This is my first post for Blogcritics.org and I'm kind of excited about that. I'm a reporter-turned-educator in the middle of a career change from journalism to elementary education. I write book and movie reviews for a blog I started partially to fill the need to keep writing.
Time to catch up on some movie reviews.
I'm trying to watch 50 movies and read 50 books this year because of two memes started in Livejournal, before I moved my blog to Typepad. The rest of my movie reviews are here.
March of the Penguins - Fascinating, beautifully photographed film. I fell asleep at the theater but that was mostly because I was trying to get out of the heat wave and figured staring at ice would be relaxing. It worked. I was a bit too relaxed.
Warning: Penguin sex. But seriously, it's a great movie. Think Winged Migration but with cuter animals and more of a purpose. I give it an 8.
MurderBall - I'm encouraging everyone to see this movie. Don't be put off by the title - nobody is murdered.
It's about the stories of the men on the U.S. wheelchair team (basically rugby for guys confined to wheelchairs) who correctly say things like how they have done more in their chair than most have done without one. There has been speculation that it's doing poorly at the box office - getting trounced by March of the Penguins - because some think the subject matter too sad or unsettling. Prove this speculation wrong by going to see it. I give it a 10.
Outfoxed - Excellent documentary about what Fox does to the news and it's not pretty. I give it an 8. I can't give it 10 because of the reasons best summarized in Jesse's review.
What the #$*! Do We Know? - I know some who love this movie and that makes it hard to say how much I hated it but I'll say it anyway: Argh!
I found this movie very irksome and it's hard to know where to start. The graphics - often unneeded - make the movie more annoying. The fact it's essentially a recruiting film for a cult makes it more disturbing. Let's just say that if you buy me this movie for a gift you can expect to receive something really awful in return. I give it a 2.
That brings me up to date on movies.
The next movie I'll see will probably be Control Room.
The October discussion movie will be Monty Python's Life of Brian.
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Article comments
1 - Bob A. Booey
Nice job, Scott. Keep writing about film or whatever else interests you.
I'll be keeping an eye out for your stuff.
I haven't heard anything about the "What the Fuck?" movie -- I just went out and typed it because I don't know how to do the "*#!@" very well. The links you have to a blog which links to other interesting stories have a good skeptical take on that movie.
That is all.
2 - Scott
Thanksa lot, Bob.
You can get What the Bleep via Netflix.
What's interesting is that critics gave the movie sort of a pass because it seemed harmless enough until some quoted in the movie started talking about how their words were twisted and taken out of context but even then few took notice.
3 - Chris Beaumont
Welcome to BC Scott!
Most of my writing is on film. The only one of the three I haven't seen is Outfoxed.
Penguins was great. Murderball was also great. FInally I agree on What the.... Bad movie.
4 - Tan The Man
I see you love those documentaries. Hopefully, you're not a fan of Michael Moore.
5 - Eric Berlin
Well, Moore's only the most successful documentary filmmaker of all time...
6 - Tan The Man
Success is relative. If you're talking box office gross, sure. If you're talking quality, nope. Moore's as sensationalist as you're gonna get. If you think you're being informed when you watch one of his documentaries then you are being fooled. He entertains - plain and simple.
7 - Eric Berlin
Some would argue that he entertains as he informs.
I'd be one of those people, actually. Most of F911 is facts laid out, and the audience is left to decide what to do with it. Columbine is similar, though a bit cruder in its execution.
Is he a partisan filmmaker? Sure, and he's a damned good one.
8 - Tan The Man
True, but if he's bashing Bush for censorship and fuzzy information, then he's guilty for the exact same things when he makes a film. Moore "misinterprets" facts and he fakes some of his stories. How can you praise a man for the same things that he bashes other people for doing.
Documentaries are supposed to be informative and truthful. Moore has fuzzied that.
9 - Eric Berlin
A big difference in your example (even if true) is that one is a filmmaker and the other is the President of the United States.
Moore has never pretended that he doesn't have an agenda. He's trying to lay out facts to prove his case, and does so very effectively.
I don't necessarily "buy" everything I see in a Moore doc, but he's provocative as hell and makes you think about stuff you'd never thought of otherwise. His films are smart and funny and emotional = good and successful filmmaker.
10 - Tan The Man
"A big difference in your example (even if true) is that one is a filmmaker and the other is the President of the United States." - got me there
"Moore has never pretended that he doesn't have an agenda." He doesn't pretend but he sure does sidestep any explicit meaning of it a lot.
11 - Chris Beaumont
Wow, this took a weird turn....
I think Moore is a skillful film maker, and he does bring a lot to the table in terms of making you think. But, I also think you have to go in with a grain of salt, you can't take all that he says at face value as I fear many people do. Also, I do not like him, nor do I agree with his politics.
12 - Scott Butki
I think Moore is a sloppy propagandist who fudges details (like playing with chronology of events and editing) to make the point he wants, even if it's not accurate.
I think he does a disservice to the documentary community when he does this.
Don't get me wrong - I watch his movies and play them at movie discussions at my church because they are popular and thought-provoking - but I think he would do well to focus more on accuracy and less on getting media coverage.
Plus I'm getting tired of him acting like he's still a poor boy from Flint, Michigan when he has a penthouse in NYC.
I think I'll go find reviews I've done of Moore movies and share them here sometime.
13 - Scott Butki
That review is now posted here
14 - Scott Butki
spam alert!
15 - Scott Butki
Hmm, why is this topic now the spam thread?
16 - Scott Butki
Have others here seen these movies? What do you think of them?