Don’t you sometimes just wish that people could look at their situation, say “I’m better than this”, and change their lives? Why can’t they? Why don’t they? I’m not saying that everyone should pull themselves up by their bootstraps, most of them simply can’t. But, I can see why some people have that attitude. Even with a well done documentary like this, it’s impossible to really put yourself in the shoes of people who’s lives are so different from your own. Anyway, this movie poses another dilemma – if you do a well-received documentary about kids, when do you just call it “done”, and stop following-up with them? Should you?

Yup, the Phish “rockumentary”.  I saw this at 7pm on a Tuesday night and the place was packed, that surprised me a bit.  A director followed the band around for a year or so and edited-together a movie.  I think the movie did capture the whimsical attitude of the band, but there’s a lot more to Phish than this movie shows.  For one, the portrayal of the fans was pretty weak (they’re not all superficial drugged-out jerks).  If you want to know what Phish means to some people, check out the “what is Phish” section on phish.net.  The song selection was odd – a lot of standards were left out, and some mellow rarities were spotlighted and the sound wasn’t as good as it could have been.  Plus, there was a lot of Trey (Phish’s guitarist).  Trey can be pretty darn funny, entertaining and insightful, but he’s not all there is in the world of Phish.  Then again, maybe the editing was just a reflection of what the director really saw… maybe Trey just dominated all the conversations.  Generally, it was a decent film… I have no idea how it would play with non fans though.

It seems every sub-culture is getting a documentary these days. Someone ought to make a list. Someone probably has… in fact there’s probably a documentary about all the sub-culture documentaries, wouldn’t that be something! Anyway, this one is pretty good… There are some real characters playing scrabble out there. The end was especially hartwarming – considering who won, and what it meant to him and his Dad. I really felt genuinely great for them both. In the world of scrabble, there is nothing greater… and no drug testing either!

Can the world have one good king? Please? Why is this so impossible? Why can’t these people see how corrupt they are? Why does it have to be so hard?

Birdwatching on film. If you’re intrigued by birds, you’ll love it. If you’re not…. you should be.

Alan C Lloyd

“We will be in ‘zee air’ till we get to Zaire”. A documentary of a specially unique moment – the Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Ali is the favorite, the underdog, the champion and the challenger. George Foreman comes off looking like the chump he was (he’s almost like a completely different person now). This movie is less about fighting, and more about society, social dynamics, and funk. See it even if you abhor boxing.

You know the sound of the Theremin, even if you’ve never seen one. It’s the musical instrument that’s famous for that spooky sound in 50’s sci-fi movies… This is a documentary about the instrument, it’s inventor (Leon Theremin), and it’s most famous virtuoso, Clara Rockmore. Thankfully, the documentary was made just before some of the key players died. I was really impressed to hear & see Clara Rockmore play the Theremin with a serious, professional attitude & skill. I guess it’s proof that the beauty of music isn’t in the way the music is created, but in how it’s played and heard.

Surpisingly well crafted and executed.

Dude

Dude

A peek into the bizarro-world that is North Korea. I can’t believe that “The General” as he’s called blew-off the big event because he had more important thigs to do. Like what? Geez, what a jerk.

An ephoglidious documenteama about kids who attempt to directricate filligatious words. It was a suplimious in its advertigineatity of the diversificatiousness of the esculiantinate. (Hey, somebody has to make up new words to spell… why not me?)

The Dixie Chicks make the transition from redneck pinups to granola heroines. Three chicks are smarter than one bush.

Really a neat movie to watch. This kind of oddball farmer always had a fascination with film, and as a result filmed much of his own story through the years. It certainly helped that it was an interesting story… I really grew to like Farmer John, but by the end, I had the feeling that the whole operation had lost a bit of the magic because of their success. I mean, I like the fact that they made it work, but most of the interesting parts of the film were the parts where things were all screwed up, and seeing how he had to learn to change to deal with it all. After it was all working, it was just like a routine business. Maybe life is like that in general?

This should be required viewing… by people who would never see it or get it. It gets a little repetative, but then, so does Fox.

A documentary about a guy who photographed naked people all over the country a few years ago. At first I was thinking – this guy is a shallow, “why doesn’t the world appreciate me?” guy. But, he grew on me as the movie progressed. I think his reaction to the nudist colony made me like him more. A few of the photographs were really neat. I think my favorite was the heavy woman on the rocks near New York.

I’d been waiting for this – a really good documentary about Emporer Penguins. I don’t think it could have been done much better than this either. One thing though, the movie seems to imply that this group is the only group of Emporer Penguins in the world, when that’s not the case.

Can anyone watch this and not come to the conclusion that this Billy dude is a complete ass? If you earn the respect of your peers, you have a responsibility to be humble… for it is from them that you’re allowed that respect. Put another way, let’s say I was the best person in the world at drawing circles with crayons. Nobody would care. But, if I was worshiped by a group of crayon-circle freaks, I would have some understanding that any praise I enjoyed from them required that I give them respect in return. Anyway, I wish they’d shown more of the actual game – They didn’t even show the pie level! I mean, I know it was a story about the people, but can’t you at least take a few moments to explain the game and show something other than the main level? It’s not that complicated, and would have added to the story.

Do these people realize how insane they are? And they’re reproducing! I just felt so sorry for these kids… it was like watching child molestation in slow motion. These people give Jesus a bad name, where in the bible does it say you have to close your mind and be an idiot?

Sometimes the biggest truths don’t require a single spoken word. We live, we die, inbetween, we what?… think? What a fantastic meditation of a film… In case you don’t know, this is a documentary about some monks in France. The monks don’t speak, and there is no dialogue in this entire movie (aside from some very short bits). The film simply shows the life of these monks, so that you can better understand it. The movie took decades to plan, and the film followed an entire year. Truly fantastic for anyone looking for a fresh approach to moviemaking.