Real Movie Review-Movie Reviews, Movie Quotes, Movie Trivia

Director: Chris Paine

Starring: Martin Sheen, Ed Begley Jr., Phyllis Diller, Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks

Martin Sheen narrates this documentry, and several big celebrities put in appearances along with the usual group of experts, concerned politicians and corporate spokespeople. The subject is, as the title suggests, an investigation looking at ‘suspects’ in the death of the electric car. The many culprits include the big automakers, the oil industry and the government, among others. This is an important and well-done documentary. It is also very dry, the most common failing in these projects. We watch them because we should, rather than because we want to. It doesn’t have to be this way, as we can see by looking at documentaries that manage to both entertain, and inform.

In the mid nineties, changes to California emission laws, led to the development of electric cars by many of the big automakers. According to the documentary, these were very popular with their leasing customers, but were inexplicably pulled off the road and destroyed by their manufacturers. Also, their electric car programs were suddenly scrapped. This documentary asks why. It is a good question

It is thru self-education that we become part of the solution rather than part of the problem and I consider documentaries like these to be an important part of my self-education. This is crucial to being an informed, responsible citizen as well as a more interesting, intelligent person. It is a shame when the film puts far less effort into entertaining as it informs. The best teachers have learned how to do both, as have the best documentary makers. This is not one of them, but it is still a worthy film.

Director: Eric Chaikin, Julian Petrillo

Starring: Mike Birbiglia, Joe Edley, Stefan Fatsis, Matt Graham, Marlon Hill, Joel Sherman

Word Wars will have you smiling, grimacing and shaking your head as you meet several of the nation’s top Scrabble players. The subject is interesting, but the people are more interesting. Directors Chaikin and Petrillo let the subjects of their documentary tell the story. We don’t see them or hear them and only see the main characters answering their questions.

This documentary introduces the viewer to four top level Scrabble geniuses, and follows them as they prepare and compete at the National Championships in San Diego. They also visit the players at Washington Square Park in NYC and the players there, but the focus is mostly held firmly upon the four main men. Eccentric personalities obsessing over a pastime to the exclusion of everything else in life is the real story here. I had expected something like the entertaining Spellbound from 2002, but when the obsession is transferred from adolescents to adults, the result is that much of the amazement in their abilities is replaced by pathos for their limited lives.

Word Wars is an entertaining feature for fans of the game, or for those who enjoy learning about the corners of our society and the unusual personalities that you find there.

Director: Jeffrey Blitz

Starring: Angela Arenivar, Nupar Lala, Ted Brigham, Emily Stagg, Ashley White, Neil Kadakia, April DeGideo, Harry Altman.

This is a surprisingly, entertaining documentary about a sampling of the contestants in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee. It is gratifying to see academic achievements celebrated, since they usually take a back seat to athletic accomplishments. The suspense and musing about which student will do best of this group is fun, but a little more humour would have helped take this project to the next level.

This feature introduces us to eight 1999 National Spelling Bee contestants, and lets us see a little of each teenager’s life and family as they talk about their training, other interests and goals. It then moves to the to the Bee, itself and we watch the outcomes for each of these youngsters in the field of 249 regional winners. They also talk to some former winners (including the very first winner), though a little more info about what they are doing now might have been nice.

This is an impressive documentary that will prove to be better than you expect. Its best to watch along with other people to discuss your ideas, try your hand at the spelling, and cheer for your favorite speller. Worth checking out, but Akeelah and The Bee is a movie with a similar topic and far better delivery.

Director: Marc Levin

I hate racism. For that matter, I hate all discrimination, but racism is the dumbest of them all, because it is based on nothing but preconceived notions. Apparently, Marc Levin hates racism, too. This documentary attacks an inflammatory, anti-Semitic 19th century work, which has been debunked many times, but continues to circulate propagating the idea that Jews have a master plan to take over the world. Well, if they are to succeed they will have to outwit and outlast other contenders like the Freemasons, the Shriners (Oh wait, they are the masons too), alien invaders and multi-national corporations (except they really are taking over the world by subverting the democratic process and buying up all major media sources). The point here is valid, and the back story is interesting. Levin is a good interviewer for these radical fools, whom he calmly just lets talk themselves into looking like stars from Dumber and Dumber. The feature itself, however, needed more focus, and would have benefited by having more historical facts.

The Protocols of Zion, as mentioned above, was a 19th century writing that supposedly detailed the plan of Jewish leaders to take over the world. Though debunked as the work of imaginative bigots long ago, it continues to circulate. Levin talks to a chorus of idiots who talk about why they believe it to be true and about their opinions of Jewish people and their misconceptions of world events. Levin talks to other groups, as well, showing hatred runs on both sides and from many different directions.

Levin’s feature rambles off in many directions, when I would have rather learned more about the origins and history of this ludicrous document and maybe heard some scholarly views on how it has managed to endure, besides hearing its echoes coming from the mouths of closed minded idiots. Not light viewing, but good for socially-minded, intelligent people.

Director: Morgan Spurlock

Starring: Morgan Spurlock, Alexandra Jamieson, Dr. David Satcher, Bridget Bennett

This is my favorite documentary. It is funny, informative and has a really good story. Add this to the fact that we don’t know how it will end. What will the final result be? Spurlock does a phenomenal job as the director/writer/actor/guinea pig. He has great screen presence and lets his personality shine through to let the viewer really care what is happening.

Super Size Me asks the question what would happen if someone ate nothing but MacDonald’s for a month? Morgan Spurlock declares his intention, talks to a series of experts to both determine his own current state of health, and get their viewpoint of what the effects of this diet may be. While we are going thru this month long experiment, Spurlock also talks about the state of the fast food industry in general and the weight problem issues of the United States.

This is a wonderful documentary combining entertainment and social responsibility to create a wonderful program that I consider a must-see, and a great addition to anyone’s movie library

Director: George Butler

Starring: George Butler

This incredible, true science story was made and released on Imax, but I saw it on DVD. It is straightforward and, while interesting, it has limited entertainment value for those with little interest in the Mars Rover project. It is short and I felt that more could have been included and an effort could have been made to use more of a ‘storytelling’ approach. As well, writer/director/narrator George Butler could have used celebrities or strong personalities among the mission team, to create more interest. his choice, however, was to create a simple documentary, which is fine for space race fans, but of limited interest to others.

The feature tells the story of NASA’s Mars Rover mission, which saw the construction of two incredibly complex robotic vehicles (The total technology involved in the rovers exceeds the brain capacity of any one person – best useless fact of the film) named ‘Spirit’ and ‘Opportunity’ and sent them to the surface of Mars, where they landed successfully in the summer of 2003. There is extensive footage of the surface of Mars, where both carefully accurate CGI and actual Rover footage, is used to give the viewer a nice visit to another world. Amazingly, the planned mission of 90 days has now gone on for over four years and continues to this day. They don’t tell you that in the film. I became curious and looked it up for you guys.

This documentary is an excellent choice for educators and for those with an interest in the space program. Many others, who are less academically curious will not enjoy it and should steer clear. If it is your cup of tea, then check out the special features, as well. They share alot more interesting information.

Director: Kirby Dick

Starring: Kirby Dick, Kimberly Pierce, David Ansen, various show business personalities and executives.

This is an enlightening, and fascinating documentary about the MPAA, the anonymous all-powerful group that hands down ratings for all films released. Kirby Dick’s project is a great choice for those interested in the film industry and in censorship in today’s society. It tries to lighten up from time to time, remains pretty dry overall.

Dick hires private investigators to identify the elusive raters and balances this investigation with interviews with filmmakers, critics, executives, etc., about their experiences with the ratings board, which really has the power to effectively stop a movie’s release. They point out the obvious bias of sex versus violence and the bias versus gay, or non-traditional, sexual activity of almost any type.

This film is sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, but always interesting and presents an intelligent challenge to an un-elected, unaccountable group who are given the power to decide what people see and, thus, what values are passed on in our society. It has a great ending and is a good choice for those with interest in the subject matter.

Director: Marc & Nick Francis

Nope, its not oil. This time out, black gold refers to coffee. This documentary looks at the Ethiopian coffee farmer and how little he receives for his crop compared to what it eventually sells for in the industrialized world. This is a sad story of exploitation, but could have used more personal stories to strike at the heart of the viewer.

The whole coffee story is told here. Some of it is interesting and some of it is not. It is educates the viewer about a portion of the global economy and its effect at every level. The look at the farmers, their marketing representative, competitive coffee makers in North America, the average coffee drinker, etc. With such a global perspective, a look at producers in other parts of the world, as well, might have been a good idea.

Globalization is a scary, ravenous beast that has no limits to its hunger as corporations strive for cent of profit they can get, regardless of the damage they inflict on the vulnerable of the world. Films like this are important to inform the end consumer of the unfair trade that we contribute to, unknowingly, every day by automatic purchases. I get it. I agree. Still this isn’t a giggle-filled evening’s entertainment. Those with a deep social conscience and teachers looking for a video that aids understanding the global economy today will enjoy it, but perhaps enjoy is not the right word. Fight for global fair trade practices. If it doesn’t seem like your problem today, then tomorrow it may be.