Second Wind! Second Wind!
July 6th – July 12th
Audience of One – Wow. Just wow. What a thoroughly enjoyable documentary. Equal parts religious fanaticism and filmmaking fanaticism equals documentary gold. Bravo!
Pastor Richard Gazowsky sets out with his church to make the greatest movie ever made–”Star Wars meets The Ten Commandments.” And, he’s convinced that God has told him that the $100 million dollar German investment money will be coming in any day now. Yep, any day now. Uhmm, yeah. It’s a shame that God didn’t instead tell him to spend more time in pre-production. Bad God. Shame on you.
Lest anyone think this is a documentary attacking Christianity, director Michael Jacobs most fairly captures his subjects. When laughs come at the expense of Gazowsky and his followers, they arise from filmmaking ineptitude and not religious mockery. In fact, the director may have been too kind. Jacobs never really confronts Gazowsky over what practically amounts to extortion (getting people to give money and volunteer labor based solely on a message received from God). Then again, that happens every Sunday (and daily on certain TV channels), doesn’t it? In the end, Gazowsky needs little help showing us how delusional he really is (as both a pastor and filmmaker).
Crips & Bloods: Made in America – Decent enough documentary by Stacy Peralta. Not sure what it has to do with skateboarding though.
The Ice Storm – Ahhh, the movie that introduced us to key parties and Katie Holmes. Thank you Ang Lee for that gift you have given me. I shall never forget it.
John Adams (TV miniseries) – After recent discussions surrounding favorite Founding Fathers, I was compelled to finally make it through the HBO miniseries about our 2nd President. Now I want a 7-part miniseries each for Jefferson, Abigail, Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, etc. It is truly fascinating and amazing history. I only wish there were more hours in the day that would allow me to read more biographies and histories of our founding. It’s unfortunate that some–Sally Kern for one–distort the legacy of these men (and women) by suggesting that they were founding a Christian nation.
Waltz With Bashir – More proof that 2008 was a great year for documentaries. I still prefer Man on Wire, but this was also a special documentary film that is deserving of all its accolades. The animation was perfectly utilized to show someone coming to grips with shrouded memories and the difficult history of war.
Stranded: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors – I must admit that the story of the Uruguayan rugby team crash has always fascinated me. I quite liked Alive, the 1993 film starring Ethan Hawke that dramatized the events. I’d probably seen it on VHS 10 or more times. I think it is the very human determination to survive that fascinates me. And Hawke, of course. This documentary, though, revisited the tragedy from the voices of its survivors–a respectful tribute to those who perished in the mountains and a celebration of the lives the survivors were granted.
Magnolia – I’ve got some more detailed thoughts on this one–a personal favorite–that I’ll post sometime later this week.
Audience of One – Never even heard of this film… I am really intrigued. It sounds fascinating. We’ll check it out for sure!
The Ice Storm – I watched this for the first time a few months ago, after meaning to see it for years. Meh. Serious meh. I was let down on a grand scale. I suspect if I had seen it when it was originally released I would have been more impressed.
I can’t wait to read your detailed thoughts on Magnolia, of course.