Author Topic: DOCember 2017  (Read 18083 times)

DarkeningHumour

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Re: DOCember 2017
« Reply #70 on: December 12, 2017, 10:14:49 AM »
Did you watch it in a theatre? I never get new doc releases in theatres. At most an arthouse place will play an older doc once in a while.
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Teproc

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Re: DOCember 2017
« Reply #71 on: December 12, 2017, 10:25:18 AM »
Did you watch it in a theatre? I never get new doc releases in theatres. At most an arthouse place will play an older doc once in a while.

I did, yes. My local arthouse theater almost always has one or two showing actually (expect the latest Depardon to show up in this thread in a few days).
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roujin

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Re: DOCember 2017
« Reply #72 on: December 12, 2017, 10:55:41 AM »
Just a DOCember PSA, I think you can now rent AlphaGO on Amazon.

Oh hell yes.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: DOCember 2017
« Reply #73 on: December 12, 2017, 06:58:48 PM »
Just a DOCember PSA, I think you can now rent AlphaGO on Amazon.

Oh hell yes.

It's on my agenda!

smirnoff

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Re: DOCember 2017
« Reply #74 on: December 12, 2017, 11:48:38 PM »
Who Took Johnny?

Interesting and sad missing child case. It builds into something much larger than it seems at first. That said, the presentation is pretty unexciting. They fill it out with unremarkable present day footage which makes it longer than it needed to be.

Bondo

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Re: DOCember 2017
« Reply #75 on: December 14, 2017, 07:45:05 PM »
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond (2017)

While I didn't really care for Man On The Man when it came out, not being someone with any affiliation with Andy Kaufman and his eccentric style, I would say I'm a Jim Carrey person (his anti-vaxxer role notwithstanding). While I have some doubts about method acting (it cannot be used as an excuse for horrible behavior, see Jared Leto in Suicide Squad especially), this film made me appreciate Carrey's connection to Kaufman and thus his performance. But I'm someone who appreciates the outre nature of Ace Ventura, completely goes for the schtick of Liar Liar and Yes Man, and of course like all right thinking people adores The Truman Show. I also hold The Majestic in higher regard than most people and High Strung in higher regard than even Steve Oedekerk. And we cannot forget about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Spike Jonze shows up as a producer on this doc).

With as much quality comedic and dramatic work as Carrey was involved in through the 90s and into the early 00s, it is kind of disappointing how absent he's felt. Even I Love You Phillip Morris was last decade. And really that is what feels most effective about this film, promoting Jim Carrey as a talent. I don't mean that to say that this is some kind of ego service venture, though I guess it could play as one. It is genuinely fascinating how his level of commitment to the role acted as therapy to Kaufman's family. It is somewhat interesting to see how Carrey views the effect on his own psyche. That said, it does at times feel like it carries on the act a bit too long.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: DOCember 2017
« Reply #76 on: December 14, 2017, 10:10:44 PM »
It does carry (Carrey?) on for too long, and I don't think there was enough focus on his interaction with Kaufman's family in regard to that therapy angle, but even if it paints Carrey in a negative light it does contextualize his fame in a way that I felt illuminating. That's speaking as someone who did grow up with a number of his films, who couldn't see The Cable Guy when it came out because it was too mature, and even had an action figure of The Mask character (though that was from the cartoon, I think), and it really is impressive to see how quickly he became such a big deal. Would be interested to see something similar with Will Smith, as he's someone else who I watched a ton as a kind, so didn't really have that bigger cultural context or conversation in which to engage, and obviously Smith is still working more regularly.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: DOCember 2017
« Reply #77 on: December 15, 2017, 09:27:55 PM »
AlphaGO - roujin was right. This is a crowdpleasing documentary, but it's a fun watch and probably the best thing I've watched in DOCember so far. Need to learn how to play GO.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: DOCember 2017
« Reply #78 on: December 18, 2017, 09:02:17 PM »
I Am Not Your Negro - Sobering, though the inserted footage was maybe a bit too much for me at times, especially because the actual footage of Baldwin hit so hard. Top to bottom a dense, rewarding, and powerful work that had my attention throughout. It feels literary, almost to a fault at times as it delves nearly in to audiobook territory, and stands as a strong entry in my DOCember slate.

Bondo

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Re: DOCember 2017
« Reply #79 on: December 21, 2017, 11:49:36 PM »
I feel like I've been neglecting DOCember this year. To a certain degree the ones I'm most interested in I don't have access to and the ones I have access to I'm not interested in enough to prioritize them, especially with so many being multi-episode affairs.