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- DirectorFrank H. WoodwardStarsRobin Atkin DownesNeil GaimanPeter StraubA chronicle of the life, work and mind that created the Cthulhu mythos."The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." - H.P. Lovecraft
I'm not a fan of documentaries, but this one I just had to see. A documentary about Lovecraft, the father of modern horror, from the corner of the great names of the genre, such as Nile Gaiman, one of my favorite writers, then Peter Straub, who collaborated with Stephen King on the "Talisman" novel, directors by Guillermo del Toro, Stuart Gordon and John Carpenter, and others. Technically, the film is well-made, combining a narrative about the life and work of H.P. Lovecraft, with interviews with the aforementioned giants, as well as with movies, music and paintings inspired by Lovecraft. The film has a good pace and at no time is it boring, but it is essentially quite basic and made primarily for the people who know little or nothing about this legend. Although I only got some new information about Lovecraft's biography, while I did not find out anything new about his work, I enjoyed listening to my favorite writers and directors talking about Lovecraft with love. Recommendation.
7/10 - DirectorPetar LalovicStarsSerif AljicZoran RadmilovicA documentary who takes an artistic approach in presenting the untouched environment between the rivers of Danube and Drava in Yugoslavia. This strange world, in which the laws of nature incredibly remind to those of humans, regenerates itself and lives in spite of destruction."As she caresses and licks it, at the same time she absorbs its smell..."
Shame on you, perverts, it's not what you think. A hind sniffs her youngling, so she could later easily find it by smell. Although, to be honest, the film is full of animal sex. Literally animal.
This beautiful documentary by Petar Lalovic shows the belt of untouched nature between the rivers Danube and Drava, and the rich and diverse wildlife that resides there. But it doesn't do it in the sterile manner we are used to in most TV shows about nature. Lalovic brings us closer to individual animals in the way that feature films develop their main roles, and tells us their life stories in a romantic, but also deeply touching way. The powerful impression is greatly contributed by the voice of Zoran Radmilovic as a narrator. It took me a little time to get "Radovan III" out of my head, but when I did, I realized it would be hard to find a voice that could contribute the way Zoran did. His voice and pleasant music are so relaxing that I thought I would fall asleep, but when this movie draws you into the story and atmosphere it simply can not happen. Although full of love and beauty, I would not recommend this documentary to younger children, because it shows life honestly and in its entirety, and contains a really sad, shocking, and even scenes bordering horrible. From pristine nature and playing cubs, through funny scenes and witty remarks, males fight over females, to explicitly shown death in the jaws of predators, deer dying of old age and a multitude of bird corpses trapped in the ice. And the story about herons, that stretches through the whole movie, even made me cry in the end. And I don't even like birds.
If it was American, this film would surely win some Oscars.
8,5/10 - DirectorPetar LalovicStarsPetar KraljIt is a love story. When the twelve-breasted boar's sow farrows thirteen piglets, not having enough "sucking space" for the thirteenth, she rejects it and for the most part such piglets die. This drama from the world of animals paints the harshness of nature to the unwanted "thirteenth piglet", which we named Gile Baksuz (Gile Bad Luck). The rejected piglet is taken and given shelter by another species - a roe and her fawn. But there comes a calamity, a great flood strikes. Animals attempt to save themselves swimming towards a large sandbar. Among them are the roe, the fawn and poor piglet. Surrounded by water, the sandbar becomes an island of refugees. All sort of beasts are there, but the peril brings them together and no one attacks! The buck, having reached the security of the shore, leaves the shelter and sets out to find his female and fawn. Within reach of them he'll drown, entangled in branches. Waiting on the sandbar, gazing in the direction from which her "husband" may appear, the roe dies of sorrow or maybe something else, leaving her fawn and the little pig. When the water withdraws and the animals leave the isle, our couple: the fawn and the pig also reach the safety of the shore. Gile's mother is saved too, but she has lost all twelve of her favorites and mournfully she cries for them.And how am I supposed to eat pork now...
Four years after the success of the documentary film "The Last Oasis", Petar Lalovic releases "The Vanishing World". The only copy that I managed to find has sound so damaged that it was torture to watch, but since it stayed in nice memory since I saw it the first and only time as a child, I simply had to see it again. In the first or second grade of elementary school, our teacher led us to the cinema to see this documentary, and I remember that many wept, making sure that no one would notice. Wild boar has twelve nipples and when it gives birth to thirteen piglets one remains without milk and most often dies. But not Gile. This natural documentary shows the world of wild animals in Baranja, but focuses primarily on Gile, the thirteenth piglet, and his adventures after he was rejected by his family. As much as his unexpected friendship with the small fawn is warm and gentle, that much cruelty of nature causes a cramp in the stomach. There's more death than in "Game of Thrones" and close-ups of corpses as in average slasher horror. Nevertheless, this is a love story and, although not as good as the "Last Oasis", I warmly recommend it.
7/10 - DirectorAlex GibneyStarsHunter S. ThompsonJohnny DeppJoe CairoA portrait of the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.A portrait of Hunter S. Thompson
I do not like documentaries and I do not like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", but this is really worth a look.
7/10 - DirectorSam DunnScot McFadyenJessica Joy WiseStarsTom ArayaGavin BaddeleyBlasphemerAn examination of the heavy metal music subculture that tries to explain why, despite the longevity and popularity of the genre, fans are marginalized and ridiculed for their passion."Metal confronts what we'd rather ignore. It celebrates what we often deny. It indulges in what we fear most." - Sam Dunn
As a teenager, I was a metalhead. As I grew up I was exploring all kinds of different music genres and I was spending less and less time listening to metal. After some time I almost completely stopped going to metal events and, at some point, I began to think of myself as a former metalhead. Then I saw this documentary and realized I was still a teenage metalhead trapped in a body of forty years old guy who thinks of himself as a former metalhead. Essentially, there's no such thing as a former metalhead. You are either metalhead forever or you have never really been one. Simple as that.
10/10
"My answer now is that you either feel it or you don't. If metal doesn't give that overwhelming surge of power that makes the hair stand up at the back of your neck, you might never get it, and you know what? That's okay, because judging by the 40,000 metalheads around me we're doing just fine without you." - Sam Dunn - DirectorJorge FurtadoStarsPaulo JoséCiça ReckziegelDouglas TraininiThe ironic, heartbreaking and acid "saga" of a spoiled tomato: from the plantation of a "Nisei" (Brazilian with Japanese origins); to a supermarket; to a consumer's kitchen to become sauce of a pork meat; to the garbage can since it is spoiled for the consumption; to a garbage truck to be dumped in a garbage dump in "Ilha das Flores"; to the selection of nutriment for pigs by the employees of a pigs breeder; to become food for poor Brazilian people.Tragicomic social satire
"Ilha das Flores" (Island of Flowers) is a thirteen-minute documentary by Brazilian writer and director Jorge Furtado, which in a very striking way presents a social critique of Brazilian society, and the dark side of capitalism in general. Furtado doesn't say anything new with this movie, but he captures the essence of the commonly known in an unexpected and interesting way, making his story at the same time hilarious and depressing, entertaining and upsetting. Unlike many reviewers, I would not call it the best short documentary ever and I cannot say that I am thrilled, but the movie is excellent and very original and definitely worth watching. You will spend less than fifteen minutes on a movie that, if not unforgettable, certainly isn't easily forgettable.
8/10 - DirectorFrederick WisemanDocumentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes us inside the Massachusetts Correctional Institution Bridgewater where people stay trapped in their madness.Almost unwatchable
This controversial documentary by Frederick Wiseman was banned worldwide from its creation in 1967 until 1992. It shows the state of affairs at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Bridgewater, a prison hospital for the criminally insane and, although Wiseman had permission to shoot, the result was very bad publicity for the government, so this is the only American film banned for reasons other than obscenity or national security, but rather for violation of the privacy of prisoners. This documentary is very difficult, and since it has no story, but only strings gruesome and disgusting scenes, in addition to being nauseous, it is also quite boring. I respect the intent of the author, but I barely made it to the end.
2/10 - DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsAdolf HitlerHermann GöringMax AmannThe infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany."It is our will that this state shall endure for a thousand years. We are happy to know that the future is ours entirely!"
"Triumph of the Will," a documentary showing a Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg in 1935, is considered the best propaganda film of all time. Technically speaking, the movie was perfectly shot and edited and occasionally breathtaking, and if you neglect your historical knowledge and personal views and approach it naively and without prejudice, you will also see how incredibly compelling it is. Brainwashing this skillful is really rarely seen. However, from today's perspective, and knowing everything I know about the actors of this documentary, I cannot ignore the evil and madness rooted in its core, so I cannot force myself to give it more than a seven, though objectively it probably deserves a higher rating.
7/10 - DirectorRichard RobbinsStarsAminaAzmeraArindol BagchiThis film follows 9 girls from Haiti, Nepal, Ethiopia, India, Egypt, Peru, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan on their journey to education."I will read. I will study. I will learn. If you try to stop me, I will just try harder."
A documentary that tells the stories of nine girls from different third world countries who by education seek to break the clutches of arranged marriages, slavery, forced labor and the like. The message of the film is strong, but the film itself does not have the quality and strength that such a theme deserves and which such a message needs to bear fruit.
7/10 - DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreGeorge W. BushBen AffleckMichael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11 and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.Sad but true
Intelligent people should realize most of this even without this movie, but even with it, most people refuse to see what's going on. And I must add one objection - I don't know if there really was a terrorist attack or the government staged the whole thing, but anyway, even if that was really terrorist, the government allowed them to do it, because there is no damn chance it could happen without their intelligence knowing about that. Plus, plains could not completely destroy towers and especially not the way they collapsed. There had to be huge amounts of explosives and plains just started the chain reaction. So, either the whole thing was staged, or it was at least allowed and "improved" by the USA, to provide for themselves a nice excuse to invade, occupy and rob middle east countries. USA power is based on such things, they did it the whole 20th century and they do it still without any intention to stop it. They must not stop it because without war they would collapse.
7/10 - DirectorAlbert HughesAllen HughesStarsJohn S. DicksonAntonio FargasHeidi FleissStreet pimps, all of them African-American, discuss their lives and work: getting started, being flamboyant, pimping in various U.S. cities, bringing a woman into their group, taking a woman from another pimp, and the rules and regulations of pimping. The men are clear: it's about money. The women work every night, hustle hard, turn over all their earnings, and steal anything they can from clients. We meet a few of the women, who tell us what they want from a pimp. We also listen to a women who's legally employed at a Nevada brothel; we meet her White boss, a legal pimp. He and the street pimps, some of whom are now retired, make the case for legalizing the trade.Interesting theme, boring realization
After the success of the previous two films, the Hughes brothers had quite a bit of free rein to do whatever they wanted. They decided to take another step forward and go deeper into the taboo and shock the public, so they filmed a documentary about pimps.
The Hughes brothers opted for a completely impartial approach to the subject and were careful not to glorify or condemn the oldest trade and the men who found ways to use it. There is no script, but the film consists almost entirely of a series of interviews with real successful pimps around the US. It's well shot, edited to hold your attention as long as possible, and peppered with a couple of interviews with prostitutes, some archival footage related to the subject, and great music. But...
"American Pimp" is quite one-sided in many ways. First, it deals exclusively with black pimps from the area of street prostitution, which is only one branch of this profession. All the pimps depicted in the film are more or less of the same mold, and all the prostitutes are of the job-satisfied kind. There are no whites and Asians, there is no elite prostitution, drug addiction, and violence are only mentioned in passing as something that happens to someone else. The whole thing is shown only from the pimp's point of view, while we can see the real picture only if we interview more different profiles of prostitutes, the police, social workers, clients, victims of violence and addiction...
The topic is interesting, the film is original and arouses curiosity in the beginning, but very quickly you realize that you will not get answers to most of the questions and that the film keeps repeating the same thing for an hour and a half, and becomes boring and loses all meaning. Kudos to the idea, courage, and technical aspects of the film, but the final product fundamentally missed the point and would only be good as a single episode of the series that would cover other aspects of this story.
5/10 - DirectorPenelope SpheerisStarsJoe PerrySteven TylerGene SimmonsDocumentary showcase, what life was like for the music artists living during the Los Angeles Heavy Metal scene in the mid and late 1980s."I think heavy metal is the true rock-n-roll of the 80s and rock-n-roll was basically music made by people who were thinking with their crotches."
Penelope Spheeris, the director best known for the famous comedy "Wayne's World", made this film mostly for money, while her real passion is documentaries and music videos. She is the founder of the first LA production company for music videos, she signed several Megadeth videos, and probably her most important legacy is the documentary trilogy "The Decline of Western Civilization."
The first film, from 1981, deals with the punk scene of the late seventies, the third, from 1998, deals with the lifestyle of homeless teenagers, and the second, which is discussed here, shows the LA metal scene of the eighties, from the musicians' point of view.
There is not much music itself in this film and it relies mostly on interviews with promising bands of the time, as well as with already famous musicians, such as Aerosmith, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Motörhead, and Ozzy Osbourne. Topics range from motivations for playing music, attitudes towards money, success, sex, to the darker aspects of the rock scene, such as drugs, alcohol, and depression.
As a big fan of eighties music, especially glam and thrash metal of this period, this film was a real treat for me, even though I generally don't like documentaries. But it seems to me that "The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years" is not a real documentary. I think that the interviews are not spontaneous, but carefully staged to achieve the desired effect. Also, the choice of bands shown in the film is quite suspicious. As if the author was trying to portray the whole thing in a negative light, the film alternates between transfers of shame and those stereotypes of rock life that cause prejudice in people who are not familiar with this world.
I recommend it as entertainment, but as a source of information, it should be taken with caution.
7/10