What Is the Best Sundance Movie of All Time?

Before I left for Park City, Screen Rant invited me to join their senior film critic Gregory Nussen for a podcast episode in which we each made our choice for the greatest Sundance movie ever. What did "greatest" mean? That was left to us to determine. Gregory went with Sex, Lies, and Videotape. I went with Hoop Dreams. Below, we talk about our picks. Hope you enjoy.

Venice 2022: 'A Compassionate Spy' Review

Ted Hall was the youngest physicist working on the Manhattan Project. But he felt that no one nation should own the designs on making nuclear weapons, so he did something radical: He shared that intel with the Soviets. Steve James' new documentary is about Hall, his wife Joan, and the life they led -- and the secret they kept. Here's my review of A Compassionate Spy.

Essential Documentaries About Black America

For Rolling Stone, I contributed to a write-up of films that explore political protest, racism and the criminal justice system. Hope you find this list illuminating.

My Interview With Steve James, Director of 'America to Me'

Well, this was an honor. My latest MEL Conversation is devoted to Steve James, the director of Hoop Dreams, Life Itself and the forthcoming Starz series America to Me. He's a hero of mine, and he was great company, albeit over the phone. We started off by me asking him if he considered himself an empathetic person. The conversation just flowed from there. Hope you enjoy.

True/False 2017: The Rankings and the Rundown

As per norm, I had a great time in Columbia, Missouri, and as per norm, I wrote a massive tome for Paste that chronicled just about everything I saw at True/False. That rundown, you can read here. If you're more interested in a conventional ranked list, here you go. Links lead to individual reviews...

23. Long Strange Trip
22. Dina
21. Distant Constellation (work-in-progress)
20. The War Show
19. Step
18. Brimstone & Glory
17. Whose Streets?
16. Safari
15. Railway Sleepers
14. Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
13. Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
12. Manifesto
11. Communion
10. Quest
9. Strong Island
8. Miss Kiet's Children
7. The Force
6. Stranger in Paradise
5. The Graduation
4. Lindy Lou, Juror Number 2
3. Casting JonBenet
2. Rat Film
1. I Am Not Your Negro

I am very curious to check out Lindy Lou and Rat Film again. The latter has, more or less, been a big hit on the festival circuit. As for Lindy Lou, I know many who were underwhelmed by it at True/False, where it had its premiere. I think it's really remarkable. But, like I said, you can read all about those movies (and many more) over in my Paste piece.

Toronto 2016: 'Abacus: Small Enough to Jail' Review

I've heard some grumblings here in Toronto that the latest from Steve James is a little too slight or dry. I grant that Abacus is a pretty conventional documentary, but it's nicely observed and emotional, recounting the tale of the only bank that was charged in the wake of the 2008 financial collapse. I reviewed Abacus for Screen International.

'Life Itself' Review

I'm happy to have skipped Life Itself at Sundance. Better, I figured, to let all the hype and emotion of a premiere drift off so that I could evaluate the movie away from all that noise. As my Deadspin review shows, I hope, is that even removed from Sundance, I had a hard time being completely objective about this particular documentary. Here are my many, many thoughts on the film.