Terror demands attention. Terror, as a matter of fact, directly depends on it. Terror counts on your attention — and it is counting on you. The logic of terror follows Freddie Krueger’s logic (Craven’s original Nightmare): If the victim stops paying attention, the monster dissipates in thin air — or so we may be inclined…
Few films actually have an opportunity to affect presidential politics (the last one was probably Phillip Kaufman’s “The Right Stuff” in 1983, which featured a glowing characterization of John Glenn — played by Ed Harris — who was then running for the Democratic nomination), but 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, directed by Michael…
It’s not always easy to do the right thing, even in a stable world. When the going gets tough, you know you’re supposed to do what’s right, but instead you do wrong. That’s the unfortunate reality of our responses to everyday situations . . . but what happens when your support system is gone? What…
The impact of a documentary is generally determined by either the power of the filmmaking or the potency of the subject matter. Of course, the best documentaries are those that draw strength from both areas of the process, but those are rarer than the docs that earn points for simply finding a great topic and…
The power of one man can change the world because he can change the communities around him, one by one. But the power of the community can change the man and the world much faster — for better or for worse — because there’s undeniable strength in numbers while the strength of one can sometimes…
How hard it is to look at pure evil right in the eye? It is hard, very hard, mainly because, as Hannah Arendt very lucidly said, it is extremely banal. No apocalyptic Lucifer-like layouts, no tall teleologies or immense intentions; the people who do evil are brutally banal, practically plain — and they are of…
“Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes” — Wilfred Owen, “Anthem for Doomed Youth” In 1915, Australian and New Zealand (Anzac) soldiers formed part of the expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey in order to open the Dardanelles to the…
