Category: Documentary

  • New Movie Friday: Never Say Never, Gnomeo & Juliet, Just Go With It, The Eagle

    Once in a while, an Adam Sandler movie comes along that I actually like. I’m hoping ‘Just Go With It’ falls into that category. I continue to like Jennifer Aniston, even though her movies have been so-so lately. ‘The Switch,’ ‘The Bounty Hunter,’ and ‘Love Happens’ all blend together in my memory. Also in theaters:…

  • The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and Open Season 3: Lessons in Product Placement

    Sometimes I think that films are made for the sole purpose of selling something else. Oh, who am I kidding? Most films are probably made to sell something else. Or at the very least, they include tons of product placement by companies financing the film. I reviewed ‘Open Season 3’ for my syndicated family review…

  • Justin Bieber and James Franco Should Team Up and Take Over the Entertainment Industry

    It’s official. The world has Bieber Fever. The 16-year-old pop star seems to be everywhere. If he and James Franco teamed up, they’d have no problem monopolizing the entertainment industry. ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’ (in 3D, of course) arrives in theaters Feb. 11. It’s rated G, so there’s that. The cynical side of me…

  • Five Things I Learned Watching Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

    It’s too bad the Golden Globes doesn’t have a documentary category. Should I say that again, only shouting in all caps? IT’S TOO BAD THE GOLDEN GLOBES DOESN’T HAVE A DOCUMENTARY CATEGORY! I added the exclamation point for emphasis. And really, what is wrong with the Golden Globes anyway? But I digress, and I’ve only…

  • Blog Action Day: Oceans and The Crimson Wing

    Today is Blog Action Day, and the subject is Water! Great opportunity to evangelize two excellent films by DisneyNature. ‘Oceans,’ a G-rated documentary directed by Jacques Perrin and narrated by Pierce Brosnan, will hit stores and cyber-shelves on Oct. 19, 2010. Released in theaters on April 22, 2010 (Earth Day), it’s now available in a…

  • Tony Danza: Teach is Compelling TV

    So it turns out that before Tony Danza starred in shows like ‘Taxi’ and ‘Who’s the Boss,’ he earned a degree in history education. He even dreamed about becoming a teacher, but then got into boxing and acting, and that dream went by the wayside. Now he’s starring in a reality show called ‘Tony Danza:…

  • Film Gecko: A TV Critic’s Desk

    I thought it might be fun now and then to give you all an inside peek into my desk here at Film Gecko World Headquarters, starting today. Here’s a photo I just snapped of the ledge above my computer screen, showing a few treasured items from press kits and special edition DVD sets. From left…

  • The Freakonomics Poster is Freaky and Tantalizing

    The poster for Magnolia Pictures’ ‘Freakonomics’ just landed in my inbox. I have to say, it makes me a little hungry. That’s a pretty juicy orangapple. Or maybe it’s an applerange. The documentary is based on the book by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, ‘Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of…

  • Interview: Michael Moore on Republican Hugs, Profound Movies, and the Traverse City Film Festival

    The 6th Annual Traverse City Film Festival runs this week from Tuesday, July 27 through Sunday, August 1, in Traverse City, Michigan (my home town!). The film festival just gets better and better each year. It not only brings hundreds of great movies to northern Michigan that we wouldn’t otherwise see on the big screen…

  • The Kids Are All Right, The Secret In Their Eyes on Tap for 2010 Traverse City Film Festival

    I stood in line Sunday for tickets to the 6th Annual Traverse City Film Festival. Fortunately, I have a peach of a husband who didn’t mind keeping my place in line for a few hours until I got out of church. Then I waited a few more hours, but it’s all good. You meet the…

  • Film Gecko Flashback: Michael Moore on the Origins of the Traverse City Film Festival

    This summer marks the sixth year of the Traverse City Film Festival, and I thought it’d be fun to hark back to the origins of the festival, how it got started, and how founder Michael Moore rallied people far and wide to get involved. Since I live in Traverse City, the film festival has been…

  • Peter Hankoff on the Great Divide Between Hollywood and History

    I recently had the opportunity to talk with award-winning documentarian Peter Hankoff, who weighed in on the gap between history and Hollywood – something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. Peter has traveled from Auschwitz and Hitler’s bunker to Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor to get a better understanding of what really happened at these…

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