Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
The Nth Room targeted Korean women in a lower socio-economic class who needed money. They also set their marks on underage girls, who were too young to handle what they had been tricked into. These crimes are continuing, but now with with teenage boys at the helm.
Set in 11 locations, including Botswana and Zimbabwe, “Humanimal” makes it clear that no matter how majestic the animals may appear, they are at our mercy.
“The Fiery Priest” actor Kim Nam-gil narrates the four-part wildlife documentary series, “Life of Samantha,” which follows a cheetah mom and her three cubs in the Maasai Mara National Reserve of Kenya in Africa.
“Burn the Stage: The Movie” is a taut, entertaining look at BTS — the world’s most famous boy band. While the music, choreography and comic elements will endear the group to moviegoers, it’s their kindness that I remembered long after I had left the theater.
Famous for his documentaries “The Civil War,” “Mark Twain” and “Baseball,” among others, filmmaker Ken Burns has a new film ready to roll out in 2014: “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.”
When “liberators” don’t understand the country they’re trying to help, the end result can be well meaning, but diluted. In the documentary The Beauty Academy of Kabul, filmmaker Liz Mermin focuses on a group of American hair stylists who travel to post-Taliban Afghanistan to teach local women how to beautify themselves and their customers.
The footage in “Grateful Dawg” is raw, the camerawork is iffy and the sound bites aren’t compelling enough to warrant feature film treatment. But the music of the late Jerry Garcia and David “Dawg” Grisman–the stars of this documentary–makes this 81-minute excursion worthwhile.
“Kurt and Courtney,” the movie banned from this year’s Sundance Film Festival that became the event’s most talked-about title, is heading to Chicago next month.
Shot over a nine-month period in Leichhardt, Australia, the documentary “Rats in the Rank” follows the absurd antics of 12 council members maneuvering to get their mayoral candidates elected to office.
Peter Spirer’s documentary “Rhyme & Reason” widens the focus on hip-hop, presenting it as a lifestyle that happens to include music. And by allowing the artists to narrate the piece, director Spirer manages to captivate viewers without glorifying or vilifying the controversial art form.