You can watch the whole 50 minute documentary above. It's the true story of John Du Pont, wrestling, and murder. Evidently there was a movie made on this story recently. I didn't know anything about it but Hayes recommended this doc.
It was made by ESPN so the quality is up there. Good score, actually. But anyway, it's a story about a mega-rich dude who kills an innocent man who trusted him. It's really pretty heartbreaking all around. It's well made. If you're interested in this bizarre tale of mo' money mo' problems....check it out. I feel really bad for all of those involved.
There's a definite romanticism attached to NY in the 70's. You think of Taxi Driver, the Warriors, and the seediness of Times Square before it turned into what we all know it as today. You think of the Ramones, Agnostic Front, Judge, Cro-Mags, all running wild pre-gentrification. NY used to be a scary ass place and the people who lived it loved it.
But one imagines this view is probably a half-truth. Rose-colored glasses illuminating all the things people loved about NY before it became super bougie and filled with mustaches and cronuts.
This doc dives into the real Bronx in the 70's, where gang life was the only life for youths in the projects. They had no options. Well, it was dead or alive, if you call that an option. It's a sad story of young kids running amok, spilling blood, and ruining lives. But it's also a story of hope and peace transcending violence. It's a story of black/white, right/wrong, fear/bravery, and P.M.A! For out of gang culture came hip hop culture. People started to battle rap and breakdance instead of stab and shoot. Beefs were squashed on the wheels of steel, and not in dark alleyways. From block warfare to block parties.
You get the picture. It's a tragic and inspiring tale of disenfranchised youth. Blacks and Puerto Ricans uniting. Kool Herc, the Zulu Nation, and all that.
Stream it on Netflix. It'll make you think differently about the Warriors next time you watch it.
This doc is well made. It details the insane company behind many of the shittiest movies of the 80's. It's a hilarious one hour and forty-five minutes, if you ask me.
This was a nostalgic ride. Remember Cyborg, Bloodsport, American Ninja, Masters of the Universe, Delta Force, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Superman IV, Missing in Action, Over the Top, Death Wish 2...? They were all spawn of Cannon Films. Those were the 'good' ones. Cannon used to shit out 40 or 50 movies a year back in the 80's. I hadn't heard of the majority of them. The worst of the worst. But as an 8 year old you eat that stuff up.
These guys were unique. You can't argue that after watching this doc. Horrible filmmakers, but indelibly part of my childhood and anyone growing up in the 80's. They definitely left a mark. An unsightly mark, but a mark nonetheless.
Watched a 50 minute doc on Jay Z. You gotta be wary of "unauthorized" doc's cuz often times that's a codeword for "shit." This is kinda one of those flicks. They obviously didn't get the rights to use any of Jay's music. So yeah, it's a doc about a musician w/out one single song of theirs.
The doc is about Jay as a businessman and talks very little about his creativity or musical output. It's just Damon Dash this, Jay Z that, business, projects, hood, drugs, hustle. Lots of talking heads. Meh.
I really like Jay Z as an artist. Reasonable Doubt is one of the greatest rap records of all time. But this is not one of the greatest doc's of all time. It does not do the man justice.
I reviewed this after the first time I watched it in 2012. Time flies.
Not sure what sparked it but I really wanted to watch it again. It's no longer streaming on Netflix but you can stream it on Amazon Prime and Chromecast it to your TV. So that's what I did late last night.
Man, it's such a good doc. Still one of the best music doc's I've ever seen. It gets you so freakin stoked on Pearl Jam. It's nostalgic and inspirational. Cameron Crowe should do more musical doc's like this. He has a new movie in the work called "Roadies," so maybe that'll be a good time.
I never saw Singles back in the day. I should check that out.
Back to PJ20; it's a must-see. That's all there is to it.
I've wanted to see Savage Seven for a few years now. Finally found a bootleg DVD. It was worth the wait. This was a bonafide classic.
Laszlo Kovacs was the DP, so that immediately set this apart from the typical crap we see in this genre. This was an AIP film from 1968 so you know it was gonna be right on target.
I gotta say this was the closest thing to a legitimate movie we might have ever seen at Biker Movie Night. Barring the likes of Easy Rider and the Wild One, this is next in line. But it wasn't "too" good. There was plenty of ridiculous racism, sexism, and dodgy acting to keep it grounded. The interesting thing was that this was racist towards Native Americans. An often overlooked minority in the Biker Film genre.
Dick Clark was the Producer and maybe that's why we never saw more than just a little underboob. Best nipple shot we got was from a guy. So...
Lack of nudity aside, this ruled. Typical plot. Biker gang invades small town. Gets in fights with locals. Rape, murder, and looting ensue. Only this time it's a Native American shack town and the bikers really aren't all that bad. Quite a handsome looking lot. We've seen this story a thousand times before but the Savage Seven does an exceptional iteration and puts its own spin on it.
Highly recommended if you can find a copy. Only thing....no idea why it's called the Savage Seven. There seemed to be a lot more than seven bikers...
I popped on Netflix to see what new stuff was streaming and ended up adding a whole bunch of shit. I was stoked to see this brand new Giger doc so I watched it.
It's dark. As it should be. Not super accessible. As it should be. Pretty minimal. But overall not super compelling to be honest. Sometimes these "moment in time" type of documentaries just don't do it for me. It's not a retrospective really. It is, but it isn't. Kind of a superficial retrospective. I was hoping for more.
Tom G. Warrior is in it for quite a few scenes. Of course that's kinda cool. It definitely gives you an insight into his home and the themes that permeate his work. He had great parents, at least three wives, he loves cats, and his house is a sprawling Xanadu of books, art, and general untidiness. Everything is painted black and he has the most amazing bar I've ever seen in my life. There, I ruined everything for you.
You should probably watch it, but don't get your hopes up too high is all I'm saying.
We kicked off this season of Motorcycle Movie Night with a bizarre one called "J.C." They don't really mince words on the poster; "J.C. and his disciples were a gang of broads, bikes and blacks." I'm not quite sure how his gang can bebikes, but still, you get the point.
J.C. was interesting because it had one hell of a plot. We don't run across many plots (period) in the biker flick genre, but J.C. held its own. Someone actually had to THINK about the story arc for more than ten to twelve minutes upon its inception. That's very rare in this genre.
The protagonist was the son of a preacher. An allegedly crazy preacher who saw visions. J.C. left town after his father's death and years later returns with his motorcycle disciples. The bible belt townsfolk don't take to kindly to long-hairs and african-americans. They have less PC terms they like to throw around when describing J.C. and his little gang of misfits.
Most classic biker flicks would just end right there as far as plot goes. Show up to small town, get in trouble, roll credits. But this was different. There were quite a few sub-plots and concepts running through the movie. Now, this didn't make it any GOOD per se, but it did make it more sophisticated than what we're used to.
The budget was clearly next to nothing. We were all shocked when we saw a crane scene. That must have been their whole budget right there. It sure as hell didn't go towards hiring a good cameraman or boom operator because we saw the boom poking down in half of the shots. Literally.
Anyway, I've written way too much about this film already. I definitely can't recommend it to anyone outside of biker nerds because it was terrible. But I think overall we enjoyed it for its eccentricity and unique spin on the genre.
Marie's boss recommended this doc so we fired it up last night after replacing an HDMI cord Alfred had chewed through. Thanks Alfie.
Man, this was a pretty crazy and uplifting story. Korean twins are separated at birth and sent to two different adoption agencies. They have no idea they have a twin. Twenty-five years later one of them makes a youtube video that happens to get seen by a friend of the other twin. Her buddy says, "hey, this person looks just like you..." and after some internet searching...the twins are reunited.
This is their story. It's a pretty deep and emotional experience to happen to someone. And it's a very unique thing to have the whole thing documented for the world to watch from their living rooms'.
Check out the trailer. Marie and I both thought it was a captivating doc.
An hour long documentary on the rise of Daft Punk.
This starts at their inception and brings you along for all the major milestones in the band's career. I have their second album and that's it. I think it's fucking great, but I don't know a lot about the band. This was pretty cool. Got mad respect for these frogs.
I don't know if I knew about this film. Maybe vaguely. But the topic definitely piqued my interest. It was a true story about the British effort to crack the German code that all their radio messages were encrypted in. And Benedict Cumberbatch starred, with Keira Knightly supporting. Sign me up.
This was a good flick from head to toe. It was a fascinating tale. A very sad one, too. The movie is very inspirational, but it's tinged with a good deal of melancholy, injustice and death. So it's definitely not all roses for our leading lad.
I wouldn't give the Director an Oscar for this. But I'd definitely say it's worth two hours of your life to learn about a truly amazing individual and a mind-blowing aspect of the war.
The in-flight entertainment included the likes of all three Hobbit movies and a bunch of Marvel movies...but of course I spent my time watching documentaries about champagne, fashion, and music. You didn't really think I'd watch Thor and Ant-Man did you?
This doc was okay. Middle of the road in production. And just not much of an emotional journey. I watched it to learn a little about how they make champagne, and it fulfilled itself in that regard. It's definitely eye-opening and makes you appreciate the manual effort that goes into a top class bottle of bubbly. But I wouldn't go running to see this flick.
The next four flicks were on the return flight from Pudong to Detroit. I kicked it off with Dior and I. Why not? It's a focused documentary that follows Raf Simons as he takes the Creative Director's role at Christian Dior and assembles his first couture showing. Raf was known for ready-to-wear, but here he is doing couture for Dior in eight weeks. Pretty crazy first couple months at the job!
This is a very interesting doc that shows you who makes the clothes as well as a glimpse into how they're made. I enjoyed this a lot except for the few seconds that Anna Wintour was on screen.
This was a unique story. Watched a doc that goes into the studio musicians of the fifties/sixties who played on a zillion singles and albums but never got any 'real' recognition. This particular loose knit band of players was dubbed the Wrecking Crew. They were talented as hell and you know all their tunes. They even sat in for established musicians like the Beach Boys. Watch the trailer and you'll see and hear how deep an impact these guys had on the scene. It's pretty crazy.
The third flick I watched on the way over to China. Never heard of this doc but it seemed like light viewing material. When else do you get to delve into the inner workings of one of the most famous luxury stores in the world? Might as well check it out.
The doc itself was alright. Nothing groundbreaking. But still quite interesting. You'll be blown away when you find out how much the top salespeople at Bergdorf's can bring in annually in salary and commission. Holy shit.
Some interesting stories. Only recommended for anyone who would actually enjoy going to Bergdorf's. Otherwise, don't bother with it.
Lego ruled. I feel sorry for anyone and everyone who's life wasn't enriched by Lego as a child. It's truly the greatest, most imaginative and creative toy available. And it has been since its inception.
This is an official behind-the-scenes look at Lego's history and its cultural impact.
Recommended for anyone who remembers playing with Lego as a kid. Narrated by Jason Bateman.
You're a prisoner to the headrest screen when you're on a fourteen hour flight. I watched five films on the way to Shanghai and four on the return flight.
Lambert & Stamp was the first and it ruled! I was really stoked I got to see this. Never heard of it before. It's a well made documentary chronicling the two fledgling managers who took the Who from their humble beginnings as the High Numbers, to their stratospheric heights a few years later. They're funny ol' characters and it's a pretty crazy story.
Inspirational and exciting. Sometimes I think the Who were the greatest band ever. This is a good doc and definitely worth watching.
Hour long PBS special on the black kung-fu experience. Sounds like a pretty cool, esoteric topic to watch. But the PBS doc' is pretty low rent. The topic could have been delved into on such a deeper level. It could have been really freaking awesome. Instead, it's just a so-so hour long surface look at the black community and its relationship with kung-fu. Nothing terribly wrong with it, but I don't really recommend you spend an hour of your life watching it either. Pass.
Oh look, I watched another documentary. It's about racing. Shocking.
Gonchi came up on my Netflix queue due to my interest in racing doc's. I'd never heard of Gonchi but I'm not one to turn down a subject due to lack of familiarity so I learned a little about his life and untimely death over the following ninety minutes. Sad and inspirational.
Gonchi was a racing driver on the eve of making it to Formula One when his life was tragically cut short in an accident on track. He had the potential to make a name for himself on the greatest stage in motor racing if he had lived. He was from Uruguay. A trailblazer for his country. A good dude. And obviously very talented.
This is no Senna. Obviously. But it's still a good doc for anyone remotely interested in motor racing. Or even if you're not but you like stories about perseverance, dedication, and making a difference...watch Gonchi.
