Director: Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn, Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans [both of which are very good])
Stars: Timothy Treadwell (real person, its a documentary)
YesNoSoso: 1
This could be the classic case of me overreacting to all the positive hype this movie received but I didn't love this movie. I've been on a bit of a documentary kick lately and was very excited about Grizzly Man, seeing as everybody who I told about my recent documentary kick suggested it to me. Add that to the fact that it was on The Onion's AV Club's 50 best movies of the 00's and I was expecting a mind blowing documentary. I really didn't find that to be true. Some of the footage Treadwell shot and Herzog used is truley beautiful and makes for a visually appealing film but I found the story to be less than compelling. Perhaps it was knowing he dies, but I was simply bored.
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Wikipedia
Showing posts with label Documentary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Documentary. Show all posts
8/2/10
7/29/10
Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Director: Andrew Jarecki (his first movie, he co-founded Moviefone)
Stars: Arnold Friedman (a real person, its a documentary)
YesNoSoso: 2
Much in the style of Soupcons, Capturing the Friedmans is a documentary about a court case in which the details of a heinous crime are never really very clear. Jarecki wanted to make a documentary about David Friedman, the most sought after party clown in New York City, but instead found the court case revolving around David's father and brother, Arnold and Jesse respectively, the more interesting subject. The ups and downs, twists and turns of Capturing the Friedmans are so good and so profound that I would be remiss to include even the slightest hint to its subject matter. Just go see it and prepare for a wild, though admittedly depressing, ride.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: Arnold Friedman (a real person, its a documentary)
YesNoSoso: 2
Much in the style of Soupcons, Capturing the Friedmans is a documentary about a court case in which the details of a heinous crime are never really very clear. Jarecki wanted to make a documentary about David Friedman, the most sought after party clown in New York City, but instead found the court case revolving around David's father and brother, Arnold and Jesse respectively, the more interesting subject. The ups and downs, twists and turns of Capturing the Friedmans are so good and so profound that I would be remiss to include even the slightest hint to its subject matter. Just go see it and prepare for a wild, though admittedly depressing, ride.
IMDB
Wikipedia
12/26/09
Man on Wire (2008)
Director: James Marsh (The King [never saw it, heard it was good], nothing else I've ever heard of)
Stars: Phillipe Petit (the movie doesn't contain actors, its a documentary)
YesNoSoso: 2
An extrodinary documentary about Phillipe Petit's high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974. When I first heard of this documentary it was accompanied by lots of hype but I was skeptical. How could a movie about a high-wire act entertain me for two entire hours? But Man on Wire is stylized as more of a caper documentary than anything else. Highly entertaining and beautifully shot.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: Phillipe Petit (the movie doesn't contain actors, its a documentary)
YesNoSoso: 2
An extrodinary documentary about Phillipe Petit's high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974. When I first heard of this documentary it was accompanied by lots of hype but I was skeptical. How could a movie about a high-wire act entertain me for two entire hours? But Man on Wire is stylized as more of a caper documentary than anything else. Highly entertaining and beautifully shot.
IMDB
Wikipedia
8/24/09
Super High Me (2007)
Director: Michael Blieden (some stand up specials, but wrote and starred in Melvin goes to dinner which is fantastic)
Stars: Doug Benson (Mostly a stand up comedian, has had small roles on many comedic efforts)
YesNoSoso: 1
Surprisingly funny documentary filmed almost as a joke. Doug Benson used to make this joke in his stand up that instead eating McDonalds for 30 days like Morgan Spurlock, he would smoke pot for 30 days. Then him and his buddy Michael Blieden decided to actually do it. He didn't imbibe any alcohol and didn't blaze for 30 days before smoking all day every day for 30 days. He took a number of tests (SAT, memory, pychic, a full physical) during both phases and did standup about 3 nights a week. The movie is very funny and also contains interesting information about the subject of Californias "legal" marijuana.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: Doug Benson (Mostly a stand up comedian, has had small roles on many comedic efforts)
YesNoSoso: 1
Surprisingly funny documentary filmed almost as a joke. Doug Benson used to make this joke in his stand up that instead eating McDonalds for 30 days like Morgan Spurlock, he would smoke pot for 30 days. Then him and his buddy Michael Blieden decided to actually do it. He didn't imbibe any alcohol and didn't blaze for 30 days before smoking all day every day for 30 days. He took a number of tests (SAT, memory, pychic, a full physical) during both phases and did standup about 3 nights a week. The movie is very funny and also contains interesting information about the subject of Californias "legal" marijuana.
IMDB
Wikipedia
8/3/09
Un Coupable Ideal (2001)
Director: Jean-Xavier de Lastrade (Soupcons, nothing else I've ever seen)
Stars: real people, its a documentary
YesNoSoso: 1
I watched Un Coupable Ideal (English version: Murder on a Sunday Morning) because I was blown away by Soupcons (English version: The Staircase) and it was very good. Although, it wasn't as incredible and didn't have as many "but wait..!" moments as The Staircase. Un coupable Ideal was less of a whodunnit and more of a story about a public defender's crusade to save an innocent boy. A real drama thats authenticity really adds to the excitement. Even if I only gave it a YesNoSoso 1, its a solid 1 and I will be checking out more works by Lastrade.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: real people, its a documentary
YesNoSoso: 1
I watched Un Coupable Ideal (English version: Murder on a Sunday Morning) because I was blown away by Soupcons (English version: The Staircase) and it was very good. Although, it wasn't as incredible and didn't have as many "but wait..!" moments as The Staircase. Un coupable Ideal was less of a whodunnit and more of a story about a public defender's crusade to save an innocent boy. A real drama thats authenticity really adds to the excitement. Even if I only gave it a YesNoSoso 1, its a solid 1 and I will be checking out more works by Lastrade.
IMDB
Wikipedia
7/22/09
Soupcons (The Staircase) (2004)
Director: Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (Un Coupable Ideal [Murder on a Sunday Morning], other french documentaries)
Stars: Michael Peterson (A real person, its a documentary)
YesNoSoso: 2
I apologize, this is another mini-series, but as with Afro Samurai and Generation Kill, it was so good I couldn't help but spread the word. I rented this after David Cross gave it a ringing endorsement on the Adam Corolla Podcast and I will pretty much do whatever David Cross tells me to. It did not disappoint. This is like the greatest Law and Order episode you've ever seen, except its all real.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: Michael Peterson (A real person, its a documentary)
YesNoSoso: 2
I apologize, this is another mini-series, but as with Afro Samurai and Generation Kill, it was so good I couldn't help but spread the word. I rented this after David Cross gave it a ringing endorsement on the Adam Corolla Podcast and I will pretty much do whatever David Cross tells me to. It did not disappoint. This is like the greatest Law and Order episode you've ever seen, except its all real.
IMDB
Wikipedia
4/6/09
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 1/2 (2005)
Director: William Greeves (Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 1, nothing else I've heard of)
Stars: Noone I've ever heard of
YesNoSoso: 0
You can read my review of Symbiopsychotaxiplam: Take 1 and it will be precisely the same for the redux. Apparently this movie is a big deal in the film community for its adventurist concept because it got Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) and Steve Buscemi to executive produce a revisiting of it. Which is just as boring as the original, BUT with a Q & A with some key players! Skip it.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: Noone I've ever heard of
YesNoSoso: 0
You can read my review of Symbiopsychotaxiplam: Take 1 and it will be precisely the same for the redux. Apparently this movie is a big deal in the film community for its adventurist concept because it got Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) and Steve Buscemi to executive produce a revisiting of it. Which is just as boring as the original, BUT with a Q & A with some key players! Skip it.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)
Director: William Greeves (I haven't heard of anything else he's done)
Stars: No one famous
YesNoSoso: 0
Listen to the idea William Greeves envisioned for this movie: Audition film students to act in a movie, continually acting out the same scene. Then Greeves hired a crew to film a "making-of" and concurrently had a crew filming the crew hired to film the "making-of". Greeves purposedly filmed the "actual" movie terribly in order to incite a rebellion among the crew, a rebellion that actually does occur when the crew changes the ending to the movie (that didn't really exist in the first place). If that didn't make any sense to you, don't worry about it, the movie is extremely boring, unless you enjoy pompus film-school douchebags talking in airs of self-importance.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: No one famous
YesNoSoso: 0
Listen to the idea William Greeves envisioned for this movie: Audition film students to act in a movie, continually acting out the same scene. Then Greeves hired a crew to film a "making-of" and concurrently had a crew filming the crew hired to film the "making-of". Greeves purposedly filmed the "actual" movie terribly in order to incite a rebellion among the crew, a rebellion that actually does occur when the crew changes the ending to the movie (that didn't really exist in the first place). If that didn't make any sense to you, don't worry about it, the movie is extremely boring, unless you enjoy pompus film-school douchebags talking in airs of self-importance.
IMDB
Wikipedia
3/31/09
Gonzo: The Life and Works of Hunter S Thompson (2008)
Director: Alex Gibney (I've never seen anything else he's directed, but supposedly he's a very respected Documentarian [not a real word])
Stars: Johnny Depp (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Astronaut's Wife)
Tom Wolfe (hasn't really acted in anything)
YesNoSoso: 1
I will say that this was a pretty good documentary, but it was still a documentary and I can think of only a handful of documentaries that I would watch a second time (King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters and Hoop Dreams come to mind). If you are a Hunter S Thompson fan you will more than likely love this documentary and I would venture that someone who has never even heard of Hunter would find it even more interesting. Dr Thompson was an amazing man, on account of both his skills and his debauchery. The world is a much less interesting place without him.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: Johnny Depp (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Astronaut's Wife)
Tom Wolfe (hasn't really acted in anything)
YesNoSoso: 1
I will say that this was a pretty good documentary, but it was still a documentary and I can think of only a handful of documentaries that I would watch a second time (King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters and Hoop Dreams come to mind). If you are a Hunter S Thompson fan you will more than likely love this documentary and I would venture that someone who has never even heard of Hunter would find it even more interesting. Dr Thompson was an amazing man, on account of both his skills and his debauchery. The world is a much less interesting place without him.
IMDB
Wikipedia
9/19/08
The King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters (2007)
Director: Seth Gordan (I've never seen anything else he's done but he's doing Four Christmases so I'm skeptical on his staying power)
Stars: Steve Wiebe (not an actor)
Billy Mitchell (not an actor, Perfect Pac-man Score)
YesNoSoso: 2
Jesus Tap Dancing Christ this movie was good. It follows impossibly nice, recently laid off Steve Wiebe as he tries to break cocky asshole Billy Mitchell's World Record on Donkey Kong. I spent the entire two hours unsuccessfully trying to figure whether King of Kong was a real Documentary or a Mockumentary in the style of Spinal Tap or Best in Show. Its real folks and even knowing that, the people, and the actions they take in this movie, will still lead you to question its legitimacy. See this movie immediatley.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: Steve Wiebe (not an actor)
Billy Mitchell (not an actor, Perfect Pac-man Score)
YesNoSoso: 2
Jesus Tap Dancing Christ this movie was good. It follows impossibly nice, recently laid off Steve Wiebe as he tries to break cocky asshole Billy Mitchell's World Record on Donkey Kong. I spent the entire two hours unsuccessfully trying to figure whether King of Kong was a real Documentary or a Mockumentary in the style of Spinal Tap or Best in Show. Its real folks and even knowing that, the people, and the actions they take in this movie, will still lead you to question its legitimacy. See this movie immediatley.
IMDB
Wikipedia
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