Bosch: The Garden of Dreams

Bosch doc at the DFT? Date w/ Marie? Wouldn't miss it.

We went out to see this w/ a couple friends and then ate some good vegan nosh at Seva. All in all it was a very good evening.

The film was pretty good. It's essentially a whole doc on one painting. They got a variety of artists (poets, playwrights, fine artists, singers, writers, etc) to comment on the Garden of Earthly Delights. Some information was historically accurate, but most was just speculation and opinion.

Overall I think the film could have done w/ more cultural context surrounding the meaning of the painting. There's so much to look at and so many details that they could have had a field day explaining what some of it meant by talking to more art historians. Instead they focused on seemingly random interpretations by people who aren't formally educated on fine art. What can Salman Rushdie tell me about the Garden of Earthly Delights? I'd rather hear from an art history professor to be honest. Or even just a historian who could help unravel some of the weirdness going on in the painting.

It was still good and it was a very enjoyable night.

the Lord of the Rings

Homeboy waffles on too much at the beginning about a bunch of relations and history that no one gives a crap about. A bunch of stuff that has zero bearing on the rest of the story. All it does it stop you from enjoying the first book. It's like reading the bible or something. So-and-so begat this guy and he begat that guy etc.

Having said that, books two through six are pretty awesome. I'm not trying to knock Tolkien's masterpiece by bitching about the first book, but it's true. I think it's a barrier to getting immersed in the story.

It's a killer novel. The characters will live forever. It's worthy of all the praise. The visions Tolkien paints in your mind are truly spectacular and grand beyond belief. A genuine epic tale.

It'd be cool if someone at some point did a film adaptation justice with a cool movie or anime to remove Jackson's hideous attempts from memory.

Anyway, contrary to popular belief, TLOTR isn't a trilogy. It's one novel that's broken into six books and often divided into three volumes of two books each. FYI.

Loved it. Wished I could have read it faster but with the birth of River...well, finishing a 1000 page book as fast as I normally would certainly wasn't going to happen. The wee man can certainly monopolize my reading time.

A true classic.

Frazetta: Painting with Fire

Just watched this on Amazon. I'd heard about it for a while. It's a low budget doc, but it's official and I haven't heard of any better ones out there.  I watched it a few days ago but if I recall it was in 4:3. So yeah.

You learn a good deal about the man, though. It's definitely worth watching. I actually liked it better than the Giger one, for instance. It's a lot of talking head interviews with Frank, friends and family. I like that it goes back to his youth a lot. Definitely gives you a better understanding of Frank as opposed to just pouring over his art.

Dig it.

Future Shock: The Story of 2000AD

I was real freakin stoked when I saw this movie get released. Then I was quickly bummed out because it was a PAL-only format dvd. They weren't doing a US NTSC version. Something about not having distribution here. Teased!

Fast forward a few months and they finally got streaming rights in the US. I don't even care bout the dvd version now that I jumped on streaming it.

I watched it last night and I was a happy lad, transported back to Scotland. Transported to the local sweet shop where I'd go in every week and buy my issue of 2000AD and an accompanying bag of Pickled Onion Monster Munch or a Yorkie bar. mmmm....

This is a well-made doc about the origins and history of the ground-breaking British comic. It turned me on to Judge Dredd at an early age, and he's stuck with me through the years. Definitely one of my all time favorite characters. I loved the early shit. And just as important as Dredd was the introduction to Simon Bisley's artwork. I would stare at his pages for hours. Revisit the hell out of them. It didn't even matter what strip he was painting or whether it went over my young head or not. It was the art. The blood. The visceral nature of it all. Bisley is god.

Slaine: The Horned God by Bisley is one of the greatest comics ever created, imo. I can say that without hesitation.

I loved the hell out of Rogue Trooper, too. But anyway, I digress. This is a good doc for comic book nerds. It pulls back the curtain and sheds light on some of the darker days and the shadier aspects of working at 2000AD. But mostly it celebrates the good times and focuses on the great legacy of the anarchic, satirical, brilliant comic that I grew up on. It truly is the galaxy's greatest comic book. 

Nas: Time is Illmatic

I saw a Nas doc on Amazon Prime so I checked it out. It's about the making of one of the greatest hip-hop records of all time. One of the greatest debuts by any artist...ILLMATIC.

Yeah, it's pretty dope. If you dig Illmatic then watch this doc. If you don't...wtf?

Dear God No!

Motorcycle Movie Night kicked off in an absurd and sickening fashion. Dear God No! is an over the top modern exploitation flick. It pays homage to a bunch of classic biker flicks, rolls them together, and puts its own legitimately unique spin on it.

It's almost impossible to fault. It's so good at what it's supposed to do. The dialogue is hilarious, the plot is bone-headed, the music is good, and the violence is over-the-top. But the one place it loses points is crucial...the fucking bikes! They all have some sweet rides but you don't see them after the first ten minutes or so of the movie. So that's my only gripe.

But back to the violence. I said it was over-the-top. It is INSANE. I've never seen anything quite as sick as some of these scenes, and that's saying something. Best watched in a group of light-hearted individuals. Not recommended for date night w/ the missus.

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

I've never listened to Steve Aoki, but I know who he is. Ex-hardcore dude turned world famous DJ. Son of Rocky Aoki aka the founder of Benihana. But all that doesn't matter cuz I like documentaries and I like learning about people/things I don't know about.

Netflix puts out some good original programming. They're legit. My eyeballs fucking hurt right now so this has to be brief. This is a good doc. Well done. Mad respect to Steve's work ethic. Homeboy cracked 300 shows in one year. That's absolutely insane. He seems like a real nice dude and he makes a lot of people happy.

Entertaining doc. Check it out.

The Hurt Business

I liked Generation Iron and I'm looking forward to GI 2. This doc is by the same dude. It's a quality documentary about the history of MMA. It's well produced with really good editing. They interview a lot of the heavy hitters like Ronda, Jon Bones Jones, Rashad Evans, Randy, Tito, etc...

The doc covers women, men, champions, and has-beens. There are interviews with team owners, gym owners, ref's, announcers, owners, Bellatore and UFC. It's definitely well rounded.

Definitely worth a watch. It's not just a hype machine. It plays devil's advocate and looks at brain injuries and isn't afraid to throw some dirt around. Good stuff. This guy makes legit sport doc's. Thumbs up.

The Smiths – Under Review

I've been going down a rabbit hole of music documentaries offered on Amazon. I watched this Smiths doc even though it looked a little bootleg. It was probably made for TV. Whatever, it was still interesting even though it was more of a B or C production.

Morrissey did a LOT of hip gyration in the Smiths. That's my takeaway.

Looking forward to reading the Johnny Marr book. That's been getting good reviews.