Review: Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Reviews

Danielson: A Family Movie

Do I have to wear a nurse's outfit?

By IAN SANDS | January 31, 2007

2.0 Stars

DANIELSON: A FAMILY MOVIE: Family rocks

J.L. Aronson’s documentary about Daniel Smith’s religion-inspired family rock band, who made a point of playing in nurse uniforms, has a lot going for it: a cast of cuties, cool cameos, fun costumes. What it doesn’t have is much conflict. Smith’s siblings blandly acquiesce to his oddball leadership, not even bothering to ask, “Why do I have to wear a nurse’s outfit every gig, big brother?” Instead, Sister Megan offers, “We were working together as a team for the glory of God.” Drama comes from the outside in the form of fill-in member Sufjan Stevens, without whom it’s doubtful this film would have been made. As the more-accessible Stevens eventually steps out on his own to glowing reviews, Smith is stranded somewhere between an unwelcoming Christian-music scene and a wishy-washy indie-rock scene. He’s left alone in his studio with a roomful of instruments, his absent siblings moving on with their lives.

Related: Darfur Now, War/Dance, The Last Atomic Bomb, More

Darfur Now
Theodore Braun’s probing documentary about the genocide crisis in Darfur takes a hopeful approach.
War/Dance
Like countless reality TV shows and other current-day documentaries, this film from Sean Fine and Andrea Nix is organized conveniently, and conventionally, around a contest.
The Last Atomic Bomb
It’s difficult to criticize a documentary about the horror of nuclear warfare and how to prevent it from happening again.
Die Große Stille|Into Great Silence
In 1984, documentary filmmaker Philip Gröning asked the Carthusian monastic order for permission to film at one of the world’s most ascetic monasteries.
Matthew Barney: No Restraint
For an artist/filmmaker best known for impenetrable, high-budget, art-gore-sex-sculpture movies, Matthew Barney comes across as a pretty approachable dude in Alison Chernick’s documentary about his Drawing Restraint 9 .
Iraq in Fragments
James Longley’s documentary about the War in Iraq isn’t groundbreaking, but it does put a face on the grim reality of Iraqi life and the mounting anti-American sentiment (“They are worse than 100 Saddams”). Watch the trailer for Iraq in Fragments
Constantine's Sword
Scarier than Jesus Camp (and infinitely smarter), Oren Jacoby’s documentary film of Boston Globe columnist James Carroll’s 2001 book Constantine’s Sword casts Christianity as a lost ark raided by the worst bullies of history.
In Search of Mozart
Phil Grabsky had Amadeus squarely in his sights when he set out to make this documentary celebrating the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
Zoo
Robinson Devor’s documentary about a Boeing engineer who died after having sex with a horse is concerned more with the why of the act than with the how.
An Unreasonable Man
If you’ve grown tired of the hysterical one-note demagoguery of Michael Moore’s documentaries, then An Unreasonable Man may seem a welcome relief.
Pete Seeger: The Power of Song
This documentary by Jim Brown offers an inspiring portrait of America’s most enduring folk artist.
Less

Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Music, Pop and Rock Music, More

| More

ARTICLES BY IAN SANDS

POWER TO THE PEOPLE | November 04, 2009
Painted portraits are, as evidenced by the many on display inside Boston’s world-famous art galleries, a window into the world of royalty, politicos, and other spectacularly coiffed assholes from centuries ago.

LESS THAN ZERO | October 10, 2009
Three years ago, Russell Freeland had what most would consider a settled life. Just two years later, though, Freeland was hungry, exhausted, and homeless, trying to survive in Austin, Texas.

WHEELS IN MOTION | September 02, 2009
David Branigan, who recently returned to town after more than a year in Koforidua, in Eastern Ghana, says what he missed most about Boston is the "efficiency." That might come as a shocker for those of us here who have ever waited for the Number 66 bus in the thick of winter.

APARTMENT AID | August 31, 2009
Back from an arduous vacation full of nail-biting beer-pong battles and vigorous Wii tennis matches, you enter the dilapidated dorm or apartment where you'll be spending the next year doing much the same.

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO LOCK | August 05, 2009
It's too bad Skip Gates didn't have Schuyler Towne's cell number on that fateful day last month. If he did, the Somerville-based lockpicking champ likely could have gotten in to the good professor's home in no time at all, and a national controversy (and international beer summit) might have been averted.