Mar 122026
 

Released in 2025, Alex Braverman’s documentary Thank You Very Much provides footage and interviews that attempt to shed more light on the life and career of comedian Andy Kaufman. Even if you are already familiar with Kaufman’s work, there’s a lot of rare and fascinating archival material here. The film covers his childhood and family life in an attempt to find out who he was at his core. What’s more interesting is watching a performer who wasn’t afraid to take risks and alienate both his audience and the people around him, and to wonder what kind of work he would make today.

In 1999 Jim Carrey portrayed Andy Kaufman in the biographical film Man on the Moon. He remained in character throughout the filming, both onset and off, even claiming that Kaufman himself was behind his performance. In 2017 Netflix released the documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, which includes interviews with the cast and behind the scenes footage. It explores Carrey’s method acting, as well as what seems at times to be him using this behavior to work through his own personal issues.

Both films highlight how difficult it is to really know another person and their motivations. Was Andy Kaufman more than a provocateur looking to get laughs? Was Jim Carrey channeling him in his performance? Ultimately, these films leave you to decide for yourself.

May 292025
 

Brazilian documentary photographer and photojournalist Sebastião Salgado passed away on May 23rd at the age of 81. His distinctive black and white images brought attention to previously unseen cultures, devastating humanitarian crises, and the struggles of workers, all around the world.  Later, he turned his sharp focus to the remote natural world and its inhabitants.

The images in this post are from the 2014 documentary The Salt of the Earth, co-directed by Wim Wenders and his son Juliano Ribeiro Salgado. The film celebrates the artist’s life and career and focuses on several of his large projects.

Salgado also created Instituto Terra with his wife Lélia in 1998. The organization focuses on planting trees and restoring Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. The project began in on his family’s farmland, pictured below, before and after the restoration.

Below are additional images from Salgado’s environmental work seen in the film.

 

 

Feb 282014
 

Cutie and the Boxer- Official Trailer

Currently on Netflix streaming and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Cutie and the Boxer is a glimpse into the lives of two artists, Ushio Shinohara and his wife Noriko.

Noriko was only a 19-year old art student when she met 41-year old  artist Ushio, and they have remained together ever since. While the film presents Noriko’s sacrifices and frustrations within the relationship, it also shows the process that goes into the artistic work itself for each of them. Now, forty years later, she is showing her own work and emerging from the shadow of her husband’s career.  It’s a fascinating, intimate portrait of the couple.

This is a good interview with Noriko.

Nov 112013
 

Triumphs Over Trauma: The Scar Prints of Ted Meyer

At the Brewery Art Walk, Ted Meyer’s series “Scarred for Life”, is one that always draws a crowd. His images of the scars, the people who have them, and their stories, are fascinating.  The video above shows his process and his personal connection to the subject. It also focuses on one of his models, an Iraq war veteran, who shares his experience dealing with his own scars.

Oct 262013
 

dannyshining

The Shining is playing at LA State Historic Park tonight (10/26).

If you love The Shining, it is also worth watching Room 237, now on Netflix. It is filled with interesting theories on the potential meaning of the images used in the film.  Different interviewees suggest it could be about the Holocaust or Native American genocide or even Kubrick’s confession to taking part in the faking of the moon landing.  It’s a fascinating new look into an already captivating movie.