One Night in Turin

This film gave me the chills.

This is a great documentary narrated by Gary Oldman. It doesn't matter if you like football or not, this is one of those excellent films that transcends any preconceptions or preferences. For 90 minutes you will care about football. And you might just get the chills.

I was 10 years old when England got into the semi-finals of the World Cup. My family was on vacation in England when we watched their last game. I remember it vividly. Italia '90 is the football event that I measure everything against. It's really cool to see such a well done documentary about such an important time in English football.

The only down side: The hooliganism is fucking disgusting. It really sucks to see it here in all its standard definition glory. But that was part and parcel of everything that went down. Can't bury your head in the sand. I'm glad it's behind us, for the most part.

Moving on...the soundtrack is brilliant. It's all British shit from the mid-90's. Dance/indie crossover shit like the Farm, Joy Division, Adamski, the Charlatans, Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets, James, etc. It's probably the best soundtrack I've heard all year, to be honest.

Stream this on Netflix. It's well worth it.

Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone

I honestly don't think I'd ever heard Fishbone until I saw this doc'. I'm not losing any sleep over it. As it turns out I don't like what they do at all, but I figured I'd give the documentary a shot and see what they were all about.

Lawrence Fishburn does the narration. The production value is pretty good throughout. The film lets the members tell their tale in their own words, with a few interjections from the narrator every once in a while. Archival footage is paired with recent interviews and animation to weave the whole narrative together. It's done pretty well.

I really don't like their fusion of ska, punk, pop, r'n'b, metal, funk, and weirdness. I don't like RHCP or No Doubt or any of the other bands that look up to Fishbone. But that's besides the point. The documentary is worth watching cuz it's an interesting trip regardless of the music. A weird group of guys playing weird music for 25 years. It's entertaining. You learn everything you'd ever care to know about Fishbone in the movie. You're all set. Such a bizarre band. I honestly don't see how people like their music. Probably the same people that like Mr. Bungle and worship everything Mike Patton does.

Anyway, it's worth watching. Most of the characters are pretty likable and there are some really interesting ups and downs in Fishbone's career.

Steaming on Netflix. Word.

Deep Water

The sea is a scary-ass place. Unforgiving waves ready to crush you like an insect. Blackness. Emptiness. Cruelty. Void.
You're surrounded by impending doom. 70% of the Earth's surface is covered in water. That's 70% Doom.

In 1969 nine sailors decided to race around the world singlehandedly in an attempt to be the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat without stopping. No aid. Just a dude and a boat trying something that had never been done. Brass balls.

This documentary is about that race. But it's specifically about one dude from England. The Dark Horse of the nine. He was in Deep Water and subsequently in Deep Shit. You'll find out why if you watch the flick.

The film uses archival footage and photography mixed with interviews done for the film. There are no recreations. It's well put together. I think it's an interesting narrative and it's accompanied by compelling visuals. It doesn't rely on slick effects or bullshit like that. It's just real people telling a real story. It's woven together cohesively. I enjoyed the trip. Tension mounts, brothers and sisters.

It's streaming on Netflix. It's inspiring. Watch it.

A Man's Story

I wanna be rich like Ozwald Boateng.

I want a wardrobe like the motherfucker, too. Ever since I first saw Boateng's designs I knew that he'd be the first guy I'd go see if I ever truly "made it." I'll fly my ass over to London and beat down his door on Savile Row. I want him to make me a suit before I die.

Boateng takes a very sharp, very modern approach to English tailoring but adds his own dandy twist to the party. He's provocative and ballsy, but somehow he manages to keep a lid on it. He's irreverent in some of his color choices but it's completely alright because it's so well proportioned and put together that you just can't argue with it. He offers a very refined "fuck you." Love it.

The film follows Ozwald for ten years! You see him go from the gutter to the penthouse. It's great to see the ascension unfold. The dude is unflappable. The production value is pretty low. The audio isn't always that great. The video isn't always that great. It's never distracting, though. But the film is definitely raw. I woudln't give the Director any awards on any level. The whole thing is pretty good, but it's really basic. You could give the raw footage to someone else and I think they could do something better, to be honest. But whatever. Good effort.

If you wanna watch a fly-on-the-wall doc about the best men's fashion designer currently cutting cloth, then this is for you. Otherwise...meh, you could watch something else. Hey, I just got Prometheus in the mail today...

Objectified

Just watched Objectified again. It's by Gary Hustwit, who also Directed Helvetica. This is the second in his design trilogy. I just watched the final installment, Urbanized, a little while ago. All good films in their own right.

Objectified doesn't glamorize or try to make industrial design sexy. It's a somewhat dry documentary. Maybe "subtle" is a better word than "dry." I don't know. I dig it. It's unvarnished and pretty mellow. We see interviews with a variety of designers who have some pretty interesting and relatively deep insights into design. And we see interviews with a couple lunatics. The art fags you just couldn't see eye-to-eye with in art school. SOME of them end up getting paid well for being flighty art fags. Whatever. The rest of the cast have their heads pretty well screwed on to their bodies.

Surprisingly, Karim Rashid has some really valuable insights. I say "surprisingly" because the man wears white nailpolish and lots of pink accessories. The long-hair dude with the nice couch in the background is my other favorite interviewee.

The ideas are translatable to other areas of design. Obviously, as an Art Director, I could relate to their processes even though we work in different specialized fields.

If you've ever wondered about industrial design process then watch this flick. And even if you don't care about how they design handles for potato-peelers...watch this flick.

Helvetica

I watched this with my team at work today.

I like this film. I like the contrast of opinions. Some people think Helvetica started the Vietnam war, others think Helvetica is the only font on earth worth using. Personally, I love Helvetica, but it's by no means the only choice for me. Unlike some of the purists who think type should be invisible, I think type can be expressive. However, I don't go as far as David Carson does. I am not a fan of his work, personally. I think it's dated as hell and incredibly impractical. It's a bit full of itself.

Anyway, Helvetica (the film) documents the origins of the typeface and its use in the last 50 years. It's ubiquitous, of that there is no doubt. Helvetica is amazing for signage. It's not the only choice, but it's a good choice. We get commentary form many big name type designers and designers throughout the course of the film. Everyone has an intense stance, one way or the other. There's not much more to the film. It's just people talking about why they love/hate Helvetica, and what kind of social impact its had on the world. But that's cool. It's well put-together. Has a sort of glitch-pop soundtrack. It's well-edited. I like it. And I think it's accessible to anyone, not just designers. Go add it to your Netflix streaming queue already.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Werner Herzog sounds like an evil German speak-n-spell.

Herzog narrates this documentary about the Chauvet Cave in France. The cave houses the oldest known drawings ever recorded by man. Some of these cave paintings are approximately 35,000 years old! The fucked up part is that they look good! It's like the paleolithic Guernica in there. Seriously. Some great drawings of bulls, lions and horses. Good motion, balance, and stylization.

So, it's a cave in France with old paintings. No one's really allowed to see it. Herzog got special privileges to film, so you're lucky to even have the opportunity to see these works of art at all. There are interviews with paleontologists, archeologists, and the occasional perfumer. All of them lend their own perspective on the cave, its art, and the people who made it. They're like Sherlock Holmes, minus the deerstalker hat, as they try to unravel the mystery of the cave by looking at the clues that have accumulated over thousands of years.

I thought the doc was good. But nothing mind-blowing.

Between the Folds

Meh.

I watched an hour-long PBS documentary today called Between the Folds. It wasn't quite as "riveting" as the Netflix synopsis claimed.

Basically, the documentary as an artistic statement didn't have a whole lot of merit. You could have edited this down to a half hour and it would have been just fine. It simply follows a few different origami experts and reveals their passion for folding paper. There's no glue holding it together or anything extraordinary about the film. It just is.

The people documented are an interesting bunch, though. And by interesting, I mean incredibly nerdy. Math geeks. Geniuses. Art fags. French art fags! One guy is making his own paper and says, "boy, I just can't wait to fold this!" His enthusiasm for paper-folding borders on the perverse.

A lot of what they do IS incredible. It IS impressive. It IS very artistic and emotive. The topic is great, it's just that the Director isn't as good as making films as the art fags are at folding paper.

I wouldn't watch it. But don't hold your breath for the next, great, origami documentary to come along...for I fear you might turn blue in the process. If you must know about the geometry and art behind origami, this is probably your only choice.

Valentino: the Last Emperor

If you're in the fashion industry you've either got a ridiculously overinflated ego, or you're kissing the ass of someone with a ridiculously overinflated ego. I don't like either idea, but that's the fashion industry in a nutshell. You're Ana Wintour, or you're groveling at her feet. Fuck her and fuck the grovelers.

Valentino is incredibly self-absorbed. Go figure. He's like a rich child who never grew up. It's gotta be weird being isolated in this über rich environment where everything hinges on appearances. At least he looks after his dogs well-enough. Stupid pugs. But I digress…

This documentary is about Valentino, his lover/business partner, and the rise of his fashion empire over the last 45 years. It really focuses on the last couple of shows he did before retiring. They're incredibly over the top productions that cost zillions to make. We see Valentino sketching couture dresses, and we follow those sketches as his seamstresses turn them into haute couture reality. Then models prance down runways for douchebags wearing sunglasses indoors. Fascinating stuff.

The doc is well done. It's fly-on-the-wall style and it lets the main characters tell their own tale. It's pretty decent for what it is, but I think someone else could have delved deeper into Valentino's life. 

There are better doc's to watch than this. But you could do a hell of a lot worse, too. Whatever.

Freakonomics

Marie and I started watching Freakonomics months ago. I think we got through the first segment of the film and then Netflix took a dump on me. So I finally decided to pick back up and watch the remaining hour+.

It was straight. Not the best thing I've ever seen.

Basically, an economist and a journalist wrote a book called Freakonomics in 2004. This is their eponymous film based on said book. It's about analyzing data and discussing causality. The other subject is incentives. A half dozen Directors each have their own segment in the film that has to do with causality/incentives, and the authors of the book comment and tie the whole thing together.

The shitty part is that the authors of the book came under fire for manipulating data to derive their findings in the original book. So the legitimacy of their film becomes a bit dubious, too. Data and causality are very, very tricky subjects. You gotta look at things holistically or you can come up with some causal relationships that are totally bullshit. The media does it daily. Some douche shot up a school and he owned a Metallica record...so Metallica made him do it! It's the only contributing factor! We don't want to look any further for the true root cause!

Fuck off. I hate people.

Anyway, the Sumo piece was most interesting to me. 1) I'm a fan of the sport 2) I dig Japan and 3) It's interesting to see such an honest country be embroiled in such a dishonest match-rigging fiasco.

The opening piece about black names vs. white names was interesting, too. Kind of embarrassing. My favorite stat was how many unique ways the school district had for spelling the name, Unique (I think over a hundred, if I recall!).

I wouldn't tell anyone not to watch this. I just wouldn't put it at the top of my queue. It's a'ight. Go for it. Who cares.

Knuckle

Bad Eye suggested I watch this. Not one of his better suggestions.

A film-maker follows around a few groups of Irish "travelers" for about 10 years and he videotapes their bare-knuckle boxing lifestyle. The thing is, it looks like someone just followed people around with a camcorder for 10 years. The quality of the video in certain parts is shit. Let's just call this a "fly on the wall" documentary. It's certainly bare-bones.

You've seen Snatch. You're familiar with the Pikeys. "You like dags?" Well, the Pikeys looks like Harvard graduates compared to these Irish travellng-folk. Holy fuck, they barely speak English. I'd have an easier time understanding Bunny Wailer than these dudes, and that's saying something.

Their lives are filled with useless inter-family feuds. They posture like it's impossible to end the feuds and the bare-knuckle matches keep things from devolving into an all out war. but let's be honest...they're full of shit. Not one of them is man enough to put an end to things. As much as they protest, they must like the fighting because they're the sole reason it is perpetuated. The retards videotape themselves talking shit to the other family and send the tapes back and forth challenging each other to fights. Pretty pathetic stuff. And in many cases they say, "it's not me, it's them. They ask for fights. I don't. I just accept their offers." So bloody juvenile.

I'll tell you what's not juvenile, though...the purses. These fights have up to 120,000 quid riding on them. And these buggers will fight for over 2 hours if needed. It's bare-knuckle boxing until one man is knocked out or someone throws in the towel. No breaks. Just fight til you can't fight anymore. Gnarly.

I didn't think it was a good doc. Illuminating? Yeah. I didn't know much about Irish traveling boxers before. But did it need to be 90 minutes? Nope. The whole thing is shit-talk on video, fight, repeat. There's very little else to it. A little back story on their excuses for fighting (generally stemming over some other fight decades prior). I think this could have been cut in half and it would have been just fine.

If you want to watch something on boxing, watch the doc the Real Rocky.

Cameraman: the Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

Jack Cardiff is the man. He directed Girl on a Motorcycle for god's sake. But more importantly than that, he was THE iconic cinematographer of the 20th century.

This documentary does a good job chronicling his incredibly influential career. The doc uses Scorsese as his main advocate, but many others weigh in on Cardiff's profound effect on the industry. It's surprising he didn't do more Hitchcock films because he seems to have had a Hitchcockian-eye for story-telling and drama. But anyway…

Production value is good on this one. The flick keeps you interested for the whole thing and I'd suggest watching it. Pay your respects.

Infamy

Let's get this sorted up front; don't see this.

Infamy is 90 minutes of myopic, egotistical graff' writers talking about their shit. They come from broken homes, their homies have died, they've made bad choices, they're addicted to putting fame up on bus stops and train cars. Yada yada yada. Fuck tha police and all that jazz.

I love graff' but this film isn't much of an ambassador for the culture/scene. A couple of the dudes are alright, and CLAW adds a different perspective, but overall I think they could have found more eloquent representatives to document. You just end up thinking, "this guy is a douche" and that overshadows his art in many cases. Having said that, none of the dudes profiled are all that dope to begin with. They a'ight.

The film doesn't really talk about history or techniques or styles much. It's more about personal stories from coast to coast.

Yeah, you don't need to see this. I've yet to see a really good graff' doc, but I keep watching them so you don't have to.

Requiem for Detroit?

BBC documentary about Detroit. Not feeling it so much.

It's pretty much all ruin porn, with a touch of silver-lining thrown in. Granted, the film is about the city's decline, not its rebirth, but you can't help but feel like it's an exploitation piece.

They talk about some good things happening, but I didn't get a positive vibe from the flick. It felt a bit cheap. Well done, but you felt taken advantage of. Like a zoo. "oooh, look at the Detroiters, so feral. Now let's go back to our safe homes once we've had our fill of grim reality."

Meh. Skip it.

30 for 30: The Real Rocky

I watched this doc on Chuck Wepner, the real Rocky. It's worth an hour of your time. You can stream it on Netflix or watch the video on YouTube posted above.

ESPN takes a good look at the man who inspired Stallone to write Rocky. The doc is definitely well made. Good production. Good camerawork. It keeps things interesting. Anyone who goes toe to toe with Muhammad Ali has a tale or two to tell.

Chuck seems like a likable enough guy and it's cool to see him tell his story. There's ample archival footage to supplement the recent interviews they conducted. All in all, it's an entertaining window into the life of a boxer who would be otherwise unknown.

I've never been a fan of Stallone and this certainly didn't do anything to make me like him any better. Retard.

Fixation

Bicycles are for people who can't afford motorcycles.

This doc was kinda low rent. Shaky production values. Only 40 minutes. Pretty shallow.

Powering your bike is kinda cool. I respect that aspect of the fixed gear bike. It's as fast or as slow as you are. It's clearly more of an extension of the person than a geared bike. No brakes. I'd like to try riding one for the sake of fitness. Satan knows I could do with some cardio and leg exercise.

It's streaming on Netflix. But why watch it when you can do something else with your 40 minutes. Like ride a proper bike...with an engine.

[update 09/09/12] I rode Bad Eye's fixie. These things are death-traps! I couldn't stop the bloody thing. Horrible piece of machinery. Give me brakes or give me death.

Urbanized

Gary Hutswit is cornering the market when it comes to nerdy-design-documentaries. First, he did the most excellent, Helvetica, later he did Objectified, and now we have Urbanized. Helvetica ruled hard, Objectified was worth watching, and Urbanized was really good. All of his films employ top notch camerawork, editing, and production value. He knows how to tell a tale.

It's a movie about city planning and design. There are interviews with city planners, architects, designers, etc. He did a good job co-producing it cuz Urbanized is filmed all over the freakin world. They focus on different projects in foreign cities. How urban design can help the people. How urban design can benefit the planet, and how urban design can go wrong. It's fascinating stuff even though I'm making it sound boring.

They go to Detroit. Of course they do. But it's not all ruin porn. Don't cringe. Thankfully it showcases Detroit's urban farming and DIY culture, rather than its blight. There's a great opening scene on the People Mugger, errr...People Mover.

I really enjoyed it. I don't want to regurgitate some of the super interesting facts and concepts...just watch it and be surprised yourself.

Streaming on Netflix. Or click the video above to watch on YouTube.

Great stuff. I'm definitely a fan of Hutswit.

Fire in Babylon

Yeah, I just watched a documentary about the West Indies Cricket Team in the late 1970's. And you know what? It fucking ruled.

Another topic I don't know shit about; cricket. And do I ever really care to know about it? Not really. But this is a compelling story about people, struggle, politics, athleticism, the most winningest sports team of ANY sport (undefeated in their Test Matches for 15 consecutive years!!!), rasta, racism, unity and broken bones.

These dudes had heart. It's an incredible story. Watch the trailer. You might get a different opinion on cricket.

The flick has pretty good production value. Interviews with all the major players of the time, as well as various rasta royalty. If this Bunny Wailer clip doesn't make you wanna watch it... Seriously. I and I give up, rasta man. Na badda me. One love.

Streaming on Netflix. Add it to your queue already, mofo.

Fastest

I had low expectations for this, but wanted to check it out anyway just in case. A prior motorcycle doc I saw that Ewan McGregor also narrated had set the bar low for me, but it was unwarranted in this case cuz this flick was surprisingly dope!

This is like the moto' equivalent of Senna. Ok, it's not on par with Senna, but it's the closest we've got from a moto' perspective. This was intense. This is a gripping film.

I know as much about Moto GP racing as I know about calculus (which is nothing). So I was coming into this with a clean slate and no preconceptions about what or who it should cover. Turns out it focuses on Valentino Rossi (current GP sporting icon), and follows him for a few years. But this isn't a Rossi doc per se, so it tracks some other guys and documents some exciting rivalries. The film also gives high level overviews of the bikes, the safety, the crashes, a little history, and other such things. It does a great job of introducing you to recent Moto GP racing at a high level.

I was riveted and I don't think this is just for bikers by any means. Anyone with a heartbeat could enjoy this film. It's all highlights. It's exciting. It's interesting. The on-board camera shit is just breath-taking. These guys are on 220 hp bikes going 200+. Their reaction times are just beyond comprehension. Fitness, skill, balls... massive.

Everyone should watch this. Streaming on Netflix.

I subsequently added Faster to my queue. That's the first installment from 1993. This one is from 2011.

brrrraaaaapppp!

the Dhamma Brothers

Bad Eye suggested I peep this hour-long documentary. I'm glad he passed it along. It was fucking good.

The doc is pretty low budget, but the content is what matters. It's about a super violent prison in the dirty south that opens its doors to a couple of Buddhist monks to teach meditation to the inmates. The film documents the prisoners before, during and after their 10 day vow of silence and their intense meditation sessions.

The outcome is pretty profound. 1) It's a testament that these murderers and lifers had the balls to take a class like this considering prison culture and 2) it's brilliant that years later they are still meditating and sticking to their practice. This program genuinely changed lives for the better. 

Most people don't understand that Buddhism isn't really a religion; it's a philosophy. And as such, it can be applied in a secular manner. In this case they weren't even really overtly teaching Buddha's precepts or ideology, they were teaching the art of meditation as a way to journey into the self. And they were teaching mediation and self-realization as a pathway to love and understanding.

Watch it and see. The trailer gives a pretty decent high level overview of the content of the film so you don't need me to recap that.

Steaming on Netflix. Aaaaaaauuuuuuuummmmmmm......