Titicut Documentary Blog. Documentary film reviews & filmmaking

Review: Welcome to Macintosh (2008)

RB — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:33:08 +0000

You read that right. Hot on the heels of MacHEADS comes Welcome to Macintosh. This time around, it’s endorsed by Apple and thankfully, the angle of the documentary is more historical than fanboy.

While it’s quite a dry affair, the film is likely to get Apple-nerds wet and sticky as it’s largely comprised of interviews with key players in the development of Apple Inc (such as Andy Hertzfeld, Guy Kawasaki and Leander Kahne). There’s the mandatory Woz-worship and characterisation of Steve Jobs as demi-god, but Welcome To Mac handles things with a judicious amount of obsequiousness, making it watchable for the casually interested, and necessary viewing for any flavour of Mac nerd.

http://www.welcometomacintosh.com

Titicut Rating: 2.5 / 5

Info

Directors: Robert Baca & Josh Rizzo, Year: 2008, Country: USA, Runtime: 90 min

The Documentary That’s Ruling My Life!

RB — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:40:28 +0000

So, dear readers and subscribers, I’m sure you’ve noticed things have been a bit thin around Titicut lately. This is not due to my lack of interest in documentary, or because there is nothing to post about, but rather because I’ve been working on my own little film! Documentary film that is.

It’s due for completion by March, so you can expect more derisive or obsequious reviews and news very soon.

As for my doco, I’m still working on the trailer and proper outline (amongst other things). Rest assured I’ll be posting details on Titicut as things move along.

More soon…

Ricardo Villalobos Documentary

RB — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:00:32 +0000

I’m sure the minimal techno lovers out there will be rushing to download, er, see this one.

Though anyone else who checks out the trailer below could be forgiven for thinking that Romuald Karmakar’s documentary looks boring as bat shit. I can only hope this isn’t the case.

http://www.electronicbeats.net/News/Music/Villalobos-documentary-premieres

Blood Money – Abortion Documentary

RB — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:24:20 +0000

Right wing documentarians. Why the fuck do they exist? Funded by the church, blind-sighted by faith, and entirely oxymoronic. If the shitheap intelligent design effort EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed is anything to go by, Blood Money looks set to be dead awful… Mad pun.

I suggest if you want more than the Christian side of the story, to check out the excellent and harrowing Lake of Fire which covers the abortion issue in a much less impaired and more considered manner.

Funny, the trailer actually has bereaved female actors mixed up in the sensationalised snippets of crapshooting. Do yourself a favour; steer well clear.

http://www.bloodmoneyfilm.com

A Good Man in Sydney

RB — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:35:30 +0000

Safina Uberoi’s documentary, A Good Man, will be screening at The Chauvel in Sydney on Saturday the 5th September. Press release follows:

A Good Man, by Safina Uberoi, is the true story of a struggling Australian farmer, his quadriplegic wife, their newborn baby and their plans to open a brothel in a small country town. The film will be captioned for the hearing impaired and will be followed by a Q&A with the film-makers. All proceeds from the screening will go towards creating a fully accessible version of the film with captions for the hearing impaired and audio-description for the vision impaired.

Accessible Arts is pleased to provide support and sector information to the producers of A Good Man for the incorporation of access technology in the film; marketing to key organisations and for future accessible screenings of A Good Man in cinemas and television.

When: Saturday 5th September. 6.30pm
Where: The Chauvel Cinema, cnr Oxford st and Oatley rd, Paddington
Cost: $20/15
Bookings: Call 02 9361 5398 or online at http://www.chauvelcinema.net.au

Les Paul Chasing Sound Documentary

RB — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:54:31 +0000

Recently deceased inventor of the solid-body electic guitar and multi-track recording, Les Paul, is the subject of this feature-length retrospective documentary… judging by the clip, it looks quite promising.

http://www.lespaulfilm.com

Review: Tyson (2008)

RB — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:42:17 +0000

Tyson is an indulgent documentary film. Likey to be considered brilliant by his fans, and mediocre by his detractors or the general filmgoer; disinterest is all pervading in this film. I would venture that, apart from once bearing unstoppable K.O. skills, Mike Tyson is no more interesting or intelligent than your average, intellectually challenged contact-sportsman. Funnily enough, the boxer firmly considers himself an intellectual. But self-ascribed labels only go so far and any illusion of intellect is washed away by his open admissions of misogyny and attempts at explaining various thuggish and reprehensible behaviours for which he has been derided.

For me, the documentary dragged on and on, not helped by the extended talking head material of a rambling Tyson. The film is largely a vanity piece and lacks interviews with promoters, battered ex-girlfriends or his pugilistically defeated opponents.

No wonder, hey.

Titicut Rating: 1.5 / 5

Info

Director: James Toback, Year: 2008, Country: USA, Runtime: 90 min

Review: Bastardy (2008)

RB — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:43:52 +0000

Bastardy is a feature documentary from director Amiel Courtin-Wilson. The film focusses on pioneering Australian Aboriginal actor, Jack Charles, a troubled character who lives out his post-thespian glory days as a cat burglar and junkie in Melbourne.

Filmed over a number of years, Bastardy is a film that suggests a close relationship between the director and his subject. We see Charles shooting up heroin in the film’s opening moments and as similar scenes repeat throughout the documentary, a sort of symbiosis between the filmmaker / character is implied. As a director, Courtin-Wilson has obvious respect for the aging actor and reciprocation from Charles, who candidly exposes himself (criminality and all) is what gives the film its legs.

In one irksome scene, the director confronts Charles from behind his lens about a robbery, which the actor-cum-thief admits to. Without fishing for audience sympathy, the two then embark upon returning the stolen goods in an effort to redeem Charles.

This is less your typical fall from grace story and more a chronicle of fallibility. Moments of tribulation are interspersed with elements from the poetic mode of documentary representation; pickups are captured with the aesthetic beauty afforded by 16mm film stock and rendered with subtle filmic effects.

The sum of these parts is a sincere and beautiful film which, despite the foibles of it’s central character, shows him in an endearing, humanist light. It is no wonder the film has taken out so many festival awards.

http://www.bastardydocumentary.com

Titicut Rating: 3.5 / 5

Info

Director: Amiel Courtin-Wilson, Year: 2008, Country: Australia, Runtime: 83 min

Clan Analogue: Plug In & Switch On

RB — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:01:13 +0000

Sydney techno collective Clan Analog have a documentary coming out entitled Plug In & Switch On. It’s only 26 minutes long so the scope is probably firmly on the music and less about the warehouse in which the collective blossomed. Let’s hope the filmmakers have done justice to Clan, who were a seminal underpinning of the 90’s electronic music scene in Sydney.

Filmmaking: American Prince 2009

RB — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:06:45 +0000

Remember Martin Scorsese’s American Prince? That’s the documentary where he profiles actor Steven Prince in a seemingly cocaine-assisted recollection of Prince’s colourful past. The film achieved a famously cult following after being bootlegged and cycled around for the last 30 years.

Now, a follow up from A Scanner Darkly producer Tommy Pallotta has been completed and in a statement of sorts, the director has released the film for free on the BitTorrent network. Interestingly, the 2009 film features clips from the orginal, but instead of using the degrading master tapes (provided by Steven Prince himself), Pallotta used clips from the version he downloaded off BitTorrent, as according to the director, the digitized copy was of superior quality.

Oh, the irony of such an epic win.

Get the torrent here.