Documentary

Where to Invade Next

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Where to Invade Next
  • IMDb: link

Where to Invade NextFor his first film in half a decade Michael Moore turns his attention to education, workers’ rights, and prison policies in a whirlwind tour around the world from France to Tunisia. Where to Invade Next captures the best, and worst, of Moore who presents a compelling argument that the United States may want to look at other countries’ solutions to problems that are being handled better abroad than at home. “Invading” the nations to steal their solutions, Moore hopes to bring them all back home.

At its best Where to Invade Next is a compelling look at solutions to serious problems. The documentary offers valid arguments for America to look to alternative solutions (many of which were first proposed by Americans themselves). At its worst, the film becomes more about Moore mugging for the camera than his argument. While those open to the ideas raised in the film are likely to come away with some smart questions about how the United States deals with prisoners, students, and workers, those with an already low tolerance for the filmmaker’s antics won’t need to look very hard for an excuse to turn a deaf ear and tune him out (or, more likely, ignore the film completely).

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The Walk

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Walk
  • IMDb: link

The WalkThrough the use of interviews, stills, and reenactment footage, the 2008 documentary Man on Wire offered audiences an excellent look back at wire walker Philippe Petit‘s high-wire walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center. The Walk, writer/director Robert Zemeckis‘ biopic starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit, may not be as engaging as the documentary, but Zemeckis (using similar set-up same set-up with Gordon-Levitt narrating past events) still manages to capture a bit of the magic by recreating Petit’s improbable stunt.

Without attempting to explain Petit’s obsession or the drive behind it, Zemeckis takes us along on the man’s journey as he attempts to achieve his dream. Beginning with a bit of a backstory for Petit including the relationships with his mentor (Ben Kingsley), girlfriend (Charlotte Le Bon), and the co-conspirators (Clément Sibony, César Domboy, Steve Valentine, James Badge Dale) who would eventually help him pull of his high-wire act, the movie doesn’t kick into high gear until its second hour where the caper truly begins.

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Hot Girls Wanted

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Hot Girls Wanted
  • IMDb: link

Hot Girls WantedDirected by Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus, Hot Girls Wanted takes a look at the growing online amateur porn industry by taking us into the house of a small group of Internet porn newbies (few of whom will still be working in the industry by the end of the documentary). The directors succeed in getting a firsthand experience of the industry which tosses out young women at a rate, even once introduced into the industry, our starlets don’t comprehend.

Meant to be a shocking tell-all, Hot Girls Wanted is only partially successful (mainly because of how willing the young women all are to agree to and rationalize away any dehumanizing activity as long as it is 1. on camera and 2. pays the bills). The complicity to their actions undercuts the documentary’s message just as strongly as the documentarians taking further advantage of each of the women profiled for the purpose of their movie.

However, money is only half of the equation. A better film would dive deeper into the yearning for celebrity each girl is willing to go down an increasingly dark and fetishized path to achieve.

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The Wrecking Crew

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Wrecking Crew
  • IMDb: link

The Wrecking CrewFilled with interviews, classic clips, stills, and tunes, the documentary from director Denny Tedesco (whose father was part of the group now known as “The Wrecking Crew”) takes a look back at the Los Angeles studio and session musicians that played anonymously on many records in the 1960s for The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Frank Sinatra, Sonny & Cher, Bing Crosby, Elvis, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Bobby Vee, the Partridge Family, David Cassidy, Jan & Dean, the Mamas & the Papas, the 5th Dimension, the Association, the Carpenters, Glen Campbell, Cher, John Denver, Simon & Garfunkel, the Grass Roots, and Nat King Cole.

Likely more appealing to music geeks than those not already interested in the topic, the documentary includes a great collection of music while discussing the unheralded studio musicians who helped create the songs. Available on Blu-ray and DVD, The Wrecking Crew includes over six hours of outtakes from musicians, artists, engineers, and producers, additional music, and more.

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Amy

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Amy
  • IMDb: link

AmyYour opinion of Amy Winehouse and her place in modern music is likely to color your view of Amy. The documentary unearths an amazing amount of personal footage of the troubled singer-songwriter while also featuring interviews from those who knew her best. Chronicling her rise to stardom, her drug and alcohol abuse, her struggles with bulimia, and her inability to deal with fame, the movie isn’t always a pleasant look back. Although its story of an insecure self-destructive artist is sadly far too familiar, the documentary deals with its subject matter responsibly.

The tone of the documentary isn’t to point fingers and assign blame (although it certainly suggests certain individuals shoulder more of that burden that others such as Winehouse’s husband and father and the paparazzi), but instead to give audiences a look at the woman behind the celebrity. Presented from the view of those that loved her, the documentary is occasionally too reverential about its star.

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