[
THE SQAURE screens Friday January 17th at 9:25 pm and Saturday January 18th at 7:40 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]
Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.
I've mentioned often (usually at end-of-the-year/best-of
roundups) that I've tended to abandon mass-audience corporate cinema in favor
of documentaries. Unlike nine-tenths of what dumb paranormal-teen book-series
adaptations or blockbuster superhero franchises are opening at the multiplex
this weekend, one can actually
learn something from documentaries. And, thus,
become an instant, insufferable expert.
For example, I saw a camel-caravan of documentaries about
Egypt, from FAROUK: LAST OF THE PHAROAHS (1970) to UMM KULTHUM: A VOICE LIKE
EGYPT (1996) to WE ARE EGYPT (2012). It's made me something of an overnight
authority on Egyptian affairs. You want to know something? Of all the crises to
afflict that ancient and fascinating nation, rampaging resurrected mummies
really haven't been a major issue. You'd never know that from Hollywood.
