Docs, 9/5.

"Considering how deliberately Tony Kaye makes his presence felt during the clunky opening moments of his abortion doc Lake of Fire... it's astonishing to find the remainder so lucid, even-keeled, and free from authorial hysterics," writes Nick Schager at Slant. "While Lake of Fire examines its subject matter from various angles - some more flattering to pro-lifers, some more satisfying to pro-choicers - Kaye's desire for level-headedness puts him in the latter's camp."

Aaron Hillis in the Voice on Salvador Allende: "Richer than a mere posthumous portrait, the film is a wistful testimony to a faded political ideal, eulogized by Allende's surviving friends, family, and loyalists, and [Patricio] Guzmán's own soft-spoken narration." In the New York Times, Manohla Dargis finds it a "documentary dirge, a memento mori about 'the other Sept 11' that's drenched in revolutionary tears but lacking much in the way of historical and political insight."

"The talking-heads-with-clips format so dominates the contemporary nonfiction film that Daniel Kraus's Musician feels radically fresh," writes Matt Zoller Seitz in the NYT. "It simply observes its title character, the avant-garde jazz musician Ken Vandermark, in the manner of a 1960s fly-on-the-wall documentary like Salesman." More from Aaron Hillis in the Voice: "Kraus cites vérité godfather Frederick Wiseman as an inspiration, and while there's a taste of stylization in the editing - split-screen, out-of-sequence reveals, superimposition - Musician is a fairly pure work, or what Werner Herzog would dismiss as 'an accountant's truth.'" And ST VanAirsdale talks with Kraus at the Reeler.

"Somewhere in hell, Saddam is laughing his ass off." Edward Copeland sees No End in Sight.

Carina Chocano reviews Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman for the Los Angeles Times: "A few minutes into the first chapter you fear you'll never make it. By the third, you're addicted."

AJ Schnack: "Summer Ends With A Streak of Hot Docs, But Can Anything Beat In the Shadow of the Moon?"

"HBO said on Tuesday it has acquired the rights to a short-form documentary shot entirely within Second Life, as entertainment companies increasingly turn to virtual worlds as a source for new content." Adam Pasick reports for Reuters.

Posted by dwhudson at September 5, 2007 1:05 PM