Author Topic: DOCember 2020  (Read 9136 times)


Eric/E.T.

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Re: DOCember 2020
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2020, 09:27:44 PM »
I'm just going to start tackling the docs for our showdown. I don't usually watch a lot of documentaries, but perhaps that changes this December!

Do rewatches count? I want to watch Knock Down the House again. That is a feel-good doc if I ever saw one.
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1SO

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Re: DOCember 2020
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2020, 09:59:06 PM »
Like with Noir, I'm pulling from multiple lists of recommendations with little focus. I often end up completing no goals, but unlike Noir I tend to watch good films. Likely viewings this year include...

At the Death House Door
I Know That Voice
The Imposter
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Mommy Dead and Dearest
My Octopus Teacher
The Price of Gold
Stevie
talhotblond:
Tickled

Bondo

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Re: DOCember 2020
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2020, 11:08:02 PM »
My selections were just what I already had in my watchlist that is available on my streaming services (except at least Diego Maradona is there because it is listed as being on Kanopy even though it isn't...but I really want to see it so I left it in).

There's no reason rewatches wouldn't be fine. Can't say I've rewatched a lot of docs but somehow one of them is Dear Zachary.

Eric/E.T.

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Re: DOCember 2020
« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2020, 12:12:03 AM »
This Is Not a Film
Jafar Panahi, 2011


This little blurb is coming FRESH out of watching this, having exited out of Kanopy a good two minutes ago.

I already know it requires a second viewing, most Panahi films do. It's clever to shoot this on Chaharshanbe Suri, which falls just before the Iranian new year, and was at the time denounced as unreligious by the regime in power. Thus, on a harmless festival that had been denounced by the government, a denounced filmmaker records his film that is not a film. And more than anything he's shot since then, this truly isn't a film in the same sense. Closed Curtain, Taxi, and 3 Faces are all tied up in his predicament of not being able to shoot films, but are all narrative fiction with a heavy metafictive quality that makes them very complex films layered with incredible meaning. Obviously everything he made before were films, so this one is a little odd in comparison. Yet, the camera must stay ON, as is repeated in the film, and indeed it seems the cameras Panahi has around him are all left on so as to capture all the action and all the lack thereof, to capture the fundamental truth of his artistic imprisonment. There is a moment where he tries to tell one of his screenplays in lieu of actually being able to film it, and breaks down, fuming that if we could just tell the screenplay, then there would be no purpose to make a film. Between that and him going back in his own films to point out the quality that separates the cinematic from the non-cinematic - all the while taking the seemingly non-cinematic and turning it into something that would be lauded by film critics and festivals worldwide - we can truly see an artist trapped. I was thinking, at least during parts, that this might be the least of Panahi's cinematic achievements from a strictly cinematic perspective, but also that it's clearly the most important thing he's done. For me, a great doc is often something that creates awareness, and either makes you act directly or through, in the case of the U.S., putting pressure on your elected officials or whoever else with a higher level of clout can do something meaningful. Not that bearing witness isn't important, but even through bearing witness to something such as The Cave made me consider my views on the U.S.'s place in Syria. I missed the bus on this, and largely on Panahi, having only been introduced to him a couple of years ago, but I can still understand the profundity of what I was watching. There's another film I quite adore called No One Knows About Persian Cats, which came out a few years prior. It combines narrative fiction, cinema verite, and music videos to make a compelling work about underground music in Iran, and resulted in the two leads fleeing Iran and the director having to go outside the country to finish production since he did not have a permit to shoot the film. I could see myself doing a double-header of the two at some point. They bear witness and beckon the rest of the world to look, consider us, consider the arbitrary nature of our justice system, and always fight to make sure you and yours never have to be in this position. In the transition away from our anti-democratic fascist current president to something more normal, if unsatisfying in most ways, we've had our scare, and even if we can't really relate, we can, in a way.

Now I've seen all the Panahis. He's definitely one of my favorite directors, that was kind of known before this, though. It just cements his place of importance on my shortlist of favorites.

And I think I am going to nominate this over Honeyland in the showdown, at least if it's in jeopardy.
A witty saying proves nothing. - Voltaire

Antares

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Re: DOCember 2020
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2020, 03:45:51 AM »
Jiro Dreams of Sushi

I'll be interested to see your take on this one. Being a one time chef, I was very interested in this, and it really underwhelmed me.
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smirnoff

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Re: DOCember 2020
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2020, 05:26:31 AM »
I've learned over the years to steer clear of Docs/films about subjects you already know a lot about. :)) Kind of a similar to the idea of not trying to buy a Christmas gift for a person that is something they are a semi-expert in... since they're tastes/wants are probably really dialed in and the chances of you getting something that's at the level/type/brand etc they want is pretty slim.

1SO

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Re: DOCember 2020
« Reply #7 on: November 25, 2020, 11:35:58 PM »

My Octopus Teacher (2020)
”People ask, "Why are you going to the same place every day?"
But that's when you see the subtle differences.
And that's when you get to know the wild.”


I’d always heard about the incredible intelligence and abilities of an octopus, but never saw it, never understood it, to the extent this doc shows. I’ve always been more on the side of Werner Herzog, who believes we like to fill animals with all kinds of emotions that aren’t there. That an animals nature is to mate and feed and little more. I would love to watch this again with narration by Herzog because some of the octopus actions not only surprise photographer/narrator Craig Foster, they challenge Herzog’s beliefs pretty strongly.

That said, there’s a strong helping of sentiment packed into this doc. It begins with Foster feeling emotionally empty and the octopus’ life cycle becomes a metaphor for the human learning to connect with the world again, and in a better way. There are times when I worried things would get silly as Foster tries to express the love that comes with his octopus connection, but the film always stops just short and because of that, the final scenes are well earned.
★ ★ ★ – Good

Bondo

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Re: DOCember 2020
« Reply #8 on: November 26, 2020, 11:30:37 AM »
That one's on my longlist for the month.

American Murder: The Family Next Door

This documentary has an extremely bland title. The story it has to tell is in some respects equally uninteresting if by interesting you mean unexpected. There is the habit to focus our attentions on the outliers, but sometimes it is important to focus on what is typical, lest we become inured to it. In the case of American Murder, it is about a woman and her two daughters who go missing and the inevitable revelation (SPOILERS FROM REAL LIFE) that the husband did it. It's always the husband. And as the stat at the end tells us, this story of a partner dying at the hands of a current or former boyfriend is one that happens 2-3 times every day in America.

The film has a certain stylistic aspect in that it is entirely formed of archival footage from the police, from news coverage, from court proceedings, and most distinctive, from Shanann Watts' Facebook page. Replacing the home videos of old, this too online family has so much photo and video content sitting out there that the filmmaker (seemingly working with the cooperation of Shanann's family) is able to patch together a visually effective story of the weeks leading up to her death. We get added content via text message histories imposed over the screen that hint at difficulties that arise in their relationship. I work with eDiscovery in a limited capacity so am a little familiar with it, but it really is startling how much of a paper trail we leave. It is interesting watching them work coming from a position of feeling he is probably guilty. I roll my eyes at him not having a lawyer, or them using a polygraph as if that is a valid thing, but there doesn't seem to be a corrupt push to coerce him.

Continuing from a couple documentaries I saw at the Denver Film Festival, this kind of is rehabilitation of the police. Or at least highlights them in the ideal role that they should play. To the degree we witness it, they are operating within the rules, being diligent, and ultimately effective in solving a crime and getting justice. This story played out about 30 miles from me, and may be a case where you just can't prevent it, though it did have me thinking back to last night's viewing of What The Constitution Means to Me which references Castle Rock v Gonzales where the Supreme Court determined the police did not have a duty to enforce a restraining order that resulted in a multiple homicide about 40 miles in the other direction. Clearly there is more to do than just get it right once the harm is done.
« Last Edit: November 26, 2020, 02:23:01 PM by Bondo »

Beavermoose

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Re: DOCember 2020
« Reply #9 on: November 27, 2020, 12:16:31 AM »
My month is going to look something like this.

1-No Logo (Sut Jhally, 2003) + The Elephant Will Never Forget  (John Krish, 1953)
2-The Endless Summer II  (Bruce Brown, 1994)
3-Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired  (Marina Zenovich, 2008)
4-Land of Silence and Darkness  (Werner Herzog, 1971)
5-The Salt of the Earth (Juliano Ribeiro Salgado & Wim Wenders, 2014)
6-Hale County This Morning, This Evening (RaMell Ross, 2018)
7-Primary  (Robert Drew, 1960)
8-The Mystery of Picasso  (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1956)
9-The Pervert's Guide to Ideology (Sophie Fiennes, 2012)
10-Sherman's March  (Ross McElwee, 1986)
11-Dig! (Ondi Timoner, 2004)
12-Welfare  (Frederick Wiseman, 1975)
13-Public Housing  (Frederick Wiseman, 1997)
14-Man of Aran  (Robert Flaherty, 1934)
15-Worlds of Ursula K. LeGuin (Arwen Curry, 2018)
16-William Kunstler: Disturbing The Universe (Emily Kunstler & Sarah Kunstler, 2009)
17-One Day in September  (Kevin Macdonald, 1999)
18-Porn King: The Trials of Al Goldstein (James Guardino,2005)
19-Alone in the Wilderness (Dick Proenneke, 2004-2011)
20-When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts  (Spike Lee, 2006)
21-A Ken Burns Doc Series
« Last Edit: November 27, 2020, 08:49:15 PM by Beavermoose »