CRIPS AND BLOODS: MADE IN AMERICA – director: Stacy Peralta

As a documentary filmmaker, Stacy Peralta came into his own with Dogtown and Z-Boys and Riding Giants. Both films examined subcultures within the United States—skateboarding and surfing, respectively—offering rich historical perspectives on subject matter that could just as easily have been dismissed. Peralta was able to find a comfortable balance in those two documentaries that made both films informative and entertaining. But while both films had moments of human drama, and perhaps even a bit of tragedy, there’s no denying that by and large, Peralta’s work was lighthearted in tone. The same can’t be said for his most recent documentary, Crips and Bloods: Made in America. (more…)

BLACK HOLLYWOOD: BLAXPLOITATION AND ADVANCING AN INDEPENDENT BLACK CINEMA – director: Howard Johnson

It is with a great degree of embarrassment that I admit that up until very recently, I didn’t even know that the documentary Black Hollywood: Blaxploitation and Advancing an Independent Black Cinema existed. Having produced my own documentary on the subject, published a magazine dedicated to the subject, co-authored a book on the subject, and having worked on other projects for other people, all revolving around black films of the 1970s, it seems ridiculous that I knew nothing of Black Hollywood. It also seems equally ridiculous that in years of research, and with countless conversations and interviews conducted, not a single person ever mentioned this movie. It was as if it never existed. But here it is, newly released on DVD, after what I can only imagine has been a long time of existing in a limbo of barely remembered films. (more…)

DIARY OF A TIRED BLACK MAN – director: Tim Alexander; starring Jimmy Jean-Louis, Paula Lema

I liked Diary of a Tired Black Man. In fact, I really liked it a lot. This comes as something of a surprise, because to be perfectly frank and honest, it really didn’t look that good to me. And to take that frankness and honesty one step further, the film does have some problems that will likely turn some people off; but that’s neither here nor there, because what this film does have is a raw honesty that is as entertaining as it educational as it is uncompromising. (more…)

PLANET B-BOY – director: Benson Lee

You would think that between The Freshest Kids and Inside the Circle that there would be no need for another documentary about b-boying, or breakdancing as it’s more commonly known. The Freshest Kids is a great documentary that traces the history of b-boying, while the equally impressive Inside the Circle examines the impact b-boy culture has had on young men in Austin, Texas. But the story that these two films just begins to explore is the global impact of b-boy culture, and how it has played out all over the world. And that’s where director Benson Lee’s Planet B-Boy comes in, joining the mix of inspiring documentaries about the effect breakdancing has had on the world. (more…)

WORKING CLASS ROCK STAR – director: Justin McConnell

There are plenty of documentaries out there about life in the music industry that paint it as a not too pleasant place to be. Tales of sex and drugs, with a bit of rock-n-roll, and an equal dose of death and rehab have become so commonplace that they can almost be seen as cliché. And certainly they should be seen as cautionary tales, or grim reminders of the dangers that lie in wait for anyone foolish enough to pursue the life of a rocker. But for some reason, despite the fact that much if VH-1’s programming is dedicated to spelling out all the dangers of a life in rock-n-roll, there are still people who want to live the life of a rock star—or at least the life of a rock star as defined by VH-1 and MTV. (more…)

INSIDE THE CIRCLE – director: Marcy Garriott; starring: Romeo Navarro, Omar Davila, Josh Ayers

Before it was even known as hip-hop, the street culture that emerged from the streets of the Bronx was primarily represented to the outside world in the form of graffiti and b-boying. This was back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when most of the world didn’t even know what rapping or scratching was. With the emergence of rap as the preeminent representative of hip-hop, the two earliest introductions to the culture, graffiti and b-boying (more popularly known as breakdancing), soon faded from the spotlight. But that doesn’t mean either went away, especially breaking, which has continued to thrive and grown into something far more pure than rap, which has been corrupted by corporations that turned the culture of hip-hop into a global commodity. (more…)

DARIUS GOES WEST: THE ROLL OF HIS LIFE - director: Logan Smalley

Film at its best has the power to engage us emotionally and spiritually. It can make us think and feel, and it can resonate deeply within our souls, reminding us what it means to be human. When a film is truly great, instead of bringing about little more than Pavlovian responses to song cues and other shameless manipulations, it ignites the humanity that has been lulled into dormancy by cynicism and sensory overload and the nagging notion of our own insignificance. And that is what makes the documentary Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life not only a great film, but the best film of 2007. Not only does DGW make you think and feel, it serves as a reminder that we, as human beings, have a capacity for greatness that can’t be bound by the limitations of the physical world. (more…)

INDEPENDENTS: A GUIDE FOR THE CREATIVE SPIRIT – director: Chris Brandt

If you’re not a fan of comic books, chances are pretty good you will not know any of the people interviewed in Chris Brandt’s documentary. And even if you are a comic book fan, there’s still a good chance you may not know any of the people in Independents: A Guide for the Creative Spirit, as everyone is pretty much removed from the mainstream industry. But neither reason is a good enough excuse to not watch Brandt’s film, which manages to transcend the medium upon which it is focused—independent comics—becoming a fascinating exploration of the creative process. (more…)

SPELLBOUND – director: Jeff Blitz

The term “feel-good” is bandied about a bit too much these days. Most feel-good films are, in fact, predictable bits of banality. A majority of the movies designed to leave an audience feeling good are little more than prefabricated pastiches of images and music that evoke a Pavlovian response from the drooling masses. Then along comes a film like Spellbound that truly does make you feel good. It doesn’t follow a formulaic pattern etched in stone ever since Sylvester Stallone returned in Rocky II (don’t forget, the Italian Stallion actually lost in the first film) to tug at your heartstrings—it offers actual stakes, genuine emotions and real characters. (more…)

SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS – director: Hank Rogerson

There is an unsettling tone that resonates throughout Hank Rogerson’s documentary portrait of inmates participating in the theater program at Kentucky’s Luther Luckett Correctional Complex. At first, it’s hard to pinpoint the cause of the strange feelings the film elicits, and then it slowly becomes more clear: These men—many of them killers and rapists—are, despite the inhuman nature of their crimes, human beings. And as you begin to see the humanity of someone like Leonard, serving 50 years for sexually abusing young girls, or Big G, a cop-killing drug dealer, all of the notions about prisoners that prevail in this society begin to melt away. (more…)