Film Festival]
Documentaries that manage to introduce a new audience to something niche and relatively uncommon (while retaining entertainment value and artistic excellence) instantly earn my admiration. From director Jeremy Workman and executive producer Kelly Marie Tran, Lily Topples the World shows… Read More ›
Director Mary Wharton’s documentary “Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free” is good for the heart and soul. [SXSW Film Festival]
From director Mary Wharton, the documentary Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free feels like a secret glimpse into a lost part of history. Considering that we are less than three decades removed from the time period of this film’s focus,… Read More ›
Two features and five shorts to keep an eye out for. [SXSW Film Festival]
SXSW 2021 has come and gone, offering accredited press a dizzying array of opportunities in which to indulge. While the Elements of Madness coverage team wrote a hearty portion of reviews, there were far more films worth seeing than we… Read More ›
“Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on ‘The Exorcist’” Blu-ray Giveaway
The Exorcist is the horror film that really showed a genre picture could transcend industry perception, going on to win two Academy Awards for Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound and earn eight nominations in other categories, including Best Picture and… Read More ›
Documentary “The Hunt for Planet B” begins with the amazing minds at home. [SXSW Film Festival]
Are we alone in the universe? This is the question that drives some people to search the stars and others to question your sanity. “Why would there be others like us?” some may wonder, “For we are divine creatures thanks… Read More ›
Documentary “Hysterical” is a showcase of the sheer fearlessness and tenacity of female comics. [SXSW Film Festival]
There is a lot to take away from the official SXSW selection, Hysterical, a documentary feature directed by Andrea Nevins, which examines the culture of women in stand-up comedy. Just to set the scene, I am a straight, white male… Read More ›
Riveting documentary “Introducing, Selma Blair” captures the spirit of a person unbroken. [SXSW Film Festival]
There’s a point about two-thirds of the way through Introducing, Selma Blair where the titular Selma Blair is recounting her career based on her magazine appearances, including an admittedly unfortunate Seventeen Magazine cover, a stunning Italian Vogue cover, and the… Read More ›
Documentary “Alien on Stage” charms from lights down to the final curtain call. [SXSW Film Festival]
If you’re like me, you’ve been obsessed with the North Bergen High School’s production of Alien two years ago. The New Jersey high school, with the film and a dream as inspiration, crafted a unique and (by high school standards)… Read More ›
Malcolm Ingram’s doc “Clerk.” is a loving mosaic to Kevin Smith, The Man Who Would Be King Geek. [SXSW Film Festival]
Before the Fengshen Cinematic Universe, the modern Monster Universe, the DCEU, or the MCU, there was the View Askewinverse. Before there was Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios) or Jon Favreau (The Mandalorian) as the pinnacles of geekdom, there was writer/director Kevin… Read More ›
Without a clear focus, this telling of “Disintegration Loops” falls on deaf ears. [SXSW Film Festival]
Ambient music is one of those things that pervades your life in the basest of forms, but when you learn the depths of the genre within the modern music scene, it kind of blows your mind. This was my experience… Read More ›
By the time folk horror doc “Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror” ends, you’ll want even more. [SXSW Film Festival]
Folk horror is something that, for a while, I didn’t know was genuinely one of my favorite forms in the horror genre. It’s difficult to categorize it as its own separate sub-genre as its products can be widespread and incredibly… Read More ›
Documentary “The Oxy Kingpins” is an effective look at the rage of why and how it’s so easy to get hooked on prescription medication. [SXSW Film Festival]
Prescription drugs have become a dangerous enterprise encompassing our world today. Dealing drugs has become a business that isn’t what shows like “Breaking Bad” makes you think it is. In actuality, it resides in the category of being an industry… Read More ›
Raw, unflinching, and defiant “Luchadoras” follows the reclamation of personhood in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. [SXSW Film Festival]
If you were to presume that co-directors Paola Calvo and Patrick Jasim’s documentary Luchadoras (Female Fighters) is about female wrestlers in Mexico, you’d only be about a quarter correct. While their film does follow four wrestlers — Lady Candy, Baby… Read More ›
Refreshing political doc “Kid Candidate” goes beyond the unconventional candidacy to call out corruption in local government. [SXSW Film Festival]
NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation has a running gag about “Ice Town,” the winter sports complex that series regular Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) tried to build when he was miraculously elected mayor of his hometown at the age of 18…. Read More ›
Effulgent and joyous, “Mr. Soul!” is a celebration of one man’s work.
In 1968, you couldn’t turn on the television, listen to the radio, or read something in print without seeing a White face. Even during the Civil Rights Movement, any presentation of the Black experience was almost always presented through a… Read More ›
Documentarian Rodney Ascher’s “A Glitch in the Matrix” explores the mystery of Simulation Theory. [Sundance Film Festival]
It is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real, that is to say of an operation of deterring every real process via… Read More ›
Open Dialogue with “Rising Phoenix” directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui.
Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui capture the history, the passions, and the impact associated with the international Paralympics in the Netflix documentary, Rising Phoenix. This is a film that breathes life through the stories of the athletes themselves using… Read More ›
Open Dialogue with “MLK/FBI” director Sam Pollard.
Award-winning filmmaker Sam Pollard (4 Little Girls, Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever) brings to the screen a documentary exploring the life of Martin Luther King Jr. through a different lens. Using never before seen footage, archival information and lost audio… Read More ›
“Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror” Blu-ray Giveaway
In 2019, horror streaming service Shudder premiered the incredible documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, directed by Xavier Burgin, co-produced by Tananarive Due (instructor of Sunken Place Class), and inspired by Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman’s book. On… Read More ›