Tag: jeffrey blitz

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Blitz, Miller, Newman, Rudolph, Thurman

Dan Seeger

Lucky (Jeffrey Blitz, 2010). After a middling sidetrack into fiction filmmaking, Blitz returns to the sort of quirky documentary that first earned him attention. Lucky is about lottery winners. Blitz follows the trajectories of several different individuals that became instant millionaires when a few kinetic ping pong balls bounced their way. While some of the asides are good, especially those that consider the incredible unlikelihood of actually striking it rich this way, Blitz struggles to find a clear narrative to give the film some structure and cohesion. It winds up instead as a smattering of human interest studios. Some are … Continue reading Blitz, Miller, Newman, Rudolph, Thurman

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I wanna see movies of my dreams

Dan Seeger

Man on Wire (James Marsh, 2008). In 1974, tightrope walker Phillippe Petit recruited some accomplices and strung a cable between the two towers of the World Trade Center. He then walked out on it, performing a feat of jaw-dropping daring some 110 stories above the crowded pavement. Marsh’s riveting documentary combines old footage, new interviews with key participants and spare reenactments to fully convey the colossal tension of the act and the freewheeling fearlessness that drove Petit to do it. Petit, naturally, is the film’s greatest asset, spinning stories about his bygone triumphs with an enthralling enthusiasm. If he doesn’t … Continue reading I wanna see movies of my dreams