Watching this now on Netflix
This chilling documentary examines the growing phenomenon of spree killings in the United States. The film explores the basic question of what brings a seemingly normal person to the point of committing mass murder.
“In this documentary, filmmakers Andrew James and Joshua Ligairi explore the rise and fall of Cleanflicks, a movie rental company that edited offensive material out of Hollywood films to produce unauthorized “clean” versions for its customers.”
In my opinion, Hollywood SHOULD make edited versions of their movies on DVD. It would automatically open up a wider audience, and allow people to watch good movies with their kids, parents, and more.
I’m finding all kinds of good documentaries on Netflix for my Instant Queue. The Horse Boy is about a kid with autism who seems to calm down when he’s on a horse. His parents decide to take him on a horseback adventure to visit Mongolian shamans when other therapies are not successful.
When conventional therapies fail to help their autistic son, Rupert and Kristin Isaacson travel with Rowan to Mongolia in the hopes that a combination of traditional shamanic healing and horseback riding will benefit him. Director Michel O. Scott’s documentary juxtaposes scenes of the family at home in Texas with their journey on horseback across the breathtaking Mongolian countryside in search of reindeer herders and a powerful shaman.
From Netflix:
Filmmaker Taggart Siegel paints a fascinating portrait of a man who refused to yield. By transforming his farm into an experimental haven in the late 1960s, John Peterson attracted hundreds of artists, hippies and other political radicals. But when the agriculture crisis of the late 1980s led to the farm’s eventual collapse — and his neighbors publicly branded him a devil worshipper — most locals thought he’d call it quits. They were wrong.
Another awesome documentary I just watched streaming on Netflix.
Before the Civil War, preparing the dead for burial and funeral rites generally fell to friends and family members of the deceased. The 20th century saw the rise of the professional undertaker, a trend that changed American attitudes toward death and distanced grievers from their loved ones. This eye-opening film uncovers a growing movement advocating a return to a more traditional, personal approach to honoring the dead.
Watching this now,streaming it on Netflix. It’s about a few of the well-known graveyards in the United States. Pretty interesting.
Writer-producer Rick Sebak serves as your tour guide for this hourlong journey through America’s most notable cemeteries, examining the history and artistry of headstones, crypts, monuments and family plots. Stopping in Florida, Alaska and numerous points in between, this fascinating program explores humans’ diverse methods for honoring the departed — and the myriad ways in which graveyards relate to modern culture.
Yeah pretty much if you haven’t seen this yet, you need to. I’ve known people like this who live around the same areas I’m from.
Sitting here working on the laptop, while the girlfriend is watching a documentary on Netflix called Dad’s In Heaven With Nixon. So far it actually looks pretty interesting. The dude who made the documentary, Tom Murray, has an autistic brother, Chris, who is the subject of the film. Chris is 50-years old in the film. He is an artist. He is a rad, nice dude. Their dad had anger issues, but they loved him. As Netflix described the film, “Using his artistic brother’s colorful art as inspiration, documentarian Tom Murray paints a portrait of his family’s complex struggle with his brother’s brain damage, his mother’s unwillingness to accept it, and his father’s inability to cope with it.”
Don’t get the wrong idea from the Netflix description though, the family loved each other, and his mom seems like a cool old lady and mother, regardless of her “unwillingness to accept it.”
Here is a better review than mine, a NYTimes article about the film: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/arts/television/06dad.html
Should’ve seen this already, but I haven’t. Watching now. Interesting film about the elusive graffiti artist Banksy.
I’m watching it now. Yes, I’m that much of a nerd and documentary geek. Some of this origami will blow your mind. It is an art, and is being used by scientists. Right now, you’re picturing what you think is origami. Well, this film chronicles 10 artists who create some unbelievable masterpieces. There is a cool little historical piece about Sensei Akira Yoshizawa (14 March 1911 – 14 March 2005) who was the grandmaster of origami.
My opinion, origami is pretty rad.
Cool documentary, watching on Netflix.
Watching it on Netflix. Maynard is lead singer for the bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer. Now he has wine vineyards in Arizona.
This show on HALO or Halogen network, whatever it’s called., seems like a good show with a good idea. Unfortunately I think I started watching on the final episode.
The premise is something like two dudes have to travel across country. By bartering with art and also trying to collect art to sell at a gallery show at the end of the race, or something like that. Or maybe it’s whoever has the most art of their own left over at the end wins. Whatever. I like road trip shows. I like documentaries. I like art. I like television.
LOL… its an Afghan version of American Idol.
And LOL @ the taliban outlawing music.
it reminds me of when I once heard someone say “I don’t like music” … what? How the hell can someone not like music of any kind?
Another interesting documentary by Werner Herzog. It’s basically the story of a dude named Graham Dorrington, an aeronautical engineer that built a teardrop-shaped airship and wants to fly it over the forest canopies of Guyana. There are some good segments about Kaieteur Falls, in Guyana, where supposedly nobody knows what is behind the waterfall because nobody has explored it, and legend among the natives is that it is full of treasure. Werner Herzog had a cameraman drop down to film behind the falls, but their footage won’t be shown.
One of the most interesting people in the film is local miner named Marc Anthony Yhap, who is searching for his family that migrated to Spain. Marc Anthony seems like an awesome person, I hope he has found his family.
You know who Danny Trejo is. You might not know the name, but you’ve seen him in like every movie, ever. Films such as Blood In, Blood Out and ConAir, Dusk Till Dawn and probably 500 other movies.
I just watched a great documentary called Champion: The True Story of Danny Trejo (Rent movies from Netflix!). You should check it out for some crazy stories from Danny Trejo himself.
Danny Trejo is a legit badass. He’s been in nearly every prison in California for crimes like armed robbery and assault, and he is a former drug addict. He’s not a very tall guy, but was a prison boxing champion (lightweight and welterweight). Fortunately he was able to turn his criminal life around and build a successful acting career. Of course, he generally plays a thuggish character because he looks like a mean dude, but they guy is really likeable and seems like a good guy who is very happy to be away from his past life.
Man, Werner Herzog is so awesome. I’ve said it before, but the guy is a film genius. Whether he is doing feature films or documentaries, pretty much everything I’ve seen of his has been brilliant. I admit, I only learned of Herzog a few years ago, and still have some catching up to do on his films, but I went through and added everything I haven’t seen to my Netflix queue.
In this documentary, Encounters At The End Of The World, he travels to the South Pole and does a film not about penguins (as he tells you at the beginning) but about the people who live and work at the South Pole, and the land itself. He asks oddball questions and makes the mundane seem interesting. The guy just has a way of talking and using words that make you want to keep watching. The cinematography is amazing also (done mostly by Peter Zeitlinger), taking you to places most of us will never get to see, under the ice and above the ice.
See also my previous blog post: Mister Lonely
Ok, I watched this documentary about the Young @ Heart Choir, which is a group that some dude put together of old people who sing rock songs. Before you think it’s just a movie about old people singing, it’s really pretty good. The movie is funny, and sometimes emotional. I think it’s cool, because it gives these old folks a chance to travel and tour all around the world. Of course, one of the unfortunate things about a band full of old people, is that the members go & come as often as the members of Menudo. Check out the movie trailer video below, and then below it you can watch one of the old dudes sing Fix You by Coldplay, while hooked up to an oxygen machine.