Tag Archives: Documentary

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The Bootleg Files: The Magic Machines

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BOOTLEG FILES 872: “The Magic Machines” (Academy Award-winning short film about sculptor Robert Gilbert).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Unlikely.

Making a nonfiction film about a visual artist is always a tricky proposition. After all, the finished product is often a work of genius but the process of bringing it to fruition is frequently a tedious process. And truth be told, not every visual artist is a magnetic raconteur or a force of personality.
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How I Roll (2023) [Dances with Films 2024]

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Brianne Berkson & Miguel Gluckster’s short documentary and biography is a charming little look at the life of Robin Cohen. Cohen spent most of her living with a sense of awareness, and once she gains MS and battles losing function of her legs, she learns how to really live her life. There’s not a ton of argument for Robin Cohen should have been spotlighted for a documentary, even a short one.

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Graphic Sexual Horror (2009) [Blu-Ray]

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Now Available from Synapse Films.

One of the bigger surprises of 2009 was “Graphic Sexual Horror” a documentary that pegs itself as this extreme movie about sexuality. In actuality, Barbara Bell and Anna Lorentzon’s film ends up as this very complex and interesting study on fetishes, S&M and torture. The whole concept of “Graphic Sexual Horror” came at an interesting time when America was still reeling from the Abu Ghraib incident, prompting us to take a good look at the darker side of our sadistic tendencies and personal accountability.

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Mad Props (2024)

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Now Available to Rent on TVOD.

Prop collecting has always been a facet of move fandom that I don’t particularly read a lot about. That’s mainly because a lot of collectors deal in replicas and that, well, collecting actual props for movies can be really expensive. You pretty much have to be very wealthy in order to buy even the cheapest prop for a classic film. “Mad Props” is a very good documentary that deals in exploring the market for collecting props as well as the passion that comes with it.

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Five of the Best Moments from J.LO’s “The Greatest Love Story Never Told”

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Having gone viral lately for all the wrong reasons, Amazon and Jennifer Lopez recently released a documentary meant to chronicle the making of Jennifer Lopez’s cinematic iteration of her new music album “This is Me…Now: A Love Story.” “The Greatest Love Story Never Told” is filled with staged scenes, obviously scripted “candid” moments, and a ton of promotion of the new album and album tracks.

It does a great job promoting the new album and works double time in JLO’s efforts to rebrand herself as a “self-made” simple girl from the Bronx, a pigeonhole she’s evaded for years. Suffice to say that documentary is filled with silliness and absurdity. This is only a few of those moments.

“The Greatest Love Story Never Told” is now Streaming on Amazon Prime.

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Queen of the Deuce (2023) [Make Believe Film Festival 2024]

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There’s nothing better than a great documentary and “Queen of the Deuce” manages to be one of the best I’ve seen this year. Valerie Kontakos’ biography about NYC figure Chelly Wilson is one of the more excellent documentaries I’ve seen that covers an array of topics from family, LGBTQ politics, and the ever lasting effects of the holocaust. More so it’s a brilliant time capsule of the Deuce, 42nd Street in New York which, at one time, was considered a virtual breeding ground of violence, sex, drugs and all other kinds of depravity.

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