The way I see it, documentaries succeed in one of two ways. The first: deal with a terrifying, real subject matter ("One Day in September", "Jesus Camp"). Express it in a matter-of-fact way that both frightens and informs the viewer. The second: Find a genre/subject that is so outlandish ("American Movie", "Spellbound") that all you need to do is turn on the camera and capture the unintentional hilarity. The hitch is, you need to have AMAZING characters who don't realize how funny they really are. A few weeks ago we had the former with "The Ghosts of City Soleil", this weekend we get the latter with... more ›

I have decided to take a new approach to writing film reviews in 2007. No more feeling obligated to see and write about Important Hollywood Crap. C'mon, are there actually any LAist readers who care about that shit? I figure if people want to read that stuff they can open the LA Times or the Weekly and read film reviews by someone who probably cares about things like oeuvres and mise en scène and didn't... more ›

If you’re a goat-raping, baby-eating, George W. Bush-hating heathen like me, Jesus Camp is the horror movie of the year, offering a snapshot of red-state America that's more terrifying than all the Japanese ghosts and blood-and-guts effects wizardry of Hollywood combined -- and it's all the scarier for being real. Watch as children are transformed into Soldiers of the Lord! Listen as they are taught unquestioning obedience! Scream in terror as George W. Bush... more ›