Once Upon a Time in Norway (2007)

Once Upon a Time in Norway (2007)

Directed by: Pål Aasdal and Martin Ledang

Genre: Documentary | Crime | Music
Running Time: 60 Minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Viewed: YouTube

The history of Mayhem and the rise of Norwegian Black Metal.

[IMDb]

Comments: While I've never been a huge black metal fan, I've always had a faint curiosity in the genre dating back to my teenage years. All of the crazy shit that went on in the early '90s in Norway is something I've known about, but never really got an in-depth knowledge of. Another (and likely better) documentary about the subject, Until the Light Takes Us, has been in my Netflix queue for awhile, but I heard about Once Upon a Time in Norway on a podcast I listened to earlier this week, and it was slow today... so I hypothetically may have watched this film this afternoon at work. Let's keep that between us.

Anyway, I wasn't thrilled with the documentary. While it's informative, it assumes the viewer has a somewhat working knowledge of black metal, and the content is presented about as dryly as possible (talking head after talking head after talking head...). However, because I didn't know much about the Mayhem story, I still found Once Upon a Time in Norway interesting enough to recommend it to those interested. And hey, it's free on YouTube and only an hour long. Can't go wrong there.

The Arbor (2010)

The Arbor (2010)

Directed by: Clio Barnard

Genre: Documentary | Biography
Running Time: 94 Minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Viewed: Netflix Watch Instantly

A documentary reinvented.

[IMDb]

Comments: I discovered Clio Barnard's documentary The Arbor through one of my favorite podcasts, Filmspotting (I know I've mentioned them before). They championed the film as their 2011 Golden Brick winner (the Golden Brick is a film made by a newer director that may not get as much recognition as it deserves; past winners include Dogtooth and Moon), so I was immediately interested in checking it out. The film expires on September 6th on Netflix Watch Instantly, so I wanted to catch it out before I lost the opportunity.

The Arbor is an odd yet interesting documentary. Barnard takes the typical "talking head" format and flips it, using actors to lip synch the dialogue that the original interviewees provided. The story of The Arbor is of British playwright Andrea Dunbar, who used her experiences growing up in "The Arbor," a poor lower class neighborhood, to write a play as a teenager. She had a turbulent, alcohol-filled life, having three kids to three different men before dying at age 29. The story then shifts to her children, and how Dunbar's lack of parenting affected them. Needless to say, it didn't turn out well.

The use of actors is interesting. At times it works, as the actors are able to play out certain scenes that create a distinct visual representation of what's going on. At other times, however, it feels false - mainly during the film's more emotional scenes. Hearing the actual people crying made me really want to see their faces - not the actors' portrayal of it. Regardless, The Arbor is a solid film that really had me invested in the story of the Dunbars. It's rough at times, but oddly compelling - enough to warrant a solid recommendation.

Trouble the Water (2008)

Trouble the Water (2008)

Directed by: Carl Deal and Tia Lessin

Genre: Documentary
Running Time: 93 Minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Viewed: Netflix Watch Instantly

It's not about a hurricane. It's about America.

[IMDb]

Comments: Trouble the Water is a documentary chronicling the plight of aspiring rapper Kimberly and her husband during Hurricane Katrina. The film is aided by home footage Kimberly shot that is truly terrifying of the flood waters invading her home. It's pretty spectacular stuff that really drives the point of how insane the hurricane was. Seeing Scott (the husband) taking a punching bag through the flood mid-storm to help people was incredible. As a whole, the documentary is pretty good, though I have my issues.

Trouble the Water is decidedly one-sided - though with how bungled the entire FEMA response was, it's hard to mount any type of counterpoint. Regardless, this is how the film portrayed its facts.

I think my biggest issue though, and one that I think divided many viewers of the film, were the film's protagonists, Kim and Scott. They are poor and uneducated former drug dealers. Neither of them have a job and it's fair to assume they survive on government sustenance. Kim can barely speak intelligible English, and at times she's even subtitled because it's so hard to understand her. But I found them (along with others along the way) to be very unsympathetic for the subject of a documentary. And let me make this clear: IN NO WAY IS THIS A RACE ISSUE, NOR AM I SAYING THEY DIDN'T DESERVE TO BE HELPED. I know that sounds harsh considering the absolute shit that they went through, but this is just how it came across to me in the film.

Despite my complaints, I did enjoy Trouble the Water. The footage provided was incredible and the overall story made me feel even more terrible for the shit that happened to the Gulf Coast. It's definitely worth a watch on Netflix, though hardcore right-wingers may want to proceed with caution.

30 for 30: June 17, 1994 (2010)

30 for 30: June 17, 1994 (2010)

Directed by: Brett Morgen

Genre: Sport
Running Time: 52 Minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Viewed: Netflix Watch Instantly

The day sports took a backseat to surreal.

[IMDb]

Comments: June 17, 1994 covers a number of major sporting events that occurred on one day: the New York Rangers victory parade, Arnold Palmer's last PGA event, the beginning of the World Cup, Game 5 of the NBA finals (also in New York), and most famously the OJ Simpson slow-speed chase. While the documentary's mainly focused on OJ (and rightfully so), I almost wish it was entirely devoted to him. I found the other sporting events to be completely uneventful and bland when compared to the OJ case, and outside of seeing how it impacted the coverage of the NBA Finals, I could've done without them. Still, I really enjoyed the documentary and how it only used news footage, raw feeds, and phone conversations rather than "talking heads" (much like the brilliant documentary 102 Minutes That Changed America). June 17, 1994 is a good one to check out.

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011)

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011)

Directed by: Rodman Flender

Genre: Documentary | Music
Running Time: 89 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Netflix Watch Instantly

[IMDb]

Comments: I'm not exactly sure what the point was of Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. I've been a huge fan of Conan's for years now, and he's the only late night host I've kept up with. For this documentary though, while there's some insight into what it's like backstage, the only lasting impression I got was that Conan's sort of a dick. Most of the time, I understand it. After being on tour for weeks and just performing an exhausting show, who would want to go do meet-and-greets all night? But on the other hand, why would anyone want to film that and show people that you're annoyed by it?

On the other hand, Conan fully owns up to this. I've read in interviews where he spoke about being hard on both himself and those around him as he always wants everything to be perfect. Unfortunately, that really shows at times in Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. He's not exactly painted in the best light.

I really don't understand what the purpose of this film was; while entertaining, it failed to be particularly insightful or funny. It doesn't affect my enjoyment of watching Conan every night, but it certainly didn't endear me to O'Brien either. It's at least worth a watch though.

30 for 30: Four Days in October (2010)

30 for 30: Four Days in October (2010)

Directed by: Gary Waksman

Genre: Sport
Running Time: 52 Minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Viewed: Netflix Watch Instantly

There was no answer to why not us.

[IMDb]

Comments: I've never been the biggest baseball fan. I blame that mostly on the fact that for most of my life, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been terrible (though I've been a huge bandwagon fan this year - playoffs or bust!). But for four days in 2004, I was the biggest fan of the Boston Red Sox. That's the magic of sports, and why I, given that I'm mostly a hockey and football fan, can become emotionally invested in any sporting event, given the right backdrop.

During this time I was in college and had roommates that were baseball fans. Without them, I'm not even sure how involved in this classic Red Sox/Yankees series I would've gotten. The story is classic: the Red Sox, often considered cursed since (literally) selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees, had an excellent team and their first shot at winning the World Series since 1918. However, playing against their hated rivals in the ALCS (one step before the world series, much like USA/Russia game in the 1980 Olympics), the Yankees had taken a three-games-to-none series lead in a best-of-seven series. One game at a time, often in extra innings, the Red Sox clawed back and won four-in-a-row to win the series. They'd go on to win the World Series.

I remember hanging on every pitch for those four days. Total immersion. Outside of the Penguins and Steelers, I'm not sure I've ever been as invested in a playoff series before. It was awesome and completely satisfying. (It's a shame now that the Red Sox have essentially turned into the Yankees in recent years, but I digress...)

ESPN's 30 for 30 series recently was added to Netflix, so there's a bunch of titles I want to check out. Four Days in October was my first choice for nostalgic reasons, and while it wasn't the greatest sports documentary I really enjoyed it. I've added a bunch of these documentaries to my queue, so expect some more in the future. (I know it's technically a TV episode, but they play like mini-films and so I'll write them up as such.)

Senna (2010)

Senna (2010)

Directed by: Asif Kapadia
Screenplay by: Manish Pandey

Genre: Documentary | Biography | Sport
Running Time: 106 Minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Viewed: Netflix Watch Instantly

No fear. No limits. No equal.

[IMDb]

Comments: Great movies often make the subject matter of a film irrelevant for the viewer. As long as the storytelling is compelling enough, people will become engrossed regardless. Senna is the perfect example of that. I could give two shits about racing, but I'll be damned if I wasn't sucked into this great documentary. It's one of the main reasons I re-signed up for Netflix. And it was totally worth it.

Catfish (2010)

Catfish (2010)

Directed by: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman

Genre: Documentary
Running Time: 87 Minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Viewed: Online

Don't let anyone tell you what it is.

[IMDb]

Comments: While I was fortunate enough not to have the "twist" in Catfish spoiled for me, I kind of knew where the film was going (based on a general idea) and so I wasn't too amazed by the reveal. In that sense, I was a bit let down, but Catfish is still a solid piece of filmmaking. I think that the film is at its best when the crew is driving to Michigan, and they drive onto the farm in the middle of the night when first arriving. The scene is tense and genuinely creepy (even though it's not a horror film); a lot of horror movies strive to have this atmosphere. I also liked the fact that there's a sense of normalcy to the end of the film, until the text comes up before the credits explaining what goes on after the film - and everything that was revealed is also pretty fucked. Catfish is a good watch.

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

Directed by: Banksy

Genre: Documentary | Comedy
Running Time: 87 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Viewed: Netflix Watch Instantly

The incredible true story of how the world's greatest Street Art
  movie was never made...

[IMDb]

Comments: Although I've heard much praise for Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop, I didn't know what the film was about, other than street art. But being a dumb ass, I had no idea that "street art" essentially meant "graffiti." Anyway, I wasn't sure where the film was going at first, but once Thierry met up with Banksy, I really enjoyed the film. It got progressively funnier as the film went along too, which was great. I definitely think Exit Through the Gift Shop is deserving of it's Academy Award nomination and worth your time... especially when you can just stream it on Netflix.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

Directed by: Kurt Kuenne
Screenplay by: Kurt Kuenne

Genre: Documentary | Crime | Drama
Running Time: 95 Minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Viewed: Netflix Watch Instantly

[IMDb]

Comments: I finally caved in and signed up for Netflix (streaming only), despite the fact that I have over 2,000 DVDs (many of which are unwatched). While they don't have many new releases, I am particularly impressed with their newer foreign releases, and the massive TV collection that's available. But I signed up basically because I wanted to see three documentaries that I knew were available: Restrepo, Exit Through the Gift Shop, and Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father...

Wow. I have seen a lot of hard-to-watch films over the years, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a movie that's made me so sad yet so nauseatingly sick to my stomach (Requiem for a Dream is the main one I'm thinking of now). In terms of documentaries, it's not particularly the most well-made film I've seen, but goddamn, it packs a fucking punch. Hearing Shirley Turner's recorded voice speaking to Zachary, even without knowing what was to come, was simultaneously chilling and sickening. I certainly recommend this one, but be prepared: it's like watching the worst Dateline special ever (and I mean that in the best way).

So Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father may not be the 'happiest' choice to start out my Netflix obsession (which is what will happen), but I'm thrilled at the films I've added to my instant queue: Dogtooth, Enter the Void, Revanche, and Hanger. If you're wondering why the hell Hanger is included with those films... well, then you just don't know me very well.

Do You Believe in Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team (2001)

Do You Believe in Miracles? The Story of the 1980
  U.S. Hockey Team (2001)

Screenplay by: Bernard Goldberg

Genre: Documentary | History | Sport
Running Time: 60 Minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Viewed: Owned DVD

Where were you?

[IMDb]

Comments: 30 years ago tonight, one of, if not the greatest sporting event of all time took place. With the USA hockey team defeating Canada last night, I really wanted to revisit the Miracle on Ice. I've seen Miracle (the Kurt Russell film) a number of times, so I watched Do You Believe in Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team for the first time. The documentary is a good watch, even though I already knew most of the events surrounding the 1980 games. Still, it brings a tear to my eye to watch the end of the game against the Soviet Union, even though I wasn't born at the time. That's how you know when something's a truly transcendent moment. Now I really want to see the US win the gold in the 2010 Olympics. They're off to a good start, and the number one seed for the tournament. Sure, it wouldn't be as memorable or important as 1980. But it would still be awesome.