Entertainment through the eyes of a gay, deaf-blind male! Check them Michael’s blog – http://dorkshelf.com/
posted Wednesday, April 28, 2021
John Gianvito’s experimental documentary Her Socialist Smile discusses Helen Keller’s full-fledged embrace of socialist ideas. This is an important contribution to the knowledge we currently have of Helen, a deaf-blind pioneer (and client of The Miracle Worker, so to speak). However, the format this film takes is sometimes unwieldy and staggering in its complexity. […]
posted Monday, April 26, 2021
Audible is Director, Matt Ogens’ short documentary about Amaree McKenstry-Hall’s final year at Maryland School for the Deaf can only skim the surface of the complexity of the situations depicted in its nearly 40 minute runtime. Matt told me that he wanted his film to be many things to many people: “nuanced and complex and […]
posted Thursday, April 22, 2021
Only I Can Hear is a wonderful documentary that represents a lesser-known aspect of Deaf culture – CODAs. A CODA is a Child Of Deaf Adults. Here is the synopsis of the film: Nyla wants to be Deaf. But as she turns 15, she finds herself inextricably pulled towards the hearing world, and away from […]
posted Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Every once in a while comes a film that is filled with so much joy, human connection, and emotional turmoil, you know that as long as it sticks the landing (i.e. has a good conclusion), it is a masterpiece. Christiaan Olwagen’s film, Kanarie, depicts the experiences of the “canaries” or men’s choir stationed in the […]
posted Sunday, April 28, 2019
I’ll be reviewing several films for the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, taking place here in Toronto from April 25th to May 5th, 2019 at various locations in the city. See below for some great films you shouldn’t miss. When We Walk Some films are heart-wrenching in their raw, naked vulnerability – When We […]
posted Thursday, April 18, 2019
Inga Can Hear is a thought-provoking documentary about the challenges faced by a Latvian “[hearing] child of Deaf adults” (CODA), who is also, perhaps, transitioning, and experiencing other growing pains as well. In its short, neat run-time of a hour, it is unable to address all the upheavals of Inga/Edward’s life, which causes me to think […]
posted Thursday, April 18, 2019
Note from Michael McNeely: Today’s column is, in the spirit of accurate representation, written by a friend of mine who is better able to indicate whether or not Special (currently on Netflix) is true to the experience of living with Cerebral Palsy. Please enjoy! This TV Series is Indeed “Special”- By Guest Contributor, Mark Langenfeld […]
posted Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Comedy often comes from a source of pain. If you cannot laugh about it, then most likely you’ll cry – and who says you can’t do both? Throughout OUT on Stage’s first season, we see first-hand how the difficult experiences of being LGBTQ can provide comedy fodder. It’s extremely difficult to review stand-up comedy, as a […]
posted Sunday, December 23, 2018
Documentaries can be curated experiences, and there is not necessarily anything wrong with that. Sweet Marie: In Studio With Erin Costelo is a documentary that offers a brief glimpse into songstress Erin Costelo’s artistic process as she attempts to churn out a record in only 10 days. See below for a Q&A with writer Erin, […]
posted Monday, December 3, 2018
Sometimes when studying popular culture, one cannot help but notice certain trends or patterns arising. For example, we are in yet another “Year of the Superhero.” We may have escaped from the zombie plagues made popular by George Romero (RIP) and Brad Pitt – or maybe not, if The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking […]
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