Documentary ‘Surfwise’ follows one man’s wild pursuit of happiness

Sometime in the mid-1950s, Dorian Paskowitz, MD, had a revelation. He was at the peak of his career (Stanford graduate, president of the American Medical Association in Hawaii, asked to run for governor) but felt horrible about himself and his life. He just wanted to go surfing.
So [...]

‘Nanking’ infuriates–in a good way
This well-meaning, somewhat clunky documentary recounts the six horrendous weeks in December 1936 when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded the city of Nanking, then China’s capital. The sheer numbers in play are staggering: an estimated 200,000 civilians killed, 20,000 raped during the occupation. “The Rape of Nanking” is how it’s often [...]

‘Lagerfeld Confidential’: Not so confidential
In Lagerfeld Confidential, director Rodolphe Marconi takes us on a private tour through Karl Lagerfeld’s daily life but does little more than film his subject as if he were a distant lion on the horizon, scared to make a peep. When Marconi is given a chance to probe or dispel a [...]