Who doesn't love a good newspaper movie? You've got the ruggedly handsome crusading reporter, fedora askew, with a cigarette to light the way; the dame that's tough-as-nails, with a soft heart for wide-eyed orphans; the aw-shucks cub reporter who gets a quick taste of big city life with a slug to the gut (either via a fist or bullet); and the cigar-chomping editor who's one missed deadline away from a heart attack.
Page One: Inside the New York Times (a gripping new documentary that captures a year in the life of the New York Times) has all the drama and intrigue of a classic Hollywood thriller, with the added resonance of a contemporary setting.
Unfortunately, it's not 1946 anymore (it's not even 1996) and the romance of the modern newspaper has turned into a life-and-death struggle. Page One picks up in the middle of the newspaper apocalypse, when century-and-a-half-old broadsheets like the Seattle Post-Intelliger are closing shop because they simply can't make money in the digital age, and robber barons are stripping dailies of any content that doesn't instantly turn a profit. In 2010, the venerable Gray Lady is at a crossroads.
You don't have to have a fondness for newspaper nostalgia to get wrapped up in Page One. Director Andrew Rossi and his crew have done a remarkable job constructing an enthralling narrative that manages to touch upon nearly every single contemporary issue facing not just traditional media like the Times, but media in general.
Of course, he's aided by a team of fascinating protagonists, from diplomatic, even-handed editor Bruce Headlam, who's acutely aware of how critical the situation is, to tech-savvy prodigy reporter Brian Stelter, to the amazing David Carr, a former crack addict who's become the Times' media bulldog, covering the new landscape with a razor-sharp wit (in one memorable scene, he upbraids the founders of Vice, who offhandedly remark that the Times might be out of touch). Simply put, Page One is a cinematic page-turner.
(Alliance)Page One: Inside the New York Times (a gripping new documentary that captures a year in the life of the New York Times) has all the drama and intrigue of a classic Hollywood thriller, with the added resonance of a contemporary setting.
Unfortunately, it's not 1946 anymore (it's not even 1996) and the romance of the modern newspaper has turned into a life-and-death struggle. Page One picks up in the middle of the newspaper apocalypse, when century-and-a-half-old broadsheets like the Seattle Post-Intelliger are closing shop because they simply can't make money in the digital age, and robber barons are stripping dailies of any content that doesn't instantly turn a profit. In 2010, the venerable Gray Lady is at a crossroads.
You don't have to have a fondness for newspaper nostalgia to get wrapped up in Page One. Director Andrew Rossi and his crew have done a remarkable job constructing an enthralling narrative that manages to touch upon nearly every single contemporary issue facing not just traditional media like the Times, but media in general.
Of course, he's aided by a team of fascinating protagonists, from diplomatic, even-handed editor Bruce Headlam, who's acutely aware of how critical the situation is, to tech-savvy prodigy reporter Brian Stelter, to the amazing David Carr, a former crack addict who's become the Times' media bulldog, covering the new landscape with a razor-sharp wit (in one memorable scene, he upbraids the founders of Vice, who offhandedly remark that the Times might be out of touch). Simply put, Page One is a cinematic page-turner.