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| Bill Cunningham New York |
Happy Thanksgiving everybody! For this special holiday post - and considering we won't be having class this Wednesday - please spend some extra time looking through all of the amazing documentaries available on Netflix Instant and choose 5 feature-length docs on the site you still haven't seen but would like to.
- List the names of the 5 docs you chose, and provide a brief reason why you chose each one.
- Choose 1 of your 5 docs to watch and analyze this week
- Provide a logline of 1-2 sentences describing the doc you chose to watch
- Write at least 2-3 paragraphs explaining what you did and/or did not like about your chosen film and why
You have a bit more time than usual to complete this post, so I expect your comments to be particularly thorough, thoughtful and specific. And please remember to post them on this blog and on Moodle no later than Tuesday morning, December 2nd at 9am (24 hours before our next class).
I'm super excited to see which films you choose and to hear your thoughts about them. Enjoy watching and writing, have a delicious Thanksgiving - and we'll talk more about the assignment when I see you on Wednesday, December 3rd!
5 docs I want to watch
ReplyDelete1. Bound by Flesh – It’s an abnormal subject, two twins bound together by their own flesh, and their lives as vaudeville stars. I love learning more about weird things.
2. So Much So Fast – Follows the story of a man who gets diagnosed with ALS. Definitely interesting to me with my uncle being diagnosed for a year and a half now. The film covers 5 years and I can’t imagine how much the guy in the film changes when my uncle went from a Chicago dentist owning his own dentistry, to unable to leave his house for thanksgiving, in a little over a year.
3. The Thin Blue Line – Murder documentary (my fave!) and it’s from 1988…interesting. I’ve seen most of the murder docs on Netflix, but I have yet to see this one and just stumbled upon it!
4. From One Second to the Next – You grabbed my attention showing an exert of this film in class. The subject catches my attention immediately because it’s about an issue that is directed largely towards my age group. It’s a very current issue and it’s not something that’s always been a problem, so it’s new in a way too.
5. Alive Inside – I only clicked to read more about this movie because the poster art interested me. It looks to be another really cool different type of documentary that I’ve never seen before. A social worker uses music to unlock memories of Alzheimer patients. HOW COOL DOES THAT SOUND?!
6. Bridgend (had to do 6 cause there’s so many good docs on Netflix!) – Anything that has to do with suicide instantly interests me.
Film I Watched Over Break
Bound by Flesh – This documentary told the story of conjoined twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton. It reviews their entire lives, from birth until death, and their fascinating career as vaudeville stars.
“Bound by Flesh” Review ★★★ 3/5
Bound by Flesh captivated me with it’s subject matter, but was missing things to make it more authentic. The film had plenty of pictures to show the girl’s lives (and obvious deformity) and them aging. Photos showed them from infants up until pretty close to their death. I took note of that and appreciated how many photographs of the girls there were. They’re the interesting part of the film and that’s what I wanted to see. There wasn’t much video (though not surprising considering this was before even WWII), but there were exerts of them from the films that they did. I liked that I got to hear their voices and see them moving around like real people. It made them more than just photographs.
There were also voiceovers that were supposed to be the girls. It wasn’t until the end of the film that I concluded the voices didn’t actually belong to the Hilton sisters, but then again I have no idea. It’s never really explained. It seems like it would have been the voices of the girls at a younger age talking about their experiences, and I thought maybe the director got that audio from somewhere, but I guess it’s probably just recreated by somebody else? Either way, it was a bit odd and confusing. But like I said, they did cover the photographs well. There were even photos from the sisters towards the end of their life when they had to resort to working in a grocery store.
What it was missing was having some authentic documents other than newspaper clippings from when the girls were in court, video footage of them other than their unsuccessful movie gigs, and honestly better editing. Some of the transitions they used were just so lame. Something you’d see from like a Windows Movie Maker video. I felt like the story just got dry. It was missing something, though I’m not completely sure what. I believed the story, they had the facts to back it up, and they interviewed the children (now grown) of the people who had interacted with the Hilton Sisters. I guess for the fact that this all happened many many years ago, they did what they could with what they had, but perhaps the film should have been made before so that they’d be able to get accounts and interviews from people who actually knew the sisters.
5 Documentaries I chose from:
ReplyDeleteBurt’s Buzz because I’m interested in learning about the creator of such a cool product. I don’t know much about Burt’s Bees because I don’t use the product but I think hearing the story behind it might change my mind.
The Punk Singer because who doesn't love documentaries about feminism. Since I’ve started college here in Chicago, my eyes have been opened to many injustices that need to be fought against, inequality between sexes being one of them.
Johnny Carson: King of Late Night because my great grandma went to high school with him and I never watched his show though many of my friends and family growing up did.
Jesus Camp because controversial religious stuff is interesting. Being raised catholic and having been through Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, and non-denominational congregations has given me an odd perspective on religion and what’s right when raising children in a religious home.
GMO OMG because my roommate is into all that heathy eating and knowing where your food comes from. I recently decided I needed to start eating better so I’ve been thinking about going vegetarian or trying to eat organic.
Film I watched:
GMO OMG: Is this the end of REAL FOOD?
*5/5 STARS*
This documentary is an eye-opening exploitation on genetically modified organisms that will make you reconsider all things you put in your mouth. A father of three goes on a journey to find the truth about food and his conclusion will leave you wanting change not only in America but around the world.
“GMO OMG” has officially changed my life. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been in mindset that I need to be healthier, but this documentary has lit the fire in me to change my life style and encourage people to be more educated. The biggest argument this film has is that if a food has GMOs in it, it should be labeled. That doesn't seem too much to ask for, but companies like Monsanto spend millions making laws like that become impossible. Throughout the documentary all the father wants to know is what we are really feeding America and it’s almost impossible to find out because nothing is labeled and 90% of the food contains some form of GMOs.
During his search in this doc, we see dozens of interview from all across the world that show every point of view possible. The interviews that leave the most impact though are the ones backed up by fact and research aka the anti-GMO people. This french scientist basically proved that a GMO diet caused rats to be more likely to get cancer and the GMO supporters still refuse to release their raw data that would supposedly prove him wrong. The blatant refusal of information by GMO producers makes me wonder: what are they hiding?
All the information brought to light throughout the film made me more and more upset about what is going on in out our country and the fact it isn’t even widely known about. The father who decided to make this documentary started out just like me, not knowing much about what goes into my body, but ended up changing his own life, his family’s life, and with this doc, lives across the world I’m sure. He educated himself thoroughly on the specifics and then proved his authority in this film by educating us. He had facts and research to back up his claims and was honest when he didn't know something. I wish more documentaries covered information like this one did. A final point I have about “GMO OMG” is that the cinematography was absolutely beautiful. All the nature shots were breathtaking and music was a huge mood setter in this film.
Like I said before, this film has changed the way I look at food. It’s a definite must watch!
The five documentary films that I am willing to watch are "H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer," "The Devil's Bible," "The History of the WWE," "The Real Story: Amityville Horror," and "I Am Santa Claus."
ReplyDeleteI am willing to watch H. H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer because his life story is of significance. He is the first serial killer in America or perhaps the first known serial killer ever caught. I am intrigued by his actions. "The Devil's Bible" is one of my documentary choices to watch because it shows the mystery of how the "Codex Gigas" was really made. It leaves many people questioning how one monk could write the "Codex Gigas" in one night without making a pact with the Devil. It is one of the decisions of mine to watch "The History of the WWE" because I grew up a wrestling fan. The documentary covers 50 years of the most significant moments in the World Wrestling Entertainment, and I can refresh my mind on wrestling facts. I am willing to watch "The Real Story: Amityville Horror" because the documentary involves the victims of the haunted house explaining their experience. The documentary that I chose to write about is "I Am Santa Claus" because it is about the Christmas holiday with Mick Foley acting in it.
The documentary I chose to watch involves characters expressing how much Christmas mean to them. They were willing to give other people the Christmas feeling they are obsessed with, just for one main day.
ReplyDeleteRussell Spice played the role of Santa Claus. Once I first saw Russell Spice, I thought that his hair needed to be groomed, then the hair dresser fixed his problem. He wanted to please children by looking like Santa Claus, but knew that he was just a regular guy with no special powers. Outside of his Santa costume, he sat at home on the computer, living off of social security. He does regular things like grocery store. As Russell narrates the documentary, he explained that he worked for 30 to 40 years catering weddings at the age of 15. He appeared to look like an odd person although he claimed to be a regular person. After seeing his red baseball cap, his weird, green Christmas shirt of Santa designs all over it, and his red pants, I wanted to know more about the character.
He explained an example of a person being 58-years-old, and the boss firing the person. Simultaneously to this metaphor, clay moving puppets was shown acting out his example. What was eye-catching was that the guy getting fired was in a Santa costume. He explained being depressed by searching for jobs after being fired. Then, he talked about possibly losing his house. As he was explaining losing his own house, it burned in a fire.
The main character of Russell posed in front of a camera man with majority of his clothing off. That scene was uncomfortable to watch. He would receive joy just by giving children the Christmas feeling he always had. He liked that his Santa Claus persona is nicer than his real self. Also, he explained not always wanting to be like Santa Claus. Violent footage of former professional wrestler Mick Foley was shown, then he narrated the documentary, saying that he loved Christmas. His photographs of his children were shown being at Santa's Village in Jefferson, New Hampshire. A fan spoke about his most famous match at the 1998 King of the Ring "Hell in a Cell." He was pushed off of the Hell in a Cell and fell into the announcer's table.
All of the films that made it into my final list of five had one thing in common: a man with a unique vision of the world. I believe this was directly related to my finishing Man on Wire and wanting more. I was searching for the same experience but with a character I liked better, or related with more closely. After looking at my list I felt a brief moment of sadness that I hadn’t picked even one with a strong female subject. Anyhow, I narrowed it down to three by watching the trailers. Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia, because of the catchy trailer and intriguing title. Salinger, because he was a great writer, an intriguing person, and there was a hint of sort of dark love story. The third was Cutie and the Boxer, I remembered seeing it on a list somewhere. The other two were Bill Cunningham: New York and Bukowski: Born into This.
ReplyDeleteI started Gore Vidal, he seems like a smart guy, by the forty minute mark all the exciting shots I remembered from the trailer had already been shown and I gave up. So I watched Salinger. This made more sense because I have read Catcher in the Rye, I actually know who he is as opposed to knowing nothing about Vidal. Salinger was well made. It was dramatic, honest, informative, and did a wonderful job of presenting the idea of madness being a quality of a true genius. I still wanted more.
Third time was the charm. Cutie and the Boxer was a cathartic, enjoyable and beautiful experience for me. I was happily surprised to have a female character to relate to, and her experience hits home for me in many ways. The opening includes shots of them together, a little banter on his birthday and then the beautiful still shot of Ushio Shinohara “painting”. If you don’t know his style, he basically attaches sponges to boxing gloves and goes at a canvas. He also makes sculptures. During the opening credits the camera is still as he makes his way across the canvas, from right to left, this allows time for observation, it is a perfect set up for Noriko’s story. Immediately after the credits is a picture of a young Ushio, allowing me to fall for him the way I imagine she did. The film takes a turn when he makes a comment about her being “just an assistant, the average one should support the genius”. Prior to this there are shots of them together, I knew it would be an unconventional love story, and I felt this sort of conflict coming on.
Around the ten minute mark we get Noriko’s side of the story, and from then on it is clear that this is really her story. At this mark we see her drawings for the first time. She is everything Ushio is not. She is calm and calculated, she thinks about the lines and her subject in a way that he doesn’t. My heart sank as soon as the painting of “Cutie and Bullie” came alive. The animation of her paintings was a fantastic addition to this story, it gave life to her interpretation of Ushio through Bullie.
Overall the filmmaker, Zachary Heinzerling, did a beautiful job letting Noriko tell her own story. I felt like every shot and every edit was made with the same slow, observant, gentleness that is characteristic of Noriko. He gives them both screen time, as well as their artwork. There are many long, silent, close ups of these artists at work either together or separately, and it worked wonderfully. This is a love story, an unusual one, but it is also a story about a woman’s endurance as a lover and a wife, and at the same time a story about poor artists’ endurance and passion for their work.
I KNOW THAT VOICE - I wanted to watch something a little more lighthearted. I often find myself watching animated tv shows and playing video games and going “ah this is the same person who voiced ______”. I think it’d be pretty cool to finally see the faces behind the voices and learn about how they approach their work.
ReplyDeleteIndie Game: The Movie - I grew up playing video games and I often found myself purchasing the huge game titles and avoiding the indie game sector. It wasn’t until I made friends at Columbia who slowly opened my eyes into the world of indie games. Im really curious as to how a group of game developers market their products in hopes of gaining success and recognition.
The House I Live In - This documentary has been on my list for quite some time and I haven’t gotten around to watching it. I’m a firm believer in abolishing the prison system and the flawed laws give harsh sentences to folks locked up on drug charges.
Dark Girls - I probably won’t watch this doc for quite some time but I was very glad to see that a doc was made to expose the prejudices that women with darker shades experience and that how from young ages we are taught that our skin is undesirable.
Nightmare Factor - I feel as though in film the art/makeup departments often get forgotten about unless it is a huge blockbuster film like The Lord of the Rings series or Avatar. I think it be cool to watch a doc that focuses on the makeup department for more than 10 minutes.
I Know That Voice explores the world of voice acting. It touches on the history of the craft along with it’s modern day practices. We learn about the business, the skill, and the work from some of the most notable voices from our time.
My goal this week was to watch something fun and lighthearted that I would enjoy and must say I picked the right doc to watch. I often multitask while watching anything but this is one of the films this semester that I actually paid full attention. What was most captivating about the film was to actually see the actors behind the voices and hear them switch between characters. They debunk misconceptions about the work and talk about how it’s not an easy job. That they have to train and exercise their voices like musicians.
Visually the film is nothing special. It’s a variety of talking heads with distracting backgrounds, clips of the voice actors working in studios and b-roll footage from animated movies, video games, and tv shows, as well as clips from comic-cons. The editing is pretty standard again nothing spectacular. The film often uses b-roll as a transition to the next subject. Their a few uses of motion graphics that make the film seem a bit cheesy but it’s not too terrible.
The one thing that really took me out of the film was the use of “bleeps” to sensor some of the swear words that the actors use. The noise they used was distracting and took me out of the film every time they used. I figure that the thought behind it was that they were already making a film starring people who are voice actors typically for animation and that the sound effect was similar to one used in cartoons, however the sfx they used did not benefit the film.
Near the end of the film John DiMaggio talks about why he wanted to make the film. He says it’s to bring attention to the amazing talent of the champions of voice acting and finally put faces behind the voices that do their job without hoping for recognition. Looking back on the film it all feels very honest and all the actors included seem genuinely humble and do their job for the passion and not for the fame. Overall the film is pretty good and I definitely recommended it for anyones who’s looking for a fun and playful doc.
When I started to look through the list of documentary films on Netflix I quickly realized that I wanted to watch the majority of them. However, I must choose only five so I tried to pick a variety of documentaries that were based on completely different subjects. These are the films that I chose:
ReplyDelete“How to Die in Oregon” is a film that has interested me for a few years, or at least since I caught a glimpse of the very end of the film on television. When I discovered what it was about I really became interested in how euthanasia is perceived in the United States and the rest of the world. Even though it will probably be a bit rough to get through I intend on watching it over winter break.
“Exit Through the Gift Shop” has also been on my list for a while. Mainly because my girlfriend won’t stop trying to convince me to watch it. I am also kind of intrigued by the artist Banksy, and I don't know much about his art so I hope this documentary will help me understand a little better.
“Ai Weiwei” is a film that I have never heard of about an artist that I never knew existed, but the description on Netflix alone was enough for me to be interested. I’m a sucker for artists that make their government angry, and it’s always a plus when there is a film made about them.
“The Thin Blue Line” is a film that I have wanted to see ever since we watched the beginning of it in class. I like most the Errol Morris films that I have seen so far and this one in particular seems promising.
“Samsara” is a film that I have been wanting to watch ever since my friend suggested it to me over a year ago. When I first heard about it I was told that the entire film had no talking in it whatsoever and that the cinematography was unbelievable so I knew I would have to check it out eventually.
The documentary I chose to watch was “Samsara”, and I was blown away by it. I initially thought that a documentary without any dialogue would be so boring that I would not be able get though it without falling asleep. I was totally wrong because I simply could not take my eyes away from the captivating beauty that is planet earth. The film did not need any dialogue because every shot said a thousand words that summarized the human condition in this modern era. Some of the imagery was so powerful that at times it I could not look away, and some times it was difficult to watch.
ReplyDeleteThe editing and the music were key to making this film as engaging and interesting as it was. It had an excellent pace and flow that connected each sequence of images into what seemed like a cohesive and coherent subject. I couldn’t tell you what the main intentions behind why the filmmakers chose to make this film are, but if I had to guess I would say that they are simply letting these sometimes unbelievable images speak for themselves. Each sequence was pieced together into another sequence so smoothly and sometimes so rapidly that I could not help but keep up with the films pace. Every sequence had a definite meaning or subject behind it that would eventually develop into a related subject but with a different and much bigger meaning. Quite honestly I have nothing negative to say about this film because it was the perfect length. It did not end abruptly and it never seemed to drag on boringly because the images gave it such an amazingly engaging tone.
There are no people speaking throughout the film which, stylistically, this decision gives it very refreshing vibe and makes this films simply one of the most entertaining documentaries that I have ever seen. I also thought that this style of filmmaking worked well for the overall authenticity of the film because there were no opinions being discussed but only images being shown for each individual viewer to take in and digest any way they choose. The only thing that I would point out is that some of shot seemed set up at least when the shots involved people who looked like they had been properly positioned to maximize the cinematic feel of each shot sequence. Other than that most of it sequences seemed very carefully planned out to look stunning cinematically with each one containing its own specific meaning.
The cinematography was by far some of the best I have ever seen in a documentary. It did not seem like I was even watching a documentary. Instead it felt like a feature length film that had characters and plot development and everything else that you can see in a fiction film. Music was also a huge part of why I loved this film. The music always went perfectly with the what was being shown. For example, in one scene there is a man sitting at a desk in an office with a business suit on. Suddenly he begins to smear clay all over his face and body while he completely covers his head in paper mache materials turning the office into a gray mess. While this is happening the music becomes dramatic and intense making the scene so much more bizarre then it already is. When what I was seeing was confusing to me the music always seemed to match the feeling of confusion or the disbelief of what I was watching. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys excellent cinematography, editing, or music composition for film because this specific film executed each one of these elements wonderfully.
ANALYSIS: I really enjoyed this film. I picked it because I saw it on numerous lists of the best docs to watch on Netflix, and also with the whole Ferguson cloud lingering above everything right now I figured the two stories could connect.
ReplyDeleteFrom the jump I thought it was very odd that Swedish cinematographers and news stations were so intrigued by Civil rights issues of the 60’s and 70’s and cared to follow the Black Panther party and other people/groups. Also I was intrigued that a few of my favorite musical artists Erykah Badu, and Talib Kweli gave commentary for the film. It made the film feel more current for me. The commentary also made me a bit critical. I questioned those two commentators at times thinking, “If you were born when what you’re talking about happened, then you were just a baby and it probably didn’t affect you much.”, in my head. I admit that thought might be fueled by ignorance. After that, I was trying to understand that this issue lingers. Although Talib Kweli and Erykah Badu might not have been around or cognizant of what happened at that exact time they surely have figured out over time by the conditioning of their environment. I myself have seen some of the evils of racism that still plague America today. An African-American friend and I were driving in a downtown area we were unfamiliar with, it was dark and raining and we accidentally turned the wrong way on a one way. A cop flashed us and we pulled over. He took our ID’s and ran them for about ten minutes. While the cop was doing that four more squad cars came and boxed us in. One behind us, two in front of us, and one on our side. I felt extremely threatened. It was uncalled for and didn’t seem normal.
I appreciated the disclaimer and the beginning of the film stating that they were not trying to promote a specific side or agenda just that this was coverage from Swedish cinematographers and media. They opened with a clip speaking to a man who owned a diner. All the people in the diner were white. They asked him if America was an equal opportunity kind of place and he explained that if you have a work ethic you could make it in America. I felt that somewhat broke their disclaimer but it was raw and it was real. They used a lot of good stock footage to help give a visual of the time, especially Harlem towards the end. There is just people everywhere and the drug problem appeared evident. They makers of the film chose to leave a few raw cuts in a few interviews. I remember one with Angela Davis and one with the girl at the end who described who she prostituted herself. They left her blank slate of a face at the end of her statement while a new clip of her voice began under and she started a new statement. I thought it was to show her emotion. Talking about what she did seemed to take her back and make her a bit quieter and more self-reflective.
The filmmakers also chose to use some suggestive B-Roll over the interview parts. I remember once an upside down American flag blowing in the wind just as proudly as it does when it’s face up. I don’t think they showed that as a overtly blatant anti-American war cry. Just as something to enforce or juxtapose the interviewers statement at the time. It was something to make you think and create your own opinion about. It didn’t feel aggressive.
Overall, I thought this was a great capturing of the time. I recall Talib Kweli saying that he was listening to a Stokely Carmichael speech from 40 years ago and the police somehow found out and questioned him about it. The fear he was talking about is something that is still around today and it’s despicable. I thought that was a powerful thing. And who knows what of this issue we’re not seeing for those very reasons.
What Am I Going to See?
ReplyDeleteDocumentaries are actually movies that I seek out to watch regularly. In fact, I have been known to watch a documentary over a narrative film before it was a requirement of this class. That is why it was hard to go through the list on Netflix and find titles I hadn’t seen and was interested. Here is my list and my reasons why, in no particular order:
I Escaped a Cult: For me, I was raised evangelical Christian, and looking back, it was, at times, highly suspect to being borderline cultish the way that my church believed in certain things. Therefore, these types of stories always intrigue me, on how people are able to finally break free from the power of their oppressors, and become capable of making their own decisions.
The Unbelievers: This movie is about a couple of guys promoting a scientific view of the world and the “rational questioning of religious belief.” Although I was raised to be devoutly religious, because of a particular situation involving the Bible College I was in at the age of 18 and how they kicked me out for being gay, I have since become more atheist or agnostic at best. Therefore, most anything film that has to do with disproving religion will get my attention.
Mr. Angel: Transgender activist and a porn star? Who wouldn’t find that interesting? I find stories about the LGBT community to be some of the most riveting and I’m sure that Buck Angel would be a fascinating character to watch. I have actually heard a little about this documentary and have wanted to watch it, but just haven’t taken the time to yet. It’s on the list already.
Ground Zero Super Tower: I remember where I was on that day, how freaked out I was when I watched the second plane hit the tower on live television, and with disbelief watched both towers fall. At the time, I lived in the flight path of Love Field in Dallas, and it was eerie to hear all flights stop for several weeks as the landing of planes every few minutes had become a regular occurrence. This would be interesting to me because of how I experienced 9/11.
Outrage: I finally chose this movie because of its subject matter. As I said before, stories about the LGBT community are some of the most riveting and fascinating stories, especially the hypocritical stories of closeted gays who have made it difficult for the LGBT community to move forward politically. This film is about the lives of closeted political officials and the outrage from their voting history.
ReplyDeleteWhat in particular I liked about this documentary was not only did Kirby Dick show the various stories of the politicians like Larry Craig or Charlie Crist and the people that were involved with those politicians from their point of views, but also politicians that finally came out of the closet like Jim McGreevey and Barney Frank, which I felt gave the film the authenticity and authority on the subject. Additionally, I liked seeing people like Elizabeth Birch from the Human Rights Campaign and Larry Kramer from ACT UP, which are two people that I personally have a lot of respect for because of their vast experience in the gay civil rights movement. All of the diverse interviews with political experts and journalists along with the video excerpts that the filmmaker used as added supporting evidence for his point on the subject led me to believe further in the authenticity of the film.
Ethically, some might say that the filmmaker was borderline infringing on the personal lives of some of the political figures, and it wasn’t appropriate for him to discuss the things that he did in the film. In fact, one reviewer for NPR had his review edited by NPR for content, removing the names of some of the politicians, for fear of overstepping into the personal lives of the politicians. In my opinion, he had enough supporting evidence to back up the stories.
Although there isn’t much to the cinematography for this film as this has more talking head interviews with supporting graphics and supporting footage, I still found it interesting and not boring, probably because I’m highly vested in the subject matter. For me, I enjoyed the stylization and editing of this film, which was kind of like Tabloid, and it made for an entertaining 90 minutes. This goes back to what we have been talking about in class, is that documentary filmmaking doesn’t have to be boring, and that documentaries have been getting better at having an entertaining style, from what I think is thanks to shows like “Nova” and “Frontline.”
Despite the fact that this film was made in 2009 and a lot has changed on the political landscape since this was made, especially as it relates to same-sex marriage, I still found it very relevant for today, in that the LGBT community is still actively fighting for civil rights, and often times, the fight is against members of the community who are afraid to come out of the closet for whatever reason that they have. I found it immensely poignant that the filmmaker finished the film with two of the experts stating basically the same thing, on the importance for social issues for gay people to come out of the closet and that if every gay person was to come out of the closet, there would no longer be a need for a gay civil rights movement.
Alive Inside- A story of Music and Memory
ReplyDeleteI haven’t seen this documentary on Netflix until now, and it was recommended for me. It’s about a social worker who uses music to unlock the memory of alzheimer patients. If there is a feature length documentary on this subject, then its probably works, thus I’m extremely interested.
Mona Lisa is Missing
I remember hearing this story when I took humanities back in my first semester of college. Vincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911. It seems like a fascinating quirky story to begin with, so I would imagine the documentary to be similar in nature.
Elephant in the Living Room
How did I not know this existed until now? I go crazy over these little shows when they come on Animal Plant but this is a whole documentary on people who raise dangerous wild animals in their home. If I don’t pick this today, I will definitely watch it in the future.
Serving Life
I typically don’t like violent or crime documentaries, but a friend was raving about what a great documentary this was. The story follows prisoners who are in jail for horrific crimes, and gives them a shot at redemption by having them volunteer for the prison hospice care.
Wake Up
I was raised Catholic, but after my mom was diagnosed with Cancer she became very spiritual. I have a hefty spiritual, “new age” if you will, background because of her. Wake up is the story of a man who one day awoke and was able to see angels, demons, and spirits. Do I believe this? Yes. Will it be a believable documentary? Who knows. There is a very fine thin line when presenting material like this to the public.
Elephant in the Living Room
ReplyDeleteI don’t know what provoked me to watch this one more than the others. I haven’t had a good dose of Fatal Attractions in a while, and I figured this documentary would be similar. I thought it would follow the highs and lows of one family raising a pride of lions, and end with someone dead. Instead this documentary weaved through multiple stories. It went through the cop’s perspective who is trying to save these animals/place them in safer homes/ keep them away from humans. Then it went through the stories of large deadly snacks running loose in Ohio, to people dying from monkey attacks, to the state to state affairs of these predators and the laws, back to the main guy Terry who is raising two lions for fun in his backyard. The documentary was too unfocused. All of these elements could have worked, but they were thrown about. Terry has an emotional story to tell, and while he was throughout the documentary, they didn’t give him the attention he deserved up front. I didn’t know why I should care about him, but then I realized the director just did a poor job portraying him and his story. In the middle of the film he is poking his head through the trailer where his big cats are kept, telling an emotional story and crying, and the director puts in some weird music over him telling his story. I just wanted him to have his moment. In silence.
Aside from the cinematography being on par with that of an amateur, and it was clear no real decisions were made during the filming, I think the film lacked the most in the sound department. I may be being overly critical, but that is what took me out of the film the most. The times they choose to place in filler music, it was just that, filler. I would have preferred to just hear the dialogue at times. There is one specific part where the cop is in a field of tall grass looking out into the distance, and his voice over is being played. He is talking about how this is wear big cats should be, roaming free in the tall grass in Africa. The voice over then completely fades while he is talking. You’re left wondering “Was the rest of what he was going to say important? Or was that an okay time to cut it out?” because the same image of him in the field is still on screen. Then about 2-3 seconds later the film cuts to his hand running through the tall grass, a nice close up shot. If they would have payed a little more attention during editing, they would have realized that cut should have matched the fade of the audio. Then maybe they would have also realized the faded audio was kind of weird, but it would have made more sense. There was a lot, emphasis on a lot, of little hiccups like that through the film. When it was over it almost felt like I watched an edit that still needed to be tweaked.
The story was there, it just needed to be shaped a bit more. I wish I could take that footage and touch it up a bit. I’m no sound artist, editor, or cinematographer, but they could have used a little help in all departments. I think the documentary serves the purpose to inform about all these wild animals running loose in people’s homes. It’s a fantastic topic to explore and shed light on because I had no idea that seven states do not require permits for animals of that nature. Also, only a handful of other states do require them, and they are easy to obtain. I liked the documentary for what it was. I would recommend it as a “I have half a frozen pizza on a Monday night”, and not something you really plan to sit down and watch seriously.
Because I come to Columbia with an extensive background in Biology and Chemistry,, I made choices that marries science to film. As the rising increase of illness continues to plague this country, I wanted to view some of the films that bring awareness to how our overall health is directly related to the things we put in our bodies. I settled on 5 documentaries that pretty much relates food choices to illness and calls out how the government basically knows so, but chooses to let the consumption proceed since the associated money market profit margin is too huge to gamble.
ReplyDelete1. Ted Talks: Defying Disease (documents proposed solutions to cure deadly diseases)
2. Farmegeddon ( documents how political powers forced farms to stop providing healthy foods to the communities)
3. GMO OMG ( documents he risks of genetically modified organisms and exposes what's really in food)
4. Forks Over Knives (documents how processed food consumption lead to obesity, diabetes, and other diseases)
5. Vegucated ( Chronicles animal product consumer's journeys as vegans for six weeks)
I chose VEGUCATED because it's closer to science in the facet of it being a case study which you have to watch for actual results. In this film, the director wanted to bring awareness not only to the different affects are bodies will have eating a plant-based diet, but o also show the inhumane conditions the animals we consume must endure in order to meet the growing supply and demand.
I liked this experiment. Three people, Tesla, Brian, and Ellen, were chosen from a list of those responding to an add from craigslist. All of them were like yeah we'll try the experiment, but I don't know what life would be like without meat. Going forward, Ellen actually fully converted to vegan, and Tesla and Brian converted vegetarian. In the beginning, these conversions seemed imposibble, but after learning and witnessing firsthand some of the conditions animals for consumption endure, the conversions felt necessary as all three subjects felt a sense of responsibility to the animals' sufferings.
The director does a good job at making her case authentic. She reveals how restaurants that have animal inclusive menus, have animal-free meal options and she reveals footage of herself eating at Subway and Johnny Rockets I guess to bring awareness to the fact that these [places that we wouldnt associate with vegeterian/vegan anything, can suit your needs.
I thought she used a very ethical approach and Tesla,Brian, and Ellen are her best evidence. She captured the honest words, emotions, and reactions of her subjects as they became more knowledgeable about healthier food choices, conditions animals endure, and how much healthier they felt after consuming plant-based foods.I don't think she was unethical at all, but I like how she backs her own ethics up by revealing statistics and real-time videos that capture non-ethical practices of others. As far as responsibility, the title itself holds us responsible as it implies that we have to have a full-rounded education behind all of our food processes and not just market to table. I think she responsibly reveals the things the financial powerhouses don't want consumers to know.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any aesthetic arguments to this film. I loved the cinematography and raw her cuts were. I noticed she didn't try to feel her reel with all the smooth transition options and her cuts seemed really raw.....which makes me wonder if the intentional rawness relates to her campaining for healthier, organic, RAW choices. Not tomention, her filming and tour of the empty slaughter house where she explains what conditions the animals endured, and cut to actual footage of what she was explaining in that empty space was brilliant and made her premise more believable. I thought the sound was sweet. She mostly used happy music that promote free-choice. This decision helped her tremendously as the entire film shows how our choices can shape the change needed in this world.
I actually learned way more than I expected. I didn't know cows were being artificially impregnated just to have their milk supply stolen from the babies and sold to consumers. I didn't know that the ocean floor is totally swept in hopes of capturing other fish, but the fish that can be consumed die or are killed being brought to sea level. I also didn't know parent cows, chickens, and pigs are forcefully separated from their young immediately after giving birth for practice. getting a higher wow factor, I didn't know the animal protein productions create more global warming than automobiles. And last but not least, I was really shocked to learn that people I'd learned other facts about my entire life, Susan B. Anthony, Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Ceasar Chavez, and Coretta Scott King were all a part of the vegan/vegetarian scene. I reccomend this movie.
LOGLINE
Woman conducts study with human volunteers to bring awareness to the benefits of plant-consumption, and why we should avoid animal alternatives.
Happy- A documentary about the science of happiness. I’ve been feeling down lately, and so I thought maybe watching this documentary would somehow lift up my spirits.
ReplyDeleteCutie and the Boxer- I saw the trailer for this movie back during the Oscars, and thought the couple seemed really quirky and interesting, kind of like John Lennon and Yoko Ono if they grew up and got old together.
I Know That Voice- I love anime and cartoons, and whenever I watch them, I often try to recognize the voice actors from other work. I thought that watching this documentary would be an interesting view into what happens in the recording booth.
Life in a Day- The idea to make a collaborative documentary with people from around the world seems really unique and thought-provoking about cultures and ways of life different than ours, much like what Joseph Gordon Levitt is doing with his project hitRecord.
Senna- I saw a part of this documentary in one of my editing lectures, and I thought that the way the footage was put together in that one short clip was very emotional. Although I wasn’t very interested in the subject matter, the way the editor weaved the scenes together to evoke an intentional emotion was very great.
The Paw Project- Because there’s a sad kitten on the cover.
I decided to watch Life in a Day. Life in a Day is an experimental documentary about one single day, July 24th 2010, seen through the eyes of people from around the world. The project asked netizens to submit their videos through YouTube to be pieced and edited into a collaborative film.
With the help of YouTube, LG, National Geographic, and Ridley Scott’s production company, they gathered and edited over thousands of submissions into this beautiful documentary about everyday life. I have to say that this film was easy to love. The purpose of the film, for one. I liked that the masterminds behind this project sought out to showcase the beauty of the world in just one ordinary day. To some, it may not seem so unique, but to others it is a wonder, a marvelous spectacle, a new experience. Of course the intentions of the filmmakers could have easily shifted if, say, they asked people to submit footage from a certain day of preexisting significance, such as September 11, 2001. “What were you doing that particular day? Where were you? How did you feel?” But no, instead, they asked people to film and submit videos about how they CURRENTLY feel, what are they CURRENTLY doing, who do they CURRENTLY love? It gives a sense of living in the present, in the NOW, which is what I find profound about this film. It’s a documentary about the beautiful present, and in turn certainly gives a significance to an insignificant day such as July 24th, 2010.
Although this film was put together with other people’s vlogs, the main filmmakers’ authority shines through in the editing. They use both associational editing and the sequence of times in the day to organize their cuts, which was probably the most effective way to arrange them. They were able to add a bit more organization though, by asking participants three simple questions: “What do you love? What do you fear? What’s in your pocket?” The editing definitely shined through for me in one particular montage that depicted love. Images of couples infatuated with each other played along with the nightly events of one man in Chicago calling his mother about how he should ask his friend out. This build-up of hope and possible kindling of love, only to be shot down by a simple “no,” I thought was a quirky and humorous way to piece together the themes about love and rejection.
DeleteIn some of the moments where we spend a little bit more time with the person, it was raw and authentic. For example, when the man on the couch decides to share his coming out of the closet to his grandmother with the viewers. Or when the father wakes up his son to pray at the Butsudan and greet his deceased wife. Those little, intimate scenes reveal so much about themselves to the world. I thought that vulnerability was what gave this film so much credibility and authenticity.
There were some problems regarding ethics that I do agree with the critics about. This film was crowdsourced, and all of the video footage was original content, but the filmmakers released this documentary and made a profit off of it without compensating any of the co-creators. This pulls into question rules regarding free labor. But after they were criticized by this, they did decide to put the film up on Youtube, where it all started, for free viewing.
Overall, I found this documentary refreshing, and reminded me a lot of the project Humans of New York in a film format. There are naysayers who claim that this film was not a documentary at all, that documentaries “should have a point, narrative, conflict and goal.” True, this film is not a documentary in the traditional sense. It’s a unique, modern documentary that, made possible only by the advancement of technology, tells the truth about the whole world seen through the eyes of others. It fosters acceptance of cultural differences and wonderful wanderlust.
What Are You Going to See?
ReplyDelete1. Milius: The Greatest Filmmaker You Never Knew- As I was scrolling through Netfilx, the cover art of this particular film stood out to me, as well as the title. As a film student, I am intrigued by all things pertaining to the subject, and am especially interested in exploring the lives and works of influential people who go unnoticed by the bulk of society.
2. 5 Broken Cameras- I’m fairly certain I heard about this film during the course of the semester, and I found the politically charged concept behind it worth exploring.
3. Cropsey- I love a good crime documentary now and again, and this one seemed particularly creepy because it involved missing children’s cases, which I’m always fascinated to investigate.
4. The Central Park Five- I naturally gravitate towards anything that explores the nature of race relations, and anything that attempts to make a commentary on socio/cultural conditions within U.S. society.
5. Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap- This was an odd ball pick that I had been interested in watching for a while, simply because of my cultural and generational ties to Hip Hop culture.
My Choice: Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap
ReplyDeleteLogline: Rapper Ice-T delves into the creative process behind Rap music as an artistic craft, through various interviews with prominent figures within the industry.
I have to admit, this was not a documentary that I thought I would find particularly intriguing when I first came across it. I am not at all the biggest fan of Rap or Hip-Hop music. I can definitely appreciate the classics I grew up listening to, but I don’t follow it much these days. In fact, half of the artists featured in this film, I had no prior exposure or familiarity with before watching. Though still, because the evolution of Hip-Hop music has framed itself into a sub-culture that was inadvertently embedded within my own as a child, it does possess a certain essence of nostalgia for me when explored. So in that implication, I actually very much enjoyed this film.
The film, itself, is chronicled in a way that studies the essence of Rap music relative to location within the United States. The first half of the film is heavily concentrated on rappers of the East Coast, where the music is rooted. Then we gradually travel our way down to the West Coast, where it received its historical narrative evolution. But rather than treat the subject matter as a history lesson with formal voice-over narration and archival footage, the whole film plays out like a casual conversation between friends. As the film’s director and narrator, Rapper Ice –T is constantly in front of the camera. He is very much an active participant in the various interviews he conducts, frequently chiming in, sharing his own thoughts and experiences along the way. In addition, the interviews themselves are fairly uncensored and unbound to a particular schema, so much so that there is a slew of on-the-spot freestyle rapping and spontaneous moments that read more as unscripted behind-the-scenes bloopers and outtakes rather than substantial footage. In one instance during an interview with Q-Tip on a busy New York street, Ice -T is being constantly interrupted by passing fans, and becomes frustrated to the point that he begins putting a stop to it, himself. There is another instance where rapper Grandmaster Caz candidly rolls a blunt of marijuana, as he delineates the euphoric feeling of getting high as part of his creative process to writing lyrics. But the choice to keep these crude moments in the film lends itself nicely to an overwhelming blatant spirit of authenticity and narrative authority that kept my intrigue.
In addition, the film’s gritty aesthetical elements aided greatly in bringing forth the humbled street essence of the Hip-Hop attitude. There are numerous instances where a given rapper’s piercing words are heard over lingering images of graffiti filled walls and apartment complexes, rusted street signs, chain-link fences and shady alley ways. Everything from overhead shots of the New York Skyline, to abandoned buildings in Detroit to the ghettos of South Central, the cinematography is brimming with a chastened ruggedness that is undeniably dignified in its own right. The music is spot-on in progressing the narrative forward, giving each region its own piece of validation and title. From the moment we hear Eminem’s Lose Yourself as we glide past the East Coast waters and over decade-old landmarks like the Michigan Central Depot, we are instantaneously overcome with the sense that we have left New York, and are now undeniably in Detroit territory. And as the lake that surrounds the Motor City dissolves into Pacific waters over the classic track, Forgot About Dre, the same sensation is revived as we embark westward to the streets of L.A. All in all, this film is evocative, engaging, and thematically genuine, bringing out the more refreshingly meticulous, astute side to the many notorious faces that make up this fascinating, ever evolving genre of contemporary music.
1. Cleo From 5 to 7
ReplyDeleteI have only seen a few of Varda's short docs, but I love her wry experimental style. Cleo From 5 to 7 is an almost-in-real-time doc that explores larger issues regarding the human condition within the simple but dramatic context of waiting for a doctor's test results.
2. Gates of Heaven
I love documentaries that feature eccentric characters and unusual occupations. I'm interested to see how Morris tackles issues of loss and mortality in an offbeat, humorous manner.
3. The Last One
I started watching this documentary about an elderly Appalachian moonshiner several years ago. I like stories about archaic work that is no longer widely practiced, because they often include fascinating personal histories and the contrast between the past and the present as experienced through an older person's life.
4. Exit Through the Gift Shop
I've been lying about having seen this one for years. I love art docs and this one seems styled and focused in an interesting way, dealing with issues of obsession and commitment (but people think the film is a hoax?) It seems to be one of those iconic films that I don't think I can picture until I see it.
5. Cutie and the Boxer
I've seen trailers and short clips from this film and the colorful, detailed visual style has always attracted me (and almost everyone I know has been pressuring me to watch it since it came out). I love stories about the processes in art and the progression of life. And I adore doc “love stories” because they explore deeper, more unique issues of love that are truer to the human experience rather than to a tried-and-true story formula.
Cutie and the Boxer is the story of an elderly Japanese artist couple living in New York. It focuses on the wife Noriko's journey to find independence in her own art, while exploring their 40-year-long marriage.
The perspective in Cutie and the Boxer is particularly interesting to me. While the film is about a couple's 40-year-long marriage and their current relationship dynamic, it is ultimately the story of the wife Noriko, who has been overshadowed by her overbearing husband for most of her life and is beginning to gain her own identity. When we see her husband Ushio creating his famous “boxing paintings”, the shots are wider to capture his kinetic energy and body movement. But when we see Noriko painting, the shots become more intimate. Her paintings are small and her movements are delicate, so we experience her work process through close-ups (of her brush making a perfectly planned stroke, her paints blending in to one another, and her face as she studies her progress). We are literally and figuratively much closer to Noriko than we are to Ushio. Because of the way she is shot, we sense that her world is a much more insular, private place than his is.
Yet, the moments between the two of them capture the intricacies of their relationship. They rarely (if ever) talk to the filmmaker (though there are some voiceover comments that narrate their experiences and thoughts, we never see them talking to the camera). Rather, their dynamic is exposed through interactions with each other. We see Noriko working to help Ushio in his studio, Ushio making snide comments about Noriko's artistic capacity. But we come to learn that Noriko holds much of the power in their relationship, as Ushio has come to be dependent on her assistance and emotional support. In a later scene, she tells him (jokingly) that the only reason he keeps her around is so that he can have someone to read the subway maps, to which he responds “I need you.” We see that they are at a point where they can let the difficulties of their relationship exist at the surface, but still experience a deep sense of love from the opposing personalities that generate that conflict.