Believe the hype. This much-praised documentary about one of the most famous boxing matches in history deserves every one of its accolades. Blending sports drama and biography with a touch of political analysis, When We Were Kings relates the who, when, where, and most importantly the why of the 1974 George Foreman/Muhammad Ali world championship fight in Zaire. Splicing together old news footage
More than merely a sports documentary or an inspirational profile of triumph over adversity, Murderball offers a refreshing and progressive attitude toward disability while telling unforgettable stories about uniquely admirable people. It's ostensibly a film about quadriplegic rugby (or "Murderball," as it was formerly known), in which players with at least some loss of physical function in all fo
This film recounts the history and attitudes of the opposing sides of the Vietnam War using archival news footage as well as their own film and interviews. Using a wealth of sources-from interviews to newsreels to documentary footage of the conflict at home and abroad-Davis constructs a powerfully affecting portrait of the disastrous effects of war.The film also endeavors to give voice to the Vi
This film tells the unbelievable story of the weathermen the group of 70s radicals who fueled by outrage over the vietnam war & racism in america went underground throughout much of the decade to wage a low-level war against the government. It includes modern day interviews with key members & founders. The key players in the radical movement known as the Weather Underground are skillfully
There's no easy way to address a highly charged subject like the sexual abuse of young boys by Catholic priests, but with Twist of Faith, director Kirby Dick has taken a straightforward approach, using neither fanfare nor frills to create an unflinching but highly personal documentary about this disgraceful episode. The 2004 film's focus is on one place, Toledo, Ohio, and primarily on two men. On
The set piece of this hyperbolic ode to surfing is Laird Hamilton's 2000 trip to Tahiti, where a monster wave provided the opportunity for what the movie portentously calls "the most significant ride in surfing history." If you're inclined to regard the sport as important and its practitioners as heroic, you'll likely enjoy this beautifully photographed documentary, which presents Hamilton as a to
Filmmaker James Longley offers three thumbnail sketches of Iraq as the nation struggles to its feet following the American Invasion in this documentary. In the film's first chapter, Mohammed Haithem is an 11-year-old forced to make his own way in Bagdhad after the disappearance of his parents. Mohammed earns his keep working in an auto-repair shop, though he would prefer to go back to school, and
An intriguing premise for a full-length feature, the idea behind Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is simple. Back in April of 2005, Real Madrid--replete with Zinedine Zidane, arguably the world's finest footballer at the time--played Villareal in the Spanish league. At that game, seventeen cameras were all trained on Zidane. The film? At heart, it's 90 minutes of following the great man around a fo
Garry Kasparov is arguably the greatest chess player who has ever lived. In 1997 he played a chess match against IBM's computer Deep Blue. Kasparov lost the match. This film shows the match and the events surrounding it from Kasparov's perspective. It delves into the psychological aspects of the game, paranoia surrounding it and suspicions that have arisen around IBM's true tactics. It consists of