Burning the Future: Coal in America

Release Date: 2008
Director: David Novack
Run time: 56 minutes for PBS version (89 minutes full length)
Seen on: PBS, see website for Airdates in your area, Available on Netflix DVD
Recommended: YES.  And then turn off some lights.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 88%
Website: http://www.burningthefuture.org/

The first thing I did when watching this documentary was turn off an extra light.  Look around you.  Do you have too many lights on in your house?  If so, please stop and turn some of them off.  SERIOUSLY, get UP and turn off a light.  I'll wait.

...

...

...

OK, done?  Thanks.  And I am sure the people of West Virginia thank you too.  Burning the Future aired last week on PBS in its shortened format.  This doc takes a look at coal mining in West Virginia.  Deep mining of coal has gone on in the Appalachians for generations.  Coal has fueled our country.  However, deep mining takes time.  They have now frequently changed to the practice of mountaintop removal or strip mining.  Strip mining removes the rock at the top of mountains to expose the coal seams near the surface.  This practice obliterates the environment.  It moves entire mountains, takes out the useful coal, and fills in valleys.

This documentary does not have much animation, graphics, or even elaborate text.  After watching numerous documentaries over the past few months, I sometimes find my attention waning if there is not a great production value.  Although this doc did not have elaborate production, it drew me in.  I was drawn in by the stories of people whose families have lived there for generations upon generations.  They love their homes and want to stay there.  But they are being poisioned by the water coming out of their pipes and the air that they breathe. 

Neighbors are pitted against neighbors.  There are people employed by the coal companies who oppose the stopping the mining.  But their neighbors are sick and dying.  The water coming out of their pipes is contaminated with sludge and runoff.  They have to buy their own water or are forced to know they are getting sick from it.  West Virginia has some of the greatest natural resources, but also has some of the poorest people in the world.  Let that sink in for a minute.  Not just in the US, but some of the poorest people in the world.

As I have said before, the best documentaries engage you.  They pique your interest and even enrage you.  Although I was not sold on this rough looking documentary to begin with, I am now.  WATCH THIS DOCUMENTARY.  Think about what you use and where it comes from.  There are people sick and dying because of the coal companies.  Coal companies consider it "collateral damage" to provide people with the high standard of living they are accustomted to.  One of the interviewees says it best, that he is not "collateral damage."  He is a human being. 

This documentary forces you to consider the lives of people far from you, but intrinsicially linked to yours.  Coal production in West Virginia powers large parts of the country.  So watch this documentary, think about what you use, and then turn off some lights already.

Reel Injun

Release Date: 2010

Production Company: Rezolution Pictures, National Film Board of Canada

Directors: Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge, and Jeremiah Hayes

Run time: 85 minutes
Seen on: Netflix DVD, available on Watch Instantly
Recommended: Yes, very compelling and interesting
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 85%
Website: http://www.reelinjunthemovie.com/

The film begins: "In over 4000 films, Hollywood has shaped the image of Native Americans.  Classic westerns like They Died with Their Boots On created stereotypes.  Later blockbusters like Little Big Man, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Dances with Wolves began to dispel them.  Not until a renaissance in Native cinema did films like Once Were Warriors and Smoke Signals portray Native people as human beings."  This film explores the effect of Hollywood cinema defining the Native American not only for whites, but for Native people as well.

The desire to watch films depicting Native Americans may stem from their tragedy.  "The myth of the fearless stoic warrior lives on."  It is similar to watching Greek or Roman myths.  The narrator, Neil Diamond (no, not that Neil Diamond), drives 4000 miles from Canada through the American West to discover the origins of the stereotypes of the "Indian."  He arrives in the Great Plains and Black Hills, home to Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.  Here, the narrator fulfills a dream.  "I've always wanted to ride a horse on the open plains.  I finally feel like a real Indian."  The irony is not lost on the viewer.  We later learn that Plains Indians were the stereotyped "Indian" with the large headdress and the excellent horsemanship.

With the Battle of Little Big Horn, Hollywood turned the battle into a legend and Crazy Horse into an icon.  He is a mystical warrior to Native Americans as well as in movies.  "He is an embodiment of the human spirit." (John Trudell.)

Birth of the Hollywood Injun
The Native American is portrayed as spiritual, noble, and free.  The first films created by Thomas Edison in the 1800s through his kinetescope captured the world's imagination.  "These people are mythological.  They don't even really exist.  They're like dinosaurs." Jim Jarmusch, Filmmaker.  "The reason Indians were projected so heavily into movies was the romance of the tragedy, Greek/Roman tragedy."  (Chris Eyre, Cheyenne/Arapaho Filmmaker)

This documentary moves nicely between the journey of the narrator through the American West, interviews with Native filmmakers and critics, and clip of the important films.  The narrator comes to Crow Agency, Montanta.  It was here that the myth of the Native as a born horseman may have begun.  It is like they were born on a horse.  Rod Rondeaux is a Crow Stuntman who also teaches his craft of horsemanship.  He believes the horses can save them as they saved him.  In an ironic twist, Rondeaux can also ride in a low-rider and or put on a turban to be your "worst enemy."  Now Hollywood does not have whites playing Indian, but Native Americans playing Hispanic or Arab.

The Noble Injun
In the silent era, Indians were a Hollywood star.  People went to the movies every week.  There were Native Americans directing and acting in the films.  The population was dipping, so films were see as a chance to capture Indians before they vanished.  The Silent Enemy was one of the most authentic films of its time.  The enemy was starvation and their battle to survive.  The star, Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance was a darling of Hollywood before his tragic end.

The Savage Injun
During the Great Depression, Indians were transformed into the brutal savage.  This was damaging to Native people.  It gave the opinion of Native people for decades, not only for the country as a whole, but for Native people as well.  Native men were viewed as a characterture.  Movie stars such as Burt Reynolds, Anthony Quinn, and  Charles Bronson "played Indian."  Hollywood robbed Nations of their individualism.  They were no longer regional, but all became Plains Indians, with headdresses, buckskins, and the thoroughly unauthentic headbands.  Native women were largely absent, aside from the mythic image of Pocahontas.  The Hollywood image of Pocahontas was so removed from the reality of a nine year old girl.  Her character became the embodiment of American society and desire.

The Cowboy
John Wayne's violent actions are excused because they are against Indians.  John Wayne represented the moral center of America.  The actors used in films during this time were often true Native Americans.  They spoke their true language during filming, one that the director did not bother translating.  One actual translation is: " Just like a snake you'll be crawling in your own shit."

A Good Injun...is a Dead Injun
Even Bugs Bunny killed Indians in his cartoons.  These films shaped peoples opinions.  "I am a human being.  This is the name of my tribe.  This is the name of my people, but I'm a human being.  But the predatory mentality shows up and starts calling us Indians and committing genocides against us as a vehicle of being a human being.  So they use war, textbooks, history book, and when film came along they used film.  You go in our own communities.  How many of us are fighting to protect our identity of being an Indian and 600 years ago that word 'Indian', that sound, was never made, ever.  And we're trying to protect that as an identity.  See, so it effects all of us."  "But we're not Indians and we're not Native Americans, we're older than both concepts."  "We're the people, we're the human beings." (John Trudell)

The Groovy Injun
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Western was out of style.  The Hippies were popular and emulated the American Indian as a free spirit.  It was a fictionalized version of American society.
"Native American people became a great allegorical tool to stand in for virtually any oppressed people.  So you had Native Americans really standing in for the Civil Rights Movement which was going on at the time.  It was a time when Native Americans began to assert themselves more politically and more forcefully."  (Jesse Welte).  Native people began to fight back not only in movies, but in real life as well.  Through the character of Chief in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, "There was a beginning to see an ownership over these stereotypes." (Jesse Welte)  There was a satire of these stereotypes through Little Big Man.  Natives were fleshed out as characters.  The view was still from the outside, but there was a sensitive and sympathetic approach.
The Renaissance
Native filmmakers are emerging as a cultural and artistic voice.  The stories being told are not necessarily for the Hollywood audience.  They are telling their own stories, from the inside.  They are recording their own stories.  Their is an aboriginal film movement across the world from Australia to South America to Canada.
"We're not asking to be you know nobles, righteous, or good all the time.  We're asking to be human."  Chris Eyres

Wordplay

Release Date: 2006

Distribution Company: IFC Films, The Weinstein Company

Director: Patrick Creadon

Run time: 94 minutes

Seen on: IFC Channel 164, previously shown on PBS' Independent Lens, Available on Netflix DVD

Recommended: Yes, interesting use of graphics kept me engaged.  I doubted it at first, but stick with it, and trust me on this.
Rotten Tomato Rating: 95%
Website: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/wordplay/

I have had "Wordplay" on my DVR since February.  I put off watching it, because honestly, how interesting can a documentary about crossword puzzles actually be?  I was wrong.  I was drawn into the documentary during the title sequence after hearing Cake's "Shadow Stabbing."  The design of the documentary is very appealing.  It had excellent graphics and used overlays to show the clues as the answers filled in on a page.  This technique drew me into the documentary and allowed me to solve the puzzle along with the contestants.  I credit this interesting use of graphics that kept my attention throughout the film.

The first half of the doc introduces us to the big names in the crossword puzzle world: the editor, the creator, and the enthusiasts.  This doc features Will Shortz, Editor of the New York Times Crossword Puzzle.  He was so interested in puzzles that he created his own major at Indiana University, enigmatology.  He was willing to be poor in order to do puzzles.  Shortz reads some amusing hate mail in the doc, revealing the interest and passion of those who regularly do the NYT Crossword.  Shortz also founded the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in 2008.  We are also introduced to puzzle creator Merl Reagle and former Public Editor of the NYT Daniel Okrent.

While the first half of the documentary focuses on the creation of crossword puzzles, the second half focuses on the 2005 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.  We were introduced to five major competitors in the first half of the documentary and now have a more personal connection to these contestants.  The contestants include:
#333 Al Sanders from Fort Collins, CO
#321 Ellen Ripstein from New York, NY
#90 Jon Delfin from New York, NY
#162 Tyler Hinman from New York, NY
#292 Trip Payne from Fort Lauderdale, FL

Because we had been introduced to these contestants in the first half, we are now rooting for them to succeed in the competition.  There are numerous rounds in the competition.  You are competing against yourself as much as you are against the person next to you.  Your score is based on your time and your errors.  So the first one done may have the highest score.  The competition is based on seconds and accuracy.  You struggle with the contestants and groan when you know they have made an error.  Again, the graphics help you to work along with them and keep a running score of who is in first.  By the time you are in the final round with the final three, you are right there with them.  I won't ruin the ending for you, but I was yelling at the film by the ending.  I recommend this documentary.  I doubted it at first, but stick with it, and trust me on this.

Interspersed into the doc are interviews with fans of the NYT Crossword including: Jon Stewart, Ken Burns, Indigo Girls, Mike Mussina (New York Yankees Pitcher), Bob Dole, and Former President Bill Clinton.  The documentary filmmaker Ken Burns describes his interest in crossword puzzles: "Cities are where we leave the imprint of human interaction.  What the city offers, particularly this city, especially this city, is a sense of grids.  You know, it's all about boxes.  You live in a box, and you ride in a box to go to work in a box.  And we have the wonderful newspaper that boxy-shaped that has in it this page which is my favorite page in the whole newspaper and there are a set of boxes in which you kind of practice the wordplay of this particularly exquisite language."

Refrigerator Mothers

Release Date: 2003

Production Company: Kartemquin Films

Director: David E. Simpson

Run time: 60 minutes

Seen on: Netflix DVD, formerly on PBS's POV

Recommended: Yes

Website: http://kartemquin.com/films/refrigerator-mothers
http://www.pbs.org/pov/refrigeratormothers/index.php

Refrigerator Mothers is a great example of how a short documentary can illuminate a powerful subject.  This documentary sheds light on a generation of mothers in the 1950s and 1960s who had children diagnosed with autism.  The term "Refrigerator Mother" came from the prevailing idea that a cold and distant mother was the psychological cause of their children's autism.  Doctors and "Experts" labeled these mothers as frigid and distant caretakers who were unable to love and care for their children.

The documentary revealed the effect of a difficult diagnosis combined with the dehumanizing aspect of being blamed for their children's disorder.  Several mothers are interviewed in their homes.  The documentary also combines home movies, family photographs, and visits with their children.  Even something as simple as a photo album can be powerful.  One album shows a son sitting on Santa's lap over the course of several years.  You can see his detachment grow with the progression of his autism from about a year old to age 7. 

This doc calls into question the authority of "experts" over the relationship of a mother and child.  Dr. Bruno Bettelheim was a prevailing "expert" on autism in the 1950s and 1960s.  Bettleheim, an Austrian survivor of concentration camps, compared the experience of a child with autism to a the isoloation of person in a concentration camp.  He compared the mothers to Nazi guards, lacking compassion and interest towards their childen.  Unfortunately, Dr. Bettelheim had an international reputation for his work with children.  His views were widely known, and once accepted by the medical community.

This documentary, like the best documentaries, calls into question the accepted norms and requires you to consider your position.

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

Release Date: 2011
Distribution Company: Marshall Curry Productions
Directors: Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
Run time: 85 minutes
Seen on: Netflix DVD and Watch Instantly, Currently available to watch free online at: http://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/povdocs/2012/02/oscar-2012-watch-if-a-tree-falls-online-at-pov-academy-award-nominee-for-best-documentary-feature/
Recommendation: Yes, a thought-provoking film
Rotten Tomato Rating: 88%
Website: http://www.ifatreefallsfilm.com/

With the Academy Awards coming up, I decided to try and watch this years nominees for Best documentary.  There are only two available on DVD so far.  "If a Tree Falls" is the second one I watched, after "Hell and Back Again."

This examines the case of Daniel McGowan, a member of the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front.  Earth Liberation Front, by their own description, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".

The documentary follows the split between "traditional" environmentalists and radical environmentalists.  "Traditional" environmentalists sought change through peaceful protests and letter writing campaigns.  Radical environmentalists saw these tactics as ineffectual and sought change through more dramatic means.  Earth Liberation Front, or ELF, grew out of this split.  Their means included tearing up federal logging roads and building barricades.  Or chaining themselves to old growth trees slated to be torn down for a parking garage.  Or sabotaging construction equipment and gas tanks.

The documentary follows the ELF from these dramatic and minimally destructive means to arson.  Arson was seen as a way to immediately and sometimes permanently stop an environmental adversary.  Business targeted included timber companies, slaughterhouses, and ranger stations.  The ELF prepared carefully to ensure that no person was injured during their arson.  The ELF was also careful to not leave any forensic evidence such as fingerprints or DNA.  Although the individuals setting the fires wanted to remain anonymous, the ELF was public. They enacted a Public Relations department to speak with the media on why they were setting the fires.

The media and law enforcement called them "Eco-terrorists."  The documentary poses this interesting question: Do these ELF members who set the arson deserve to be called terrorists?  Their actions of setting multiple fires did cause terror.  Terrorism means "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes".  The actions of the ELF classify as terrorism.  The stance of law enforcement is, "You don't have to be Bonnie and Clyde to be a bank robber. You don't have to be Al-Qaeda to be a terrorist." 

However, reflect on the modern consideration on the word "Terrorist."  What do you think of?  The members of the ELF did not injure or kill anyone during the arson.  Daniel McGowan, the main focus of this interview, was a native New Yorker.  He was appalled to be considered a terrorist.  His actions had not injured or killed anyone, yet he was facing life plus 335 years in prison.

Even if you have not seen the documentary yet, let me know what you think.  Did the actions of the ELF deserve to be classifed as terrorism?  Use the Comments Section below.

Bonus materials on the DVD include: Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Extended Interviews, Updates on the ELF members, and Q&A with the Directors.

UPDATE:  In honor of the upcoming Oscars, PBS POV is now showing this free on their website:  http://www.pbs.org/pov/blog/povdocs/2012/02/oscar-2012-watch-if-a-tree-falls-online-at-pov-academy-award-nominee-for-best-documentary-feature/

Hell and Back Again

Release Date: 2011

Production Company:

Director: Danfung Dennis

Run time: 88 minutes

Seen on: Netflix DVD and Watch Instantly, showing on PBS May 24 10pm

Recommended: Yes, but not an easy viewing
Rotten Tomato Rating: 100%

Website: http://hellandbackagain.com/

With the Academy Awards coming up, I decided to try and watch this years nominees for Best documentary.  There are only two available on DVD so far.  "Hell and Back Again" is the first one I watched.

"Hell and Back Again" follows Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines in their deployment in Afghanistan.  The documentary features imbedded footage from Afghanistan and follows the life of Sgt. Nathan Harris after being wounded by machine gun fire in Afghanistan.

I was first impressed with the quality of the footage in Afghanistan.  The picture was extremely clear and stable.  It looked closer to a feature film or digital film rather than a documentary.  I was pleased with the quality of footage taken within the Marines.  After watching the Bonus Material on the DVD, I learned that the director, Danfung Dennis, used a custom Steadicam rig to ensure the smoothness of his footage.  It was also interesting to learn that his camera was one typcially used to shoot digital shorts.

The documentary intercuts Echo Company in Afghanistan with Sgt. Harris' life in North Carolina after his return.  Sgt. Harris was hit by machine gun fire in his right hip and leg.  His ongoing struggle of recovery is difficult to watch.  You see Harris' physical, emotional, and mental struggles upon his return.  He struggles more with navigating a Wal-Mart parking lot than an insurgent zone in Afghanistan.

This documentary tells the necessary story of the transition from a warrior to a Wounded Warrior.  Although it focuses on Sgt. Harris, you also see the struggle of his wife and friends.  This is not an easy or light viewing although I believe it needs to be seen.  While watching, I was reminded of "Restrepo," because it was difficult to watch, but something necessary for all to see.

 

Disney Docs: Part 3, The boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story

Release Date: 2009

Production Company: Crescendo/Traveling Light

Directors: Jeffrey C. Sherman and Gregory V. Sherman

Run time: 101 minutes

Seen on: Netflix DVD, Encore Family

Recommended: Yes, you can see the creative process for iconic Disney songs
Rotten Tomato Rating: 89%

Website: http://www.theboysdoc.com/

"Bob and I are two and a half years and about five eons apart."

"The Boys" tells the story of Richard and Robert Sherman, brothers and co-composers of iconic Disney songs such as "It's a Small World," "Spoonful of Sugar," and "Tiki Room".  The story is told by their sons Jeff and Greg Sherman who met again after 40 years of their fathers' estrangement.

Robert wanted to write the Great American Novel.  Richard wanted to write great symphonic masterpieces.  Fortunately life got in the way.  Their father had been a songwriter in New York for vaudeville stars.  He challenged his sons to create a song kids would send their allowance on.  After becoming songwriters independently, they started to work together despite their personal differences.

You should recognize their second song for Disney, "Let's Get Together" from The Parent Trap.  After the success of the song at Disney, Walt Disney gave the brothers a copy of "Mary Poppins" to see their input.  After hearing their song "Feed the Birds," Walt Disney invited the brothers to work at the studios.  The brother remember this day with tears in their eyes.  "That was the day."

The brothers worked together despite and perhaps because of their differing personalities.  Roy E. Disney says it best, "Bob is a little more 'Feed The Birds' I think, and Dick is a little more 'Supercalifragalistic.'"  Bob was thorough and Dick would have to for you in ten minutes.  Their method of creativity was conflict.

This doc was effective due to the close relationship between the directors and their subject.  They were able to reminisce with their fathers about their lives growing up.  The fathers were simply telling them stories, not necessarily being interviewed.  It broke your heart to see the wonderful music they created together professionally meshed with their personal estrangement.