‘Picture Character’ Review: Our Tech Overlords Tells Us About Emojis
Directors Ian Cheney and Martha Shane dig into the world of emojis and the committees responsible for which ones make the cut.
Andrew Karpan
‘Red, White & Wasted’ Review: Mudding Into a Soul Of America
Music video directors Andrei Bowden-Schwartz and Sam Jones turn to feature filmmaking for a spotlight on Florida's redneck mudding culture.
‘Bauhaus Spirit’ Review: Searching and Finding True Believers
Niels Bolbrinker and Thomas Tielsch’s new film is a celebration of the centennial of the start of one of the last century’s most consistently present art movements.
‘Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project’ Review: A Backup Copy Of History
This documentary from Matt Wolf ('Teenage') profiles the life and work of an activist turned obsessive recorder and hoarder of TV news broadcasts.
10 Documentary Masterpieces About Artists
From the ancient cave painters to modern muralists, these are some of the best films about the makers of masterworks.
They’ll Fund Me When I’m Dead
'They'll Love Me When I'm Dead,' released in conjunction with Orson Welles' long-lost final film, is a small epic about making art in a world that doesn't care.
Missing in Action
A recently retired pop star tells the story of her and her decade in 'Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.'
Winogrand the Creep
Garry Winogrand’s gallery, estate, and family endorse a lavish documentary on the street photographer. But even reverence can reveal.
Christo (Without Jeanne-Claude) is still ‘Walking on Water’
Andrey Paounov's latest film puts us behind the scenes and in front of a Christo and Jeanne-Claude installation.
To Cut or Not to Cut: ‘American Circumcision’ is Not the Answer
Who are the intactivists and what do they want with our foreskin?
Basquiat Before the Art Boom
‘Boom For Real’ ruminates in Jean-Michel Basquiat's graffiti punk years.
Watching and Rewatching: ‘The Coolest Guy Movie Ever’
A mid-length documentary takes us back to the Steve McQueen movie 'The Great Escape.’
Capitalism! What is it good for?
Jed Rothstein’s ‘The China Hustle’ struggles to uncover a fraud.Greed is not good. The morality that underpins most movies relies on that principle. We expect punishment to come to those who spend too…
Who Was Joseph Beuys, Anyway?
Andres Veiel takes a first shot at defining one of the last century’s most notable conceptual artists in ‘Beuys.’
Ai Weiwei on ‘Human Flow,’ the Refugee Crisis and Increased Human Selfishness
“Movies need to make some kind of argument about our real lives,” says the conceptual artist turned documentarian.
‘Copwatch’ Watches the Watchmen
A group of activists confronts police brutality with iPhones.
‘Copwatch’ Watches the Watchmen
A group of activists confront police brutality with iPhones.
Unpacking Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes
The documentary short ‘Brillo Box (3¢ Off)’ reevaluates the work of a pop art legend.
‘The Reagan Show’ Gives Us the 1980s as Farce
It’s like ‘Veep’ for ’80s kids.History, any self-satisfied student of the last century will tell you, is more than just what happened. Hayden White, one of my favorites on the matter, reduces the subj…
‘Last Men in Aleppo’ is a Striking Piece of Anti-Russian Agitprop
Feras Fayyad's Oscar-nominated debut feature.
Behind the Music Making: ‘Bang! The Bert Berns Story’ Celebrates the Industry
A fun look at the man behind “Twist and Shout.”“Back in the day, good records were made,” Betty Harris, singer of such songs as “Cry to Me,” tells us in the middle of Bang! The Bert Berns Story. The m…
Fighting ISIS With Camcorders in a ‘City of Ghosts’
In another war zone, Matthew Heineman exchanges nihilism for hope, sentiment and journalists.An organization known as ISIS, also known as ISIL, also known as IS, are known to be, to use loaded parlanc…
Punk Goes Rock and Roll in ‘The Public Image is Rotten’
‘The Public Image is Rotten’ is a silly documentary about a serious band.
‘LA 92 ’ Turns Racial Violence and Police Brutality Into a Fiery Spectacle
This documentary from ‘Undefeated’ Oscar winners Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin revisits the 1992 “Rodney King riots.”
David Lynch is Painting Right Now
Jon Nguyen, director of ‘David Lynch: The Art Life,’ gives us a glimpse into the life of his iconic subject.
Will Brooke Shields Save Motherhood?
‘When the Bough Breaks’ looks into postpartum depression in the L.A. suburbs.