A dream house, the perfect woman, and one of our greatest singer-songwriters are among the topics of the films being reviewed today. Up to Date's independent, foreign, and documentary film critics walk us through The Queen of Versailles, a documentary that shows the viewer the rise and fall of a billionaire couple through the construction of their 90,000-square foot palace. They also examine Jonathan Demme's third documentary on Neil Young which follows the 65-year old performer back to the city of his birth. Our reviewers then look at Ruby Sparks, in which a novelist writes about his perfect woman only to have her come to life, as well as Matthew McConaughey's latest effort, Killer Joe.
Also: The documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry tells the story of China's greatest contemporary artist who is also one of his country's most passionate dissidents. Today we talk with the director, Alison Klayman, about her access to the artist and the challenges she faced in the making of the film.
Bob Butler is a former Kansas City Star critic and now film blogger of Butlerscinemascene.wordpress.com. He is a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle. His work has appeared in The Arizona Republic, The Contra Costa Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, The Kansas City Star, and The Sunday Mail (Australia). Cynthia Haines, a photographer, film critic and scholar, retired as an Associate Professor of Film Studies from the University of Texas at El Paso where she taught for ten years. She has a B.A. degree from Stanford University and an M.A. from U.T. El Paso and attended the Stanford University Broadcast and Film Institute. She is the author/photographer of Literature and Landscape: Writers of the Southwest and Showtime! From Opera Houses to Picture Palaces in El Paso. Steve Walker is a contributing arts reporter at KCUR. In addition, he teaches creative writing classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. His writing has appeared in The Sondheim Review, The Advocate and Theater Week, The Kansas City Star, The Kansas City Business Journal, Ingram's, The Pitch and Review.
