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intense and gripping, but manipulative
for a documentary, the makers of the cove sure do a lot of tampering with their subject matter. richard o'barry (the trainer/actor from the flipper tv series) is a dolphin activist. he's been saving, or trying to save dolphins for years and has a deep love and connection towards them. it's easy to understand, they are gorgeous creatures and very smart. in taijii japan they gather up dolphins for sale to museums and sea world type theme parks around the world. they are very valuable to the city. the ones who don't make the grade are suprisingly killed and sold for meat.
richard and his friend gather up some experts to attempt to expose the small village in japan for their anual brutal slaughter of dolphins in a secret cove. the group of activists go on a covert mission to place hidden cameras in spots where no one, other than the fishermen and government, has seen. the footage they get is shocking and brutal to be sure. the film documents the mission, the killings, and plenty of background on the issue, including detailing the very high mercury levels that dolphins contain. the japanese government hides this secret from the world and the cops/fishermen in the area are very testy when it comes to outsiders seeing what they do there.
now don't get me wrong, killing these creatures sure seems awful and horrific and wrong (which it surely is in my opinion)... but it isn't nearly as bad as factory farming, and the practice brings in shit tons of money for these people. how and why would they stop doing this? it would damage their economy tremendously. the cause is noble, but the only solution is to make them quit. that's not good enough. the only way to end atrocities like this would to end the demand, and that may never happen. the filmmakers manipulate the film in such a way that it becomes unreal and that is troublesome. how much of their footage is real? they created the action themselves. i admire the guerrilla filmmaking style, but i think they probably left out a lot which is sad.
very important documentary, even if it is a bit preachy
let me start by saying that much of the information in this documentary i already knew. i was a vegan/vegetarian for a good 5 years of my life, and seeing things like this make me wonder why i am no longer. food, inc. is a documentary on the modern food industry. it's more or less an expose that shows us plenty of shit that we simply don't know about the food we eat. even with some knowledge of this stuff, there was PLENTY to shock me in food, inc. almost all the food we eat comes from very few companies... but travels thousands of miles to get to us. the cheapest foods are the least healthy, even though they do the most harm to us, the environment, and use up plenty of resources. slaughter house workers have one of the most dangerous jobs in america, and companies purposely place them in poor areas of states and hire illegal immigrants so they won't complain. the food industry has us by the balls and they know it. your hamburger is made from cows from various parts of the world, they are grown too big and too fast so their bodies break down before they're killed. factory farming is the worst. raising cows and chickens for food, that's not a problem at all... but the way the factory farms do it with incredible efficiency and speed is insane. the hormones and drugs and unnatural foods they feed these animals is insane. the food companies control everything, and many of the appointed officials in the fda and usda have worked for these giant food companies. the film has so much information that i can't go into all the incredible details, but please see this fucking movie if you care at all about your health, the world's health, animals, the environment, etc. this isn't a michael moore 'gotcha' style documentary, it's based on facts, and the makers investigated thoroughly.
this movie won't change lives for the most part, but hopefully it will make people realize what's going on behind the scenes. the food industry is getting out of control, and change is necessary. buying organic, local, in season, etc. are all good ways to show the industry what we consumers want to have happen. this is kinda the message of the film, and i happen to agree. there's no need to go vegan/vegetarian in my opinion, but there are much better, healthier, environmentally sound options out there and it's worth looking into.
disturbing, funny, sad.
i found out about bob flanagan very recently and wanted to see this movie immediately. bob flanagan was born with cystic fibrosis and a hankering for masochism/bondage/torture. most people with cf die very young, but bob lived into his 40's. this documentary shows some of bob's final days and documents his career as a performance artist and comedian. he often incorperated his sexual fetishes into his performances. his wife collaborated with him to bring his fetish and art to life, and overall bob flanagan is an interesting person. he lived his entire life in pain and sickness, and his passion was masochism, pain he had control over.
the documentary is very well made, and shows plenty of very intense and extreme examples of his masochistic ways. including: his wife shoving a large ball up his ass, nailing his dick to a block of wood, piercings being performed, cutting, etc. in some ways bob flanagan is similar to gg allin, they both were masochists, ate shit, died young, and performed on stage. bob however is a likeable person, he is funny and had a sick sense of humor about everything. he had control over his obsession. gg however was unlikeable and had no control over his habits and addiction. sick is a very difficult film to watch. i often paused the movie to get over some of the disturbing imagery. bob died during the filming of the documentary, and we see plenty of footage of the death/burial. his wife seemingly exploited him in the end, and that was upsetting, but all part of the story i guess.
anarchism personified
after seeing the hangover and looking up director todd phillips' filmography, i stumbled upon this early documentary he made about the infamous punk rocker g.g. allin. the film was very well made, and informational.
i've heard some of allin's stuff, and it never impressed me much, but his stage presence and overall appearance always interested me. he was basically the most extreme punk rocker in history. he'd often shit on stage, hit fans in teh face, pull women by the hair, shove things up his asshole, cut himself, etc. all while performing. this documentary does a great job displaying g.g. and his life, and that makes it worth seeing. note that we see plenty of amazing spectacles that i mentioned. unfortunately, g.g. died during the post production of this film, so the final scene after the credits is of his death/funeral. in the end he died a loser, nothing heroic or punk rock about it. he overdosed on heroin.
i came away from this doc understanding g.g. allin a bit more, but still not giving much of a fuck about him. he was a rebel, anarchist, and a complete loser who had some fame and notoriety. i appreciate people like him however, and wish more people would try to be different, but alas punk is dead.
spinal tap, but for realz
the story of anvil is quite a sad and hilarious one. anvil is a big hair 80's metal band that is still together after all these years. their story has ups and downs, but mostly downs, and we get to see it all with plenty of humanity/hilarity. lips (lead singer/guitar) and robb (drums) are the 2 remaining members of the group, and they have been rocking since they were 14. in the 80's they saw some fame, but didn't really go anywhere... even though they were respected by their peers, and had plenty of die hard fans. now, almost 30 years later they are still performing and searching for another big break. they often perform in front of less than 100 people, don't get paid much, and work shit jobs to make ends meet. this film will make you laugh, possibly cry, and certainly cheer. great stuff in this rock documentary.
artists... fucking pretentious artists.
i consider myself an artist of sorts... however i don't have illusions of grandeur and self righteousness because i create things. isaiah zager however is obsessed with himself and his art. he is the epitome of why i generally do not like artists. he's an aging hippy who thinks his art (that he's plastered all over philadelphia in the form of mosaic murals) is so amazing that we all should know everything about it. don't get me wrong, his art is often amazing. it is quite repetative and unoriginal however... but that's not really the point. the point is that he creates art because that's what he's passionate about. that's awesome, but he lives in a fantasy world where he is the greatest artist and his legacy will not end.
this documentary starts out as a chronicle about isaiah and his life's work, but sharply turns into a hippy melodrama about him and his wife of 40 years seperating. it's not really interesting because we hardly know these people. he ends up cheating on her because she's not passionate anymore... but it's obvious that he just wants some new pussy! he puts up a facade of being this larger than life artist, but in reality he's just a man like the rest of us. in the film we see isaiah creating art all the time... but come on, how many times do we need to see him mixing colors, transferring clay from wheelbarrow to bucket, and breaking glass? we get it, it consumes him. the documentary was made by his son, and it shows. the kid doesn't know how to structure a good documentary, and is too involved with the cast (they are his family after all). i was bored, disturbed, and apathetic throughout this film.
unique documentary, especially for its time
salesman is a documentary about travelling bible salesmen, and salesmen in general. the film doesn't have much structure, its just footage of in house sales calls, meetings, and discussions between salesmen. a lot of it is interesting, and a good glimpse into the 60's. boy times have changed a lot. the main character paul the badger is a frustrated salesman who can't seem to get things going for him like in the old days. we see the high pressure situations, the desperate people, and everything in-between. there isn't much positive to take away from this film, other than i'm glad i can buy a bible for 5 bucks at the bookstore now, instead of dealing with these people.
good story of friendship/drugs/prostitution
i'm not so sure how real this documentary is, but as a dramatic piece of film its pretty good. Dudu and Nino are friends who are living on the streets of Tel Aviv Israel trying to survive by any means necessary. they are both prostitutes, and battle with crime, drugs, and the authority on a daily basis. i kinda have a hard time believing this is genuine because the story seems to unfold too conveniently. nino gets arrested for mugging and selling drugs, and is in worse trouble because he is palistinian, meanwhile dudu gets off drugs in order to help his friend nino set his life straight. if it is all real, it is very good drama and sheds a light on the area known as the garden. the friendship between the 2 guys is really touching, and i saw their humanity. like i said, good drama, good friends, and depressing subject material, but i'm not so sure it was all real.
very absorbing documentary
