This week, Top of the Docs turns to Penelope Spheeris’ trilogy The Decline of Western Civilisation, which might be the most comprehensive look at counter-culture in America translated into film.
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All articles filed in Joel Whitaker
London based culture writer from Merseyside.
Top of the Docs #10 – Marshawn Lynch: A History
Marshawn Lynch: A History is not so much a documentary about sport as it is a documentary that examines the world around sport. It looks at American football star Marshawn Lynch, and through the format of a clip compilation, tracks the way in which his image has been projected through the media.
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Top of the Docs #9 – Baseball and the Documentary Epic
There is perhaps no sports documentary quite as ambitious as Ken Burns’ Baseball.
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Top of the Docs #8 – ‘Kenny’: When Sports, Locality, and Politics Meet
Two things define Liverpool as a city: music and football. The two fill up all conversation about the city, with the latter even being a defining feature of being scouse: are you a Liverpudlian, or an Evertonian? A red or a blue?
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Seven Films Influenced by Bertolt Brecht
Explicitly political, formally daring, his plays, books, and poems stand out as some of the most outstanding pieces of literature of the 20th century.
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A Wish My Heart Made: How 70 Years on, Cinderella Continues to Inspire
Films we watch as children fundamentally shape us. We all have films that, though they may not be anything special, are held dearly to us. For me, this film is undoubtedly Cinderella (1950), a film that I have loved from childhood all the way through to my adult life.
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Top of the Docs #6 – ‘Swatted’ (2018) and the Realities of Sharing Online
It is impossible to describe the impact of the internet, and even more impossible to place that impact on a moral compass. The internet is a place where millions of people who may never have met can connect, it has formed new communities and, importantly, has greatly furthered discourse concerning gender, sexuality, race, and various other marginalised communities by acting as a means for activists to communicate.
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What’s on Scene #2 – March 2020
Howdy! Welcome to What’s on Scene, our monthly column dedicated to keeping you up to date on the latest screenings and programmes across the UK. For a full list of screenings scroll to the end of the piece! And remember if you would like a screening listed next month, be sure to let us know!
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Top of the Docs #5 – ‘Going Clear’ (2015): Scientology and the Prison of Belief and Journalistic Documentary
In terms of mainstream documentary filmmaking over the past two decades, few figures have amassed as impressive a body of work as Alex Gibney. His documentaries often tackle corporate scandal, usually interrogating single corporations such as in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005).
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Top of the Docs #4 – ‘Talking About Trees’ and Cinema as Community
The history of a nation’s cinema is, of course, tied up in the history of a nation. Not every nation, however, has a history like Sudan. Split by civil war in 2011, the country is still in the midst of a power struggle and is often presented merely as a country bound to constant conflict.
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