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Author Topic: DOCember Group Marathon 2016  (Read 24016 times)

Bondo

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Re: DOCember Group Marathon 2016
« Reply #10 on: November 27, 2016, 03:19:33 PM »
Quote
draconian laws that prohibit sex offenders from living near schools
Yeah terrible.

How about we don't do this again since you refuse to engage in acts of empathy. The relevant point is that the sum effect of the distance restrictions is that it effectively makes it so there are NO legal places for these people to live, which has a variety of knock-on effects, no matter how intuitively justified the initial policy is.

But this does bring up another aspect that I wanted to get into. I've started reading Galileo's Middle Finger, which addresses the conflict that arises sometimes between scientific process and activism. It is mostly concerned with left-activism ignoring science that is inconvenient, but it applies generally. I'd say the movement to be as harshly punitive of sex offenders as possible is one that chooses to completely ignore scientific work on how to actually reduce incidence and harm, because those things demand empathy.

verbALs

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Re: DOCember Group Marathon 2016
« Reply #11 on: November 27, 2016, 03:25:19 PM »
I've never read of you expressing any empathy for victims. Personally I've a lot of empathy but it takes all my time feeling it for victims. I tell you what I'll do; if  I ever find I've run out of feeling empathy for victims Ill spend whatever time that's left feeling it for abusers of children. How's that for a deal?
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Bondo

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Re: DOCember Group Marathon 2016
« Reply #12 on: November 27, 2016, 03:36:38 PM »
I wonder if empathy almost doesn't count if it comes easily.

You seem to believe empathy is zero-sum, that if I have empathy for the offenders by default that means I don't have empathy for the victims. This is a bad assumption. Also, you seem to exist in a world where there is a clear white line between offenders and victims, when in reality many are both, hence the whole cycle of abuse I mentioned. Does your empathy for victims end if that abuse messes them up to the point where they hurt someone else?

I guess what I'm saying is I'm not sure you are using the word empathy right.

pixote

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Re: DOCember Group Marathon 2016
« Reply #13 on: November 27, 2016, 03:46:13 PM »
I don't want to see the very first review in this thread leading to a philosophical tangent.

Back to the film at hand, please, or other new reviews of documentaries.

Anybody looking to continue to engage in a discussion of the definition and limits of empathy, feel free to find a thread in the No Movie Talk Allowed board. Ad hominem sniping won't be welcome there either, however.


...but even the question as simple as, why are all these people congregated in this one area isn't answered. I'm not sure if this park is more an intentional effort for a supportive community or the result of draconian laws that prohibit sex offenders from living near schools, parks, etc. that can often push offenders into homeless camps under freeways and other isolating policies...

Huh, given the title, that's a shocking omission of information on the film's part, given its title. Super weird not to address what I assumed would be the movie's organizing/structural prinicipal. Makes me less inclined to check it out.

pixote
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Bondo

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Re: DOCember Group Marathon 2016
« Reply #14 on: November 27, 2016, 04:18:16 PM »
Makes me less inclined to check it out.

It has an 80 on Metacritic and a 100 at Rotten Tomatoes. Considering that critical status, I was fairly underwhelmed. I wonder if that is because for a lot of reviewers, it is the first time they are being asked to see this population with depth. Having been on the bandwagon for The Woodsman for a decade, it didn't ask something new of me. Novelty can give the impression of quality. Or maybe lack of novelty can give the impression of lower quality, since I'm more the outlier here in response to the film.

StarCarly

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Re: DOCember Group Marathon 2016
« Reply #15 on: November 27, 2016, 06:10:34 PM »
Makes me less inclined to check it out.

It has an 80 on Metacritic and a 100 at Rotten Tomatoes. Considering that critical status, I was fairly underwhelmed. I wonder if that is because for a lot of reviewers, it is the first time they are being asked to see this population with depth. Having been on the bandwagon for The Woodsman for a decade, it didn't ask something new of me. Novelty can give the impression of quality. Or maybe lack of novelty can give the impression of lower quality, since I'm more the outlier here in response to the film.


I had read an article or two about the park and I love nothing more than a morally ambiguous documentary, so I was eagerly anticipating seeing how Pervert Park would turn out. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish it because the stories (especially the woman's) made me too physically uncomfortable. I take that as a sign of a compelling story, but the filmmaking I saw wasn't especially groundbreaking.

No doc has affected me that way since the first time I saw Lake of Fire, and now I suggest that to people all the time, so take that however you want.


Has anyone reviewed 13th yet? I can't tell if I want to start it.
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Corndog

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Re: DOCember Group Marathon 2016
« Reply #16 on: November 28, 2016, 08:58:52 AM »
Here is what I have on my docket, though I will definitely not get to all of them:

Fire at Sea
Gleason
Zero Days
Kate Plays Christine
The Thoughts That Once We Had
Danny Says
The Lovers and the Despot
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
Portrait of a Garden
The Music of Strangers
Tower
Weiner
I Am Not Your Negro
Tickled
Peter and the Farm
The First Monday in May
Life, Animated
Hooligan Sparrow
Presenting Princess Shaw
Don't Blink - Robert Frank
Among the Believers
The Seventh Fire
Starving the Beast
« Last Edit: November 28, 2016, 09:35:11 AM by Corndog »
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1SO

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Re: DOCember Group Marathon 2016
« Reply #17 on: December 01, 2016, 02:02:30 AM »
De Palma (2016)
* * * - Okay
There was a time when Brian De Palma was my favorite director working. My love started when I watched Dressed to Kill in the early 80s, it survived Bonfire of the Vanities and died during my first viewing of Snake Eyes. That said, I understand what a bucket of hot coal De Palma is. So while I was going to love this movie on one level no matter what, it's too bad the documentary chooses a path of ignorance. It basically pulls the pin on the filmmaker's career and lets it explode. De Palma frequently cites his obvious influences and frequent misogyny with no apology or even an explanation as to what he thought he did to transform the influences. De Palma is a captivating speaker, but he essentially proves his harsh critics correct. This didn't re-ignite my appreciation of the filmmaker or his films. One insight I did realize, he's worked with the greatest composers in film history: Herrmann, Williams and Morricone
« Last Edit: December 01, 2016, 02:06:25 AM by 1SO »

DarkeningHumour

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Re: DOCember Group Marathon 2016
« Reply #18 on: December 01, 2016, 07:32:43 AM »
By the way, I suggested somewhere previously (I can't remember which thread) that maybe during these theme months we could pick one film (via poll, probably) and try to all watch around the same date. There seemed to be some interest in that, so maybe we could try it this month? 13th seems like a good candidate, at least for US Netflix subscribers.

pixote

I approve of the idea and the pick, except I don't know if I will be able to get it.

Some movies I would like to watch:
Tickle
13th
The Act of Killing
Winter on fire
OJ: Made in America
Jodorwoski's Dune (but I would need to watch Dune first...)

I am also now curious about Pervert Park (which I first spelled Perfect Park before correcting myself, something I am sure my psychologist will delight in analysing).

I have already watched more documentaries this year than any other before. Boundaries are being pushed.

EDIT: I think Hitchcock/Truffaut is getting a release here in a little while.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2016, 08:16:21 AM by DarkeningHumour »
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chardy999

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Re: DOCember Group Marathon 2016
« Reply #19 on: December 01, 2016, 07:41:01 AM »
Weiner

I am not intending to participate in DOCember but I just watched this so why not say something.

This is mad. At one point the cameraman asks Weiner a question and he baulks and asks what constitutes a "fly-on-the-wall" doco. That indicates the kind of intrusion that has taken place. And it is entirely created from the subjects of this film and not from the filmmakers. The filmmakers ask no moralising questions or try to tie this soap opera to any theme and it is so much better for it as it speaks for itself.

The Americanness of this is overwhelming. It's too much. You will struggle to find accepted situations with people screaming over each other like this in other countries. Still, it is part of this madhouse. Shake your head and go home to your safe comfy bed.

7/10.
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