So here's what I just can't get my head around: Why exactly would anyone sign up for a candid documentary about themselves if they're going to get all sensitive about their privacy? Well, only Lil Wayne knows the answer to that one, and he's not talking. Variety is now reporting that an earlier attempt by Wayne to block the distribution of The Carter, a documentary about the eccentric rapper from Adam Bhala Lough, has been struck down, and QD3 Entertainment has been given the green light to start looking for a distributor.

The Carter was shot over the course of several months, and through a haze of weed smoke and cough syrup, Wayne recounts stories about his sexual exploits, personal feuds, and displays every kind of general strangeness on screen. After months of arguing back and forth between QD3 and Wayne's management, Wayne's lawyers finally brought formal charges back in March. Wayne's suit carries a laundry list of charges, including Breach of Contract, Fraud, and Invasion of Privacy against QD3, Digerati Holdings, Quincy Jones III (who has a stake in both of those corporations), and an additional 50 unnamed co-defendants.

Wayne claims that he was told he was to be given the final say in the theatrical release, but those promises weren't honored by QD3. The film had garnered some pretty decent reviews (read ours here) when it hit the festival circuit, but Wayne has yet to comment on what he found so objectionable in the final edit. Representatives for Wayne said the film could cause irreparable damage to his reputation and career, but considering this is the same guy who feels comfortable telling Katie Couric about his love of codeine, you have wonder just what's in the film that he doesn't want us to see.

What distinguishes a "documentary" from a "narrative feature"? You might as well say, what distinguishes Michael Moore from Brad Pitt? Moore has made three of the top five grossing docs since 1982; the other two featured penguins and global warming. We tend to associate "documentary" with "truth," though the "facts" presented are often disputed, and some highly-regarded "documentaries" have staged some or all of their content. Ronald Bergen in The Guardian argues that "there has always been 'cheating' in documentaries." He concludes: "Isn't it time we drop the word 'documentary' for good?"

Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman is cited in the article as a "leading figure" of Direct Cinema, whose proponents "believed the camera could record the truth unobtrusively. But even Wiseman recognised that there is no pure documentary but all film-making is a process of imposing order on the filmed materials." Yesterday I watched part of Wiseman's The Store (1983) at AFI Dallas, and his skills as a filmmaker are evident: capturing a Neiman-Marcus salesman casually mention a $45,000 price tag, saleswomen being led through "finger calisthenics" and practice smiles, the opening and closing of elevator doors to signal location and time changes. Even if none of the footage was staged, Wiseman decided what to include in the finished film and in what order it would appear. We don't know what he may not have been permitted to shoot.

Some people think a "documentary" sounds like medicine: good for you but not fun to watch. I think the term itself has created a ghetto that keeps people from seeing great movies. What do you think? Is the term "documentary" archaic and out-of-date? Has the line between documentary and fiction become blurred beyond recognition? Is it time to drop "documentary" from our cinematic vocabulary?

Unfortunately we don't always have the time to cover EVERY indie documentary that pops up, but when I catch wind of a flick that touches on something that REALLY bugs me, well, of course I'll find a little room for that film. But first, here's an anecdote, of sorts:

You know those horse-drawn carriage things that tourists allegedly adore? Of course they're found all over New York City, but they're pretty prevalent here in Philadelphia as well. Picture, if you must, an aging-yet-beautiful horse, standing dejected at a congested intersection in Philly's (rather frenetic) Center City district. The horse is lugging three camera-swinging yahoos, a massive carriage, and a driver with a pointy stick, it's surrounded by loud, smelly, noxious automobiles, it's slowing everyone down, and (basically) it's much too noble a creature to be saddled with such a fate. (Yes, "saddled." I employ humor in the face of cruelty.)

Basically, these things make me sick. I'm sure that every carriage company has its share of employees who truly CARE about these animals, but really. C'mon. After all they've done for us, horses deserve a hell of a lot better than to spend their twilight years lugging a bunch of lazy fools around tourist traps. I'm no crusader, I eat meat, but this just seems like really pointless exploitation of an animal that's done A LOT for us over the years. For shame, people.

So I'm pleased to note that there's a new documentary called Blinders, and it looks to expose all the ugliness behind this antiquated and rather insipid mode of transportation. The award-winning 50-minute documentary will premiere on the Documentary Channel next week, and it will also screen in New York City in June, but for a lot more info, you should just check the official site. And if Donny Moss' film can help to get the horses off the streets of Philly, then let's just chalk up another win for the pro-active doco filmmakers of the world.

Just say neigh!

I'm all for people looking to expand their creative horizons, but I know -- like most of you -- that when news first hit that Joaquin Phoenix was retiring from acting to focus on a hip-hop career, my first reaction was: Are you kidding me? Well, it looks like there's a very good possibility that's exactly what the celebrated actor is trying to do. Over at EW, a source is reporting that Casey Affleck and Phoenix are the orchestrators of a massive hoax. According to EW, Phoenix told the unnamed source, "It's a put-on. I'm going to pretend to have a meltdown and change careers, and Casey is going to film it."

EW wasn't the first to cry 'bull' at Phoenix's antics; Defamer had gotten in early on the act, and when video footage surfaced of Phoenix falling off stage and slurring his way through a rap tune in Vegas, it convinced a lot of people that his new "career change" was nothing but a big joke or gimmick ... or next year's most talked-about secret Sundance film. To be fair, it's not like this was the first time Phoenix had behaved a little strangely, so once The Hollywood Reporter announced that Affleck would be making a documentary chronicling his brother in law's music career, it gave the news a bit more weight. Meanwhile, reps for both Phoenix and Sean 'Diddy' Combs (who was apparently going to produce Phoenix's album) have declined to comment on EW's story.

I think most of us were a little shocked when Joaquin Phoenix made the announcement that he was going to quit acting and focus on his music career -- and luckily for us, now we're going to get to follow the long strange journey of Phoenix's crack at the Billboard 100. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Casey Affleck will be directing a documentary about the former actor's stab at a music career. Affleck is married to Joaquin's sister Summer, so it makes sense that if Phoenix was going to agree to a documentary, it would be with someone close to him behind the camera.

Now here's the really weird part: when I heard Phoenix was going to move into the music business, I just assumed that it would be in some kind of rock or country style (I mean, the guy did play Johnny Cash). But, it turns out I couldn't have been more wrong, because according to THR, Phoenix is trying to be a rapper -- and yes, you just read that: Phoenix will be making an album with Sean 'Diddy' Combs (maybe he's bartering acting tips for producing services) and will be making his first public appearance at a Las Vegas club this weekend, which will be the kick-off for Affleck's shoot.

So while there is a big part of me that wants to see Phoenix succeed in his new career, I can't help but wonder if this will be The Return of Bruno all over again, but with a hip-hop beat. I guess if nothing else we are going to get one heck of an interesting documentary out of the deal.

Do you think Phoenix has what it takes to become a successful hip-hop artist? Or, is this a sign that the notoriously eccentric actor has good and truly gone around the bend. Sound off below....

(Gonzalo Arijon's "Stranded" opens in limited release this weekend, and so here's our Sundance review from last January.)



By James Rocchi

Often -- especially at Sundance -- a documentary works because it offers you a story you simply don't know; a political perspective, a personal struggle, a place in time. But occasionally, the most gripping documentaries are the ones where you knew the shape and sense of the tale beforehand, but lacked a finer understanding of its details and facts. Stranded: I've come from a plane that crashed on the mountains is one of those documentaries -- one where the boiled-down headlines and distant memories of a real event are not only expanded but explored, not merely presented as fact but shaped as art. In 1972, a Uruguayan rugby team took off on Flight 571 for a weekend in Chile, intending to mix a few games with a little sightseeing. They never made it; instead, the plane crashed in the Andes. 12 passengers and crew members among the 45 people on board died on impact or soon thereafter. Another 5 died before daybreak the second day. The remaining passengers -- young, scared, injured -- did what they could to survive. And then, after the tenth day, with the radio explaining that the air search for the plane was being called off, the remaining 25 did what they had to in order to survive.

Directed by Gonzalo Arijon, Stranded not only interviews the survivors of Flight 571 but also follows the survivors and their loved ones on a journey back to the crash site over 30 years later, and includes recreations of the flight and the struggles of the stranded youths. Stranded is neither sensational nor evasive about what the survivors did, and what they had to do as their meager food supplies ran out and they had to turn to the bodies of their fallen friends. In the current-day interviews, the survivors are careful and sensitive and judicious in discussing their experiences; at the same time, you can feel the sting of cold logic when one survivor explains how after word came that the air search was called off, "We, the Strauch cousins, prepared the meat ... "

So you might be wondering what a picture of Eric Bana swigging a beer in a Hulk t-shirt has to do with the remake of a French thriller. Well, the answer I'm afraid is nothing, its just one of my favorite pictures of the Aussie actor -- but back to the business at hand. Variety reports that Millennium Films is currently in talks with Bana to star in their remake of the French thriller, Le Convoyeur (now titled, Armored).

The original film was written and directed by Nicolas Boukhrief, but Millennium have their eye on F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) to take over the remake. The script was also given a re-working by David Ayer (Training Day) and Andrew Kevin Walker. The story centers on a man (presumably to be played by Bana) working for an armored car company who manages to ingratiate himself into a heist planned by his co-workers. But as it turns out, our protagonist has his own motives for weaseling his way into this band of lowlifes.

Bana had originally been set to star in the flick before dropping the project to play Nero in J.J. Abram's Star Trek reboot. So what could have changed his mind? According to Variety, Bana "has a deal negotiated down to what sources described as a $7.5 million paycheck." Not bad for a guy who has yet to really break out as a leading man.

Bana's schedule would appear to be packed for the foreseeable future, including promoting Trek and the romantic weepy, *The Astronaut's Wife. Not to mention he will be making his directing debut with the documentary, Love the Beast, later this year. Armored is scheduled to start production on April 1st, so Millennium is going to have to work fast if they want to convince Bana to sign on -- I personally can think of 7.5 million reasons to sign on the dotted line.

*Correction: Bana will star opposite Rachel McAdams in The Time Traveler's Wife.

If you happen to already be of the opinion that Michael Moore is not the lovable man of the people he appears to be, then this news probably won't be changing your feelings about him anytime soon. One month after Moore offered up free downloads of his latest documentary, Slacker Uprising, Torrent Freak reports that "In a letter dated September 25th, lawyers representing Westside Productions LLC, owner of the Slacker Uprising copyright sprang into action, demanding the removal of a torrent linking to the movie from any and all international sites."

Moore's latest was compiled of footage from his recent college tour -- a tour in which he traveled to colleges in the so-called 'swing states' to speak to students in an attempt to energize young voters. The film is a re-edited version of Moore's 2007 doc, Captain Mike Across America, which screened at TIFF in '07 to lukewarm reviews. Moore initially said the reason behind the free download was both a reward to fans who have supported him over the years, as well as a way to get out his message prior to the upcoming presidential election.

The download was offered only to those living in the US and Canada, but it didn't take long for the film to start popping up on numerous torrent sites outside of North America. Moore's lawyers inexplicably sent their letter to the DNS service (easyDNS) of one of the international sites pirating the flick, which is not required to comply with US law. A co-founder of easyDNS responded to Moore's lawyers with the following: "...Anybody with half a clue knows the net doesn't work like that. In any case, I've sent them our standard 'we're not the web host, we're just the lowly DNS service', but I did point out this seeming contradiction in Michael Moore's message vs. his lawyer's actions."

So while Moore may have every right to control how his film is distributed, maybe someone should have explained that old saying about the internet and pee in a pool.