Hoop Dreams might very well be the most acclaimed documentary of the 1990s, but its co-director, Chicago-based documentarian Steve James, has continued to create distinctive, relevant films in the near-20 year interval since that film’s release. His latest, The Interrupters, screened at Cinema Politica here in Montreal and so impressed the SOSers who witnessed it that we made sure to request a screener, with the express purpose of putting a James spotlight together – and now, with the help of special guests Derek Gladu and Michael Waldman, we finally got ‘er done. (Special thanks to Kartemquin.)

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Playlist:

The Roots – “Make My” (ft. Big K.R.I.T.)
Scarface – “On My Block”
Big K.R.I.T. – “Something”

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SoS host Simon Howell was lucky enough to not only get to attend this year’s Telluride Film Festival, but also to take part in the fest’s Student Symposium, which grants access to the filmmakers behind some of the fest’s high-profile gets. To talk about three of the fest’s most interesting films, as well as the fest in general, he’s joined by Telluride vets Kate Rennebohm and Olivier Creurer. The movies up for discussion: Wim Wenders’s 3D doc Pina, David Cronenberg’s wildly divisive period piece A Dangerous Method, and the latest Werner Herzog documentary, Into the Abyss

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Playlist:

Townes van Zandt – Colorado Girl

Harry Nilsson – Save the Last Dance for Me

The Black Keys – Psychotic Girl

Pernice Brothers – Goodbye, Killer

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It’s been too long since we checked in on the world of documentaries – not aided by the cinematic scheduling discrepancies between Montreal and Toronto – so it seemed time to finally talk about two of the summer’s best-loved ones: Werner Herzog’s 3D opus Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and the self-explanatory Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times. Simon is joined by two excellent returning guests: filmmaker/felon Eduardo Lucatero and professional rapscallion Mike Waldman, who also selected the hour’s third film, the 2002 doc Bus 174.

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Playlist:

Hüsker Dü – “Turn on the News”

Candy Claws – “A Strange Land Discovered”

The Jam – “News of the World”

Obits – “I Want Results”

While we wait around to see his new film Tabloid (which, between our recording this episode and its publication, has a new trailer – see below), we thought it appropriate to take a look at Errol Morris’s First Person, the two-season TV series Morris directed. Mike, Derek and Simon pick out three of the series’ seventeen portraits of the damaged, the brilliant and the disturbed: “The Killer Inside Me,” starring “serial killer groupie” Sandra London; “I Dismember Mama,” the tale of a man, a dream, and a frozen head; and “One in a Million Trillion,” the story of what happens when an immovable object meets Regis Philbin.

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Playlist:

Comet Gain – The Weekend Dreams
The Exploding Hearts – Jailbird
Tom Waits – Cold Cold Ground
Nomo – Brainwave

For our first documentary special in quite some time, we decided to give ourselves an emotional beating for some reason by sticking with an unusual theme: three docs that focus on miscarriages of justice. First up in Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, which made famous the case of the West Memphis Three; then we skip ahead to 2008′s Witch Hunt, which chronicles a rash of mistaken convictions for child molestation in Florida in the mid-80s; finally, we’ll be talking about Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, Kurt Kuenne’s emotionally wrenching advocacy piece / rememberance / home movie about the death of his best friend and the turmoil that followed. Amidst the true-crime grimness, Simon tries to crack a joke or two (badly) while bungling several names and titles. Classy, as ever.

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Learn more about the West Memphis Three here.

Playlist:

Grails – Deep Politics
Metallica – Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Times New Viking – No Room To Live
Kris Ellestad – Sorry Booin’ (listen to or buy the great No Man Is Land at krisellestad.bandcamp.com)

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ESPN’s 30 for 30 – a collection of 30 documentaries by 30 filmmakers crated to commemorate the sports network’s thirtieth anniversary – has finally hit DVD, and with the help of special guest Mike Waldman, we’re going to discuss four of its more memorable entries. First up is Peter Berg’s King’s Ransom, an account of Wayne Gretsky’s fateful move from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings; Winning Time, Dan Klores’ hugely entertaining portrait of the Knicks vs. Pacers rivalry, headed by the incomparable Reggie Miller; The Two Escobars, Jeff and Michael Zimbalist’s epic account of corruption, glory, and death in and around Columbian soccer in the days of Pablo Escobar; and finally, The Birth of Big Air, the story of BMX pioneer Mat Hoffman’s quest to push the limits of physics – and his body – in order to scale the skies, directed by Jeff Tremaine.

Editor’s note: Of you want to know more about Pablo Escobar’s Hippo problem, than you can read more about it here.

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Playlist:

In our latest spotlight on recent documentaries, Derek, Justine and Simon tackle two very different visions of the war in Afgahnistan: first up is Restrepo, which has just been announced as an Academy Award nominee, and which takes a talking-heads approach mixed with raw, handheld footage of soldiers in action; the other movie is a controversial Danish movie by the name of Armadillo, whose imagery is strikingly cinematic, and whose climactic minutes have been a source of debate in many circles. Derek also spoke to director Janus Metz about the process behind the film.

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Playlist:

These New Puritans – We Want War

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Army Bound

DeVotchKa – Enemy Guns

Back in 2007, software-entrepreneur turned documentary filmmaker Charles Ferguson made a big splash with his debut feature No End In Sight, a thorough examination of the second Gulf War that earned him an Academy Award nomination. He’s back with Inside Job, which attempts to recreate that film’s success, albeit on a very different subject: this time, he’s out to explain and place the blame for the global financial crisis of 2008. We’ll be discussing that film, along with another new documentary by Yael Hersonski called A Film Unfinished, which examines a never-completed Nazi propaganda film that purported to depict life in the Warsaw Ghetto.

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Playlist:
Tapes N’ Tapes – Hang Them All
Johnny Boy – You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve
Lightning Dust – History

Throughout the last 9 months, documentaries of note have been cropping up, and on this hour of Sound on Sight Justine, Derek and Simon finally get to round them up in one place. First up is Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, which chronicles a year in the life of the titular pioneering comedienne; next up and bound to stir some discussion is Chris Smith’s Collapse, which explores the pseudo-apocalyptic theories of “conspiracy fact” guru Michael Ruppert; last but certainly not least. Jeff Malmberg’s Marwencol, which should be getting a theatrical rollout starting next month.

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Playlist:

Mission of Burma – Fame and Fortune

A Silver Mt. Zion – Kollaps Tradicional (Bury 3 Dynamos)

Comet Gain – Emotion Pictures

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Now that it’s finally hit DVD, Sound on Sight takes a long-delayed look at a documentary that some are lauding as one of the year’s best: Anvil: The Story of Anvil, which chronicles its titular Toronto metal band as they attempt to stage an ambitious European comeback tour after years of complete obscurity. To tie in to that film, we’ll also be talking about the similarly inclined doc Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, as well as the legendary mockumentary that winds up informing both docs quite a bit : Rob Reiner’s This Is Spinal Tap.

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2005′s March of the Penguins proved that animal documentaries, even those with a subtle environmental message, could generate good box office. Moving off the ice flow and into the ocean, a couple of recent docs have taken up the plight of two diametrically opposed, yet sometimes confused sea creatures: dolphins and sharks. Tonight, Sound on Sight takes a look at the deeply personal Canadian film Sharkwater and the winner of the Audience award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the caper-esque The Cove.

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Take action and make a difference. Visit these sites now!

http://www.thecovemovie.com/

http://www.takepart.com/thecove/

As usual, this year’s Fantasia Film Fest was loaded with quirky, offbeat documentary content, and on this episode of Sound on Sight, Al, Simon and returning guest Derek Gladu take on three of them: Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, a portrait of an unhinged Southern clan; Playing Columbine, a look at videogame violence, fringe game developers, and one controversial game in particular; and Best Worst Movie, a look at the cult surrounding Troll 2, which is widely considered to be among the poorest movies ever conceived.

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Also take a listen to our podcast covering last year’s docs at the Fantasia Film Festival

Visit the home page for Best Worst Movie

The last few weeks have seen an uptick in wide-release documentary activity, so returning guest Derek Gladu joins us to help dissect three of them: Every Little Step, a look at the 1970s and 2000s Broadway productions of A Chorus Line through the eyes of its performers and auditioneers; Food, Inc., the latest in a long line of slick culinary exposés in the vein of Super Size Me, and Tyson, James Toback’s feature on the titular man himself – in his ownwords. Plus, of course, we’ll have all kinds of news items to discuss.

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There’s an eclectic new slate of documentaries to be found on DVD aisles in the last few weeks, including Kurt Kuenne’s provocative “Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father,” which wowed festival audiences but has kpet a relatively low profile elsewhere. Bill Maher’s satirical travelogue across America’s spiritual landscape, “Religulous,” has also landed, along with “Front Runners,” a peek into high-school electoral drama. Stepping in for Ali is returning guest Mariko McDonald.

for info on the Cine-Asie blog, go to  http://cineasiecreatives.com/category/blog/.

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With the Oscars just a month away, we take a look back at two Oscar-nominated films we did not have a chance to review yet. Israel’s “Waltz With Bashir” is up for Best Foreign Film, although it might also have contended in the Best Animated Feature and Best Documentary categories, as it features eyewitness accounts of the 1982 Lebanon War from those who fought it. Werner Herzog’s Antarctic adventure “Encounters at the End of the World,” up for Best Documentary, will be reviewed as well. As a bonus, we’ll also take a look at a doc that Oscar overlooked: “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.”