While we here at Film Babble Blog are getting ready for the Full Frame Documentary Film Fest in Durham starting today we'd thought we'd tell you about some of our favorite documentaries.
DOCUMENTARIES IN CURRENT DVD RELEASE RECOMMENDED BY FILM BABBLE BLOG :
The cream of the crop is :
CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS - Dir. Andrew Jarecki (2003) At first this comes across like a modern reality-TV influenced update of Kurasawa's RASHOMON but then it unfolds into something completely different to quote a beloved British comedy troop who themselves are quoted in this fasinating film. A Long Island family is torn apart when accusations of child molestation are directed at the patriarch - formally respected teacer Arnold Friedman. Using tons of home movie footage and videotapes mostly shot by son David Friedman the endlessly involving myriad of allegations and defenses lingers long after the film is over. The DVD's second bonus disc is full of extra material - most interestingly "Altercation at New York Premiere" and "Just A Clown" which was Jarecki's orginal film about clown's hired for children's parties. While making that film Jarecki came across David Freidman - one of New York's popular clowns for children's parties - and his family's intriquing but confusing story. CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS is like an alternate AN AMERICAN FAMILY (the pioneering 1973 PBS reality series about the Loud Family) with a darker truth within.
Some other recent recommended reality cinema :
SPELLBOUND (2003)
TREMBLING BEFORE GOD (2002)
STONE READER (2003) -
AND NOW THE FILM BLOG PANEL PICKS THE 20 BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURES EVER:
Not really in any order:
1. HEARTS OF DARKNESS - A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE (1991)
2. CRUMB (1994)
3. HEARTS AND MINDS (1974)
4. ROGER AND ME (1988)
5. CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS (2003)
6. BROTHER'S KEEPER (1993)
7. BATTLE OVER CITIZEN KANE (1995)
8. KOYAANISQUATSI (1983)
9. TIMES OF HARVEY MILK (1984)
10. ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER (2000)
11. WHEN WE WERE KINGS (1996)
12. WACO - RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (1997)
13. HARLAN COUNTY USA (1976)
14. WINGED MIGRATION (2003)
15. DECADE UNDER THE INFLUENCE (2003)
16. CANE TOADS (1988)
17. WAR ROOM, THE (1993)
18. THIN BLUE LINE, THE (1988)
19. PARADISE LOST I & II (1996, 2000)
20. THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT (1974)
TEN GREAT MUSIC DOCUMENTARIES :
1. LAST WALTZ, THE (1977)
2. KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, THE (1979)
3. DON'T LOOK BACK (1967)
4. GIMME SHELTER (1970)
5. I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART (2002)
6. WOODSTOCK (1970)
7. ELVIS - THAT'S THE WAY IT IS (1970)
8. LET IT BE (1970)
9. STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN (2002)
10. THEOLONIUS MONK - STRAIGHT NO CHASER (198)
FIVE GREAT MOCK-UMENTARIES
1. THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984) - You could basically fill this list up with the work of Christopher Guest * so I'll just give honorable mentions to WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (1996), BEST IN SHOW (2000), AND A MIGHTY WIND (2003)
2. BOB ROBERTS (1992)
3. FEAR OF A BLACK HAT (1994)
4. REAL LIFE (1979)
5. TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN (1969)
* THIS IS SPINAL TAP was directed by Rob Reiner but still counts as part of the work of Guest because of his creation, writing and acting in the project.
Ah, good times. And now here's some current non-documentary DVD releases tackled by the Film Babble Blog staff.
DVD REVIEW CORNER :
GOTHIKA (2003) For Christ's sake when is the trend of "I see dead people" glossy thrillers in which a supernatural force guides somebody to solving a murder going to freakin' end? Halle Berry heads a great cast (Charles Dutton, Robert Downey Jr, John Carroll Lynch) through a literal movie nitemare of pyscho jibberish. To get the plot, if you could actually call it that, straight - Berry is a prison pyschiatrist who wakes up after an automobile accident to find she's accused of murdering her husband and that she's jailed in the same prison she worked at. She can only remember flashes of imagery surrounding her accident and has no idea what really happened at the scene of the crime. Flashes of imagery and screeched dialogue are the only things I remember after viewing this badly named maze of contrivances. Berry is a good actress and a gorgeous woman so it's easy to care and get somewhat caught up in this silliness for a bit but in the end you'll hardly feel this is time spent well. The darkness of the prison does little to shadow obvious plot points coming, the murky jarring music (sounding a bit like the staccato whale sounds in STAR TREK IV) tells us when we are supposed to be scared or at least pay more attention and when it's stated in the first 10 minutes that the security center's electrical system is faulty and the lights occasionally go out I don't know anyone anywhere that would not consider that a contrived convenience. If you would not consider that to be such then this is the movie for you. As bad as you'd think Limp Bizcuit covering the Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" would be and that's on the soundtrack. 'Nuff said.
- Edward Callistan
SHATTERED GLASS (2003) The fascinating true story of New Republic writer Stephen Glass who had fabricated much information and sometimes entire articles back in the '90's. Hayden Christiansen proves that he actually can act - he's more convincing as a sniveling whiny child-man caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar than a Jedi in 2 (soon to be 3) misguided prequels. Steven Sarsgaard as Glass's harried editor is the voice of reason in this tale despite the fact that he barely says anything until the storm really starts a-brewing. When the facts don't ring true - people who were quoted don't exist, commitees holding conferences that never happened, and a website created after the fact for again, a non-existent software company all come to light true human nature comes out of hiding. The story is the star here but what a star it is. Funny how a movie about lies is actually one of the most accurate "true stories" to get an run (albeit limited) on the silver screen. Go figure.
- Bertie Shafer
I'm sure that many who watch this movie will be curious about the 30 something articles Stephen Glass wrote and would get a kick out of reading them. This site has a number of them available :
http://www.rickmcginnis.com/articles/Glassindex.htm
Some of those links are broken and because this was understandably a huge embarrassment to the New Republic and other publications some articles are hard to find. The pivitol "Hack Heaven" piece on which the movie SHATTERED GLASS hinges is extremely elusive on many Google searches. If you'd like to read the article we'll send you a copy - email us here at film babble :
cookieco@sprynet.com
CAT IN THE HAT, THE (2003) : You've heard this was awful I'm sure but it's far worse than you could possibly imagine. Mike Myers brings nothing new to the character of the famous Dr. Suess just his well worn bag of over used tricks. Obviously this is a cash-in after the success of the Jim Carrey GRINCH movie which was bad as well but looks much better compared to this catastrophe. No pun intended. I'm not going to go into the plot or tell you about production values or how painful it is to see talented actors like Alec Baldwin and Sean Hayes humilated in this brightly colored crap. I'm just going to give you this example of the humor in this movie :
Conrad: (jumping up and down on the couch) It's like being in a circus!
Cat in the Hat: Yeah, but without those tortured animals or drunken clowns that have hepatitis!
And that's one of the better one liners. The only good news I have to report here is 1. It's only 78 minutes long 2. Because it was a massive flop (budget : $109 million. US box office gross : $38 million) it is unlikely we will have to suffer further live action film forays into the work of Dr. Suess 3. Uh, I guess there's only 2 good things to report. As pointless as the Paris Hilton cameo (I mean who in the target audience would that mean anything to?) this is definitely a contender for a list of worse children's movies ever. Do yourself a favor take the kids to a circus. The tortured animals and drunk clowns with hepatitis will surely provide more wit and entertainment than anything under this hat.
- Anderson Moran
More later...
is the Green Art Nail
