Badmouth » documentary

Earth

Brian McDonough — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:01:27 +0000

[rating:3] Directors: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield Starring: Lions, Elephants & Polar Bears, oh my! Here’s a fact: If you’re going to make a documentary called Earth and fit it into a ninety-minute run time, you are doomed to failure. Big topic, “Earth.” Even if you’re sticking to the natural world, and even if your main goal were to fetishize waterfalls and cute baby animals, you’re still never gonna produce a ninety-minute film worthy of being called … Earth. The first film to be released by the new DisneyNature label (timed to Earth Day!) is in fact a two-year-old BBC-funded documentary that was produced in parallel with Planet Earth, a series whose total ten-hour runtime sounds a little better-suited to covering the subject. Knowing this somehow makes one more forgiving of the flaws of the cinematic release. Earth feels like a poorly assembled hodgepodge of brilliant footage whose glory is nearly lost beneath weak storytelling (and a truly crap score). Imagining the filmmakers having to cut the 600 broadcast minutes they’d already culled from thousands of hours of video to get this hour and a half at least makes you appreciate how stacked against them the deck was. No related posts.

Gonzo: The Life & Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Brian McDonough — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:45:01 +0000

[rating:4] Director: Alex Gibney Starring: Hunter S. Thompson, George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Tom Wolfe, Johnny Depp A documentary about Hunter S. Thompson, one of the most original, entertaining writers and personalities in living memory, is going to be a hoot. I mean, if you can't make an engaging film about this guy, you have no business in show business. So it's a given that there will be laughs and outrage and interest in Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Question is, will it live up to its subject or simply be an interesting clip show? Related posts:

trailer: why lie i need a drink?

John Marcotte — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:42:57 +0000

Our buddy Keith Lowell Jensen, the panhandling banana, has unveiled the trailer for Why Lie I Need a Drink, his movie on panhandling. The film has been shot and he needs $5,000.00 to complete post production. To quote from his blog:

Okay, now you've seen it, peer on over at them donate buttons on the right. C'mon, you know you want to be a "producer" of a top notch panhandling documentary. So go ahead, gimme money. While my online panhandling continues to earn at a snail's paste, the documentary funding is off to a great start. We've gotten $400 (thanks Larry Scholl and John J.) in finishing funds donated since putting this trailer up. Thanks guys. You can donate using the donation buttons on the site, just specify that you're sponsoring the film and not buying me green tea and wheat free vegan brownies. Feel free to contact us about sponsorships as well. Just write to whylieineedadrink at yahoo.com. thanks. And hey, I could really use some green tea and wheat free vegan brownies.

To donate money, visit Keith's panhandling site or the site of Apprehensive Studios. Related posts:

Rize

Jennifer Kincaid — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 14:18:21 +0000

A warning appearing at the beginning of the documentary, Rize, states that in no way has the dancing been digitally sped up. A couple minutes later, you realize why the warning exists. After an introduction of black-and-white shots of the 1965 Watts riots and full-color shots of the Rodney King-spurred 1992 Los Angeles riots, the dancing that fills the movie screen leaves you blinking in surprise, and realizing just why that warning appeared at the beginning.

These dancers are fast.

Rize traces the formation of a dance phenomenon in Southern California, where gangs, drugs and violence are everyday life. Started by �Tommy the Clown,� a former drug dealer whose life was turned around while he spent time in jail, the new style of dancing called �Clowning� became his response to the L.A. riots. Fast forward 11 years later, and �clowning� has grown to include more than 50 rival groups of dancers, who spend their time honing their skills instead of gangbanging and doing drugs.

This Is Nowhere

John Marcotte — Thu, 13 Mar 2003 18:57:21 +0000

This Is Nowhere is a low-budget documentary with all of the sins that low-budget filmmaking generally offers. It�s shot on video. There are no fancy special effects. The picture quality isn�t always what it could be. These are all sins that can be forgiven, though. The film also happens to be terrifically boring.

Boring, I can�t forgive.

No related posts.