Top 10 of 2010 Part 2 Documentaries

Top 10 Documentaries


1. Waiting for “Superman” - Definitely the highlight of Sundance 2010 for me. I didn’t have a ticket for the movie but managed to get waitlisted and get in. Really was an eye opening movie for me. It seems the school system has been broken for a while and no one seems to be able to fix it. This movie proposes some radical ideas and shows what some parents go through to get their child into a good school. If anything this movie is a great movie just because it starts the conversation. I would love to hear some feedback from teachers if they have seen the movie and how they feel about the ideas talked about in it.

2. Restrepo - A fascinating look into the life of a platoon in one of the deadliest parts of Afghanistan . The movie really captures the real experiences of an American Soldier from the highs to the lows.

3. The Tillman Story- Another fascinating look at the military. This one deals with the controversial death of football star Pat Tillman. More about government propaganda then about the military it gives a glimpse how the government tried to use the death of a celebrity to promote the war.

4. Best Worst Movie- One of the funniest documentaries of the year. It looks at the cult following of Troll 2 which is considered the worst movie of all time. It is directed by one of the stars of the movie as he interviews other cast members and fans of the film. Two interesting points of the movie are how people get obsessed with their own celebrity and the director who thinks it’s a great movie and doesn’t understand why everyone is laughing at it.

5. A Small Act- A real touching movie about how making a little donation can change someones life. The movie is about a man who grew up in Kenya and had his education sponsored by a charitable organization and an unknown women who gave money to the organization. After going to school in Kenya he ends up getting a scholarship to Harvard and ends up working for the United Nations. He eventually seeks out the women who made the donations and finds out she is a Swedish women who he eventually becomes friends with. He has now started his own charitable organization to help other school children in Kenya . The point of this movie is to show that what we might consider a small donation can go a long way.

6. Catfish- A somewhat controversial documentary because some claim it is really not a documentary. About a guy who becomes friends with a family on facebook but things isn’t always what they seem. I don’t want to ruin the ending but it is an interesting look at how we connect through technology.

7. Exit Through the Gift Shop- This movie had been getting great reviews but the premise didn’t sound at all interesting. I finally watched it on Netflix streaming and was pleasantly surprised. The movie is a documentary about a guy making a documentary about street artists. Sound ridiculous but the people in this movie are some unique they make it work. Banksy a world famous street artist whose identity is unknown flips the camera on the guy who was making a film about him. Basically because the guy ends up being a bad filmmaker. I heard on the DVD is the original documentary the guy made but turns out his is the more interesting story.

8. Gasland- This is one of those muckraking movies that sets out to expose a dangerous practice of a corporation. Josh Fox finds out that energy companies are using a technique called “fracking” to get natural gas out of the ground. And while it works and could lead to lower energy prices the practice has a lot of hazards. The corporations are using their government connections to create loop holes that allow them to keep doing despite some evidence that it is harming the environment and people.

9. The Red Chapel- This is one of the funniest and sad documentaries I saw this year. Basically this comedy troupe from Denmark gets invited to North Korea to perform their routine. The leader of the troupe Mads Brugger brings two Korean comedians with him and documents the whole experience. The point of the movie is to get a sneak peek into the world of the North Koreans. He does things purposefully to get a reaction from them and the two comedians with him struggle with what the injustice they see around them and the crazy things Mads want them to do.

10. Marwencol- Interesting documentary the delves into the mind. The movie is about a man who was beaten within inches of his life and makes a recovery but now suffers serious brain damage. Unable to work he creates war scenes with his toy soldiers and pretty much lives in this fantasy world of Marwencol where he can be a brave soldier. He takes a lot of pictures of his soldiers in action and has elaborate sets. These pictures end up taking him to an art show where they become instantly praised and he struggles to figure out how this new found reality fits into his fantasy world.

I did not see Inside Job or A Film Unfinished two of the best reviewed documentaries.

Top 5 Short Documentaries

1. Born Sweet - Definitely the best documentary short I saw at Sundance and now has the chance of being nominated for an Academy Award. It is about a village in Cambodia whose wells have been poisoned by arsenic. The movie shows the struggles of one boy with effects of the arsenic.


2. Quadrangle –The story of two couples who end up swinging in the 70’s. The story is made by the daughter of one of the couples and she gets her parents to be very frank about their experiences as they try to explain it to her. http://www.quadranglefilm.com/ Quadrangle will be premiering on HBO 2/16 check it out.

3. The Poodle Trainer – The title pretty much says it all. About a Russian lady who trains poodles for circuses. I don’t know what is more fascinating how smart the dogs are or how crazy she seems. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwwb_G_92tk


4. Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No – An animated short about one of the craziest baseball feet’s in history. Doc Ellis tells how he ended high on LSD and still ended up pitching a no hitter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vUhSYLRw14

5. Lets Harvest the Organs of Death Row Inmates – A 2 minute animated documentary that is both disturbing and thought provoking. Since my dad had a heart transplant this subject is very near to my heart and makes you think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJkpDNwM0lk

Week in Review 6/27/10

Decided to try something different today(and maybe try to do it weekly) and review some of the movies I saw this week on TV, DVD, or in theatres. Obviously this will not include movies that won best picture as those will get their own posts.

First lets start with the only movie I saw in theatres this week Splice.
I heard a lot of things about Splice. Critics seemed to be liking it but one person I talked to said it was really bad. So, I had to go see it for myself. Good thing I decided to go see it this week because it was only playing in one theatre in my area. The movie is about a couple(Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley) who work in genetics and splice together DNA from different animals including humans to make a new species. Of course things go horribly wrong and mayhem ensues. I liked it and even though it is a little predictable it has some great WTF moments. The fact that they really to go where they did is what sets this movie apart from other monster movies. Dark, creepy, and bizarre makes it a fun movie. The movie really is about morality of creating life and what happens when we become to attached to what we create.



Also this week I had my ducts cleaned in my house and while the people where here making lots of noise I decided to watch a silent movie. I had Battleship Potemkin from 1925 on my DVR. This movie is on IMDB top 250, 1001 Movies to See Before you Die and a number of other lists. So I had to check it out. The movie is about a Russian Battleship that helps start the Russian Revolution of 1905 with a mutiny. Started out kind of similar to Mutiny on the Bounty where the captain is cruel and unjustly punishes the crew but ends up being much different. I had DVR'd it from TCM and am always glad when Robert Osborne gives me a little background on the movie. Found out that it was the first movie to use montages to show different perspectives of what was going on. Also that they filmed one of the most famous scenes the Odessa staircase scene where the actual Odessa massacre happened. For a silent movie the action was pretty good and is one of the best silent movies I have seen. This movie topped many Greatest Movies of All Times list as late as the 1950's.




On Saturday night went over a friends house and watched Brothers with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire. What a good movie. I wasn't expecting it to be that good. For those who don't know its about two brothers Tommy and Sam. When Sam goes off to war in Afghanistan he is involved in a helicopter crash and presumed dead. Tommy who has been a screw up and recently released from jail helps take care of Sam's wife and two daughters. When Sam is discovered alive and rescued from a POW camp he comes back not quite the same. All the performances are great even the two girls that play the daughters. Tobey Maguire looks very creepy and scary as Sam after he returns from war. He has a tendency to just stare at people with this look like he will just snap at any minute. An unexpected great performance. I liked the movie and the ending, but the people I saw it with didn't like the ending. I thought it ended perfectly. And while I am known for picking movies that have bad endings I don't feel this is one of those.


The last movie I watched this week is the documentary Gasland on HBO. Not the best documentary I have seen, but does shed some light on an important subject. The movie is about the harvesting of natural gas from the ground in America. Natural gas is supposed to be the fuel of the future and help get America off foreign oil. It is very abundant all across the United States. The problem is the method that is used to extract it. The method is call fracking and they use water and "fracking fluid" a high pressure to crack the rock under the ground and release the gas. The problem with this is that some of the "fracking fluid" and natural gas leaks into the water system and people are getting sick. The most powerful part of the movie is watching people set there water taps on fire. Very important movie as more and more natural gas is being extracted all around the country.

http://www.hbo.com/#/documentaries/gasland/synopsis.html/