tOuch Kink (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]

I’ve always maintained that, as long as its legal and consensual, we should embrace our sexuality and kinks no matter how unusual it may seem to others. Kinks and fetishes are a form of human expression as much as they are about desire, and they can be important in deciding who we are and how we can operate on the outside. Sexuality shouldn’t be vilified it should be openly explored and embraced. “tOuch Kink” is a refreshing documentary that, while about sex and erotica, is also about humanity. It’s about our inner desires and how they can be a catharsis and even therapeutic.

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A Disturbance in the Force (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]

When I think about it, it’s pretty shocking that no one has made a movie about “The Star Wars Holiday Special” yet. It’s an untapped corner of the “Star Wars” fandom that has remained mainly a running joke and mythical hurdle a fan must endure as a rite of passage. Director Jeremy Coon and Steve Cozak team up to deliver what is one of the breeziest, interesting and most entertaining “Star Wars” documentaries of all time. Likely to be regard as a classic fandom documentary, “A Disturbance in the Force” chronicles the making of “Star Wars” and how the pop culture climate took a fairly straight faced science fiction adventure movie and transformed it in to a disco variety show.

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Sharksploitation (2023)

With the anniversary of “Jaws,” Stephen Scarlata’s documentary comes at the right time, as sharksploitation has managed to experience something of a resurgence. Along with “The Meg 2” coming to theaters, we’ve also had fodder like “The Black Demon,” “The Devil’s Mouth,” “Deep Water,” and “Cocaine Shark.” So “Sharksploitation” is something of an overdue account of the creation of sharksploitation movies, and how one movie named “Jaws” created what would become a fascinating, often infamous sub-genre of action and horror movies that’s spanned decades.

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Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour (1998)

The 25th Anniversary Director’s Cut will be available on Demand June 27th.

One thing you can’t accuse Susan Stern’s documentary “Barbie Nation” of being is biased. Through and through “Barbie Nation” is a biography about the creation of Barbie, but it’s also an objective one. It’s bizarre, it’s humorous, it’s self deprecating, and most of all it reveals the pros and cons of the Barbie fandom. Director Susan Stern is a lot more interested in taking a look at the more surreal side of the Barbie fandom. While “Barbie Nation” does explore the culmination and conception of the doll, “Barbie Nation” also looks at the small pockets of fandoms that have popped up.

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Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story (2023)

For fans that are expecting another documentary about Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, “Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares” ends up being much more about Englund the actor. While the documentary, clocking in at two hours, does explore a lot about Robert Englund’s time as Freddy Krueger, Gary Smart and Christopher Griffiths’ film is so much more about the actor and thespian Robert Englund. I’m quite happy that that’s the angle that they aim for, as “Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares” is able to set itself apart from so many other horror documentaries. Robert Englund is a seasoned actor and thespian who was classically trained and spent his life trying to perfect his craft.

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Savi the Cat (2022) [Tribeca Film Festival]

Directors Bryan Tucker and Netsanet Tjirongo’s “Savi the Cat” is one of the more unsuspecting short documentaries of the year. It’s a human story, but one that revolves around owning a pet. It’s amazing what adopting a pet can with and to your life. It can change it in ways that we never thought were possible, which is why so many pets are up for adoption. Not many people realize just how much of a task it can be to maintain and keep any kind of domestic animal. With “Savi the Cat,” the pair of owners not only learns about the humongous task that is of owning a cat, but the toll it inevitably takes on their relationship in the long run.

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