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Reviews
Big Rig (2007)
Horrible documentary
I was interested in the title and description of Big Rig while attending the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. However, I was eager to get the heck out of the seats as soon as Big Rig ended. Big Rig is comprised of several "big rig" drivers who set out to deliver goods driven across the United States. The characters are all wonderful people, however the filmmakers never dug deep into the complexity of them as people. Instead, the story meanders as much as the maps in the film are meant to guide, but never do. At most, we get lost. We - the audience - end up going nowhere and, like the direction of the storytelling, end up somewhere but without direction, location, or plot. Why are we here? Where are we? How did we get here? The storytelling is sloppy and the directors' intent on "humanizing" a group of people who they regard as "overlooked" and "invisible" comes across as unconsciously and irritatingly condescending. The problem here here lies in the perspective of the directors instead of the truck drivers. The directors bring their own naive assumptions about truckers forward and then simply edit the film to confirm those assumptions. Overall, the story lacks any tension, the film is entirely too long (should have been a 15 min sketch), the big question of "So what" is never answered, and the entire film is one piece of see-through propaganda that does nothing to further "enlighten" (as the directors claim) the outside world about big riggers.
Murderball (2005)
exceptional
Tonight I finally made time to watch the incredible documentary Murderball - a truly exceptional film. Through the introduction of action, conflict, and tension, the directors and editors compose a telling film that transcends athletes and disability. Murderball also blends an almost perfect three act structure with a natural arc for each character as well as the overall story. Not only is this film a hard-core doc packed with unfolding drama and arrogant and funny characters/people, it is also a surprise to anyone with stereotypes about disabled athletes. Despite the machoism and crude behavior of many of the people in the film, the documentary is as honest as I've seen in a few years. You don't have to like the characters to love the story. The film-making crew deserves every credit and reward that has resulted from this film. Kudos!
Four Eyed Monsters (2005)
Hype!
All Hype! What better way to describe a movie about people who are upset because they can't release their film through a mainstream distributor? Consequently, they do it themselves. Otherwise, the hype of the film doesn't justify the content in the film. The story is absent and could easily be a short. The acting is poor, but the animation and music is pretty good. Otherwise don't waste your time - don't believe the hype! However, if you have the chance to see the film for free, do so. Then you won't have to waste money. Still, the filmmakers do a good job of pressing their story and creating cliffhangers with their self-indulgent mini-series. Otherwise, they're one hit wonders who never had a hit.
Our Brand Is Crisis (2005)
Arrogant
I have rewatched Our Brand Is Crisis and am changing my review. The documentary film provides amazing access to a group of people (mostly Amercians) trying to change the outcome of a presidential election in Bolivia through instrumental and deceptive methods. Unfolding in a true three-act structure, the film leaves you wondering up until the end who will win. However, the essence of the film transcends the outcome of the election and shows how neocons utilize ideology and personal interests that connect to the interests of the United States. The film is clear, despite the director's naive comments about "knowing people who have money in order to make a film." My previous review criticized the filmmaker for her outrageous and incorrect comments that reveal her worldview just as the film reveals the worldview of the subjects in the film. Overall, the film contains excellent scenes that that slowly build into a true narrative.
American Cannibal: The Road to Reality (2006)
reality TV documentary
Helllllooooo Reality TV Fans! Now is the time to transfer your interest to a reality TV documentary that explores absolutely nothing! That's right, American Cannibal is an ninety- something minute film that chases its tail in hopes of actually revealing something about human obsession, but only achieves to reveal something about how the directors relied too much on someone else's opinion to create a story that never comes through. The craft of the film is so poor that the audience has to tread through forty minutes of muck before getting to what the story could have been. And when we arrive to the story, it's barely introduced and buried somewhere in footage left on the cutting-room floor. Yeap, there's a story in there somewhere, but certainly not in the film. I sincerely applaud the filmmakers for attempting to find the story and sticking with what was obviously difficult circumstances. And it's incredible to see some of the footage they captured, but the story is so poorly constructed that one wonders why they spent so many year filming this event instead of organizing a structured story. As the film currently stands, it nothing more than spectacle.
China Blue (2005)
Fake
I am surprised that a "documentary" like China Blue can pass as a documentary and actually get funding (and then play on PBS). It is obvious that so many scenes in this fabricated and set up film are contrived, forged, and faked. The filmmaker Micha Peled ought to feel ridicule for telling the characters what to do and what to say. Furthermore, I watched a previous cut of this film a few years ago at Columbia University. What I noticed is that the story is the same, but one character is different: Jasmine has replaced a previous character, yet the script and narration is the same. What this means is that Peled extracted the dialogue from the original character (who was fired from the factory and he therefore lost his main subject), but imposed her dialogue on the new character named Jasmine. If Peled wanted to convey his ideological point of view, then he should have made a fictional film (and in many ways he did). His film lowers the standards of documentary film and also puts China's unfair labor abuses into a positive light because no one will trust him or his film. Therefore his film is dangerous to workers and activists who are trying everyday to organize. Instead, Peled paints a fake portrait. The editing is also contrived and made to seem like a strike happens. His film has so many flaws that I'm surprised none of the festival organizers have seen through it's obvious fabricated scenes. Don't trust this film, but still know that workers are exploited. A better title for this film is Contrived in China. Good luck, Peled, with your reputation as a documentary filmmaker.