#42: King Corn (2007)

In Aaron Woolf's thought-provoking documentary, friends Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis move back to America's Corn Belt to plant an acre of the nation's most-grown and most-subsidized grain in an attempt to follow their crop into the U.S. food supply. What they discover about genetically modified seeds, powerful herbicides and the realities of modern farming calls into question government subsidies, our fast-food lifestyle and the quality of our food.

90 minutes

#37: The Order of Myths

Dating back to the 1700s, Mobile, Alabama's Mardi Gras celebration is the oldest in the country -- and it's still going strong today. With the annual event as its focus, this documentary explores the city, its mystical societies and race relations. Tens of thousands of enthusiastic revelers descend upon downtown Mobile each year to take part in a variety of colorful parades, balls and festivities. Margaret Brown's work was nominated for Best Documentary for the Independent Spirit Awards.

I've really never been to the south, other than some very short work trips. But I am interested in learning more about the details of life in these old Southern cities. The film's opening tells us that Mobile had the country's first Mardi Gras, 15 years before New Orleans was founded as a city.

It's a city with roots, and plenty of issues. Not more than a few minutes in, it's clear that drawing a picture of White Mobile and Black Mobile is one of the themes here. And the deep, deep family histories associated with the history of Mobile. "My people were on her people's ship," one of the Mardi Gras queens tells us, referring to the white Mardi Gras committee's queen, whose family brought the last slave ship into the U.S., in Mobile. It's more than a little uncomfortable watching the lead-up to the festivities, with no prior understanding of this culture. Two parallel systems in place, but not equal by any stretch. Men in hoods and masks, girls dressed up like dolls. Uneasy detente.

#33: Please Vote for Me

Though China's government is Communist, the third grade election for the prestigious position of Class Monitor at the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan is being decided by a democratic vote. In this enlightening documentary, filmmaker Weijun Chen captures all the action as the three candidates -- two boys and a girl -- go all out to win: performing in a talent show, debating each other and delivering speeches to their classmates.

WOW. This is a puppet show in so many ways, but it's still compelling. I don't believe children are pure as puppies, but they are highly suggestible -- and the combination of parental suggestion and pressure to excel, on the one hand, and what looks like sheer manipulation of elementary school cliques (by teachers, parents, filmmaker?), makes it difficult to tell what's really going on. What the kids say is certainly a reflection on their values -- the values of their parents. And it's interesting to listen in on that.

#32: Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)

In sports, winning is everything, and the pressure to succeed can drive some athletes to start taking banned substances. Filmmaker Chris Bell points the camera at his brothers and himself, all users of steroids. By exploring the reasons behind and effects of steroid use within his family, Bell calls into question the win-at-all-cost attitude so prevalent within American society.

Interesting, really really interesting. Surprising. Though I shouldn't be surprised. Demonize the drug, make lots of after-school specials about it, ban the use of enhancements in professional sports -- all to keep the game smaller (to some degree). You can get strong without steroids; you just can't be the strongest, the biggest.

The aesthetic doesn't appeal to me, nor does the need to be bigger/stronger/faster; but clearly it appeals to a lot of other people. It seems like the behavior -- getting that big -- is what society objects to (at least at some level), and yet it's the drug that we focus on, just the drug. We want the biggest/strongest/fastest, but we want to make it fair, or not about who has the most money (?) Or maybe most guys don't really want to see guys who look like that playing our sports -- seeing their physique moves the upper bar, making us all feel further away from "best". People who don't take the drug, don't have the pressure chamber at home, they feel like they've been cheated, that there's a way around the rules that they didn't have access to. But it seems like everyone's looking to get to the best in pro sports, everyone's trying to get as close to the line as they can without having it ruled as cheating. We want it, but we say we don't -- hey, it really is the all-American drug! Let's put out a million messages and images in advertisements and other entertainment media that communicate just how great it is to be big and cut and unrealistically perfect -- but then demonize the supplements, the steroids, or else pathologize the body dysmorphia, the anorexia and bulimia. The comment about ours being the only country where direct advertisement to the public is allowed is a solid hit. We live in a terribly screwed-up culture.

#31: Strange Culture (2007)

On the eve of his new exhibit, artist and professor Steve Kurtz was shocked by the news that his wife had died of heart failure. The medics on the scene became suspicious of Kurtz's artistic media, which includes genetically modified foods, and the FBI accused him of bioterrorism. This disquieting true story is brought to life by actors Tilda Swinton, Josh Kornbluth and Peter Coyote in Lynn Herschman Leeson's chilling dramatic documentary.

Chilling and terrifying and almost too much to watch and take in. The technique of reenacting some scenes in the documentary is interesting -- and works, completely. Interviews with the actors, film running while they talk about the real people they're playing, all contribute to the large mosaic they're building about the artist and this case.

As the opening line reads:

"Steve Kurtz is unable to comment on events that occurred immediately prior to his arrest. Actors have interpreted his story."

Hence the reenactions. Because he has a story, and has told it at various points (and others have pieces of the story to tell, as well), but while he can give interviews on events occurring after the arrest, he can't tell the substantive part of the story on camera.

This easily surpasses "Jesus Camp" as the most terrifying movie I've seen in the last year.

#28: Red Without Blue (2007)

This provocative and insightful film documents three years in the lives of identical twins Mark and Alex Farley as they come to terms not only with their homosexuality, but also with Alex's decision to physically change his gender. Haunted by a troubled past --including divorced parents, discrimination and a joint suicide attempt -- the brothers struggle to affirm their identity and learn what it means to be a family outside of traditional norms.

This is not a film about any of the subjects referenced above -- it's really a film about growing up and figuring out who you are, who you're supposed to be, and the journey of life. That the subjects are identical twins -- gay identical twins -- is just a detail that begins the story and breaks the ice.

It's a little bit of a jigsaw puzzle in terms of time, but it's not too distracting. Just don't expect to be able to get a timeline of the twins' relationship with each other or with their family.

#23: Jesus Camp

This riveting Oscar-nominated documentary offers an unfiltered look at a revivalist subculture where devout Christian youngsters are being primed to deliver the fundamentalist community's religious and political messages. Building an evangelical army of tomorrow, the Kids on Fire summer camp in Devil's Lake, N.D., is dedicated to deepening the preteens' spirituality and sowing the seeds of political activism as they're exhorted to "take back America for Christ."

Astounding, and terrifying.

Just a couple thoughts at the moment:

I suppose the filmmakers found it necessary to situate this in a particular time, but given the fall of Haggard and a variety of other events leading up to the recent election, the appointment of Justice Alito hardly seems like a pivotal moment in recent history. Still, it's a reminder to viewers that this is a pre-Obama film, if that makes a difference.

I'd love to believe that most of these kids will grow up and have children and live and work in the town where they grew up and won't bleed their hate out onto the world around them any more their parents did. But who knows -- the leader of the camp sees this as the tip of the iceberg. God help us all.

#22: Paper Clips

Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee is the setting for this documentary about an extraordinary experiment in Holocaust education. Struggling to grasp the concept of 6 million Holocaust victims, the students decide to collect 6 million paper clips to better understand the enormity of the calamity. The film details how the students met Holocaust survivors from around the world and how the experience transformed them and their community.

#21: Following Sean

In 1969, writer-director Ralph Arlyck filmed an intimate conversation with 4-year-old Sean Farrell -- the son of free-spirited parents living in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district -- who talked openly about smoking marijuana and walking among speed freaks. Revisiting his subject 30 years later, Arlyck finds a much-changed man with thoughtful reflections about his childhood, his parents and the contradictions of the 1960s.

Fantastic.

#19: The Business of Being Born

Director Abby Epstein's controversial documentary takes a hard look at America's maternity care system, juxtaposing hospital deliveries against the growing popularity of at-home, natural childbirths that many expectant parents are now opting for. Former talk show host Ricki Lake was inspired to produce this compelling exposé after a dissatisfying birthing experience with her first child left her with many unanswered questions.

Informative, interesting, and important to see.

87 minutes.

19/10

#18: Brother Born Again (2001)

Seeking to renew her relationship with her born-again Christian brother, documentary filmmaker Julia Pimsleur traveled to a remote Alaskan island, where brother Marc has lived for 10 years with his spiritual family. The resulting film captures Pimsleur -- a bisexual Jewish New Yorker -- as she searches for an understanding of her sibling's chosen life path, and in the process, delves into the definition of family and explores family dynamics.

Very nice. I so appreciated the tone of the film, and the patience and courage of everyone involved. In other hands, this could have been incredibly messy. It's clear that Pimsleur has great respect for ideas and people, for dialogue and intellectual sparring, but her affection for her brother is also clear. And his distance must be painful, and yet the film isn't about pain, it's about the quest to understand and find a new way to relate to each other.

A perfect way to end the evening.

18/9

#16: I Like Killing Flies

Documentarian Matt Mahurin peers into Shopsin's, a hole-in-the-wall Greenwich Village restaurant that's been dutifully serving comfort food to satisfied customers for more than 30 years. Lording over the eatery is hilarious, ersatz philosopher/owner Kenny Shopsin, who caters to such regulars as writer Calvin Trillin. Shopsin dispenses tough love with his okra chowder and is just as likely to throw out customers as take their food orders.

A true New York poet-philosopher -- with an incredibly foul mouth. The film mostly gets a running narrative from Shopsin as his family and their East Village restaurant prepare to gut the place and set up shop in a new neighborhood further west in the Village. Leaving his place is clearly traumatic, for Shopsin and his customers, but the film is about this unique group of people and Shopsin's take on the world. He's crude and loud and doesn't suffer fools, but he still seems like a good guy -- and an honest one.

Words of Wisdom from Kenny:
- respect everyone, even people who don't deserve it, because you never know who's just temporarily undeserving. That's the mark of high civilization.
- don't be so nice. you shouldn't be nice to people.


fyi: The place moved again after this movie came out, to the Essex St. market just around the corner from Babeland.

#13: Stone Reader (2002)

Buzz: "Eighteen-year-old Mark buys a novel by a little-known author and starts reading it, but is unable to get through the whole thing. Twenty-five years later, Mark decides to give the book another try and finds the story absolutely spellbinding. When he tries to buy more copies of the book, he finds that it's out of print and no one seems to know where the author can be found, sending Mark on a yearlong search for the elusive writer."

129 minutes.

What a great little film... I wasn't sure at first if I was going to like this. But eventually I became almost as interested in finding this writer and listening to what he had to say as the filmmaker was -- he makes a compelling case for the book, but he also continues to press the idea of what a writer's career trajectory can and should look like, why someone might only write one novel, etc. The film drags at times, and there were definitely moments when I tuned out because someone was going on and on about a book I wasn't interested in, but it's a big long fan letter to writing and to great books, and I didn't mind that.

I read after watching that Ebert included this film in his Overlooked Film Festival, which is held here in Champaign-Urbana every spring, and that the author attended. I wonder what he was like, what kinds of stories locals could tell about meeting and talking with him. After seeing this film, I think he might even be more interesting to talk to than Sam Shepard (not that I'm a regular at Fat Jack's).

13/5

#11: Through Deaf Eyes

Buzz: "Emmy-winning actress Stockard Channing narrates this documentary that chronicles the history of deaf culture in America from the 19th century to the present day. Interviews with actress Marlee Matlin, community leaders and other deaf Americans provide an up-front and diverse perspective of this segment of society. Short films created by deaf artists are interspersed throughout the in-depth program."

Wow. Very interesting, compelling, informative. Love (10).

It raises a lot of interesting issues within the deaf community; a panoply of perspectives that the filmmaker doesn't try to synthesize, but rather presents as a very understandable and realistic picture of the diversity of views within the community. It's a diversity very similar (it seems to me) to the diversity of views within the gay community, which I understand fairly well.

But upon viewing this, I'm angry that I didn't learn some things earlier in life. I'm angry at the world for continuing to evaluate people against something called "normal;" angry at the medical profession for continuing to medicalize (and pathologize) difference; and I'm more than a little angry at myself, for taking so long to understand that the simple struggle to live in this world -- as a common characteristic -- is more important than all these labels that just tend to divide us. A label tends to imply so much difference, other-ness: we must fit into different boxes, live different lives, how could we possibly relate to each other? One man in the film notes that when communicating with hearing people, he takes time to adjust for lighting, ambient noise, and positioning in order to create better conditions for communication. But he's describing the logistics of communication, not the subject of their conversation. It makes sense to me now, but I don't think I really got it until recently. People connect on common interests, common (or opposing!) views about the world, shared recollections, etc., not about the features that the world uses to divide us up into categories. I don't communicate with a deaf person about being hearing or about deafness (beyond some preliminary questions, perhaps)... we have conversations about food, or shoes, or global politics, or knitting, or McDreamy or whatever.

The other point I'm glad the film makes is that deaf people don't generally see their lack of hearing as a disability -- they're *proud* to be deaf, and proud of the community that they're part of. Which makes all the sense in the world to me, as I don't want to wake up tomorrow morning and be heterosexual. Simple as that -- I like me, and I'm proud of who I am, and I shouldn't expect anyone else not to have that same pride.

11/4

p.s. I have no idea why I'm on an alliteration kick, but I promise to stop.

#10: DIY or Die

Buzz: "This 60-minute documentary profiles a fascinating group of independent American artists working in various media -- including print, film, graphic art, performance art and music -- and explores their methods and motivations. Features interviews with Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Jim Rose (Jim Rose Sideshow), Jim Thirwell (Foetus), Lydia Lunch, Mike Watt (Minutemen), Ron Asheton (Stooges), Madagin Shive (Bonfire Madagin) and many others."

10/4

#8: Mondovino (2005)

Buzz: "An Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival, Jonathan Nossiter's documentary examines the politics of the global wine industry and pits big business against the little guy. Nossiter toured Europe, South America and the United States for interviews with consultants from multinational corporations, "peasant" owners of family-run wineries steeped in tradition, and a variety of industry experts including influential wine critic Robert Parker."

I would much rather have been watching Bottle Shock tonight, but it's not out on DVD yet, and I don't think it came anywhere near me in the theatre. Not that I go out to see movies much, but anyway.

I wasn't thrilled with this -- it came off like a confused POV piece, with barely a coherent point to make for the general anti-Mondavi sentiment. Lots of implications, but not a lot of information for viewers to draw their own conclusions. And terrible dizzying camera work that seemed more interested in pictures on the wall (or crotches -- what was with the constant pan across middles?) than on the subject being interviewed.

As a total novice when it comes to wine, I would have appreciated some additional information in the form of statistics or history (other than from the interview subjects). Particulary if the filmmaker had a point to make -- about Americanization of the wine industry, the power of Parker or Mondavi and their Wal-Mart-ization of the wine industry, or even the conspiracy of marketing and winemaking. But I'm not sure the filmmaker's point really was terribly coherent. And I'm relatively friendly to arguments about big producers or distributors homogenizing products and running roughshod over individualization and quality, but I do have my limits. Let's say Mondavi wines aren't as nuaunced as terroir-centered French wines. Well then, buyers should choose. If people are sheep, then the French need better marketing people. But I'm not sold on an argument about the evils of a mass-producer simply because their product isn't as good (because it never is). I mean, who cares if McDonald's hamburgers don't taste as good as the burgers at my local diner? I prefer something a little more complex, but why should I care that my neighbor likes them? I'm not sure who would enjoy this, other than those who share the filmmaker's general sentiment about the wine business, and are fairly well-informed about the various players. 135 minutes.

8/3

#7: Street Fight (2005)

Buzz: "Raising hard questions about American politics, democracy and race, Marshall Curry's incisive Oscar-nominated documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of the Newark, N.J., cutthroat mayoral race in 2002. The candidates: young Ivy League upstart Cory Booker vs. incumbent Sharpe James, an old-timer who's not above employing questionable tactics to achieve victory. The gloves come off as the contenders lock horns in their battle to win voters."

Very, very compelling. Another film that speaks to the sheer audacity and hypocrisy of power. Booker's fight in the 2002 election was literally Sisyphean; it seems there's little chance for a new (and, admittedly outside) candidate to challenge the incumbent when the police are quashing dissent and removing campaign signs. But the struggle is necessary, even if the outcome is somewhat predictable.

7/3

#2: Anytown, USA (2005)

Buzz: Documentary on mayoral election in Bogota, New Jersey. Small town quirkiness meets messy local politics.

My Reaction: I didn't set out to watch a bunch of documentaries all in a row, but that's how it turned out -- last night, Out of the Past and The King of Kong (both watched before midnight and thus pre-2009), and then #1 and #2 today. Overall, I was entertained by this one, but I wouldn't stop by your office to tell you about it. There were plenty of interesting things about it: that the challenger (an independent, write-in candidate known as a local sports hero) and the incumbent are both blind, and the way that issue is addressed (or not) by various people in and out of the campaign; the obsession in a small town with high school sports, football in particular; and just the total lack of content in the campaigns -- it really is just a popularity contest, and none of the three are particularly popular. Watching reminded me of many of the same themes as King of Kong -- ego, power, obsession, and living just a little on the fringe. All of politics is local, but only because everything is local in a small town.

film 2 / day 1

#1: Into Great Silence (2005)

Buzz: Documentary of life in an isolated monastery in northern France. Very very very long.

My reaction: The film is gorgeous, but it's painfully slow and intense, and tested the limits of my cinematic patience. It wasn't a great choice for a day cooped-up in the house with a cold -- I'm already too aware of the time passing, and keeping this up for more than 2 1/2 hours was nearly unbearable (though I did... mostly out of a sense of loyalty and first-day-motivation re: the project). Though I can appreciate the film, that appreciation ended about 40 minutes in. Not exactly an exciting start to the project.

film 1 / day 1