Whether you want to immerse yourself in the world of birds, bees, baseball or backup singers, Netflix has a documentary for you. Missed "Man on Wire"? It's on there.
Here are films that changed the world, righted wrongs, pinpointed a moment in history, or simply shone a light on a previously unknown subset of society. (Availability subject to change. Films are unrated, except as noted.)
1. "20 Feet from Stardom" (2013) PG-13
This Oscar-winning doc shines a spotlight on the relatively unknown backup singers behind such superstars as Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Mick Jagger, and Stevie Wonder.
2. "The Act of Killing" (2012)
The director invited killers -- men who took part in the horrific purge that left more than 500,000 dead in Indonesia in the 1960s -- to reenact their crimes on film, resulting in a bizarre look inside the mind of men capable of mass murder.
3. "The Battered Bastards of Baseball" (2014)
Two filmmakers pay homage to their grandfather,...
Here are films that changed the world, righted wrongs, pinpointed a moment in history, or simply shone a light on a previously unknown subset of society. (Availability subject to change. Films are unrated, except as noted.)
1. "20 Feet from Stardom" (2013) PG-13
This Oscar-winning doc shines a spotlight on the relatively unknown backup singers behind such superstars as Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Mick Jagger, and Stevie Wonder.
2. "The Act of Killing" (2012)
The director invited killers -- men who took part in the horrific purge that left more than 500,000 dead in Indonesia in the 1960s -- to reenact their crimes on film, resulting in a bizarre look inside the mind of men capable of mass murder.
3. "The Battered Bastards of Baseball" (2014)
Two filmmakers pay homage to their grandfather,...
- 12/12/2014
- by Sharon Knolle
- Moviefone
On June 26th, HBO gave a group of journalists binoculars and snacks and took them to Central Park for a birding walk through The Rambles with filmmaker Jeffrey Kimball, longtime birdwatching tour guide Starr Saphir and novelist Jonathan Franzen. Though it was charmingly oddball, It wasn't a random excursion -- Franzen, Saphir and fellow traveler Chris Cooper all appear in HBO's documentary "Birders: The Central Park Effect," making its broadcast premiere tonight at 9pm. Kimball is himself a passionate birder making his filmmaking debut with this doc, which premiered at SXSW earlier this year. The film, which at a brief hour runtime is being paired with Lucy Walker's Oscar-nominated doc short "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom," is a mild-mannered love letter to Central Park and those who've found in its cityscape sanctuary a population that includes both humans and winged creatures. According to the film, more than 200 avian.
- 7/16/2012
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
I can't remember a time I went to the Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) press launch and looked over the list of films and saw so many I was interested in seeing. The claim to fame for over the years is to call it the largest and most-highly attended festival in the United States. This is a fact I've often taken issue with as I don't equate quantity with quality. Granted, there has been a large number of quality features to play the fest over the years, including Golden Space Needle (Best Film) winners such as Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), My Life as a Dog (1987), Trainspotting (1996), Run Lola Run (1999), Whale Rider (2003) and even recent Best Director winner, Michel Hazanavicius's Oss 117: Nest of Spies in 2006. That said, looking over this year's crop of films I see a lot of films I will be doing my absolute best to see.
- 4/27/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
As I mentioned when rounding up the Narrative Feature Competition, wrapping SXSW 2012 could take a while. That batch opened with comments from one of the jurors, J Hoberman, and this one will as well. First, though, let's mention that we already have roundups going on the award-winners, Beware of Mr Baker and Bay of All Saints.
So the Guardian's Catherine Shoard, jury member, found Jeffrey Kimball's The Central Park Effect to be "a sweet study of the birders who flock to Manhattan's thick strip of parkland each spring. It was pretty gentle, generic, even, but felt from a different planet from the rest in that it wasn't wholly human-focused. Sure, the warblers and the robins are red herrings, and it's really all about the cast of eccentrics who eyeball them – including celeb twitcher Jonathan Franzen, who pitches in with some unusually self-deprecating soundbites."
Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles...
So the Guardian's Catherine Shoard, jury member, found Jeffrey Kimball's The Central Park Effect to be "a sweet study of the birders who flock to Manhattan's thick strip of parkland each spring. It was pretty gentle, generic, even, but felt from a different planet from the rest in that it wasn't wholly human-focused. Sure, the warblers and the robins are red herrings, and it's really all about the cast of eccentrics who eyeball them – including celeb twitcher Jonathan Franzen, who pitches in with some unusually self-deprecating soundbites."
Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles...
- 3/27/2012
- MUBI
HBO Documentary Films has acquired domestic TV rights to Jeffrey Kimball's The Central Park Effect, which had its world premiere in competition at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival. The film will debut on HBO over the summer. Photos: The Scene at SXSW 2012 Effect looks at the wide array of wild birds that come in and out of Central Park throughout the year, as well as the New Yorkers who track and observe them. The film focuses on seven main subjects and features Chris Cooper, Catherine Hamilton, Jonathan Franzen and others. Kimball also produced the Other Noises production; Pamela Hogan and Tom
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- 3/19/2012
- by Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
HBO Documentary Films has acquired the domestic TV rights to The Central Park Effect, it was announced today by HBO and Submarine Entertainment. A 2012 SXSW selection in Documentary Feature Competition, the film will debut on HBO this summer. Featuring Chris Cooper, Jonathan Franzen and Starr Saphir, among others, the film is directed and produced by Jeffrey Kimball and executive produced by Pamela Hogan and Tom Casciato. The deal was negotiated by Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment on behalf of the filmmakers with HBO Documentary Films. The Central Park Effect reveals the extraordinary array of wild birds who grace Manhattan’s celebrated patch of green and the equally colorful New Yorkers who schedule their lives around the rhythms of migration. The film focuses on seven main subjects who regularly visit the park and have found a profound connection with this hidden natural world. “HBO is the ideal home for The Central Park Effect...
- 3/19/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
HBO Documentary Films has picked up the domestic TV rights to birding doc "The Central Park Effect." Directed and produced by Jeffrey Kimball, the 60-minute film recently had its world premiere at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival, where it was in the Documentary Feature Competition. "The Central Park Effect" focuses on the array of migrating birds who visit the park as well as some of the birders who go out of their way to observe them. The film features Chris Cooper, Starr Saphir and acclaimed author Jonathan Franzen, among others. "HBO is the ideal home for 'The Central Park Effect' and gives us the ability to tell an important story to millions of people," says Kimball. "Even though it's set in the middle of New York City, this is a story about people's connection to nature. It's important for us to realize that as the world becomes more urbanized,...
- 3/19/2012
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
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