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Adrian Grenier's Teen Paparazzo Project

PopSugarTV — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:55:27 PDT

Adrian Grenier created a multi-platform project to shine a bright light on the excess of media. A major target of his project is the paparazzi. The Entourage star decided to turn the cameras around on the people who so aggressively pursue celebrities.

Inside Job: Unraveling the Economic Collapse

Emily Co — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:50:10 PDT

It's important for people to know how and why our global economy came crashing down in 2008. Inside Job, a documentary by Charles Ferguson, makes the concepts behind the financial meltdown easy to digest. At the same time, it's hard to swallow the fact that several key people in the government worked for the best interests of the banks and not the greater good of the American public. In fact, the financial crisis wasn't created in the last few years. The seeds were planted decades back and were largely brought about by the merging of Wall Street and the government. Too many finance executives took high-level government positions, and supported the wallets of bankers.

In addition, the film not only highlights the intermingling between the interests of banks and the government, but also unexpectedly reveals the links to academia. Many prominent professors wrote papers on topics in which they were given financial incentive to skew it a certain way. In fact, a current professor at the business school of Columbia University, Frederic Mishkin, wrote a paper touting Iceland's financial stability in 2006 that he was paid $124,000 for. Iceland went bankrupt October of 2008.

I talked to Audrey Marrs, producer of Inside Job, who had also worked with Charles on a previous documentary called No End In Sight. To find out what Audrey had to share about the film, read more after the jump

Have You Had a Crush on Someone You Never Met?

TresSugar — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:00:30 PDT

The documentary Catfish, out Friday, is a modern love story. Under somewhat random circumstances, 20-something Nev befriends a cute girl on Facebook. They get flirty and end up in a long-distance relationship of never-ending phone calls and playful sexts. While his brother and friend film the whole thing, Nev decides to go from NYC to Michigan to meet this Megan. Check out the trailer below.

The crazy twist that follows their courtship has people questioning whether or not it's a real documentary, but the premise is likely enough. Many of us have developed crushes on people we've never met in person. Maybe you flirt with that witty guy who works in your company's office across the country, or have developed a thing for a friend of a friend who shows up in your Facebook feed. Whether or not the attraction remained once you came face to face, I'm wondering: have you ever had feelings for someone you never met?

Movie Preview: Michel Gondry's The Thorn in the Heart

BuzzSugar — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:30:44 PDT

As a longtime fan of filmmaker Michel Gondry, I've often wondered what exactly goes through the head of the man behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep. It appears it's more a question of where he came from, as evidenced by his documentary about his own life and family, The Thorn in the Heart.

Gondry's family bares all the joys and pains of being a close-knit, creative family, particularly his visionary mother, Suzette. The trailer looks sentimental, sweet, and full of the whimsical visuals that are the hallmark of Gondry. Though I love his narrative films, I'm eager to see what he does with a documentary, especially since I'm also a fan of the one he did with Dave Chappelle, Block Party.

To watch the preview, just

"Neutral" Abortion Documentary Popular Among Pro-Lifers

TresSugar — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:00:39 PST

Between Juno and Knocked Up, we know that Hollywood usually chooses life, so when I heard South Dakota: A Woman's Right to Choose promised to cover both sides of the abortion debate, I was, well, dubious but hopeful. And then, I saw the trailer.

While it certainly airs pro-choice and pro-life opinions, the trailer alone pulls your emotions towards life. One girl stares wistfully at a pregnant woman and faints when she enters the abortion clinic, while a pro-choice lawyer takes an extreme, clinical view towards choice. Fetuses are parasites she says, because they cannot survive without the host.

The plot weakened when the LA Times reported the "dramumentary" (its director's words) is promoted by the same marketing company as Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ and Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, which is about intelligent-design discrimination in schools. It also doesn't help that famous pro-life supporters like The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck have screened the film while not one high-profile pro-choicer has to date.

Check out the trailer, and tell us what you think after the jump.

This Is It: A Worthy Final Farewell

Lauren Bradshaw — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:30:00 PDT

Making a tribute film after the death of an icon is a difficult undertaking - how do you do justice to his or her life without making it feel overblown? But the new Michael Jackson documentary, This Is It manages to strike that balance. The anticipation for its limited release has been building for more than a month now when early ticket purchases broke sales records, and most of you said you wanted to see the film as well. I was worried about how the doc would measure up to the hype, but I'm satisfied with the final product.

This Is it follows Jackson in his final days preparing for his sold-out tour. MJ emerges dressed in a button-down, shades on, and with director Kenny Ortega at his right hand, as we get a front row seat at the rehearsals. It proves to be an intimate look at the performer who, even at 50, still had a fiery passion for his craft. Most of us will enjoy witnessing it here on the big screen, while others may leave the theater feeling even more disappointed about never getting to see the live show. To see what I mean,

read more. MJ fan or not, you can't see this film without feeling awestruck by his dramatic flair as an artist. His voice is still on point, and his every movement on stage is punctuated by a flick of the wrist or a kick - it's like the music surges inside him and he has to stream it out through his fingertips. He still had the magic only weeks before his death. While Jackson's dance skills may be a given, I was actually taken aback by how hands on he was in all facets of his tour. This is It shows him working on everything from green screen films to teaching choreography to attending band rehearsals. These sneak peeks provide surprisingly funny moments, but one of the loud-and-clear messages of the film is that Jackson did this for his fans. All of the popular favorites are included - "Billie Jean," "Smooth Criminal," and "Thriller," of course. Jackson knew that's what the audience wanted, and he was happy to give it to us - while wearing his signature sparkly gold pants and a fedora. The doc does have its drawbacks; some of the footage starts to feel stale midway through, and the film feels too long at nearly two hours. Still, I understand why the editors didn't cut anything in honor of Jackson's memory. Each song was important to him and he wanted listeners to hear his message. (He even speaks on his concern for environmental causes in the film). Before the closing credits, Jackson says he wants to "remind the world that love is important" - and even after his death, he manages to do so by leaving us with memories of a man who never stopped loving his fans or the music.

Obama's Mama Gets Her Own Feature-Length Documentary

BuzzSugar — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:30:44 PDT

President Obama has his own documentary coming from Edward Norton, and now Obama's mother is becoming the focus of a feature-length documentary film titled Stanley Ann Dunham: A Most Generous Spirit. The project will portray Obama's upbringing with Dunham in Indonesia and Hawaii, and will also highlight Dunham's "pioneering work in the field of Third World microfinance, which assists small entrepreneurs, mostly women, in developing countries." Executive producer Mary Aloe stated:

She gave a lot of the backbone to our current president and his compassion to the people. With these small-scale economies, she took a concept that was emerging just as women were getting their rights and got them to think outside the box. She is a fascinating woman, and she was ahead of her time.

There certainly seems to be enough fodder for a feature-length movie. Do you think you'll want to check out this documentary about Obama's mama?

Movie Preview: Art and Copy

BuzzSugar — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:30:23 PDT

While I have a few friends who work in advertising, I love getting a closer (though obviously dramatized) peek into the old days of the industry every week when I watch Mad Men. We're inundated by advertisements every day, and it's fascinating to see what goes on behind the scenes before an ad makes its way to our TVs, billboards, and favorite websites. To those uninvolved in the industry, it's an intriguing profession.

So I'm very curious to check out Art & Copy, a documentary that aims to reveal "the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time - people who've profoundly impacted our culture, yet are virtually unknown outside their industry." It's an oft-maligned industry but still one that requires - and has featured - some outstandingly creative minds.

Art & Copy is currently having a limited run in theaters. To check out the trailer,

Movie Preview: Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:30:24 PDT

You either like him or you hate him, so chances are, if you're actually reading this post, you probably like him at least enough to be curious about his latest documentary. Having made films about General Motors, gun control, and the healthcare industry (to name a few), director Michael Moore is at it again, this time taking a look at the economy. His documentary Capitalism: A Love Story examines "the global financial crisis and the U.S. economy during the transition between the incoming Obama Administration and the outgoing Bush Administration." Moore himself says the movie's "got it all - lust, passion, romance, and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day."

The movie opens Oct. 2. To watch the trailer,

In a Dream: a Memoir Told Through Mural

TresSugar — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:00:00 PDT

When Isaiah Zagar moved to Philadelphia in the 1960s, he started creating a massive mural made of shards of glass and tile on the side of an abandoned building. The ongoing art chronicled the highs and lows of his marriage and the life of his two sons, one of whom has now made a documentary about the memoir in mosaic, called In a Dream. Check out the trailer below.

IN A DREAM: Extended Trailer from Herzliya Films on Vimeo.

In a recent interview, filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar talks about his parents' hippie existence and the impetus for the project: "My mother decided I should film my family, sort of in the same way she decided my father should make art about our family." The documentary, which airs on HBO 2 tonight and comes out on DVD in September, records his father's nervous breakdown and his brother's time in rehab. I love the line in the trailer when Isaiah says, "You know a lot when you lose something. When you got it, you don't know." Now I really want to see this mural.