Tag Archives: SXSW
‘Get High With Ricki Lake!’: New Film on Medical Marijuana Leaves Out Texas Families
Featuring heartrending stories, Weed the People aims to change the stigma around cannabis treatment — but fails to look much outside its California bubble.
“I smell weed!” Ricki Lake walks onto the back patio of a South Austin home and laughs. It’s Monday night and the backyard is filled with people v...Read More
‘TransMilitary’ Is the LGBT Advocacy Film Middle America Needs to See
The documentary shines brightest when it shows trans soldiers simply going about their lives.
It’s April 27, 2016, and we’re in the living room of a modest home in Clarksville, Tennessee. Family photos hang on the wall, and there’s a framed paintin...Read More
‘Alt-Right: Age of Rage’ Is a Thoughtful Ode to Anti-Fascism
At SXSW, a new documentary dissects the ideology of those who battle the alt-right with as much precision as it exposes the hate of Richard Spencer and his ilk.
It’s August 12, 2017. We’re in the immediate aftermath of the deadly far-right rally in Charlottesville. We see police lights, caution tape, smashed-up cars...Read More
‘Lean on Pete’ Sheds Light on Youth Homelessness, but Not Its Main Character
Featured at SXSW this week, the film magnificently portrays the problems faced by homeless youth — but fails to develop its protagonist in a compelling way.
As attendees of this week’s SXSW festival rush from one sold-out event to the next, they’ll likely walk right past some of Austin’s approximately 2,000 ho...Read More
In ‘The Atomic Cafe,’ U.S. Cold War Propaganda Comes Out of the Bunkers for the Trump Era
Screening at SXSW on Saturday, the film's Cold War-era footage never feels distant — perhaps because both careless stewardship of the bomb and surreal official propaganda seem to be making a comeback.
When Jayne Loader was a child growing up in 1950s and ’60s Fort Worth, she lived across the street from E.O. “Soapy” Gillam, the “bomb shelter king of N...Read More
‘Disgraced’ Nails the Selective Amnesia That Follows College Sports Scandals
A new documentary on the 2003 Baylor athletics scandal sheds light on just how fleeting institutional memory can be. ...Read More
At SXSW, ‘The Work’ Builds Case for Prison Program That Breaks Inmates Down
"The Work" raises important questions about masculinity and violence, but the film’s ties to a controversial men’s movement cloud the picture....Read More
‘Trapped’ in the Limelight
The everyday struggles of a San Antonio abortion clinic services director are at the heart of the acclaimed documentary 'Trapped.'
San Antonio clinic director Marva Sadler is at the center of an acclaimed new documentary tracking anti-abortion laws' effects on providers and patients....Read More
‘Tower’ Animates America’s First Mass School Shooting
As Texans hotly debate the impact of looser gun restrictions, the new documentary 'Tower' looks back at one of the first mass shootings in the country....Read More