Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)

This is capitalism, a system of taking and giving. ... Mostly taking. The only thing we didn't know wasd when the revolt will begin.

Twenty years after his influential debut, Roger & Me, Michael Moore returns to his roots by pulling back the curtain on capitalism to reveal the insidious role it has played in the destruction of the American dream for many people. Back in 1989, auto workers in Flint, MI, were lamenting layoffs and wondering how they would support their families without jobs to pay the bills, or benefits to ensure their health. Flash forward two decades, when cities all across the country are feeling the same pressures that Flint residents were back when GM left them high and dry. With an average of 14,000 U.S. jobs lost every day and taxpayer money constantly being pumped into failing financial institutions, the question must be asked: how long can this go on before the entire system collapses? Is there really any hope for Americans who are losing their homes to foreclosure and seeing their savings get wiped out at an unprecedented rate? In order to seek out an answer to this question and many more, Moore takes a trip to our nation's capitol, engaging average Americans in conversations about the prospect of repairing America's failing, debt-ridden economy along the way. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)

You have to know that it will be a propaganda hit-piece when it starts off with bank robberies. It immediately goes down hill after that to confuse Roman Empire with the US. He obviously has no clue as to what Capitalism is, even if the word has lost all its meaning. A word promoted by its most vocal opponents of it like Karl Marx. This sums up how the critiques are basically looking at it wrong.

Indeed, it is probably no exaggeration to say that economics developed mainly as the outcome of the investigation and refutation of successive Utopian proposals – if by “Utopian” we mean proposals for the improvement of undesirable effects of the existing system, based upon a complete disregard of those forces which actually enabled it to work.
HT: Quotation of the Day… by Don Boudreaux

Interestingly, he has a clip of Ronald Reagan slapping a woman just as he introduces womens' liberation movement. No implications there, no, not at all...

Earnings
Earnings of aircraft pilots and flight engineers vary greatly depending whether they work as airline or commercial pilots. Earnings also depend on factors such as rank, seniority, and the size and type of aircraft flown. For example, pilots who fly jet aircraft usually earn higher salaries than pilots who fly turboprops. Airline pilots and flight engineers may earn extra pay for night and international flights. In May 2008, median annual wages of airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers were $111,680. The middle 50 percent earned between $81,580 and $150,480.
Aircraft Pilots and Flight Engineers

Salary Snapshot for Commercial Pilot Jobs

The links to pay scales of pilots is because he said that some pilots were getting food stamps and getting paid less than $20k per year. That I find impossible unless it is a pilot working less than 40 hours a month. Since he does not provide enough details, or at least leaves out relevant information, I am not sure how to verify his facts.

Anyway, it is hard to believe that one of the biggest entrepreneurial capitalist around has no idea (or shows no signs that he does) what capitalism is. A complete loser of a film based on faulty ideas of what he thinks capitalism is.

For extras, he includes longer segments of the respective interviews with the commentators.

Berkeley in the Sixties (1990)

Berkeley in the Sixties takes a fond, if not always loving, look back at the epicenter of leftist political activism during the seventh decade of the 20th century. The free speech movement caught national attention in 1964 when the University of California tried to suppress activists distributing literature and making speeches in an outdoor plaza on campus. On December 3, Governor Edmund "Pat" Brown ordered the arrest of demonstrators who had occupied the University's Sproul Hall; over 1,500 protestors were taken into custody in what was then the largest mass arrest in U.S. history. The escalation of the Vietnam War kept the winds of dissent blowing in Berkeley, and TV coverage of the 1964 demonstrations and subsequent clashes with the police fueled similar protests on other campuses. Off-campus, Berkeley was also home to a strong chapter of the Black Panther Party, which offered a more violent alternative to the established civil rights organizations. Vintage clips of the demonstrations and official reactions to them from Brown and his successor, Ronald Reagan, are supplemented by contemporary interviews with activists and observers who offer both reminiscences of and perspectives on the period. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 117 mins
Berkeley in the Sixties (1990)

A more balanced approach of the subject than I originally thought it would be. Maybe one reason that I had not heard it mention as often as the other radical documentaries like The Weather Underground (2003), and Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst (2003).

The archival footage is worth just watching that. Including a longer version in the special features of Ronald Reagan giving a speech about the radicals at Berkeley. I think he was right what he said although on some level of course the students had some rights to express their opinions.

Special Features:
There were certainly lots of special features segments but sadly no running commentary. Some of the additional clips did have some small statement about the individual clips in text.

1. Archival Gems:

A. Kennedy Girls-"A clip from the 1960 television news documentary called "Youths in Politics"," singing "High Hopes".
B. Free Speech Movement Victory Celebration. Gloating basically and ironically arranged just before the humbled Hells Angels' clip.
C. Hell Angels' Press Conference. "The Hells Angels attack the first march against the war in Vietnam. A month later, when another march occurs, the Hells Angels are ordered by the court to stay away. So they call a press conference at their bail bonds-woman's office, hosted by Sonny Barger, head of the Oakland Chapter. Pay attention to the line at the end; the picture cuts away but the audio is priceless."
I was unaware of their objection of the anti-war crusaders. They make it appear that the HA were randomly picked out. I am sure that somehow the anti-war groups must have appealed to the courts. "People's have been calling us that for years." in reference to a question about being guerrillas in North Vietnam. Anyway, this does point out the irony that certain groups "free speech" was violated to promote the whims of the "Free Speech Movement". LOL.
D. Friends of Lone Ranger Rally. Idiots talk about "Yellow Submarine".
E. Ken Kesey {leading figure of the counter-culture} @ Acid Test Graduation. Perplexed!? Just a bus with the slogan on side and an interview with reporters. Just publicity stunt and even most in the present time carry it off better with actual "testers" showing up.
F. "Tim Leary's strange journey from Harvard researcher to LSD guru led him to San Francisco and some provocative pronouncements." Which was 22 seconds of "learn from your kids and turn on to LSD".
G. Robert Mitchum {stranger argument?} on Vietnam. "Can't pull out of human race." But then he does say drop the bomb on them if they can't behave.
H. "Grow Up!" "As governor, Ronald Reagan battled student unrest at Berkeley and elsewhere throughout the '60s. His most famous comment- "If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with"-we could not find on film. But we found lot of other barbs, including this favorite."
Makes me wonder if he actually said it and if so, what was the context. Certainly agree with "Grow up!" though.
I. Runaway Girls {Haight-Ashbury}. Sandra Smith {14} ran away 3 times and showed that she was a truly confused child.
J. Joan Baez at Stop the Draft Week. Two and half minutes of rough cut outtakes and Joan chewing bubble gum and then being arrested.
K. Black Panthers' Free Breakfast Program. "The Black Panthers ran a free breakfast program for kids. Here you'll see part of a story about it, a taste of Revolutionary zeal or absurdity."
Black is beautiful! But they are not "black" just as I am not "white".

2. Deleted Scenes

A. Beginnings of a Student Movement
B. "Don't Trust Anybody Over Thirty"
C. Continuation of the Anti-War Movement Scene.
D. "A Bunch of Beatniks, Radicals and Filthy Speech Advocates...". Ad homs against Ronald Reagan.
E. The Rise of Black Power.
F. The Mood of '68-A Tale of Two Campaigns. Or in other words the violence and destruction of the Democratic Party from the beatniks, radicals and filthy speech advocates... LOL. It was over 10 minutes of length, and some brief nudity-floppy tits bouncing.
G. First Stab at an Ending. True but when a film about peace using brutal and militaristic language, we have to wonder if it was truly based on peace, no?> Admitting that the movement transformed into "petty bourgeoisie" and petty capitalism as well as the stereotypical drugs, sex and rock and roll-or the description that Reagan gave them. Delusional talk about how they actually changed the direction of the war. If nothing else, I think they actually hurt ending the war. But that is something that I need to analyze that question in more depth.

3. Archival Photo Gallery {Collection of photos around the same places and events as the film.}
4. Original Theatrical Trailer
5. Trailer Gallery:

A. The Trials of Henry Kissinger ***
B. 42UP
C. Fighter

Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004)

While the Fox News cable network has promoted itself as a "fair and balanced" news outlet -- so much so that they've even trademarked the phrase -- not everyone believes that they're living up to their slogan, and this activist documentary by filmmaker Robert Greenwald takes a close look at the political perspective of Fox's coverage. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism examines the right-wing slant of Fox News' reporting, as represented in stories the network chooses to cover and their shoehorning of editorial opinion into stories, revealed in interviews with former Fox employees and several noted journalists (including Walter Cronkite) who discuss the pro-conservative, anti-Democratic views of the channel's management and how they're manifested in their programming. The film also puts talk show host Bill O'Reilly under the microscope and offers potent examples of his frequently abrasive interviewing style. Production of Outfoxed was supported in part by the leftist political action network Moveon.org. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 110 mins
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004)

For special features it contains a "Behind the Scenes Featurette" of almost 30 minutes. The producers and people working on the film seem like normal everyday people. I would even say every day working people and capitalists trying to make a buck. For example Michael Moore is the biggest capitalist around, literally and figuratively. But the people that watched and reported on the Fox News channel programs were completely and totally losers. They got together a bunch of libtarded idiots and then had them watch something against their ideology. About as useful as a bunch of ultra conservative ideologues watching MSNBC for 24 hours a day. I do have to admit that I have the same general feelings when I watch the propaganda from MSNBC. And historically, CNN was even more outwardly biased during the 80s and not much was ever mentioned about that at the time-at least from the left wing nuts.

This weekend I had the chance to listen and watched part of the NBC-Meet the Press program. Even though they are suppose to have a couple of conservatives it really was a hate fest of the right. They had Peter Schiff which was reluctant to say anything on the race issues except that all groups of people have racists in their midst as in Democrats and Republicans. And they had David Brooks, which he may be many things but not a true blooded conservative. The part that was most shocking was that "right-wing" or "ultra-right-wing" was thrown about with complete ease and not one "left-wing" was hurled. The conservatives were confined in their dialogue but not so for the Libtards at the meeting. Including one saying that Obama needs more outside advisers and implying more black representations. Obviously those advisers would be considered ultra-left-wing-wackos but was not even brought up.

Anyway, just as I suspected so supposedly my rating is too low at .5 but that was about the usefulness of the movie. One obvious problem with their approach is that while they accuse Fox of blurring the line between journalism and editorializing they also confuse the issues while bringing up the commentary sections without noting it is not even addressed as news. If they had wanted to uncover the differences they needed to get another example such as comparing Fox to MSNBC. It is like the scale then becomes whatever they desire with their liberal talking points and views.

Here is another interesting blog post at: Matthews: The NBA Uses Affirmative Action For Whitey.

McLibel: Two Worlds Collide (1997)

This documentary tells the story of two ordinary people that dared to take on one of the world's largest corporations. Viewers will see not only how the 1.8 billion dollars that McDonald's spends on advertising affects their bottom line, but how it manages to gloss over the unsavory aspects of their operations. The program also considers the extraordinary lengths a company like McDonald's will go to protect its own image. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 85 mins
McLibel: Two Worlds Collide (1997)

Basically a couple of Libtarded fools expressing their hate for the way society is formed and McDonalds was only a scapegoat and a symbol for their own self loathing. Most definitely not "heroes of our time" as one fat libtard said about them. In several locations they talk about what is happening to society, so to pick one target seems so ironic. The one question that never gets answered for me was, Why McDonalds? Why not all fast food and for that fact most diets in the UK and USA? Why not the hot-dog vendor down the street? He supplies a product that is harmful to the body and has a limited and thus unbalanced diet for a consumer. Heck, it probably is destroying the enviroment and destruction of the rain forest and his customers might not get everything into the garbage cans also. Heaven forbid!!!

The basic win for the two libtards was changes in Libel laws in the UK. Now that might be something to celebrate but the whole case clearly was a win for McDonalds based on the laws as they were at the time when McDonalds filed suit. There really is not freedom of speech in the UK at least at what most Americans would consider it, and similar situations seem to happen in Europe and Canada. All the good "Social Democracies".

The lies are like one after another. For example McDonalds is forcing people to do certain actions against their will. "This is not a battle between the two libtards and McDonalds"-lol. Actually it was as they had no other reason to go after McDonald's. They even brag about not paying the judgement against them of 60,000 £s.

I personally have no loyalty to McDonalds and rarely go there. But there is a something I detest most is biased attacks on "corporations" when all they hate is society. McDonalds will produce whatever their customers want-nothing more-nothing less.

1. Diets {}: Why would it be assumed that consumers would only be eating McDonalds food? Just like the silly movie 30 days {Super Size Me}. Just think of living off a hot dog vendor as mentioned earlier. Nutritious food is not the same as "Healthy food".

2. Advertising at children{}: So what? Adults have complete power as they have the purse-strings. Just grow up libtards. Oh, and ruined their self serving "good deads". "Exploit Children"?

Secret recordings seems a little underhanded and dirty. And allowed grandstanding by the two libtards.

3. Cynically exploit their workers???: That does not even have a logical bases of complaining. Dehumanizing is explained by a fat slob. The libtarded girl explains that she started a job at a bar. Probably no union membership there and just as exploited by the workers at McDonalds. Low wages depresses wages for others in the same industry is another example of the lies. If McDonalds did not hire then there would have been more supply of laborers and not less. Illogical libtards.

4. Detrimental to environment: Again just complaints about corporations and not necessarily any different for McDonalds-which is just a complaint about the society at large. The Libtards stated made the case that they are responsible for the litter of their packages. Destroying rain forests-which actually is right that McDonalds just purchases the raw meat on the wholesale level.

5. Cruel and inhumane to the animals. Again they are not directly involved with the raise of the animals. Here they should have gone after KFC or any other chicken supplier to the society. The judge went against McDonalds but that was pure stupidity.

McDonalds lost on:
Exploit Children.
Misleading advertising-Should have been the same for the Libtards.
Cruel to Animals.
Antipathetic to unions.
Pay low wages. The longer version talks about minimum wage which is a joke since many of the people probably would be unemployed if not for McDonalds.

Won on Libel for 60k pounds:
Heart disease & cancer.
Food poisoning.
Third world starvation. What a fucking joke that they even published such shit!!!
Rainforest destruction.
Bad working conditions.

They even brag about not paying and having no intentions to do so their moral obligations when they lost in court!!! Talk about hypocrisy! If McDonalds refused to pay in a court case, then the libtards would have protested that for decades and it would have ended up in a movie such as this.

As clearly can be shown here, these people are useful idiots...

Good Kurds, Bad Kurds: No Friends But The Mountains (2000)

Kevin McKiernan directs this passionate account about the plight of the Kurds, the world's largest minority without a nation. The film opens with McKiernan shopping around his painstakingly researched findings to ABC's Nightline and other news telecasts only to meet complete indifference. From there, he describes the Gunduz family, an exiled Kurdish family. The film cuts between grisly footage from the front lines of Turkey's bloody Kurdish repression to the struggles of Gunduz patriarch Kani, who works as a congressional lobbyist. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Good Kurds, Bad Kurds: No Friends But The Mountains (2000)

It covers some interesting angles about the two brothers that their status regarding immigration is in peril including the one brother has to pay back student loans that he fraudulently obtained with a false ID. The courts set the bail at one time to the ridiculous amount of $250,000.

Dust Cover:
Filmaker and acclaimed freelance journalist Kevin McKiernan poses this question at the outset of this stirring, provocative film shot in part by legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler. It's all in how you define "good" and "bad". "Good Kurds" are those in Iraq: they're Saddam Hussein's victims, whom we want to help. "Bad Kurds" are those waging an armed insurrection against Turkey, an American ally: they're at the receiving end of U.S. weaponry.

McKiernan went to northern Iraq to cover the uprising against Saddam Hussein. Just a few miles away, no one was covering the hidden war in Turkey. McKiernan determined he would report the story independently.

Good Kurds, Bad Kurds brings sharp clarity to a complicated history, while providing disturbing insight into immigration practices and U.S. foreign policy.

While a good introduction to the duopoly of how the US views the PKK, it left out a lot of the history of the PKK and how it has transitioned to more moderate positions. It also did not note any actions that the PKK and other Kurdish groups are doing in Iran, and they would also be defined as the "good Kurds".

Another aspect that I have studied before is how Democracy Now with Amy Goodman also defines in subtle ways the dichotomy of views of the Kurds/PKK being good or bad depending on who they oppose. Throughout the 90s and into 2000 Goodman reported a bias in presenting them based on what state they were acting against. It was like taking the US State Department typography of the ideologies and transposing them 180 degrees. Amy Goodman, et al was not opposing for the fact of being in the right but just opposing all US positions irregardless of facts and circumstances.

Lastly, the film did not note the ties between the Kurds and Israel. The film notes that the Kurds feel that if the Jewish/Palestinian issues are resolved then the world would be more responsive to the requests of the Kurds. These ties also make them "Bad Kurds" in the eyes of Amy Goodman and her ilk.

For presenting a side of the conflicts in Iraq/Turkey rarely discussed this was an excellent film. The film was shot and produced before 9-11 and as such it presents a certain historical picture in time. I am sure he would have produced a much different documentary now.

I see as late as September 2006 Kani "Xulam's" status was still undecided in the USA...
US: Kani Xulam could face deportation 9.2.2006 By Don M. Burrows| The people behind the persecution

Links:
Kani Xulam on Turkish Kurdish relations

American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN)

Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst (2003)

Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst is a documentary about the short-lived radical political group that caused a media frenzy in the early '70s. Filmmaker Robert Stone incorporates archival footage, news clips, and contemporary interviews with SLA founder Russ Little and member Mike Bortin. Most of the film focuses on their much-publicized act of domestic terrorism: the kidnapping of Patty Hearst in 1974. The group held the 19-year-old college student hostage, demanding that her father, William Randolph Hearst, give millions of dollars to the poor. Later, the girl was said to have joined the group on a crime spree throughout the West Coast. Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst was shown was shown at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival as part of the documentary competition (under the working title Neverland: The Rise and Fall of the Symbionese LIberation Army), and later aired on the PBS documentary series American Experience. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 89 mins
Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst (2003)

Although it was not explicitly stated all possible tie-ins between The Weather Underground and the ALS but it does cover the basic atmosphere of the "rhizome" groups that rose up in the Berkeley radical centers. So for me it filled in more of the background information about the other groups. Just like the Weather Underground, they had most of their tapes played on KPFA in Berkeley and one of the communiqués was the same voice used in the broadcast of the WU ones also which must have been by a radio announcer at the time.

One of the special features was the director, Robert Stone, providing the commentator tract. A very insightful special feature that showed that he studied the ALS in depth including he noted that after them going underground they became more cult like than a movement for change. He compared them to the Jim Jones cult and upon reflection that is exactly the outcome of the WU "sect" also, IMHO. They also in essence became media whores as they relished the limelight more than the glorious revolution.

The director said he limited the number that were interviewed so that he felt it avoided a bias film as well as falling into a he said, she said scenario. He did not even interview Patty Hearst and only included a small interview that was publicly aired aside from the audio tapes when she was part of the gang.

They also included the camera recordings of the bank robberies. The most unsettling special feature was when Bill Harris directly spoke to John {?} Opsahl without remorse and more like excusing himself. I did not watch it all because it was so condescending. When John had his turn, I would have used his words against him when he had the chance.

Another glorious revolution that ended in some senseless murders...

PS: The movie time-line ended with the convictions so Wiki can fill in some details at Symbionese Liberation Army.

Battle for Haditha

The fate of two cultures becomes locked on a tragic collision course in director Nick Broomfield's dramatization of the events that led to the massacre of 24 Iraqi men, women, and children by American Marines. A squadron of American soldiers goes speeding across the Iraqi desert in a convoy of armored Humvees, eventually stopping at a local store where the soldiers jump out to stretch and browse the DVD selection. Meanwhile, as the Marines strike up a conversation with the young male clerk behind the counter, two Iraqi men climb into the back of a pick-up truck to get a crash course in IED mechanics. Both the Marines and the Iraqis are simply going about their daily business as usual, just doing their best to survive in a land where war is just another fact of life. For the Marines it's all about patrolling the desert and waiting for the next bomb to go off. When a roadside IED kills one Marine and wounds two others, the vengeance with which the American soldiers strike back at the locals may cause even the most hard-line warhawks to take pause and consider the true cost of a war which has no end in sight. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie
Battle for Haditha (2007)

Although the movie is quite balanced overall of the motives in the movie, it does not tell of the large number of civilians killed by terrorists. The reactions by the locals to noticing the bombs being placed feels real and gives the balance to the story that I was pleasantly surprised by. Others of course can wonder about the brutality of the marines but since they were mostly acquitted and standard procedure is to plant false flags by Al-Qaeda then not likely we will ever know the real story of those tragic deaths of civilians.

This film is a good companion with the "Hurt Locker" as showing the tensions and anguish of events before the marines supposedly went off the ranch. I found the Hurt Locker to be much more realistic in the actions of the Marines and Army. For example after the IED exploded and killed one, they just seem to stand around in the open thinking about what to do and when they do decide to attack it forgets about back alleys that the true killers were retreating from. The one portion that seems to be true is that the killing of the civilians in the vehicle had no justification and was most definitely the work of the Marines from my reading of the news reports.

Battle for Haditha (film) From Wikipedia

The Corporation (2003)

The usual left-wing talking points. It does provide some voices to explain the "corporations" point of view but of course we have the usual suspects. That is Noam Chomsky (Chumsky), Howard Zenn, Naomi Klein and The Fatso-Michael Moore. They have no soul because they want to personify inanimate objects and in this case a concept of business organization.

It also must be noted clearly that the first corporations were state sanctioned monopolies. And I am sure that no Lib-tard {including Thom Hartmann} is going to tell me that they would like to go back to the monopoly corporations.

It was nearly hilarious that somehow they used DDT as proof that corporations are bad by showing that they were spraying people to prevent diseases caused by ticks and lice. There has never been anyone died from DDT and thus the millions that lived because of those techniques are much better off. DDT is no longer patented and as such many good uses are not being used because of scare mongers like these LIBTARDS. Anyone for DDT? is a good place to get some information on DDT.

Another funny part is their descriptions of memes in society and they label that process as roach bait. Just like corporations are "branding" and creating images with words this film is doing the exact same thing. Product placement is no longer in movies but is labeling {as they described}. I use to wear a lot of Camel T-shirts that they use to give away and a coworker asked me why I wore something that was against what I preached. In subtle ways I use to complain about smokers. I asked do you see how dirty they get as I worked in a machine shop. Hell if someone wants to pay me to be a living billboard then fine with me as long as it is enough...

In the mid-1800s, corporations began to be recognized as individuals by U.S. courts, granting them unprecedented rights. The Corporation, a documentary by filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott and author Joel Bakan, delves into that legal standard, essentially asking: if corporations were people, what kind of people would they be? Applying psychiatric principles and FBI forensic techniques, and through a series of case studies, the film determines that this entity, the corporation, which has an increasing power over the day-to-day existence of nearly every living creature on earth, would be a psychopath. The case studies include a story about how two reporters were fired from Fox News for refusing to soft-pedal a story about the dangers of a Monsanto product given to dairy cows, and another about Bolivian workers who banded together to defend their rights to their own water supply. The pervasiveness of corporate influence on our lives is explored through an examination of efforts to influence behavior, including that of children. The filmmakers interview leftist figures like Michael Moore, Howard Zinn, Naomi Klein, and Noam Chomsky, and give representatives from companies Burson Marsteller, Disney, Pfizer, and Initiative Media a chance to relay their own points-of-view. The Corporation won the Best Documentary World Cinema Audience Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 145 mins
The Corporation (2003)

Michael Moore close to end of movie talks in terms of the Communist Meme that capitalism will sell the rope to hang itself. He claims that this is a gaping hole that capitalism will let voices be heard and will even promote it that is contrary to its basis. Well this contradicts what Pacifica and much of the Libtarded left that claims that corporation control the news and no other voices get aired. Of course no Libtard will note or acknowledge this cognitive dissonance including the Dweeb MM...

There was some special features like the making of the movie that is arranged as an question and answer session.


The Real Threat Posed by Bill Ayers

Sketches of Frank Gehry (2005)

Acclaimed film director Sydney Pollack took a five-year break from the realms of fiction to assemble a lovingly crafted tribute to longtime friend and acclaimed architect Frank Gehry in this documentary born from the sketches of its talented subject. A notoriously shy craftsman whose impressive body of work includes the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Ghery is shown working in his studio unobstructed as Pollack attempts to capture the very essence of the artist's bold works through use of film and digital video. Driven by an intimate but informal series of discussions between Ghery and Pollack, Sketches of Frank Gehry uses the subject of architecture as a launching point to discuss the creative process, and paints a fascinating portrait of how one humble man was able to create some of the world's most awe-inspiring structures. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 84 mins
Sketches of Frank Gehry (2005)

Yes informal to the point of casual videotaping. My wife liked it as a look at the life and art of Frank Gehry. Only certain people can get away with having such low skills in a technical manner and still achieve so much. Interesting film about the architecture but unlikely that it would appeal to a broad audience...

Manda Bala (2007)

Quite an interesting film about the crime problems in Brazil and political corruption, although the kidnapping aspects take up most of the screen time. It almost looked like Ford put on the defensive driving course for bullet proof vehicles. That was also a very interesting segment that including how even the bullet proof windows can not survive multiple shots at close range.

Brazil is a nation where political and economic corruption and violent crime are a way of life for many, and filmmaker Jason Kohn examines some of the more unusual ways they manifest themselves in this documentary. In Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), Kohn's subjects include a plastic surgeon whose practice is dominated by the victims of kidnappers who lost their ears to their captors; a political figure who uses his frog ranch as a cover for illegal business operations which have made him a multi-millionaire; and an auto customizer whose specialty is bullet-proofing luxury cars. Manda Bala (Send A Bullet) won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 85 mins
Manda Bala (2007)

It was amazing how the doctors was able to fix a young woman's ears. They looked nearly perfect maybe even too good. She only complained that the earlobe was stiff since it was built upon the same cartilage that was taken from her chest.

In the USA, I constantly hear about how it is so bad for chipping individuals, but in this film the one man with the bullet proof car wants not one chip implanted but wanted two from two different companies and then he said he would feel safe. Yes being kidnapped and not being sure if you would survive would drive people to do anything, and I can see chipping as a valuable tool for catching criminals.
Special features:
7 Additional Scenes
Commentary with Director and Producers.

Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)

It is refreshing to watch a film that just explains the situation instead of paranoid logic being used. It also appears to be honest by mentioning that yes Sulfur Dioxide (Nitrogen Oxides) would increase under EV (Electric Vehicle) cars. Although one of the deleted scenes was an excerpt of the tearing out of electric streetcars by GM.

One of the deleted scenes was a delightful interview with two African American women {Colette and J. Karen}. They describe how the younger one volunteered to be arrested in trying to block the transport vehicles taking away the EVs. If I was as desperate as they were, I think I would have refused to bring it back, just claim it was stolen and hide it out somewhere. She also gives a funny anecdote of how people now plug in their phones before taking them around with them each day. And yes that is a flimsy excuse for not buying an EV to be bothered with plugging it in. Alhtough working at Radio Shack, I have seen enough times that batteries do not last as long as they are suppose or give a short use time.

Filmmaker Chris Payne explores the many factors that played into the ultimate failure of the electric car to catch on with consumers, even as gas prices began to skyrocket, in a thoughtful meditation on the increasingly important role that renewable energy plays in modern society. Introduced as a means of providing an alternative to increasing oil consumption and reducing pollution in 1996, the electric car was all but a forgotten memory only a decade later -- but why? Though interviews with consumer advocacy experts, automotive industry experts, and oil industry heavyweights, Payne paints a though-provoking picture of a culture whose aversion to change and reliance on dwindling resources may be rooted in the financial concerns of a wealthy few, and may also be leading consumers down a troubling path. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide


Theatrical Feature Running Time: 93 mins
Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)

Special Features:
Deleted scenes as some are mentioned above.
Jump starting the future, which gives a positive message about the future and that steps are being made even if not the grand schemes as before {i.e. hybrids}.
Meeky Rosie video with some scene shots from the movie.
And a quite a few previews of other movies.

The Sorrow and the Pity (1971)|Part 1:The Collapse|Part 2:The Choice

Part 1:The Collapse
Soon afterwards, a new slogan became popular, "Collaboration is: Give me your watch, I'll give you the time."

Quite an interesting documentary film. There was so much material although not much stuck out from what I already had an idea about. But it showed not a very good picture of the French authorities as well as the French Citizens. They do have some criticism of the British Fleet sinking the French Fleet but considering that everything left behind in France became the property of the Nazis, then I can see the reasoning.

Made for French television, Marcel Ophüls' four-hour-plus documentary explores the average French citizen's memories of the Nazi occupation. Just how large and effective was the fabled resistance movement? Is cooperation the same thing as collaboration? And how did one's up-close-and-personal experiences with the occupation troops impact one's postwar life? These questions are probingly posed (but not all are answered) by Ophüls, who also acts as offscreen interviewer. The first half of the film is a mosaic of sights and sounds from the years 1940-1944: Maurice Chevalier singing for the German troops, clips of propagandistic newsreels, appalling vignettes from the scurrilous anti-Semitic film drama Jew Suss (1940), and the like. Ophüls' interpretation of history as the "process of recollection, in things like choice, selective memory, rationalization" is fully illustrated in the film's long second half, which is devoted almost entirely to interviews, in which the subjects display emotions ranging from mild embarrassment to abrupt rage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 251 mins
The Sorrow and the Pity (1971)

Anglophobia

"I hate the lies that have harmed us so much." Veteran of the French division of the Waffen SS

Mers-el-Kebir|[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir]Attack on Mers-el-Kébir[/url]

"Le Juif Suss" or "Jew Suss"

If ever a Jew commits a sin of the flesh with a Christian woman, he shall be hung without further ado, as punishment, and as an example for all others.

"Mr. Heydrich is president of the International Criminal Police, a commission to which France has always belonged."

Part 2:The Choice
Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv

Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (2002)

Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary is a feature-length interview with 81-year-old Austrian Traudl Junge, who served as Hitler's personal secretary from 1942 to 1945, when she was in her early twenties. She saw Hitler in his everyday life, right up until his final days, and she witnessed, firsthand, the collapse of the Nazi regime. After the war, Junge was "de-Nazified" by Allied forces as part of a program of amnesty for young people. She remained silent about her experiences for nearly 60 years, until she agreed to be interviewed by artist Andre Heller, whose own Jewish father escaped Austria as the Nazis came to power. Heller and documentarian Othmar Schmiderer edited ten hours of interview footage into the 90-minute film, which uses no archival footage, photos, or background music. It's just Junge describing her experiences on camera and occasionally watching the video playback of herself as she describes those experiences. Junge denies any real knowledge or understanding of what the Nazis were doing while she worked for them. She discusses how she was taken in by Hitler, who seemed fatherly and kind. She describes his personality. She goes into harrowing detail about the last days in the bunker. At times, she seems overwhelmed by her sense of shame at her own ignorance and naïveté. Presumably unburdened after decades of guilt, Junge passed away just hours after Blind Spot was shown at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Panorama Audience Prize. The film was also shown at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival, and the 2002 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 87 mins
Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (2002)

For me a griping tale since although it is just a person answering questions, we can see the anguish and despair at being part of Hitler's war machine. I know many can not and will not accept her version of events, but I think after this long of time, she would want to tell the truth. I think she did her best to reconcile in herself what events did happen and how she got caught up into the machine of Fascism/Socialism. The film reminds me a lot of S21-Khmer Rouge, although it passes on the places and staged events like S21. But the fact of being there and experiencing a part of what she went through in the last days of the Nazi Party.

She goes into detail about her family life and how without spelling out made her acceptable to being manipulated by others-especially Hitler himself. This could definitely make a good film in how she escaped from the bunker and events leading up to that as well as her being captured by the US and her ordeal there.

Other than wanting more of her talk not being edited out, I can not think of anything I would have wanted differently. Although the parts of her watching herself seems strange, in the third person.

The Yes Men (2003)

The usual suspects have to speak of matters that they have no knowledge of like Michael Moore {later Greg Palast} making some comments about the WTO in the first 4 minutes of the film...
I have seen various stuff from the Yes Men on the web and while quite cute in their antics they seem to be nothing more than assholes. Taking the identity of someone else or the organization in any particular manner like they are doing just seems wrong on so many levels, especially the WTO. They really do nothing except a governing body to facilitate trade, which much of the developing world wants and needs. The Yes Men have a jaundiced view of the world that does not reflect the reality that they cavalierly mock. Including the fact that WTO is not and is never in the business of telling people what to do and what technology to use only the rules of the game to facilitate trade. What Dweebs..."This represents the World Trade Organization, this is the World Trade Organization" as they point out the ridiculous phallic suit printed in the paper. I guess maybe in their world that is what the WTO does but not in reality.
The title of Mr. Unruh's presentation is the "Future of Textiles
The Future of a Lifetime
and The Lifetime of the Future"
Interesting that they used scenes of The Birth of a Nation to depict the us Civil War.
The Yes Men created "www.GATT.org" as a parody website that looks identical to the real WTO website.

In spring 2001, the site received an email requesting the WTO to speak at a conference in Finland entitled: "Textiles of the Future".

Hank Hardy Unruh was born.

Filmmakers Chris Smith and Sarah Price (the production team behind American Movie) direct the bizarre documentary The Yes Men. The film follows Andy and Mike, two regular guys who pretended to be corporate bigwigs in order to expose powerful corporate evil doing and have a bit of fun in the process. In 1999, they created a parody of the World Trade Organization website that mocked the harshest ideas about globalization. However humorous its intent, the website earned them invitations to important business trade meetings around the world. Companies and organizations actually thought they were the real WTO. Andy and Mike played along, impersonating despicable executives in order to publicly humiliate them. The guys refer to their pranks as "identity correction." The Yes Men premiered at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival and was shown as part of a special screening at the2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Warning: This product is intended for mature audiences only. It may contain violence, sexual content, drug abuse and/or strong language. You must be 17 or older to purchase it. By ordering this item you are certifying that you are at least 17 years of age. {Brief nudity of male genitalia.}

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 82 mins
The Yes Men (2003)
{Identity Correction-but whose interpretation of that identity?}

World Development Movement
Barry Coates???

The scene of lecturing to the college students after giving them McDonalds' products was quite funny. They had videos of how they envision a process of taking waste out of toilets and piping it to some Muslim country to sell as recycled burgers. Yes disgusting, especially considering that value menus 1,2,3, etc are based on the times recycled. They say that only 20% of the nutrients are retained and thus 80% is discarded. At least their idea for reducing the waste in the system is a novel approach.

I wonder why so much attention is given that they have no money to buy decent pair of shoes (plug for Salvation Army) but have enough to fly all over the world. And looking at their lectures they have like what appears to be 3 cameras and thus three camera crews. They seem to have money for that but not for a $30 pair of shoes??? Is that to show how we are so poor and fighting the Goliath "International Corporations"? Probably...

Australian Film Center
Strangely, we never do get to know the people that are interviewed and to what organization they belong. Seems a bit cynical that you present people that could just as easily have been plants in the fake conference.

In September 2003, the World Trade Organization had its Filth Ministerial meeting in Cancun Mexico. The talks collapsed when rich countries refused to stop pushing unfair and inappropriate free trade rules on poor countries. Rich countries have yet to adequately respond to increasingly urgent demands for reform.

That pretty much sums up their vacuous stance on the WTO. They don't want it to exist but then criticize when no progress is being made. Like the usual Libtard logic of damn if you do and damn if you don't. The latest rounds also collapsed and in some small way, I want to thank them for their obstructionist views. And of course just making shit up about an organization that they seem to know nothing about besides from talking points.

Special Features:
1. Deleted Scenes (Stupid shit mostly-like mannequin to drive in the carpool lane)
2. Other MGM movies
3. Commentary by the two actors and the 3 directors???

Derail Doha, Save the Climate Walden Bello | July 28, 2008

The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream (2004)

"If a path to the better there be, it begins with a full look at the worst."
Thomas Hardy, 1887
"The End of Suburbia" starts out with exerts of the Redbook video that was included in the specials. But not much more than talking heads {so called experts} that pontificate on Litarded Talking Points...
Even bringing in people like the evil "so called" neocons.

Since the end of World War II, American families have steadily moved away from large cities into suburban areas, with little thought to the ecological costs of suburban life. Creating neighborhoods with large single-family homes that require significant amounts of energy to heat and are located an inconvenient distance from schools, shopping centers, and employment districts that demand the daily use of automobiles, suburbs are remarkably inefficient communities built around the notion that fossil fuels will always be inexpensive and readily available. However, many experts have speculated that the Earth's supply of oil and natural gas is rapidly dwindling, and that the amount available may throw the world into a global, political, and economic crisis in the foreseeable future. The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream is a documentary which examines the rise of the suburban lifestyle, the costs to the Earth and the economy of our current living habits, where we may be headed, and how this situation can be remedied. Canadian journalist Barrie Zwicker serves as narrator. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream (2004)

The film also had some classical short reels put out by corporations/industries to promote good feelings about society and their brand. I found both worth the time to watch. Redbook was longer and thus allowed lots of stock footage of just family life to be presented. At first I was not even sure if they were going to get to the selling portions of the film but in the end they presented how Redbook was important in society and how it helped all those young families getting started "In the "Suburbs" (1957). The cartoon "Destination Earth" (1956) was produced for the American Petroleum Institute. Although I understand the reasoning for promoting an understanding of how oil and oil products make our lives vastly improved over all other generations, I wonder to the wisdom of so much "free market theories" presented in this context. The hero space explorer (just ignore the fact that most jet fuel is also Petroleum based) brings back two books called: The Story of Oil and Competition: More for All Maybe they were still feeling the pains of various regimes that nationalized their assets. The End
Presented by the Oil Industry Information Committee
of the
American Petroleum Institute

James Howard Kuntsler author of:
The Geography of Nowhere: the Rise and Decline of Americas' Man-Made Landscape.

Peter Calthrope author of:
The Next American Metropolis:
Ecology, Community, and the American Dream.

Matthew Simmons as advisor:
Vice-President Cheney's 2001 Energy Task Force

Michael Ruppert as author:
"Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil"

Richard Heinberg as author:
" The Party's Over:
Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies"

Stages of development:
City Life for workers in factories.
Rich/Affluent Suburbia {Parklike settings}.
Street Car Suburbia.
Automobile Suburbia.
War Veterans/Post War Suburbia {Baby boomers formation}
Cul de sac Suburbia.

On-Line YouTube full length video at: YouTube - The End of Suburbia - 52 minute documentary on peak oil

Ghosts of Cité Soleil (2006)

During the embattled final months of Jean-Bertrand Aristide's second term as president of Haiti, Aristide's allies recruited street gangs from the nation's poorest cities to act as strong-arm men, helping to shut down resistance to Aristide and quiet those who opposed him. Called chimères (or "ghosts"), these gang-bangers became a powerful part of Aristide's forces until the president was removed from office by a coup d'etat in 2004. Dutch filmmaker Asger Leth combines mockumentary reenactments with footage shot in the ghettos of Cité Soleil during Aristide's final days in this powerful drama that follows two brothers and chimères, Billy (James Petit Frere) and 2Pac (Winson Jean). Billy dreams of someday leaving behind the gang life and becoming part of Aristide's political machine, while 2Pac has become disillusioned with politics and wants to become a rap star in the manner of his hero and namesake, Tupac Shakur. In a place where political allegiances shift every day and brutal violence is commonplace, Billy and 2Pac's relationship is already a tense one, but matters become even more difficult between them when they both fall in love with the same woman -- Lele (Eleonore Senlis), a French social worker who understands the power these men hold better than they do themselves. Ghosts of Cité Soleil features a musical score by Wyclef Jean of the Fugees, who also appears in the film in a scene in which he discusses music and politics with 2Pac. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 85 mins
Ghosts of Cité Soleil (2006)

This definitely opened my eyes to some things that I heard about Haiti but only in passing notes. The "Agronomist" also noted some dissatisfaction with Aristide. Definitely this film is an inside view of Cité Soleil and the gang problems (Chimères).
Rebels Against Aristide:
THE CANNIBAL ARMY.
Buteur Metayer {Rebel Leader}
Cannibal Army was an offshoot of Aristide's Party (Fanmi Lavalas), before arming against Lavalas.
The Cannibal Army
By John Maxwell
Then Aristide disbanded the army. I am still curious as to why he did that. I know he accused them of human rights abuses, but first you disarm them with loyal troops and then disband the ones that are implicated. Start with a well trained group and then work out and not arm thugs and call that good.

He made us Lavalas kill Macoute and now that the opposition is back, thy're going to kill Lavalas.
...
2Pac make it out of Haiti, July 2004.
When his brother was released from prison 2Pac decided to go back and be with his.
2PAC was shot by Labanye on the 30th of September 2004.
He died in Cite Soleil.
Lele is now living in Paris, France.
Billy has diasappeared and is presumed dead.
The Chimeres are still thriving in Cite Soleil.

Misc. Links:
Wyclef Jean
Cité Soleil
Andy Apaid {Political Opposition} {Chief of Police Cité Soleil-Christine ????}
Charles Baker {Political Opposition} {Aristide's gangs attacks on universities and hospitals.}
Louis Jodel Chamblain {Rebel Commander-in exile 10 years)
Guy Philippe {Police Chief?}
Leon Charles {Chief of Police Haiti} {Talks about Labaney, Maral, Dred Wilmer, 2pac, Bily.}

El Che: Investigating a Legend (1998)

This video is a profile of Latin American guerilla leader Ernesto Guevara, revered by his supporters around the globe as "El Che." Born in 1928 in Argentina, Che Guevara believed that revolution was necessary to free Latin American people from oppression. An ally of Fidel Castro, he served in the Cuban government from 1961 to 1965. He left Cuba to join the cause of revolution in Bolivia, where he was killed by the Bolivian army in 1967. El Che's story is told with archival films and photographs, as well as commentary by historians. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 150 mins
El Che: Investigating a Legend (1998)

Definitely a pro (propaganda) film about Che with even Castro having a part in the film glorifying Che. On the positive side, it has a lot of stock film of the revolution and footage of Che talking as well as the usual collection of pictures. One that seemed surprising was the attack on the armored trains although it still could have been filmed afterward for propaganda. Just like "Soy Cuba" did.

Che claimed he was not an economist but a communist when he became president of the central bank. He signed (scribbled) his name on Cuban notes as "Che".

Mario Monje Molina (Bolivian Communist Party-Secretary General)
You'll find no written commitment from the Communist Party or from any of its leaders to work with Che's guerrilla,
Not one.
He had to leave Africa and find a way out.
He told himself: "I couldn't go back to Cuba. It was out of the question. I already bid it a solemn farewell." So he had to choose a new place for a come-back and Bolivia seemed to fit the bill, not the least because we were already getting ready and they knew it.
So he said to me: I can't give you the leadership of the revolution: "I can't do it."

Other Links:
The Life & Legacy of Latin American Revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara: Forty Years After His Death{Democracy Now}

Che Guevara
Daughter: Hidita
Judas: Regis Debray & Ciro Bustos
Fuese Che (Furious)
"I Confess, I Live", Book found with Che.

Time Machine: The True Story of Che Guevara (2007)

Yes his name lives on in all the glorious revolutions of the world still. Not!
Ni'lin takes up the leadership of non-violent resistance to oppression and occupation.'
Che's words that solidarity is "not a matter of wishing success to the victim of aggression, but of sharing his fate; one must accompany him to his death or to victory".

From his famous motorcycle trips to his historic role in the Cuban Revolution, Argentinean revolutionary Che Guevara is profiled in a documentary produced to explore the life of the man whose visage has become an iconic symbol of hard left politics. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 91 mins
Time Machine: The True Story of Che Guevara (2007)

Chancho as pig (dirty person) in Spanish was used to describe Che when young and notable as having a "week shirt" which seems obvious what that means. Ernesto was also nicknamed "Chancho" (pig) by his schoolmates, because he rarely bathed, and proudly wore a "weekly shirt".

Other than some coloring of this individual the made for History Channel movie was not worth it for really dwelling into his life as much as I wanted. Maybe there really is not much tape of him talking and just a few pictures spread around, which adds to the mystery of this man that was a ruthless as any other petty dictator.

I am glad that Che did not get the reigns of power in Cuba and that Castro put him in his place.

Anonymous said...

I am sad that you've fallen into the usual right-wing nonsense of dismissing a man based on what you've been told by biased sources that he's done.
It's like dismissing the Bible because you can't be bothered to read it and because someone said it was nonsense.
Have you read anything by Ché ?
Maybe you should.
It's bad to be ignorant.
July 22, 2008 4:56 AM

Hey, what can I say. Seems that Boudu has seen fit to comment. But this is only the beginning, I got more Che written movie reviews to come...
Anyway I think I can get an idea of his thinking without reading another boring tome by some nut case.

Next time Boudu, leave your name since it makes conversing so much better.

Well, well, well Boudu left another post and I missed it:

Pierre said...

You're a very connedfused person, Ron.
On one hand, you sneer and postulate about subjects you haven't made the slightest effort to research and understand, then you get all snarky when this is pointed out ?

As well, you jeer that you won't even MAKE the effort to diminish your ignorance, instead you'll just continue to trot along to your propaganda programming. Odd.

Boudu, I only have to be only slightly less confused than you. Certainly did read Fuser's own words as in: Our America and Theirs
Kennedy and the Alliance for Progress —
The Debate at Punta del Este

And yes did get to see some more of Che's life in:
The Motorcycle Diaries (2003)
and...
El Che: Investigating a Legend (1998)

Yes as always you are odd that I told you about Fuser and his willingness to kill millions out of his blind hatred of the USA and you seem to be under the same ideology, but I am sure you have not watched the movies or even explored these aspects...

Carry on...

Israel: Birth of a Nation (2005)

Basically a pro-Israel film, but plenty of good film stock and some that was never seen before. Narrated by Martin Gilbert.

Produced by The History Channel, Israel: Birth of a Nation documents how Israel survived its fraught infancy as a country. The film employs archival footage, much of it taken by a British military officer. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 100 mins
Israel: Birth of a Nation (2005)

In hind sight, I have to wonder why Britain wanted to establish a Jewish state and then do nearly everything in their power to prevent it by providing support to Palestinians and even trying to block European Jews from coming to the new state-up to including capturing boats and detaining the civilians in Cyprus. And Britain sent scout airplanes to check out Israeli positions-which were shot down by the Israeli air force.

Gush Etzion-January 1948
Killing and dismembering of the 35 reinforcements. Bodies not shown or pictures released publicly.

"Sha'ar Hagai" The Road to Jerusalem 1998

The Ship Altalena- threatened civil war outbreak.

Walter Eytan-delegation to Egypt peace conference.
Menachem Urman
Solly Ganor
Zvi Rasky
Uzi Narkiss

42 Up (1999)

In 1964, England's Granada Television produced a documentary called 7 Up, in which 14 seven-year-old British children from a wide variety of social and economic backgrounds were interviewed about their ideas and opinions on the adult world. In 1971, director Michael Apted tracked down the same youngsters for a follow-up, 7 Plus 7. Since then, Apted has revisited his subjects every seven years in a series of remarkable films that allow us to watch these children grow into adults before our eyes. In the sixth film in the series, we visit eleven of the now middle-aged kids (three have chosen not to participate), as they settle contentedly (for the most part) into mid-life and contend with the growing maturity of their own children and, in some cases, the infirmity and death of their parents. Tony, who once dreamed of being a jockey, now drives a cab, does a bit of television acting, and admits to being unfaithful to his wife. Suzy, who at 21 was bitter and cynical with no intention of having kids, is now a happy mother who works part-time as a bereavement counselor. Neil, who has struggled through years of mental illness, poverty, and homelessness, was elected as a Liberal Democratic representative to the Hackney council in London and seems to have found stability. Paul, who was raised by divorced parents and suffered from poor self-esteem as a child, now has a fine home in Australia and has been happily married for 23 years. And Simon, a West Indian immigrant raised in a children's home, is happy, middle-class, and raising a four-year-old of his own. Ironically, Apted's latest installment in this compelling but low-key ongoing project was set for international release within months of the highest-profile film of his career, the James Bond adventure The World Is Not Enough. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time: 134 mins
42 Up (1999)

An interesting idea, but for me failed in execution. I found it more like watching someone's fairly well executed home movies. But it lacks something that gets me interested in the personas.