With 1988's Cane Toads: An Unnatural History, Australian documentary filmmaker Mark Lewis (The Natural History of the Chicken) introduced Sundance audiences to the cane toad--an amphibian imported Down Under in 1935 to control sugar cane larvae. Of course, the cane toad did nothing of the kind, and turned out to be a remarkably adaptable--and toxic--creature, capable of killing dogs and pets with its poison glands. This time with Cane Toads: The Conquest, Lewis celebrates the toad as he tries to restore the balance by suggesting it's not all the toad's fault. He takes us from the toad 16 million years ago, through Puerto Rico and Hawaii to Australia and the evolution of the new and improved 3- D "Ava-Toad." The movie is hilarious. Folks try to ...
- 1/30/2010
- Thompson on Hollywood
Despite the fact that none of the 15 films on the Academy's documentary short list this year have grossed more than $5 million, four of the top documentary filmmakers working today remain optimistic about their future and the future of non-fiction filmmaking Alex Gibney, director of Casino Jack and the United States of Money, Lucy Walker, behind the new film Countdown to Zero, Mark Lewis who directed the first 3-D documentary Cane Toads: The Conquest, and Davis Guggenheim, whose latest film Waiting For Superman marked the first sale of the Sundance film festival, participated in a panel Sunday afternoon, hosted by Entertainment Weekly and Participant Media,...
- 1/25/2010
- by Nicole Sperling
- EW - Inside Movies
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