Man on Wire
by These days it seems that everyone has an angle, every communication is a means to an end, and every action is loaded with meaning and purpose. It is invigorating then to learn of the true story of a man who never sold out and believes in art for art’s sake. Frenchman has never been classically trained in tightrope walking, and claims to have been obsessed with the wire and climbing since a young age. His most famous feat involved erecting and then walking across a wire between the Twin Towers in New York, an achievement it is now impossible to replicate, and that achievement is the focus of this documentary. It also covers the public and illegal wire-walks leading up to this momentous event, and goes in painstaking detail over the preliminary work and planning, training and finally the good fortune required. The technical explanation perhaps drags in places. However, it is still a worthy portrait of one of the most memorable and unique occurrences of all time.
Tagged: documentaries
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Lately, we’ve been gifted a few astounding documentaries with the rare ability to educate and influence opinion, as well as being riveting viewing over their entire length. Documentaries can be a grind with no worthy content omitted as part of an effort to provide a comprehensive overview of a subject. The result is something that’s an essential item for any university library, but at over two hours a mission to watch. Read more
Actual footage from inside Burma, shot by Burmese, many of whom ended up in jail or tortured by Burma’s oppressive military regime. The material is shot using small handycams by Burma’s VJs (Video Journalists), then smuggled out of the country and broadcast back into Burma via satellite and offered free to the international media. Read more
Defamation documentary trailer
Does Israel use the Holocaust as an excuse for their continued issues with the Palestine people? According to this film, yes. Are people who criticise Israel’s foreign policy often unfairly labelled anti-Semitic? Again, yes according to this brilliant documentary made by an Israeli-Jew. Instead of passing judgment himself, filmmaker Yoav Shamir is smart enough to put himself and his camera in the right places, surrounded by the right people, and let the people damn themselves. Read more
Also by XAVIER TOBY
Australian movie A Few Best Men
With all the gross out jokes and silliness of the common comedy romp, you’d think making them would be easy. Well, it’s not. It’s actually really difficult. Writing a joke is one of the hardest tasks anyone can undertake. Read more
Melancholia: a film by Lars von Trier
I wish there were a lot more of the types of films made by Lars von Trier. Each is very different but still distinctly von Trier, and each is superb. Melancholia is the follow up to the wonderfully confronting Antichrist. This is all about the end of the world, and told with an honesty and pacing that is probably much closer to the actual end of the world than all the Hollywood crap would have you believe. Read more
We Need To Talk About Kevin: based on Lionel Shriver’s novel
A delightful uncomfortable film, told from the point of view of a broken woman. Kevin’s just not right, and that’s obvious from the outset as mother Eva battles to bring him up in a world where the onus is put squarely back on the mother. The intensity is poured on throughout, as tragedy seems imminent. Read more
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Denver-based artist Max Kauffman has been productive, despite the finger numbing winter weather. In the last couple of months, he’s taken part in the successful group show, West vs. Middle (worth leaving the heater for, but be quick, it ends in February) and produced dreamy new watercolor and gouache pieces for his solo show, Ghosts of Industry.
People tend to think we illustrators carry around our sketchbooks everywhere. A confession: I don’t. That is one of the reason why I love looking at other illustrator’s sketchbooks. Virginia-based Tin Salamunic’s sketchbook tells me a bit about an everyday life in Richmond. And his obsession for cars. Read more
This entertaining documentary follows a group of seemingly clichéd American teenagers in their last year of high school. Through a comprehensive recording of their lives it reminds us that, when examining anything in detail, there is no such thing as a cliché. The naivety and hope of each student shines through, providing a memorable and accurate portrait of a middle-American high school. Read more
On those rare occasions when I feel the need to treat myself to an absolutely mind (and wallet) blowing meal, I love to come here. The restaurant is housed in an old diner (the old trailer style diners) which makes for some fun ambiance. Plus, the menu changes every week, so there’s never a written menu. The waiter comes out with a pen and writes the entire menu down on the butcher paper covering your table. Aside from all that, the food is absolutely unbelievable!
These psychadelic, almost epileptic pixel gifs are so ingeniously simple, and yet I find myself in a trance I can’t escape whenever I check out the latest art on Lulinternet. Read more
No Age are doing something different to the mass of noise-laden, guitar-drum duos canvasing the lo-fi airwaves at the moment. I’m just not sure quite what. Their album, Nouns, is receiving top-rate reviews after sell-out crowds after screaming, obsessive fans. The music is simply massive: a vast landscape of heat haze, somehow both tranquil and manic, punctuated by singer Dean Sprouts backdrop of barely intelligible vocals and Randall’s distorted, archaic sounding drums.
Hipster moms and dads, don’t send your hipster kids back to school without these awesome backpacks by Poketo. Seriously though, they’re so much cooler than any of those Jansport bags.
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Francoise Nielly’s Yellow series
Parisian visual artist Francoise Nielly brings technicolour to the forefront in her latest series, Yellow. Featuring thick impasto palette knife strokes and trippy neon hues, Nielly captures the vulnerable expressions of her muses to a tee. Read more
Benjamin Edminston’s psychedelic heads seem to have some fearful wisdom behind their blissed-out eyes. Read more
Get lost in a daydream or a craving for something sweet while gazing at these cool sculptures by Brooklyn-based WiNK WiNK PONY. Made using clay, tree bark, wood, and mossy moss.
In the Little Companions Rebelling Against the Magician t-shirt, label The Balletcats capture everything that we love about the holiday season: rebellion, flames, and striped pants. Nothing short of a classic family gathering! While everything that The Balletcats do is genius, this shirt has an extra bit of zip: it’s an exclusive for Lost At E Minor, and available to buy at our online store.
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