The Amina Profile
Not only is Sophie Deraspe‘s story about an influential blogger – a lesbian dissident in Syria who may not be what she appears – expertly told, but it also makes for a powerful commentary on journalism’s degenerating standards. And it’s got nail-biting tension. SGC
Being Canadian
One of the most asked questions in comedy is why our country has birthed so many funny people. Now Calgary-born Robert Cohen, whose credits include The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory, has made a documentary on the subject, polling pals like Mike Myers and Seth Rogen along the way. I only hope there’s no clip from The Love Guru. GS
Best Of Enemies
Nearly 50 years ago, everyone was watching the same TV programs at the same time, specifically the 10 fierce debates between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal during the 1968 republican and Democratic conventions. Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville look back on the characters, ideas and newfangled format that changed television forever. SGC
Drone
Once the stuff of terrible Hollywood action movies, remotely piloted airborne vehicles are now commonplace, allowing the American military to vaporize militants (and bystanders) on the other side of the world without any physical danger to themselves. Interviewing pilots, developers and even victims of drone strikes, Norwegian filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei investigates this disturbing trend in long-distance warfare, and what it’s doing to geopolitics and the rules of engagement. NW
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story Of The National Lampoon
Comedy is a key element of this year’s Hot Docs, with features spotlighting Monty Python, Saturday Night Live and stand-up comics like Tig Notaro. But the title to which I’m most looking forward is Douglas Tirola‘s look at the history of the college comedy movement that did more to define the sensibility of modern American comedy than anything else. Remember, Lorne Michaels didn’t discover John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Anne Beatts and Michael O’Donoghue: the National Lampoon did. NW
Listen To Me Marlon
Look, I’m a film critic. How could I not be excited by the prospect of a documentary in which Marlon Brando, one of the greatest screen actors – and yes, probably one of the weirdest – narrates his own life in a monologue culled from over 200 hours of previously unreleased audio recordings? Director Stevan Riley illustrates said monologue with footage from Brando’s own archives I’m hoping he found a way to include the wardrobe tests from The Island Of Dr. Moreau. NW
Live From New York!
Despite all the attention Saturday Night Live’s recent 40th anniversary got last February, there’s an appetite for more. Witness this doc reuniting alumni like Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, Adam Samberg, Amy Poehler and the guy who started it all, Lorne Michaels, to talk about life at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. GS
Mavis!
Politics, history and superb music converge in Jessica Edwards‘s portrait of icon Mavis Staples, who used her fusion of rock, soul, R&B and pop to fight racism and promote unity. There are some big names in this pic – Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Chuck D – but Staples is definitely the star. SGC
The Nightmare
After making waves with Room 237’s deep dive into the conspiracy theories surrounding Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Rodney Ascher returns with a documentary exploring the phenomenon of sleep paralysis – that state of consciousness in which the mind “wakes up” before the body. Ascher’s use of stylized re-enactments to convey the condition had Sundance audiences calling the film a fusion of documentary and horror this I gotta see. NW
Raiders!
The internet’s full of geeky fan tributes to movies and TV, but it was harder to do back in the early 1980s, when a bunch of kids attempted to recreate Raiders Of The Lost Ark shot by shot. It took them seven years to finish everything but one key scene. Now middle-aged, they reunite to finish it. Will they make a sequel? Can’t wait to find out in Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen‘s pic. GS
