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Posts Tagged ‘Documentary’

Truth, Power, and the Weight of a Slide Show

Posted in Education, Environment, General Comments, Movie Review, Movies, Politics, Reviews, Science and Learning, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“An Inconvenient Truth”  (2006)  — movie review
Today’s review is for the environmental documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”  (2006), featuring Al Gore as himself (former U.S. Vice President turned climate advocate delivering a multimedia presentation on global warming), Billy West (voice-over in select segments), and various political figures including former Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan via archival footage.
Background:  This was a re-watch for me (third time), though it’s been years since I first saw it and I last viewed pre-COVID.  I bought this as a “bundle” with the sequel – which I have not watched.  I remembered the film as a second coming / warning about the destruction of our planet.  The first warning was when I was young and watched the Jacques Cousteau specials on TV.  Cousteau used to warn that we are destroying the oceans and when we do this we will make Earth uninhabitable for humans on land.  I wanted to revisit this film with fresh eyes before viewing the sequel, especially given how climate discourse has evolved (or stalled) since its release and the re-election of the worst President in U.S. history.
Plot Summary:  The film follows Al Gore as he travels the globe presenting a meticulously crafted slide show on climate change.  Interwoven with charts, graphs, and time-lapse imagery are personal anecdotes — his son’s near-fatal accident, the death of his sister from lung cancer, and his political journey from presidential candidate to environmental crusader.  Gore argues that global warming is not a distant threat but a present emergency, and he uses visual evidence to show rising CO₂ levels, melting glaciers, and shifting weather patterns.  The film builds toward a moral imperative:  we must act, and we must act now.
Is this movie any good?  How’s the acting / presentation?  How about the filming / FX?  Are there any problems?  And, did I like the film?  Short answers:  Yes, exceptional;  quietly powerful;  stunning cinematography;  minor realism quibbles;  and yes, I liked it very much.
Any good?  Yes.  It’s not a traditional documentary — it’s more like a filmed keynote address — but it’s compelling, clear, and (was and remains) surprisingly emotional for me.  The film doesn’t just inform;  it attempts to persuade.
How’s the acting / performance?  Gore isn’t “acting” in the conventional “film” sense, but he’s a surprisingly effective narrator.  He’s calm, occasionally wry, and seems deeply committed.  His delivery is earnest without being too preachy, and the personal segments add depth to what might have been a dry lecture.
How about the filming / FX?  The cinematography is clean and functional.  The real star is the slide show itself — animated graphs, satellite imagery, and archival footage are used to powerful effect.  The film’s pace feels steady and the transitions between Gore’s presentation and his personal story are well mixed.
Are there any problems?  A few.  The film simplifies some scientific debates.  This has opened it up for criticism from climate skeptics.  Also, there’s a little too much self-mythologizing as the former VP seems to imply he did a lot more about raising awareness while he was in office (Senate and VP) than I remember.  The narrative implies that Gore alone is the torchbearer for climate change, which feels overstated.  But these are minor issues in a film that’s trying to wake people up with a bigger message – we are risking the survival of our children and future generations.
Did I enjoy the film?  Yes.  “Enjoy” might not be the right word — it’s sobering, not entertaining — but I appreciated its clarity and the urgency it tried to convey.  It’s definitely a film that should make you think, and then want to act.
Final Recommendation:  Highly Recommended — especially for viewers interested in environmental science, political advocacy, or the intersection of data and storytelling.  This is a landmark documentary that was meant to shift public awareness. If you’ve ever wondered how a PowerPoint presentation could win an Oscar, this is your answer.  The problem is Oscar’s don’t save the planet for humanity.  I fear that almost 20 years later, we are too little and too late…  (Not for humanity, but for the world as we have experienced it in our lifetimes.)
Final Thought:  Watching this again, I was struck by how much has changed — and how much hasn’t.  The science has only gotten more dire, but the political will remains elusive.  Gore’s message is more urgent than ever.  If nothing else, the film reminds us that truth, however inconvenient, demands attention.  “Science” and “Nature” don’t care about politics.
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Click here (11 September) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Chasin’

Posted in Guitar, Guitar Stuff, Movie Review, Movies, Music, Music and Concerts, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

“Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away” (2021) — movie review
Today’s review is for the PBS “American Masters” documentary about the life of electric “Blues” guitarist George “Buddy” Guy titled:  “Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase the Blues Away“.  The film stars (interviews): Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Gary Clark Jr., Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, John Mayer, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana and several other music industry figures.
Basic Story:  As an “authorized” biography this documentary goes back to Buddy’s early years as the son of a sharecropper in Louisiana, through his formative years and his departure at the age of 20 years old to learn and play at the feet of Blues legends in Chicago.  The story tells how Buddy struggled to play and then struggled to play his own style of blues guitar.  Buddy was more recognized in Europe than he was in the U.S. and the famous “Rock and Roll” band members went to see him play live as he toured the U.K.  Buddy achieved his first “American” break when the Rolling Stones came over to America and insisted they would only play on a popular TV show (“Hootenanny“) if the show also allowed Guy to play a few songs / and join in part of their set.
Buddy’s early career was marginalized by his contracted label which insisted he play a background role and tune down the loud and (at times) crazy antics he performed which made him such a crowd-pleaser at his “live” appearances.  Buddy eventually achieved a fair amount of “public” fame with a few blues hits of his own.  He had a resurgence in the late 1980s through the 1990s and eventually totaled eight Grammy Awards, a “Lifetime Achievement Award” and both the National Medal of Arts, and the Kennedy Center Honors.
The significance of his music and his life’s work (influence) can be measured in the tributes / interviews provided in this documentary from Eric Clapton, Gary Clark Jr., Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, John Mayer, Keith Richards, and Carlos Santana.  All recognized Buddy’s artistry as both a person and as a musician whose stated goal (in later life) has been to keep “Blues” alive in today’s music.
In full disclosure, I am only recently coming to appreciate “The Blues” since beginning to play guitar myself three years ago.  Before that my feeling has always been:  “I don’t like opera and I don’t like the blues.”  I didn’t like opera, because I don’t speak Italian or German and other than that there’s enough classical music around, I don’t need the singers voices interfering with my appreciation of the orchestral music.  As for the Blues, my feeling was:  “Life is already to short and painful to be listening to songs and music which is meant to bring you down.”  And, yes, I knew most of what I DID listen to was “Rhythm AND Blues” (and that “Rock and Roll” is based on R&B) and “Country” ballads, but they weren’t REALLY the Blues.  At least in my mind…  I still don’t want to hear about your wife dyin’ and your dog leavin’ you (and / or vice versa), but I’ve definitely come to appreciate the “sound / emotions” the blues can express and evoke in the listener (and musician).
So, can playing the Blues really chase the Blues away?  Looking at Buddy’s gracious smile, yes.  I believe it can…  It’s worked for him for over 60 years and he’s still touring 130+ days per year!
Final Recommendation:  Strong.  In addition to the “talk”, this documentary shows Buddy Guy playing.  Snippets, to be sure – but playing.  Too often I watch these movies (or videos on YouTube) and the camera spends more time on everyone else in the band or audience and I (as a guitar student) don’t get to “see” a masters’ hands at work.  All we get is to hear them.  That’s enough when you are listening to records or streaming music, but I hate it when I’m watching videos.  I want to see the hands not the artists shadow foregrounded against the lighted crowd.  But, maybe that’s only me…
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Click here (29 July) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Four Documentaries

Posted in Economics, History, Movie Review, Movies, Politics, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »

The following are my brief reviews of four documentaries I watched on Netflix…
Requiem for the American Dream  (2016)   —  movie / documentary review
This documentary is (more or less) a seminar about the consolidation of wealth in the hands of the few (1%) and the subsequent use of wealth to control the government and thereby use the government to increase their wealth.  The documentary presents the views of Noam Chomsky, an MIT emeritus professor who made his fame in the study of linguistics and philosophy.  Chomsky is a long-time “leftist”, but not in the traditional sense of Communist or Socialist, and more in terms of being pro-democracy, that is supporting the rule of the governed as opposed to the rule of the elite.  More specifically, the people should control the governmental (government and regulations) business environment, not the business’s (or the mega-wealthy).  I didn’t find much which was really new in this documentary, but then I have considered Chomsky’s positions previously and have long agreed with him.  If I have any problems with this film it’s that it is presented in a “relatively” dry (“academic”) format.  So, while I agree with Chomsky, the American public doesn’t seem to mind government of the elite, by the elite and for the elite – hence, the election of Donald Trump.  Final recommendation:  highly recommended, particularly if you are angry about the state of the country and / or worried about your job / career and place in our economic class system.
Sneakerheadz  (2015)   —  movie / documentary review
A short (just over an hour long documentary) summary / description of people who obsessively purchase sports shoes.  I agree with one of the commentators – a young lady – who says (in effect):  “If you grow up poor and wanting things, like name-brand shoes and clothes, when you grow up and have enough money to buy them, you do.  To excess…“)   As I watched, I recognized myself and realize that except constrained by money, I could / would otherwise fall into this “addition”.  Beyond the simple ego-boost of being able to get something you previously could not afford, there is an underlying message of people seeking a place in society by creating an image of themselves which they can project out to others.  Interestingly, it seems this message is learned at an early age and then becomes the goal of their (the Sneakerheadz) life.  There is also a strong message about societal values and the ability of marketing to influence those values.  Not an original idea, but I still found it interesting to hear it stated so openly in documentary about shoe collectors.  Final recommendation:  highly recommended.
A Drummer’s Dream  (2010)  —  movie / documentary review
What happens when you take some of the greatest drummers in the world, put them in an isolated Canadian farmland with a bunch of kids and all the drum kits and money the drummers can bring together?  It seems you get smiles, effervescent passion and irresistible personality. Starring drummers:  Nasyr Abdul Al-Khabyyr, Dennis Chambers, Kenwood Dennard, Horacio “El-Negro” Hernadez, Giovanni Hidalgo, Mike Mangini and Raul Rekow, the documentary captures you with Rock, jazz, Latin fusion, and soul, but mostly it is about the drummers and their joy in playing…  And, did I mention smiles!  These musicians are driven by the beats of their hearts – full of love and joy of life.  Final recommendation:  Highly recommended!  I found myself tapping my hands and feet for days after watching this.  Fortunately, my attention deficit disorder prevents me from becoming obsessive (in this way) or I’d still be drumming and trying to find / share their joy.  Come for the percussion, stay for the smiles…!
The Real Miyagi  (2015)    —  movie / documentary review
Back in the 1960’s, a young Japanese man came to America with little but an expertise in Martial Arts.  He subsequently went on to become an internationally recognized Martial Arts instructor and stunt back-up actor.  That man is Fumio Demura.  If you have seen any of the first four “Karate Kid” movies, you’ve seen sensei Demura in action (probably without realizing it). Pat Morita’s iconic sensei (Mr. Miyagi) in ‘The Karate Kid’ was based on sensei Fumio Demura and Demura was Morita’s stunt double in the action sequences.  I don’t mean based on Demura’s actual life, as Mr. Miyagi was a fictional Japanese-American character who fought in World War II.  Rather, Mr. Miyagi is based on the idea of a man perfecting (improving) himself using art – in Miyagi’s case it is Karate and Bonsai trees.  The documentary traces sensei Demura’s life and offers multiple tributes from his students which offer insight into the man behind the title “sensei”.  Final recommendation:  strong if you have only a casual interest in Martial Arts, highly if you have a personal interest in Martial Arts or in historic Martial Artists.
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Click here (21 November) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Surprise! No Evidence

Posted in Health, Movie Review, Movies, Sports, tagged , , , , , , on August 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Movie Review:
Today’s movie review is for the documentary:  “Bigger, Stronger, Faster” (2008).  This documentary is about three brothers who want to be famous, bigger and stronger.  Two of them, the bookends, are willing to use anabolic steroids to get what they want.  The third (the middle son) thinks using is “wrong” and doesn’t want to use them (steroids).  The story is an examination of the use of steroids.
The movie is interesting because although the speaker (the middle brother) is against the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), he’s willing to take a “honest” look at them.  What he finds is surprising:  there is no proven scientific link between steroids and “roid-rage” and there are virtually no data supporting the harmfulness of their use.  The documentary states there are perhaps three deaths per year which can be attributed to steroid use in the United States.  This is interesting because there is almost no supervised use outside of formal medical prescription and yet there are estimates that the majority of athletes at all levels are using them.  This means untrained medical application (pills and shots) result in virtually no deaths even though steroids are thought to be “dangerous”.
I, personally, have never used steroids as a PED and I have frequently (well, several times) been asked if I would take them.  I would say, “No”, but obviously, my opinion has been based on biased data (at least as reported in this documentary).  Given the reportage in this film and assuming it is honest and accurate, my response would now be a qualified, “Yes”.  I don’t take this statement lightly, but I now feel we (the American public) have been led down another primrose path that drugs are bad (except when they’re not) and only cheaters use them.  Well, the later part of that may be true, but if there really is little or no scientific proof of their danger, it is only a matter of time until they become “legal” for performance enhancement – if not for everyday use.
Final recommendation:  Highly recommended!  This is not a movie which I would think has a large audience.  That’s a shame.  I believe it is one of those rare movies (or books) which offers up information contrary to popular opinion and, as such, needs to be viewed by the masses and fact checked by the competent (and I am not claiming to be one of these).  Watch it and think…
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Click here (25 August) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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