I’m a Bob Marley fan, but I wasn’t ready for a two-and-a-half-hour documentary on the guy. I liked director Kevin MacDonald’s other stuff, particularly The Last King of Scotland and Life in a Day, but, again, two-and-a-half hours.

And while the time doesn’t fly by, it does hold your interest. There’s the standard talking heads you always see in a movie like this, but instead of each and every one endlessly talking about how much of an influence Marley was, MacDonald does the opposite and focuses more on the personal details and experiences that directly influenced Marley.

The film opens in Ghana, with a guide taking the camera through a tour of an old slave port. He stops at an ancient wooden door. “When the blacks passed through this door,” he says, “they knew they would never be coming back, that’s why it’s called ‘The Door of No Return.’” We’re then whisked to the shanty town of Nine Mile, Marley’s home town, and the story of his early life begins. Many of the details will come as a surprise—for example, I never knew his father was a white, English captain in the Royal Marines, nor did I know his father was 60 years old when he married Marley’s 18-year-old mother.

Interviews with Marley’s friends, cousins, band members, aunt, and mother reveal a man who struggled with his mixed race and saw music as his only way out of poverty. A lesser director would have several interviewees reiterating that point to drive it home, but here many of MacDonald’s interviews are conducted on location, so when we see one of Marley’s cousins leaning against an outside bar worked into a dilapidated shack, nursing his Guinness and puffing on half a cigarette while a stray dog runs by, we only need to hear it once, and the point has already been made by what we’ve seen.

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For those lucky millions who have made it to San Diego in July for Comic-Con International, you know how truly epic it is for fans. That’s why infamous niche documentary director Morgan Spurlock felt it was time to put the limelight on the droves of Klingons, Autobots, caped crusaders, and Anime teens that attend the show each year. Enter Comic-Con Episode IV, A Fan’s Hope.

The film is clearly stamping all over the nerd genre, even with the name, by playing to what we nerds really love: geeky celebs. You’ll see cameos from resident geeks like Eli Roth, Kevin Smith, Seth Rogan, and tons others pledge their love for the 4 day nerd fest like no other. Also, the story follows the lives of a few legitimate geeks who pledge their lives to all things nerdy. Here’s the synopsis:

Have you ever imagined a place where Vulcans and vampires get along? Where wizards and wookies can be themselves? Welcome to Comic-Con San Diego. What started as a fringe comic book convention for 500 fans has grown into the pop culture event of the year that influences every form of entertainment, now attended by over 140,000 strong. COMIC-CON EPISODE IV: A FAN’S HOPE- a film by Morgan Spurlock explores this amazing cultural phenomenon by following the lives of five attendees as they descend upon the ultimate geek mecca at San Diego Comic-Con 2010.

Take a look at a list of dates the film will be doing across the country, and the first trailer, after the jump.

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This extraordinary documentary Pina by German filmmaker Wim Wenders (justly nominated for an Academy Award) on the choreographer Pina Bausch, his countryman, near-contemporary and fellow visionary, was a long time in coming. An artistic collaboration had been planned for some time but in an instance of epic bad timing, Bausch died just two days before filming was to have begun, having been diagnosed with cancer only five days previously.

The movie is thus haunted by the specter of death and of aging, compounded by the fact that many company members had been with Bausch for twenty-plus years. This theme is stated in the opening piece (returned to periodically in the duration of the movie), in which a long line of dancers chants Fruhling…Sommer…Herbst…Winter as they snake along a train platform, behind and onto a stage and later, on a wind-blown hilltop.

The Tanztheater German expressionist influence is clear in their affects, which ride the line between ecstasy and despair. Are they smiling in the face of death, or ruefully acknowledging that life and death march on regardless?

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The X-Men are a cornerstone franchise, the popularity of the book from the 70′s through the 80′s and it’s domination in the 90′s have helped shape an entire generation of artists and storytellers. The man behind most of that legacy is Chris Claremont, one of the most prolific creators in comic history. Now the story of his legendary run on Uncanny X-Men is being told as a documentary and you have a chance to help fund it.

Sequart and Respect Films are putting together the documentary and have set up a kickstarter page looking for funding from true believers like you. If successful, this documentary would be the first in a series of docs that focus on iconic series and creators that are worth telling, but likely would struggle to be big enough for a feature length doc.

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Once upon a time, the state of cinemas was a gritty, hilarious, violent place filled with guns, big boobs, and every kind of animal wanting to kill and/or eat your flesh. These days, everything is dumbed down to the least common denominator, but with an homage to some of those classic film genres.

Now, you can get to see exactly what that world was like with a brand new documentary delving into the eclectic mind of cinematic legend Roger Corman in Corman’s World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel. Here’s the premise.

CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL is a tantalizing and star-studded tribute to Roger Corman, Hollywood’s most prolific writer-director producer, and seminal influencing force in modern moviemaking over the last 60 years. Featuring interviews with Hollywood icons and cinematic luminaries, some who launched their careers within Corman’s unforgettable world of filmmaking, including Paul W.S. Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert De Niro, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Ron Howard, Eli Roth, Martin Scorsese, William Shatner and Jack Nicholson, along with many others, this documentary chronicles how Corman created his cult film empire, one low-budget success at a time, capitalizing on undiscovered talent, and pushing the boundaries of independent filmmaking.

The film is set to hit select theaters on December 16th, but you can check out the very first trailer for it after the jump.

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For me and many of my friends, one of our endless debates will always be: Star Trek or Star Wars? Like Coke vs. Pepsi, Ginger vs. Mary Ann or Mac vs. Windows, geeks always have a fun time debating the merits of their favorite things.

One of those favorite things celebrating a milestone today is Gene Roddenberry’s venerable franchise Star Trek. 45 years ago today the show first aired on NBC and from that moment on it spawned generations of devoted fans and turned into a worldwide phenomenon beloved by millions of people all over the world.

To help celebrate that milestone, the Science Channel is working with Gene Roddenberry’s only son, Rod Roddenberry, to produce the world premiere documentary, Trek Nation.

According to the Science Channel, the film “shadows Gene Roddenberry’s son, Rod, as he explores his family legacy and the crusade his father’s passion and curiosity for exploration. Through interviews with his most devoted fans, including George Lucas and J.J. Abrams, Trek Nation follows a son searching for the wisdom of his father.”

Sounds pretty interesting. Think I’ll give it a look.

Trek Nation is set to air on Wednesday, November 30 only on Science Channel. Check out a new clip from the doc after the break.

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If you don’t live in Los Angeles or New York or you do and just haven’t had a chance to go out and see director Asif Kapadia’s Senna, one of the best documentaries of the year about one of the greatest race car drivers of all time, don’t worry. You’re going to get your chance.

How do we know? Well, the doc is doing so well at the LA and NYC box office, averaging over $35K per screen, that the film’s distributor, Producers Distribution Agency, are planning to take it into 11 new markets and put it on 15 more screens this weekend.

“Obviously, we’re thrilled with the opening,” said John Sloss, co-founder of the Producers Distribution Agency in the article. “What it proves, both numerically and anecdotally, is that the film plays well beyond the core. We knew from our advance screenings, to our surprise, that the film played better to women that even gearheads, and they showed up. This movie is much more playable than it is marketable, so we couldn’t be happier with this word-of-mouth base.”

In case you’re not familiar with the film (even though you should be) it “follows the story of Ayrton Senna, perhaps the greatest race-car driver who ever lived. In the mid ‘80s, Senna burst onto the world of Formula One racing. As a Brazilian in a predominantly European sport, he had to fight hard both on (against his nemesis, French World Champion Alain Prost) and off (against the politics that infest the sport) the track.”

That description doesn’t really do the film justice. If you like compelling stories, great characters and fast cars, this doc is for you. Be sure to check it out.

If there’s one thing we love as much as movies, TV, comics, games and pop culture here at The Flickcast, it’s cars. Cars are fun and they go really fast. We like fast.

Speaking of fast, there’s a new documentary out now called Senna which tells the story of a man who liked to go fast and is widely regarded as one of the greatest Formular One drivers that ever lived. That man: Ayrton Senna.

Director Asif Kapadia has put together a great documentary about the man and his legend and the guys at one of our favorite car websites, The Smoking Tire, managed to snag an exclusive interview with Kapadia, which we are glad to bring you right now.

Check out the interview after the jump. Senna is in theaters on LA and New York now with a wider release to follow. If you like cars and great stories, this is one you don’t want to miss.

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My initial feeling upon leaving Project Nim was something akin to Werner Herzog’s closing monologue in Grizzly Man—I felt nothing for the animal. While others looked into Nim’s eyes and saw flickers of humanity, depth, tenderness, all I could see was its cold instinct. Every hug was punctuated by either a vicious bite or a beg for food.

There was no instance of it sharing or displaying any concern for its companions unless it was for Nim’s own selfish benefit. The best that can be said for it is that the creature’s offenses can be excused because it is, after all, a wild animal.

Nim is Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee taken from his mother at birth (and the Oklahoma chimp farm where he was born) and made the subject of Herbert Terrace’s, Columbia professor of Primate Studies, experiment. Terrace wanted to see if a chimp raised as a human child and taught sign language could converse with other humans.

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The Last Mountain of the title refers to Coal River Mountain, an area in West Virginia being mined by the Massey Energy company. Massey has a long history of violations, as the villagers below are quick to point out—creating lakes of toxic goo that threaten to pollute the waterways of West Virginia and other states; unsafe mining practices that likely caused brain cancer in several residents, union busting, profiteering, global warming and so on.

Director Bill Haney (The Price of Sugar) provides an informative summary of the dangers of Massey Energy’s practices with first-hand accounts from Coal Mountain locals as well as experts. It’s well-researched and articulate, and yes, it’s a problem. But that’s where The Last Mountain stops being informative and Haney’s contempt for Massey takes over.

It gets points for criticizing democrats and republicans alike, but it ultimately lets politicians like West Virginia governor Joe Manchin and Obama off the hook while taking aim at Massey CEO Don Blankenship. Sure, Blankenship may be a crook, but I doubt the filmmakers believe that the next guy in line will act any differently, so what’s the point in vilifying him?

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Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop follows the comedian on his Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour (that’s a mouthful to type), better known as the thing Conan O’Brien did after the NBC fiasco that left him without a television show. He’s bitter, but the film doesn’t dwell on the controversy; instead its aim is to focus on O’Brien’s showmanship.

His energy is amazing to behold. He’s performing whether on the stage, bus, at home, at the office, greeting hordes of fans or a meager handful—anywhere. If nothing else, the film deserves its title; the man literally cannot, and will not, stop. The 85 minutes breeze by as we see Conan go from Eugene, Oregon (“Should I be nervous that we’re opening in a city where no one lives?”) to Seattle to Atlantic City to Manchester, Tennessee for Bonnaroo, and finally to Atlanta.

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I’m not the biggest fan of gospel music. Actually, I’m not really a fan at all, so I’m not the target audience for Rejoice and Shout, but you don’t have to be once you’ve heard the little black girl in the opening scene belt out a killer rendition of “Amazing Grace.” And I can’t stand “Amazing Grace.” Rejoice has its show-stopping moments—a 1902 recording from one of the first gospel groups, named “The Dinwiddie Colored Quartet”; a gospel-off between two groups; the sad history of Clara Ward and her domineering mother—but they’re too scarce to foster a sustained interest.

And that’s largely the movie. I can’t quite recommend it save for gospel fans, but I can’t really write it off either. Director Don McGlynn constructs something squarely aimed at fans but occasionally offers moments that will appeal to anyone.

It’s nice enough, and, in bits and pieces—the evolution of gospel is interesting, particularly when the interviewees discuss how the blend of African music with Christian hymnals created the genre, or some of the stories of the gospel singers themselves are intriguing, however the singular focus is on the music, and these are simply compelling asides. McGlynn also chooses to play many of the songs in their entirety, which, at five-to-seven-plus minutes in length, combined with 200+ years of history, is pleasant at first but drags after the first hour, and even more so when you realize that there’s another hour to go.

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