Here is a collection of a dozen of the best documentaries I saw in 2012. It's not a "best of the year" list. Just some good memories of these films.
I will not burden you again with another complaint about lists. More than ever, I despise them because they shift focus away from a film and toward a list. When I recently caught up with "Django Unchained," for example, I gave it four stars. The comments section was overrun with readers asking if that meant it was now on my Top Ten list. One reader insisted on knowing which title it replaced. Although the piece was some 2,000 words long, another reader insisted he still wanted to see "my official review."
All I can do with any film is tell you that I've seen it, and what I thought about it. If it sounds interesting to you, it might be worth seeking out.
I will not burden you again with another complaint about lists. More than ever, I despise them because they shift focus away from a film and toward a list. When I recently caught up with "Django Unchained," for example, I gave it four stars. The comments section was overrun with readers asking if that meant it was now on my Top Ten list. One reader insisted on knowing which title it replaced. Although the piece was some 2,000 words long, another reader insisted he still wanted to see "my official review."
All I can do with any film is tell you that I've seen it, and what I thought about it. If it sounds interesting to you, it might be worth seeking out.
- 1/15/2013
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Released in UK cinemas today, Werner Herzog’s latest documentary is an exploration into a grisly true crime story. Featuring conversations, Mr. Herzog stressed that these were not interviews, with a young man on death row, his accomplice and many of the people whose lives were touched by this particular crime, Into the Abyss speaks to the causes and consequences of murder and also to capital punishment in the United States.
I, and two other journalists, were lucky enough to speak to Mr. Herzog for roughly half an hour and he was as fascinating to speak to as his films are to watch. A transcript of this conversation can be found below.
How did you come across the subject and choose to make this film, at this time?
Well, it was a simple thing. Once I knew I was going to film with inmates on death row I looked at...
I, and two other journalists, were lucky enough to speak to Mr. Herzog for roughly half an hour and he was as fascinating to speak to as his films are to watch. A transcript of this conversation can be found below.
How did you come across the subject and choose to make this film, at this time?
Well, it was a simple thing. Once I knew I was going to film with inmates on death row I looked at...
- 3/30/2012
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Prolific is barely the word for Werner Herzog, whose latest profound, existentialist documentary, Into the Abyss, is released in UK cinemas today. Meanwhile, a four-part companion television series (the more pragmatically titled Death Row) is midway through its airing on Channel 4. Add to that the fact that he’s narrated an upcoming, and slightly surreal, dinosaur documentary (Dinotasia) and recently filmed his role as the main villain in an upcoming Tom Cruise movie (cheerfully describing himself as a “paid stooge”). It’s a fact that almost (if not quite) makes it understandable that the veteran filmmaker has most certainly made more films than he’s ever seen.
“I’m a working man, let’s face it. I’ve done six films last year and I’ve acted in a movie and I run my Rogue Film School and all sorts of other things as well,” says the man who...
“I’m a working man, let’s face it. I’ve done six films last year and I’ve acted in a movie and I run my Rogue Film School and all sorts of other things as well,” says the man who...
- 3/30/2012
- by Robert Beames
- Obsessed with Film
There wasn’t a whole lot on offer last week with Hunger Games unequivocally eclipsing all the other releases. It’s received fairly unanimously positive reviews and looks like being the first box-office smash of the summer. Meanwhile both The Kid With a Bike and Wild Bill have received their own fair share of plaudits and would appear to be well worth seeking out.
This time out though there’s a wide range of releases hitting the screens ranging from big-budget mythological blockbuster and animated piracy adventure to hard-hitting prison documentary and a ghastly looking vampire spoof.
If you want to check to see if any of these films are playing near you, you can visit Find Any Film and they’ll be able to help.
The Pirates : In an Adventure with Scientists *Pick of the Week* Iframe Embed for Youtube
The latest offering from Aardman Animation sees them...
This time out though there’s a wide range of releases hitting the screens ranging from big-budget mythological blockbuster and animated piracy adventure to hard-hitting prison documentary and a ghastly looking vampire spoof.
If you want to check to see if any of these films are playing near you, you can visit Find Any Film and they’ll be able to help.
The Pirates : In an Adventure with Scientists *Pick of the Week* Iframe Embed for Youtube
The latest offering from Aardman Animation sees them...
- 3/30/2012
- by Rob Keeling
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
There's a void at the heart of Werner Herzog's death-row film
In 2001, a teenager named Michael Perry from the small town of Conroe, Texas was convicted of murdering a 50-year-old nurse, Sandra Stotler, whose car he wanted to steal. His accomplice Jason Burkett was convicted of two other related murders, for which Perry was not in fact charged. Burkett finally denied killing the nurse, blaming Perry – and Perry denied killing the nurse, blaming Burkett. Burkett got a life sentence after a sensational, heart-rending plea to the jury from his ageing father, also in prison for life. But Perry got a capital sentence and stayed on death row for a decade until the state of Texas administered a lethal injection in 2010. In the weeks leading up to his execution, film-maker Werner Herzog interviewed Perry, Burkett, the victims' family members, and prison officers to create this documentary.
It is a sombre,...
In 2001, a teenager named Michael Perry from the small town of Conroe, Texas was convicted of murdering a 50-year-old nurse, Sandra Stotler, whose car he wanted to steal. His accomplice Jason Burkett was convicted of two other related murders, for which Perry was not in fact charged. Burkett finally denied killing the nurse, blaming Perry – and Perry denied killing the nurse, blaming Burkett. Burkett got a life sentence after a sensational, heart-rending plea to the jury from his ageing father, also in prison for life. But Perry got a capital sentence and stayed on death row for a decade until the state of Texas administered a lethal injection in 2010. In the weeks leading up to his execution, film-maker Werner Herzog interviewed Perry, Burkett, the victims' family members, and prison officers to create this documentary.
It is a sombre,...
- 3/30/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Yesterday I read this in an article in the British Guardian newspaper:
"Twelve of the last 13 people condemned to death in Harris County, Texas were black. After Texas itself, Harris County is the national leader in its number of executions.
"Over one third of Texas's 305 death row inmates - and half of the state's 121 black death row prisoners - are from Harris County.
"One of those African Americans, Duane Buck, was sentenced based on the testimony of an expert psychologist who maintained that blacks are prone to violence. In 2008, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal resigned after sending an email message titled 'fatal overdose,' featuring a photo of a black man lying on the ground surrounded by watermelons and a bucket of chicken."
I could pause at this point, type "case closed," and consider this a blog entry. But that would be too simple. White people are also executed...
"Twelve of the last 13 people condemned to death in Harris County, Texas were black. After Texas itself, Harris County is the national leader in its number of executions.
"Over one third of Texas's 305 death row inmates - and half of the state's 121 black death row prisoners - are from Harris County.
"One of those African Americans, Duane Buck, was sentenced based on the testimony of an expert psychologist who maintained that blacks are prone to violence. In 2008, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal resigned after sending an email message titled 'fatal overdose,' featuring a photo of a black man lying on the ground surrounded by watermelons and a bucket of chicken."
I could pause at this point, type "case closed," and consider this a blog entry. But that would be too simple. White people are also executed...
- 1/7/2012
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Why not fold documentaries into my list of the "Best Films of 2011?" After all, a movie is a movie, right? Yes, and some years I've thrown them all into the same mixture. But all of these year-end Best lists serve one useful purpose: They tell you about good movies you may not have seen or heard about. The more films on my list that aren't on yours, the better job I've done.
That's particularly true were you to depend on the "short list" released by the Academy's Documentary Branch of 15 films they deem eligible for nomination. The branch has been through turmoil in the past and its procedures were "reformed" at one point. But this year it has made a particularly scandalous sin of
omission. It doesn't include "The Interrupters" (currently scoring 99% on the Tomatometer), which has received better reviews and been on more critic's Best lists than any other.
That's particularly true were you to depend on the "short list" released by the Academy's Documentary Branch of 15 films they deem eligible for nomination. The branch has been through turmoil in the past and its procedures were "reformed" at one point. But this year it has made a particularly scandalous sin of
omission. It doesn't include "The Interrupters" (currently scoring 99% on the Tomatometer), which has received better reviews and been on more critic's Best lists than any other.
- 12/25/2011
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Into the Abyss
Directed by Werner Herzog
Germany, Canada, 2011
Werner Herzog’s second documentary released this year is surprisingly similar to the first. Where his Cave of Forgotten Dreams looked at ancient caverns in Chauvet, the more recent Into the Abyss also excavates, but this time the subject matter is death row inmates and a vicious crime in Conroe, Texas.
When Herzog excavates it’s different than what we might consider typical documentary excavation. As his Caves less explored the history and unknown and focused instead on a metaphysical rumination of time, his Into the Abyss forgoes a classically styled investigatory piece in favor of a dissection of human nature, emptiness and, again, time.
Death row inmate Matthew Perry and his convicted accomplice Jason Burkett are only one of the many angles that Herzog lenses as he delves into the murder of Sandra Stotler, her son Adam, and his friend James Richardson.
Directed by Werner Herzog
Germany, Canada, 2011
Werner Herzog’s second documentary released this year is surprisingly similar to the first. Where his Cave of Forgotten Dreams looked at ancient caverns in Chauvet, the more recent Into the Abyss also excavates, but this time the subject matter is death row inmates and a vicious crime in Conroe, Texas.
When Herzog excavates it’s different than what we might consider typical documentary excavation. As his Caves less explored the history and unknown and focused instead on a metaphysical rumination of time, his Into the Abyss forgoes a classically styled investigatory piece in favor of a dissection of human nature, emptiness and, again, time.
Death row inmate Matthew Perry and his convicted accomplice Jason Burkett are only one of the many angles that Herzog lenses as he delves into the murder of Sandra Stotler, her son Adam, and his friend James Richardson.
- 11/20/2011
- by Neal Dhand
- SoundOnSight
"He always seems to know where to look," Roger Ebert wrote of what Werner Herzog does in "Into the Abyss." The film is the German director's evenhanded, understated and powerful examination of a senseless triple murder in Texas, which sent one man to death row and another to life in prison. "Into the Abyss" is made up mostly of one-on-one interviews that Herzog conducted with the two convicted killers, Michael Perry and Jason Burkett, along with their friends and family, family members of the murder victims, and others involved in Texas'...
- 11/12/2011
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Werner Herzog has been making films for 43 years, with 18 features and 25 documentaries to his credit, yet the German filmmaker seems to be going through a sort of career rediscovery at the moment thanks to recent films like the brilliant Grizzly Man and off-the-wall Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. His latest documentary, however, has taken the director in a different direction entirely: Into the Abyss is a somber, at times chilling and at other times incredibly poignant look at a triple murder in a small Texas town and its effects on everyone affected by or involved in it, including the two young men -- Michael Perry and Jason Burkett -- sentenced to death (Burkett's sentence was commuted to life in prison) for the cold-blooded killings. Herzog is less concerned...
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- 11/12/2011
- by Don Kaye
- Movies.com
In “Into The Abyss: A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life”, Werner Herzog tells the story of a triple homicide that fractured several lives years ago in Conroe, Texas. While he focuses primarily on the perpetrators of the crime, Michael Perry and Jason Burkett, he mostly delves into the morally troubling grey area that allows Burkett to live, and Perry to face Death Row. Herzog’s politics are simple, his approach non-judgmental. As he told us during press rounds for the film, “Into The Abyss” doesn’t have, “A pre-fabricated agenda. It’s not an issue film, it’s not activism against the death penalty. I’m a filmmaker, and I am a guest in your country, I do not have the rights of voting [here].” In his approach, Herzog explains, “The film, of course, tries to look deep into the heart of everyone, the abysses of the human soul.
- 11/11/2011
- The Playlist
Into the Abyss
Directed by: Werner Herzog
Running Time: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: November 11, 2011 (Chicago)
Plot: In this documentary, director Werner Herzog goes to Conroe, Texas, to interview two inmates, one of which is on death row. Herzog learns in great detail about the murderous events that have led them to such a place, while interviewing family members about their loss.
Who’S It For? As this Abyss belongs to the interpretation of Herzog, one shouldn’t immediately expect an unbiased discussion of the death penalty. Regardless of which side of the debate you are on, Herzog’s interest in the subject will keep you on board with his film.
Overall
With his previous documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams coming out only this past summer, director/documentarian Werner Herzog returns to theaters with another foray into a land of “forgotten dreams,” yet this one is less obscure and...
Directed by: Werner Herzog
Running Time: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: R
Release Date: November 11, 2011 (Chicago)
Plot: In this documentary, director Werner Herzog goes to Conroe, Texas, to interview two inmates, one of which is on death row. Herzog learns in great detail about the murderous events that have led them to such a place, while interviewing family members about their loss.
Who’S It For? As this Abyss belongs to the interpretation of Herzog, one shouldn’t immediately expect an unbiased discussion of the death penalty. Regardless of which side of the debate you are on, Herzog’s interest in the subject will keep you on board with his film.
Overall
With his previous documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams coming out only this past summer, director/documentarian Werner Herzog returns to theaters with another foray into a land of “forgotten dreams,” yet this one is less obscure and...
- 11/11/2011
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
The subtitle of Werner Herzog‘s searing documentary Into the Abyss — A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life — sets up expectations for a film that is equal parts harrowing and uplifting. Yet as dutifully even-handed as Herzog‘s presentation is, it’s nearly inconceivable to imagine the director’s obvious appreciation for human life washing away the utterly shattering nature of the story at hand. It’s this precisely downbeat message — that, no matter how treasured human existence can often times be, the dark will always overshadow the light — that I took away from the film. And it shredded me to pieces.
Comparisons to Truman Capote‘s seminal piece of true-crime storytelling, In Cold Blood, have already been noted by several critics, and the similar vibes are indeed undeniable. The crime at the center of Herzog‘s examination of the death penalty and its ramifications is apparently just as...
Comparisons to Truman Capote‘s seminal piece of true-crime storytelling, In Cold Blood, have already been noted by several critics, and the similar vibes are indeed undeniable. The crime at the center of Herzog‘s examination of the death penalty and its ramifications is apparently just as...
- 11/10/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
You either love Werner Herzog or you don’t. You either trust that his unique outlook will result in a fascinating film, whatever its subject, or you give him a miss. That said: Don’t give this one a miss, even if you don’t like Herzog (or aren’t sure about him). For here is the mystery and wonder of Herzog: this is simultaneously his least Herzog-y film (in that he does not appear on camera and omits his own usual weirdly perceptive narration, limiting himself to a few mostly straightforward questions asked of those who are on camera) and also the most profound expression of Herzog-ness yet (in that its hard to imagine anyone else taking quite his tack). Into the Abyss ends up as a profound examination of the death penalty in the United States, and not only because Herzog can ask a prison chaplain who officiates...
- 11/9/2011
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
It's more than upsetting to think that there's a great number of people that only see prolific filmmaker Werner Herzog as an eccentric filmmaker, with a "funny way" of saying things and a category of films all his own. We can't lie, they're not entirely wrong, and it can't be denied that his dynamism and bizarre experiences are basically why internet memes were conceived. But we'd hope that the artist wasn't completely seen as a cartoon (even if his recent casting as a villain in a Tom Cruise vehicle makes that line of thinking onerous) and that his work was properly considered. Aside from the fact that he's made very fine movies in his lifetime even without the quirky flourishes ("Nosferatu the Vampyre" is aurally frightening while "Fitzcarraldo" is sincere and extremely moving) his aberrant perspective gives his ideas a unique beauty. Take the case of "Cave of Forgotten Dreams,...
- 11/9/2011
- The Playlist
There's a snag of resistance at the start of Into the Abyss, Werner Herzog's new documentary about the execution of Michael Perry, the 2001 triple homicide he was convicted of (but never confessed to) with Jason Burkett, and the relatives of their victims. The film opens with a shot of a cemetery filled with identical white crosses where the unclaimed bodies of inmates are buried, and an interview with the man standing in front of it, Reverend Richard Lopez, a clergyman for death row inmates in Huntsville, Texas. He tears up as he talks about counseling men who are about to be given a lethal injection, about how, with their permission, he holds their ankle as they're on the gurney so that they have the comfort of human contact as they pass.
- 11/9/2011
- Movieline
Title: Into the Abyss Director: Werner Herzog Starring: Werner Herzog (narrator), Jason Burkett, Michael Perry, Jeremy Richardson, Adam Stotler, Sandra Stotler, Kristen Willis Werner Herzog comes in with a documentary about death row; specifically focusing on a triple homicide that occurred in Conroe, Texas back in 2001. The two perpetrators, Jason Burkett and Michael Perry, were found guilty yet only one of them – Michael Perry – was sentenced to the state’s death penalty. Herzog tracks the boys down and has in-depth discussions with both of the convicted twenty-something’s at their current detainment centers in Texas. Initially, the 107 documentary begins with Herzog first meeting with Michael as he probes...
- 11/8/2011
- by joe
- ShockYa
Michael Perry, the man at the centre of Herzog's new film on the death penalty, was executed in Texas for a crime he says he didn't commit. Joanna Walters interviewed him before he died
With a metallic slam, the cage door shuts and is locked behind him, and a young man sits down, thick wire mesh a few inches from his back and bulletproof glass right in front of his cheekily handsome, scrubbed face.
He picks up a chunky telephone receiver attached to the wall, which is wired through to the visitor sitting on the other side of the glass.
"Hello."
This is death row in Texas and the condemned man is Michael Perry, who is now about to become famous or, perhaps more likely, infamous in a documentary about capital punishment by prominent film-maker Werner Herzog.
It would be more accurate to say at this point that the man was Michael Perry,...
With a metallic slam, the cage door shuts and is locked behind him, and a young man sits down, thick wire mesh a few inches from his back and bulletproof glass right in front of his cheekily handsome, scrubbed face.
He picks up a chunky telephone receiver attached to the wall, which is wired through to the visitor sitting on the other side of the glass.
"Hello."
This is death row in Texas and the condemned man is Michael Perry, who is now about to become famous or, perhaps more likely, infamous in a documentary about capital punishment by prominent film-maker Werner Herzog.
It would be more accurate to say at this point that the man was Michael Perry,...
- 11/4/2011
- by Joanna Walters
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago – In our latest documentary edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of IFC Films’ “Into the Abyss” from Werner Herzog about why people kill – and why a state kills!
“Into the Abyss” from writer and director Werner Herzog (“Rescue Dawn,” “Grizzly Man”) stars Jason Burkett, Werner Herzog, Michael Perry, Jeremy Richardson, Adam Stotler, Sandra Stotler and Kristen Willis. The film opens in Chicago on Nov. 11, 2011.
To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Into the Abyss” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This advance screening is on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.
The movie poster for “Into the Abyss” from writer and director Werner Herzog.
Image credit: IFC Films...
“Into the Abyss” from writer and director Werner Herzog (“Rescue Dawn,” “Grizzly Man”) stars Jason Burkett, Werner Herzog, Michael Perry, Jeremy Richardson, Adam Stotler, Sandra Stotler and Kristen Willis. The film opens in Chicago on Nov. 11, 2011.
To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Into the Abyss” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This advance screening is on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.
The movie poster for “Into the Abyss” from writer and director Werner Herzog.
Image credit: IFC Films...
- 11/3/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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