Sini Anderson’s The Punk Singer is a double-sided coin, with one face that’s somber and another that’s uplifting. Watching the film’s subject, feminist activist and musician Kathleen Hanna, as she takes center stage in archive footage, it’s impossible not to feel inspired by her energy and indomitability; for most of the film, Hanna gives the impression of being an unstoppable force, though anyone familiar with her life and times already knows this to be untrue without having to watch the entire picture. And so The Punk Singer exists as a work that’s simultaneously joyful and tragic, though that contradiction only makes Anderson’s film feel even more transparent and honest. For…
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G-S-T Review…Stories We Tell
Seven years after Sara Polley’s directorial debut, Away From Her, and only two in the wake of her follow-up, 2011’s Take This Waltz, the actress-filmmaker’s latest offering feels like something of a capstone at this juncture of her career. Limited as her body of work may be, Stories We Tell explains, or rather clarifies, her efforts as a narrator; it’s the film that elucidates her pursuits as an artist and even allows us to view them anew through a fresh lens. If her forays behind the camera raised any questions about the thematic drives and interests of her cinema, then Stories We Tell, both gracefully and bravely introspective at the…
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Super Star Me: Morgan Spurlock to Film One Direction 3D Concert Doc
Morgan Spurlock hasn’t really been relevant since Super Size Me helped him break out in 2004 and actually make a tangible impact on cultural dialogues about weight, health, and the consumption of fast food. 30 Days, his FX television program, saw him begin his decline a year later (though I frankly think that show received less attention than it deserved), while 2008’s Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? arrived with naught but a whimper before everyone collectively decided to ignore it. He followed up that failure with The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and the admittedly more successful Comic Con Episode Four: A Fan’s Hope in 2011 and added…
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[IFFBoston Review]…We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists
Brian Knappenberger’s We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists is a lot of things, but first and foremost it’s an outstanding example of documentary filmmaking done perfectly; it’s exciting, it’s propulsive, it’s entertaining, and it’s insightful. Documentaries should be educational and thorough as a rule, and We Are Legion doesn’t disappoint in that respect, but Knappenberger’s film– despite all of its historical and academic value– regardless manages to carry out its purpose with tongue firmly in cheek. And maybe there’s a point to that. After all, there’s something intrinsically bizarre about the idea that Knappenberger’s subject, the online, multi-faceted group of prankster-activists, Anonymous, actually has become a genuine catalyst for…
