Gerald Peary

Film Review: “Out and About” — An Important Return to Filmmaking

May 7, 2023
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Indie films of worth made by people with talent are falling into the cracks, and that’s sadly the fate of Out and About, a smart, beautifully shot and acted movie by Peter Callahan.

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Film Review: “The Taking” — Appropriating Monument Valley?

May 5, 2023
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Most of this documentary is so beautiful the temptation is to switch off the preachy, didactic soundtrack and just watch and watch.

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Arts Remembrance: Visiting the Birthplace of the King

April 17, 2023
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Our last Mississippi destination was a major reason for my trip South. I told Bob I wanted to see the boyhood home of Elvis Presley in the small town of Tupelo, the singer’s Bethlehem.

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Film Review: “Little Richard: I Am Everything” — Homage to a Black and Queer Rock ’n’ Roll Icon

April 11, 2023
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There could have been more serious attention to the music, more of his immortal rock songs played start to finish. Otherwise, Lisa Cortés’ Little Richard: I Am Everything is the documentary about the Black and Queer rock’n’roll icon we’ve been waiting for.

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Film Review: Three Shorts Featuring Writer and Activist James Baldwin, Man of the Hour

March 24, 2023
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In these short films James Baldwin does not come off as a relaxed person, someone at ease with himself or quite comfortable in the world. You can feel the acute pain as he speaks.

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Film Commentary: The Books That Shaped My Film Aesthetic

March 8, 2023
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Here’s a personal list of the 25 most important, influential books about American cinema. Only one book per author.

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Book Review: “Jonas Mekas: The Camera Was Always Running”

March 3, 2023
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Anyone who cares deeply about cinema owes Jonas Mekas an abiding debt for all that he did for independent American filmmaking.

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Film Review: “The Menu” — Killer Cuisine

November 28, 2022
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The Menu serves up a ghoulish and madly entertaining two hours of prime cinema.

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Film Review: “God’s Country” — Who is to Blame?

September 30, 2022
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In our politically correct times, the temptation would be to make a simplistic film in which Sandra, the good Black woman, is beset by bad white people.

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Book Review: “Ghost of the Hardy Boys” — The Man Behind America’s Favorite Teenage Sleuths

September 8, 2022
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In this genial, colorful memoir, Leslie McFarlane reveals the long path to how, anonymously, he became author of the most best-selling series of boys’ books in publishing history, twenty million volumes and counting.

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