There was a time when documentary filmmaking felt a little bit like the red-headed stepchild of the film industry, and, to be sure, they still tend not to challenge fiction features at the box office unless they’re furiously topical political manifestos like “March of the Penguins,” awe-inspiring testaments to the grandeur of nature like “Jackass 3D” or gross-out slapstick like “Fahrenheit 9/11.” But the rise of streaming services, and the fall of Western democracy, have given non-fiction filmmaking a new lease on life: not only are the incisive and dedicated perspectives of documentarians of all stripes more necessary than ever now to help us make sense of an increasingly senseless world, they also tend to be more available to us than ever before.

Continue reading The Best Documentaries Of 2017 at The Playlist.

There are few things more unpleasant than an encounter with a rat. However, the rodents are just as much a part of the urban fabric as anything else, and that’s particularly true in the fascinating documentary “Rat Film.” And today, we have the exclusive trailer for the film.

Directed by Theo Anthony, and featuring a score by electronic music wizard Dan Deacon, the film — “working in the spirit of Chris Marker, Agnès Varda, and Werner Herzog” — takes a look at the complex relationship between rats and the city of Baltimore.

Continue reading Exclusive ‘Rat Film’ Trailer: Baltimore’s History Runs With Rodents at The Playlist.

Like a lot of major urban centers, the city of Baltimore has such a widespread and long-running rodent infestation problem that the locals have come up with all kinds of clever ways to cope. In Theo Anthony’s documentary “Rat Film,” the director occasionally cuts to vignettes of ordinary folks turning vermin into sport. One guy hunts rats in his backyard with a blowgun. Another puts sliced turkey and peanut butter on a hook and casts his fishing line into dark alleys.

Continue reading ‘Rat Film’Is An Exciting, Challenging Exploration Of Baltimore’s Rodent Problem [SXSW Review] at The Playlist.