Will Eisner – Profession: Cartoonist

Hopefully, you are aware that there's a lot more to comic books than Spiderman and Batman. But if you don't, consider yourself lucky- there's an entire world of art out there ready for you to explore. American Comics may still be linked with caped crusaders in the minds of many, but around the world, the …

We Don’t Need a Map

Symbols are such strange, odd things- nothing more than a squiggle or a doodle, they nevertheless hold sway over the human beings who believe in them. Be it a flag or an icon, symbols trigger emotions, start wars, rally people to a cause. We Westerners living on the chunk of dirt called America don't think …

Cinévardaphoto

Agnes Varda's films are so simple, so deceivingly effortless flights of thought, that you could be forgiven for thinking she just sort of dashed them out of thin air over the course of an afternoon. Though she deals mostly in documentary, her documents are fiction, myth, and dreamlike, taking us on personal journeys that go …

Muppet Guys Talking

The art of puppeteering is a strange one, requiring a unique set of skills. To be great, you're part introvert (hiding from the world behind the mask of your puppet,) part extrovert (letting out your inner crazy via said puppet,) part skilled mechanic (navigating the physics of foam and fur to create the illusion of …

Theremin

One of the 90's best documentaries, which seems to have been forgotten these days, Steven M. Martin's Theremin is an almost textbook case of what a documentary should be, if you happen to stumble upon an amazing real-life story like this one. It functions on multiple levels, covering that oddball and distinct musical instrument that …

When We Were Kings

Documentaries are everywhere, about every possible subject, and most of them are basically glorified Wikipedia entries designed for people too lazy to read a book; people with attention spans so short, filmmakers have to throw in every trick in the book, from snazzy animations to energy-boosting soundtracks, to keep you from bailing on your stream. …

Let It Be

Does the world really need to spend any more time thinking about or examining the Beatles? Nobody- no matter how good or influential they may have been- really deserves so much scrutiny or attention. There are other bands out there; the myth-making has long run its course, and the cash-extraction that continues every 5-10 years …

Day of the Fight

Stanley Kubrick may have made many of the world's best-known, best-reviewed films, but you probably haven't seen this little gem- a 12 minute documentary boxing short entitled Day of the Fight. Like the title implies, it's a day in the life of middleweight prizefighter Walter Cartier- and what a day. Domestic scenes with his twin …

Pets or Meat

Michael Moore - you either love him for fighting the good fight with his uniquely American combination of schlubby everyman and left-wing moralist... or you hate him for destroying the purity of the documentary form... or who knows what you think, but you definitely think something about this guy. While his films realm from the …

Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows

There are a lot of movies about wrestling out there, but there's nothing like Wrestling With Shadows. It's the best wrestling doc I've ever seen, as well as one of the best documentaries, period- quite simply because it tells such a beautiful, tragic story about a legitimate, real-life hero and his legitimate real-life villain. The …