Aw man, where’s Human Weapon? Why isn’t it on History Channel anymore? I was still waiting for the episode when the guys go to a Woman’s self defense class and scratch some dude’s eyes out. Oh well, for folks still waiting for it to come back some day, there’s the next best thing: Dinosaurs fighting! Now I know, many of you guys are pumping your fists at the thought but there’s a lot more to “Jurassic Fight Club”! There’s explorations in to the defenses of animals like the T-Rex and Raptor, there’s the different methods of execution to which these dinosaurs were capable of, and of course the inevitable question: How did dinosaurs form a fight club?
Tag Archives: Documentary
Fuck (2005)
Oh man, do I love the word fuck. I use it and I use it all the time and though it can often sully my attempts to be taken seriously by a few individuals, I use the word fuck and all of its variations whenever and however I please. It’s practically a bodily function. And even my most foul mouthed friends have taken great pains in getting me to use it less frequently. People are very startled by the word Fuck, and no one knows why. What is it about this four letter word that sends people in to a fit? Why does the word fuck send even the most liberal people in to a series of gasps and furrowed brows?
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)
Like the abortion issue, everyone has an opinion about Roman Polanski and his crime. They have opinions about the particulars; they have thoughts about why he committed this crime, and are often very quick to label him a pedophile, or rapist, or criminal. And much like the abortion issue, every thought is controversial and turns heated. What “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired” does is try to look at the issue from all areas. It never completely deifies Polanski, and it never demonizes him as a sexual deviant. It instead asks you to think of why he fled the country, and for some that may be a hard pill to swallow.
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (2007)
I was admittedly very skeptical with Robbins’ war time documentary for the simple fact that I’m frankly tired of seeing war time documentaries that attempt to sway me one way or the other. I’m either watching a cleaned up war through the eyes of the soldiers who beg for sympathy, or through some pundit bemoaning the Iraq War endlessly and harping on our doomed country in a war that may not end too soon.
1968 with Tom Brokaw
“I think movements create leaders, leaders don’t create movements.” – Mark Rudd
Every time I think I know as much as I can about the sixties, there’s always something introduced that surprises or astounds me, and believe it or not, while “1968” does tell some stories and accounts some events that we’ve seen over and over again, Tom Brokaw brings to the table the perspective of a journalist who happened to be around during some of the most historic moments of American history, and gives an objective view of the sixties. In the two hour special, aptly premiering a day after the twenty seventh anniversary of John Lennon’s death, Brokaw interviews ex-hippies, activists still fighting for freedom in our country, and right wing politicians all of whom have a different view of the sixties than the host does. Brokaw gladly doesn’t depict himself as important, only an observer who was there, and feels the need to show how astonishingly similar 1968 is to the social and political climate of 2007, and these aren’t simply coincidental, either. In one scene, Lyndon Johnson declares how we must go to war in Vietnam and fight over there before the communists come here.
It’s a common scare tactic used by the Bush administration and only solidified my interest in the documentary. Brokaw and the History channel simply don’t disappoint with an excellent account of the sixties and the entire movement for civil rights, feminism and free love, while also showing the hardships of the movements. The sixties were a time where the draft was taking people of any color to war, and protests raged while some of the best leaders fell to the gun. Not a single stone is unturned as we are given interviews with folks like Mark Rudd, and Jon Stewart and take a look into the awfully subversive legacy that was the Smothers Brothers, and their battles with network censors over their anti-war movement and the satirizing. “1968” is a very informative look at a historical decade and a wonderful exploration at the year that signaled change for better or for worse.
Premiering on the History Channel December 9th.
Hollywood Goes Gaming
This just in: Video Games are popular.
This just in: Video Games feel more like movies now.
This just in: Hollywood is getting in on the video game industry.
This just in: The following for video games are rampant.
This just in: Video Games are being made into movies, and vice versa.
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
What with all the documentaries about global warming, the Iraq War, the horrible medical system in the US, the environment, and protests, sometimes we want a documentary that’s compelling and fun at the same time. With documentaries there aren’t many out there that provide both for the American audience. “The King of Kong” is that documentary. It’s escapist without sacrificing brain cells. “The King of Kong” is that movie that places a great deal of importance around something that most of us would deem irrelevant and absurd.