While never a major player in independent dramatic films, ThinkFilm has quietly made its niche a cache of smart documentaries.
The answer offered by "The Corporation," a smart, brooding documentary directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, is: not a very nice one.
For every inane segment on Dateline or plodding thumb-sucker on PBS, there is a smart, innovative documentary elsewhere.
Scorsese has form in this area: a couple of years ago, he shot a promo film for a Spanish cava-maker which took the shape of a very smart fake documentary; in it he claims to have discovered a "lost" Hitchcock script, which he then takes it upon himself to shoot.
Hello World Processing, a Smart New Documentary on the Awesome Potential of Creative Coding.
Good news for folklore enthusiasts and legend trippers: Killer Legends, a smart, scary documentary I discussed when it was first aired back in February, is now available on DVD and iTunes.
(Dargis) ★ 'The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, C.I.A. Spymaster William Colby' (No rating, 1 44) Carl Colby's smart, fact-packed documentary operates on many levels, all riveting.
NO SIR!' (No rating, 84 minutes) In this smart, very timely documentary, the filmmaker David Zeiger revisits one of the memorable and least revisited chapters of the Vietnam War, the antiwar movement inside the military.
From the BBC Earth documentary Smart Sharks: Swimming with Roboshark.
Which is what "13th," Ava DuVernay's smart, powerful and disturbing documentary, proceeds to make us do.
