"The Contestant" on Hulu, about the guy who spent a over a year in an empty room surviving on only what he could win in magazine contests, is quite good.
Has actually a few turns I wasn't expecting, which is lovely, because it could be a complete downer.
"Let It Be," restored by Peter Jackson and the team that worked on "The Beatles: Get Back," will be released on Disney+ tomorrow (May 8). Variety's Owen Gleiberman compares the new version to the original, which he first watched in the summer of 1970, and says it's "one of the most joyful rock documentaries ever made." What do you think of the constant repackaging of the Beatles archive?
Please, #bookstodon and everyone else , recommend your very favorite books and other #information to me. I'll read anything, audio or ebook or maybe even paper #book, #website or recurring graphics or whatever.
Feed me.
A new documentary, "Grand Theft Hamlet," is filmed within Grand Theft Auto Online, and tells the story of the first staged production of a Shakespeare play in a multiplayer online video game. "The doc is an impressive piece of machinima, a niche but increasingly utilized method of filmmaking that exclusively utilizes in-game graphics to create a cinematic experience," writes Allegra Frank for Daily Beast. Here's the full story (may be paywalled).
This is one of my all-time favourite #documentaries. It has a bit of a cult following. Was it done weirdly on purpose, or by accident? Serious and hilarious at the same time. Get out the popcorn!
Cane #toads An Unnatural History.
"The 17-minute documentary takes an intimate look at the unique sisterhood between Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó, Wang’s paternal and maternal grandmothers. The pair initially met because of Wang’s parents and took a particular liking to each other. They became close after the deaths of their husbands, and eventually they chose to live together."
As an "independent source" it was used by politicians, students, and many everyday people alike.
It was used for #publications & #documentaries, and triggered some inquires where I assisted in shaping national & international political statements. It's been fun & fulfilling 🙂
In today's siloed internet its usefulness is gone. No more days with 5.000 unique visitors & multiple email inquires.
"There’s Stevie Wonder having to teach Bob Dylan how to sing his part. There’s Sheila E. being used in an effort to try and get Prince to show up. There’s Huey Lewis being asked at the last minute to sing Prince’s part. And why was Dan Aykroyd there? Honestly, I could keep going, but there’s just too much...But, again, there are so many stories along the way...Ahead, we dig into all these stories with [Director Bao] Nguyen.'
This year is the centennial of James Baldwin's birth. For Interview magazine, writer Lynne Tillman talked to Pat Hartley, co-director of 1982 documentary "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," about the making of the film, which sees Baldwin traveling through the Deep South. reflecting on moments from the civil rights movement two decades before. "What he said is so relevant now because he said, 'I don’t care if you assassinate me now, but your time, white supremacy, is over,” and this is 1980," said Tillman.
What do you see as the pro's and con's of #documentaries? I'm often not a fan, but want to be. My issues with them, and mostly it comes from I love to learn and want docs to be a starting point, not the end:
Credentials of the experts can be spotty
No sources given
No way to ask follow-up questions
Too much theatrics / reenactment
Not as detailed as a book
Often don't cover the topics I want (social science, #religion, #history, etc)
Loading Docs is a unique initiative that produces short documentaries that move, inspire and challenge audiences locally and internationally, while developing and promoting New Zealand filmmaking talent at home. So far they have been watched by over 17.8 million people....
DAFilms + Taiwan International Documentary Festival are running a collaborative free week-long online screening of eight documentaries from Taiwan's Green Team (1986-1990) guerrilla media collective, which captured massive social movements + government violence throughout their active period. The one about successfully fighting off DuPont is next on my list.
Incredible footage, exactly zero of which I'd seen before.
I'm currently watching documentary Dark Money (2018), about the impact of the Citizens United ruling on US politics and the rise of dark money. If this is a topic that interests you, it's a solid primer on the (complex) subject as well as a well-made documentary.
Currently available free in the US on Kanopy + on other platforms / in a variety of regions.
I watch some great documentaries as part of my job. It just occurred to me, belatedly, that I should mention them on Mastodon for people who might be interested.
Watch online: Loading Docs, documentary shorts season 9 (loadingdocs.net)
Loading Docs is a unique initiative that produces short documentaries that move, inspire and challenge audiences locally and internationally, while developing and promoting New Zealand filmmaking talent at home. So far they have been watched by over 17.8 million people....