Film of the Week
March 21, 2012 (yikes, its been a while) – Forget Me Not (2010)
June 7, 2011 – Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2010)
May 20, 2011 – The Human Experience (2008)
Plot Summary: “The story of a band of brothers who travel the world in search of the answers to the burning questions: Who am I? Who is Man? Why do we search for meaning? Their journey brings them into the middle of the lives of the homeless on the streets of New York City, the orphans and disabled children of Peru, and the abandoned lepers in the forests of Ghana, Africa. What the young men discover changes them forever. Through one on one interviews and real life encounters, the brothers are awakened to the beauty of the human person and the resilience of the human spirit.” -IMDb
May 4, 2011 – Gasland (2010)
April 4, 2011 – Inside Job (2010)
Dec 21 – The Mona Lisa Curse (2008)
Truly a great documentary that stings the realities of what contemporary art has become: a useless money making machine..ouch…that does sting. Robert Hughes, an art critic, does a phenomenal job at critically analyzing the money driven influences on art today. The full documenary can be found on youtube in 12 parts.
June 7 – Adam (2009)
May 29 – Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
This week I decided to revisit one of my favorite Will Ferrel comedies.
“You stay classy, San Diego. I’m Ron Burgundy?”
May 18 – Mammoth (2009)
I first did not see the point to this movie, but after reading a few reviews it all came into perspective. Wiki can better explain the film’s motives.
“While on a trip to Thailand, a successful American businessman tries to radically change his life. Back in New York, his wife and daughter find their relationship with their live-in Filipino maid changing around them. At the same time, in the Philippines, the maid’s family struggles to deal with her absence.”
April 25 – Moon (2009)
Moon, a film directed by Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son), centers around Samuel Rockwell’s character, Sam Bell, who struggles to complete his last two weeks of his three-year contract on the Moon. Forced to survive without any human contact for years, Sam begins hallucinating. What seems to be a psychological drama morphs into a suspenseful sci-fi mystery. Movie Trailer.
April 19 – Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009)
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is based on David Foster Wallace’s collection of short stories by the same title. The film is directed by John Krasinski, better known as Jim from The Office. Lately, films adapted from books tend to do no justice to the original works, but on the contrary, Krasinski’s film captures all that is David Foster Wallace (in my opinion).
Plot Summary: “A graduate student (Nicholson) endeavors to explore the male psyche for her thesis by interviewing a cross-section of men. The men’s twisted and revealing stories are juxtaposed against the backdrop of her own experience. As she begins to listen closely to the men around her, she must ultimately reconcile herself to the darkness that lies below the surface of human interactions. Krasinski and his fine cast successfully bring the first-ever David Foster Wallace work to the big screen with a film that audiences will be talking about for a long time.” Movie Trailer.
April 11 – The Art of the Steal (2009)
The Art of the Steal, filmed by Don Argot, is a suspenseful documentary which follows the power struggle to gain control of Dr. Albert C. Barnes’ 25 billion dollar art collection of one of the most famous modern and post-impressionist masterpieces.
Plot Summary: “In 1922, Dr. Albert C. Barnes formed a remarkable educational institution around the priceless collection of art, located just five miles outside of Philadelphia. Now, more than 50 years after Barnes’ death, a powerful group of moneyed interests have gone to court for control of the art, and intend to bring it to a new museum in Philadelphia. Standing in their way is a group of Barnes’ former students and his will, which contains strict instructions stating the Foundation should always be an education institution, and that the paintings may never be removed. Will they succeed, or will a man’s will be broken and one of America’s greatest cultural monuments be destroyed?” Movie Trailer.
Other great art documentaries: The Rape of Europa and My Kid Could Paint That.
