a bunch of documentaries i've seen lately

[lapoker17]

some of these have probably been discussed before, but...

cocaine cowboys - chronicles the cocaine trafficking boom in miami during the 70s/80s. features interviews with the two biggest transporters and one of the top enforcers. exposes a number of key figures who are largely unknown and dispells the myth that pablo escobar was the top dog in the business. a compelling mix of news footage and interviews. this was the best of the bunch - really awesome.

dark days - follows a group of homeless who live in an abandoned, underground railroad tunnel in new york. they have "houses" and electricity etc. in their little world. this sounds like it would be interesting, but for whatever reason it was boring. i only made it halfway through.

mayor of the sunset strip - biography of music scenester rodney bingenheimer, the first dj to play blondie, van halen, duran duran, coldplay and hundreds of other big bands. he's kind of like the forrest gump of the music world as he has befriended everyone from bowie to cher to gwen stefani. an interesting look at a weird dude. i had high hopes for this one, and was reasonably satisfied. lots of interviews and original footage.

dig! - follows the rise(?) and fall of two bands - the dandy warhols and the brian jonestown massacre. it's billed as being a comparison between the two frontmen - courtney taylor and anton newcombe, but taylor is so uninteresting that most of the footage follows necombe as he creates trainwrecks at every opportunity. though he is compared to dylan and lennon and plays over 80 instruments, his addictions and mental health problems leave him nothing more than tragic. the film was shot over seven years and cut from 1500 hours of film. i enjoyed it.

slasher - john landis directs this look at a traveling car salesman who is employed by dealers in need of immediate inventory reduction. in the film, the slasher travels to memphis with his entourage to rescue a dealership . though it was well done, the characters failed to grab me, which is surprising because i generally find good salesmen to be intriguing. worth a watch.

stevie - during his time in college, steve james (who directed hoop dreams), became a Big Brother to stevie, a kid growing up in poor, white, rural illinois. ten years after they lost touch, james returns to find out what has become of stevie. with little going for him, stevie has been in and out of trouble with the law and has a life that is sad at best. the film takes quite a turn as during filming, stevie is accused of sexually abusing a young girl. though completely disturbing, this is one of the more powerful films i've seen in years. i'm not even sure i enjoyed it, but james is so good at making documentaries and such an amazingly compassionate guy, that i somehow feel better for having watched it.

the poet and the con - a guy documents the parallels between his life and the life of his criminal uncle. i don't even feel like writing any more about it - it sucked.

[El Diablo]

la,

You gotta watch Rank.

[Boris]

[ QUOTE ]
la,

You gotta watch Rank.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice. will have to see that one. Cocaine Cowboys is also on my list.

[Golden_Rhino]

Thanks for the list pal. I like documentaries, but have a hard time finding good ones. I'll check your list out.

[bwana devil]

by description, the ones that sounded intersting, you gave bad reviews. too bad.

i enjoyed hoop dreams but am not sure id be in the mood for an energy drainer of a documentary like stevie,

[TheBlueMonster]

Touching the Void
I saw the movie when it came out, but damn, whatta film...


Fog of War
fascinating and terrifying

[TheBlueMonster]

[ QUOTE ]
i enjoyed hoop dreams

[/ QUOTE ]
it took me till this past year to finally see "Hoop Dreams" and I was blown away. Roger Ebert was hyperbolizing a little when he said it was the best movie of 1994. Just a little....

[GrandmaStabone]

I can't believe you didn't like Dark Days, I absolutely loved it. I have been wanting to make a post about it for awhile.

Stevie just came in on Netflix, I have been looking forward to it.

[LeapFrog]

[ QUOTE ]
Touching the Void
I saw the movie when it came out, but damn, whatta film...


Fog of War
fascinating and terrifying

[/ QUOTE ]

Both very good. Fast, Cheap and Out of Control is interesting (also by Morris).

[lapoker17]

[ QUOTE ]
I can't believe you didn't like Dark Days, I absolutely loved it. I have been wanting to make a post about it for awhile.

[/ QUOTE ]

i thought i would like it too - maybe i was just not in the right mood.