Richard Garriot is the ultimate anything is possible story.  Start with an astronaut father and dreams of going to space.  Make a fortune creating video games.  Buy a spot on a spaceship from the Russians.  Lose the fortune.  Sell the spot on the Russian ship.  Make a second fortune.  Buy ...

In The Five Obstructions, Lars von Trier challenges his mentor Jorgen Leth to recreate Leth's 1967 short The Perfect Human five times given various restrictions.  Although von Trier acts as if he's conducting an experiment on the vulnerability of an artist, it really just feels like a game between two ...

Titicut Follies is Frederick Wiseman's controversial survey of the conditions that existed during the mid-'60s at the State Prison for the Criminally Insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.  It was banned until the early 90s and is considered by many as one of the greatest documentaries ever made. The cinematography is stunning ...

Last Train Home tells the generally familiar story of parents who want a better life for their children.  Every spring, millions of Chinese migrant factory workers take trains back to their village.  For many of the workers, it's the only time they will see their children all year. Although the circumstances ...

Mark Hogancamp's story is perfectly suited for film. His minIature WWII reenactments give us direct access to his mind. Nearly beaten to death outside a bar 10 years ago, the reenactments are his therapy. There is something very disarming about an honest and self aware person. ...

I get it.  The food I eat isn't really food.  The animals are treated poorly before they end up on my plate.  Big corporations are killing the independent American farmer (whatever that means).  I guess I just don't think this story is that compelling. Kudos to Chipotle for helping to sponsor ...

I don't know if it's intellectually consistent to be a meat eater but still feel sick while watching The Cove.  But really who wouldn't be disgusted by images of the capture and slaughter of thousands of dolphins?    The fact that I'm stunned by all of this is really ...

There have been dozens of documentaries on Iraq and prisoner torture in particular.  Taxi to the Dark Side is particularly compelling.  I'm convinced that history will judge us harshly for many of the choices surrounding the capture and interrogation of terror suspects.

It's Spike Lee, so of course it's totally political.  In fact, I think Spike would say that politics were at the core of the problem.  Either way, Katrina was a human tragedy on the largest level.  The images are devastating and the stories are compelling.  Of course the music is ...

Valentino has received a lot of Oscar buzz this year.  Honestly, I thought it was kind of boring.  At times it was beautiful to look at but I was never really engaged by the story. Nonetheless, it was interesting how Valentino has given his full life to fashion.  In spite of ...