By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Taking a very meta approach to exploring its material, My Scientology Movie becomes just as much about the intense blowbacks that come with trying to make a documentary about Scientology, as it is about the infamous organization and its cultish ideology. The film follows the BBC’s Louis Theroux as he tries to investigate… Read More Review: My Scientology Movie

By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) During World War II, Japan forced thousands of young women from around Asia into sexual slavery.  Referred to as “comfort women,” and now more affectionately called the grandmothers, many of the aging victims have spent years protesting and demanding the government to issue a formal apology for their abuse,… Read More Review: The Apology

By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Beginning and ending with scenes of Inuit people hunting seals, Angry Inuk packs a compelling argument between these bookending sequences that gracefully challenges those who protest the seal hunt.  The winner of the Audience Award at Hot Docs, this is documentary filmmaking at its most important and provocative. Directed by Alethea… Read More Review: Angry Inuk

By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Darius McCollum has spent over thirty years impersonating transit officials and commandeering buses and subway trains for joy rides, and has ended up stuck in the revolving doors of the prison system because of it. These so called “crimes” have made him a New York legend, and his unique story… Read More Review: Off the Rails

By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Robert Wise is an accomplished lawyer who has dedicated his practise to protecting non-human rights, having spent over thirty years defending animals in court who can’t physically speak for themselves.  And now he is the subject of the thought provoking documentary Unlocking the Cage. Legendary documentary filmmakers Chris Hegedus… Read More Review: Unlocking the Cage

By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Walt Disney’s motto was that for every laugh there should be a tear, so it’s only fitting that Life, Animated, a documentary about the profound affects the studio’s animated classics have had on a young autistic man, would offer plenty of both emotions. This is the story of Owen… Read More Review: Life, Animated

By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Although filmed under the close watch of officials, and featuring a script written by the North Korean government, who clearly intended the project to be self-serving propaganda, Under the Sun actually becomes a fascinating exploration of censorship. Gaining permission to tell the story of a young family as their daughter Zin-mi prepares… Read More Review: Under the Sun

By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) I have never been to the New Beverly Cinema, a repertory theatre in Los Angeles that thrives on showing double bills of classic films on 35mm prints.  But I would love to go there after seeing Out of Print, an enjoyable documentary that provides a sweet ode to the importance of the… Read More Review: Out of Print

By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) From his impassioned hubris to his pun-ready name, you would be hard pressed to find a fictional political figure as fascinating and conflicted as Anthony Weiner, the popular and married Democratic congressman who was forced to resign amidst a sexting scandal, and saw his chance for a comeback… Read More Review: Weiner

By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) “I have a great deal of trouble imagining myself as an old lady,” Leslie Caron says at the start of Larry Weinstein’s documentary portrait Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star, and at 85 years old, the veteran actress appears as alive as ever. Being interviewed at her home and at some… Read More Review: Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star

By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) When New Zealand pop culture reporter David Ferrier found bizarre videos online of a sport called Competitive Endurance Tickling, where half-naked young guys are paid to be tied up and tickled by other men, he reached out for an interview with the company behind it. But he never could… Read More Review: Tickled

By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Brian De Palma sits in front of a fireplace in a medium closeup, discussing his filmmaking career, as clips from his films and other influences are interspersed between. This is the simple visual conceit behind De Palma, an extremely engaging documentary portrait that allows the director to talk candidly… Read More Review: De Palma

By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Watching Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made gave me the same feeling I had seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time as a kid.  And that’s no small praise of this genuine crowdpleaser that is finally being released after playing at last year’s Hot Docs, and… Read More Review: Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made