Day Three Hundred and Thirty - Ray Harryhausen:Special Effects Titan, "We owe you so much, sir. Thank you."

You never really stop to think about who influences you as an artist, a writer, a creative... until someone actually presents you with the question, and it's amazing just how much of modern special effects driven cinema that we can trace, either directly or otherwise, to Ray Harryhausen.

Spanning the breadth of his filmography from his humble beginnings as a young animator to the grand stop motion auteur that we know him as from his later years in the industry, this doc goes to great lengths examining both his work and the way his movies have influence major motion picture directors and artists. Everyone from John Lasseter to Ray Bradbury to Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg, pretty much every big name in Hollywood when it comes to fantasy, horror, and scifi makes an appearance, explaining just how much they've benefited from his example.

Not only was it nice to see old favorites that I actually am familiar with, like Clash of the Titans and Jason & the Argonauts, but I had no idea about films like the Beast from 20000 Fathoms or Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. I've found so many old fantasy flicks that I really want to watch now. Octopus movies, dinosaur movies, fairy tales... they all look creepy and amazing!

It's also pretty cool that they have plenty of candid conversations with the man, himself, talking about pretty much his entire career over the course of an hour and a half. So often, docs like this rely on second and (irk) third party sources, so it's nice to have some first-hand testimonials to get a real feel for the practical stuff that happened on set.

If you're any fan of filmmaking and old fantasy classics, this is an entertaining doc with lots of familiar faces, both from real people and maquettes that have been ingrained in your memories from the collective unconsciousness. Check it out!

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Seventy - Room 237, "Genocide, Minotaurs, and... Faked Moon Landings?"

There's just something about The Shining that is systematically and overwhelmingly frightening. Acting, Cinematography, Sound, Mood... it truly is a masterpiece of psychological horror... and it's due purely to the efforts of Stanley Kubrick.

Room 237 is a testament to the film's lasting value, taking interviews from obsessive scholars who have analyzed the crap out of the movie, finding references and making leaps of logic and imagination that can be both believable and utterly ridiculous depending on your particular perspective.

If nothing else, these folks and their fanatical devotion to the tricks and references that Kubrick may or may not have inserted into the film has made for a fascinating documentary.

From that opening moments where scenes from other Kubrick films are used to dramatize the narrative of the interviewees, to the first time that opening helicopter shot swoops over the Colorado landscape and the title crawls, the feeling of empathy for the speakers coupled with remembered terror creates an instant connection between subject and audience.

It's actually rather amazing the level of detail that Kubrick put into the film and interesting how many of those details that people have picked up on, even if some of the theories seem a bit out there (faked moon landings, anyone?). I was particularly impressed by the map animations that demonstrated the architecture tricks that showed how unreliable and tricksy the hotel (or the force haunting it) was.

I also want to call attention to the other films that are used for footage that I mentioned earlier. A lot of Kubrick films are used, particularly Eyes Wide Shut, but there's also footage from films like Dario Argento's Demons, which adds a delicious bit of metahumor due to the fact that the cinema goers featured in those scenes eventually fell pray to their own film's ghosts. Both funny and referential, those dramatization moments for the voice over also lend a natural air to the anecdotes.

Things get a little freaky when one of the subjects talks about their experimental project of showing the film both forwards and backwards at the same time and all the little Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz coincidences that crop up in in terms of convenient framing mash-ups. While it's hard to imagine that it was intentional (like the wacky conspiracy theories), it's still an interesting way to watch.

From a filmmaker's perspective, Room 237 is a must see for students and film lovers. As a basic documentary, I think it would easily be compelling for a general audience, it's just that high quality in terms of pacing and editing. I would certainly recommend it to all viewers who have reached the age of reason.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Fifty-eight - Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill A Mockingbird, "To write beautifully, and walk away..."

...if only some other well read (but, not well remembered) authors did the same.

The story of Hey, Boo focuses not only on the work itself, but also the life and times of the author and her choice to recede from the both public life and the medium itself.

Bouncing back and forth between the creative moments that lead up to the novel, to her early life in rural Alabama, to the fame she almost instantly garnered in the 60's and on to her reclusive life since then, Hey, Boo gives both a character portrait of the woman (and some of her contemporaries) and a long view of the impact of her work.

I was particularly interested in the opinions of the half-dozen or so authors and entertainers who claim its influence on their own reading habits and how it might have shaped them as people and writers. Being an aspiring writer, myself, these kind of analytic documentaries hold up the mystique of the process to a light, albeit slightly obscured, as never does the woman, herself, speak directly on the subject save for those rare moments caught on tape back when she was still giving interviews in the 60's.

I'm not exactly sure I appreciate Andrew Young's comments, as his first remarks come across a bit self-righteous, but as the interview wore on his testimony became a bit more balanced and gracious. Maybe it's just that I've grown cynical over the years, listening to his slightly bombastic and self-gratifying commentary about his work doing the era, but I suppose he deserves a bit of latitude in that regard.

Still annoys me a little, though.

Oddly enough, the other dominating personalities that show up in the documentary don't really bother me so. I really rather liked Oprah Winfrey's accounts both on how she was influenced by the book and her personal meeting with Harper Lee. The same could be said for the others, including: Lizzie Skurnick, Scott Turow, James Patterson, Anna Quindlin, Tom Brokaw, and more.

I think what got me the most about the piece was Ms. Lee's personal connection to Truman Capote and the character in the novel that was supposedly based on him, Dill. It shames me to admit that I never knew of this connection before and it adds a layer of context to both the novel and their personal life together that is fascinating, more than a little scandalous, and somewhat depressing.

Hey, Boo is tremendously interesting and compelling, for its look at the author, its analysis of the impact of both the novel and the movie, and the testimonials of so many people... writers, teachers and students, family and friends. If you're any sort of writer (or would just like to know more about the author), I'd definitely recommend this documentary.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Fifty - Ken Burns: Prohibition, Episode 3, "Happy Days are here again! Also the St.Valentine's Day Massacre."

Alright, I admit, I've probably gushed a bit too much about Burns' Prohibition documentary. For three days straight have my viewing habits on Netflix been strictly relegated to his compilation of newsreels, testimonials, and famous people reading character voices... and I love it.

I'm sure, dear reader, that you've become a little bored of my tenure with the documentary, hoping for some variety instead of post after post populated by Peter Coyote's respectable narration. As such, I think this particular entry will be short and sweet so that, on the morrow, we can make a clean break and move on to something different.

Perhaps Hellraiser... or Zack and Miri Make A Porno.

But, that's tomorrow. Today we're going to finish Ken Burns' Prohibition strong if, however, briefly. Key notes for the final episode, I think, are the rise of the Flapper and the decadence of the New York Speakeasy, the political problems of Hoover and the Great Depression, and the dominance of the Chicago gangster in headlines and the consciousness of every American.

I really find it fascinating that Lois Long was openly cataloging the excesses of the age in the New Yorker and a lifelong Republican, Pauline Sabin, was a driving force in the anti-Prohibition campaign, vehemently speaking out against the Womens' Leagues that had championed (and still did) the 18th Amendment just a decade previous.

The role of women both in its institution and its repeal is, by far, the most interesting and fulfilling fact of the documentary. They had won the right to vote, helped start the Great Experiment, and also helped its downfall. If nothing else, it is a testament to the power and relevance of women in our society, that they were so passionate, both for and against, this divisive issue of the early 20th Century... be they as mothers, wives, or independent women.

While the episodes previous only hinted at the mobsters of the Chicago scene, choosing to focus on the gentlemen bootleggers of the early era, like Olmstead and Remus, Burns let the floodgates loose on Capone in this, the final installment. I suppose it makes sense, considering the chronological long view that the documentary takes. Even so, we're finally given the story of Chicago Boss and his attempts to profit from and dodge the responsibilities of illegal booze during Prohibition.

On the politics side, it's interesting to see the effect of the Depression on the Hoover administration and how, despite the defeat of Smith thanks to his being a Wet supporter, a City-man, and (perhaps, most horribly in the eyes of the rural Protestant) a Catholic, just a few short years later, another New Yorker would take away his second term... Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It's strange to see Roosevelt in those early newsreels at the convention, making mention of his support for beer. His mannerisms seem almost alien as he nods and smiles, a testament to the change in body language that has occurred in the intervening years thanks to television.

Finally, I'd like to make mention of Jazz, but only for a moment... because I have no doubt that, sometime in the future before the year is up, if Ken Burns' Jazz is available for the stream, I shall be watching it. I loved seeing the Cotton Club show in the section on New York Nightlife during the first act of the episode. I love Duke Ellington and to hear Lois Long proclaim him the top made me smile broadly.

Overall, the series is as great in its finish as it was in its start. Burns, et al., always produce riveting and informative documentaries and this is no exception. As I mentioned earlier, I'll be stepping back to fiction for a while after this three day sojourn into history, but don't let that fact make it seem like I regret the decision to spend the last couple of episodes of Couchbound on the subject. It's well worth the watch and I enjoyed every second of it.

And it seems that I've dragged on just as much as I have for the rest of the series. So much for "short and sweet."

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Forty-nine - Ken Burns: Prohibition, Episode 2, "Scofflaw!"

Alright, I admit it... I'm hooked. Burns' documentary keeps me awake and interested as his narrator Peter Coyote (with the help of historians, authors, scholars, and actors) profiles both lawmen (and women) and criminals flaunting the 18th Amendment and doing so on a massive scale.

Familiar voices of course included Sam Waterston, whom I heard quite a bit last night, but standouts in this episode for me were John Lithgow and Paul Giamatti. Their turns giving voice to the Scofflaws of the time really worked with the narrative.

The culture of the time is also examined and, in one bit, I find it hilarious that tens of thousands of people entered a contest to create a word for people openly flaunting Prohibition and invented the word "Scofflaw." It was also laughable that prescription whiskey was still allowed as well as hard apple cider so housewives could "conserve their produce" Well, you learn something new every day. I think, the icing on the cake was the tremendous increase in sacramental wine, which was still permitted, jumping to millions of gallons.

The Ohio Gang destroys the mystique of the romance of the bootlegger, showing quite frankly that the graft rose pretty much all the way to the top, with even President Harding enjoying whiskey with his Poker Cabinet. In contrast, the ideal was kept going in the Pacific Northwest with an enterprising former police lieutenant named Olmstead who made a fortune in Seattle until a private detective and an engineer, hired by the mayor of Seattle's enemies to tap all the offices, lead to Olmstead's downfall.

While he didn't plummet quite as far personally as another bootlegger, a former lawyer named Remus who based himself in Cincinnati (my hometown) and who spoke of himself in the third person, Olmstead, despite being a gentleman about his illegalities, still fell to the hammer of justice, even as the country (particularly those in power) openly accepted bribes and skirted the law.

I find that I liked Olmstead so much more, despite the sensationalist nature of Remus' eventual imprisonment over his bootlegging and the betrayal on the part of his wife... whom he eventually murdered and successfully pleaded not guilty by insanity. Remus was tabloid fair, but Olmstead (at least, in the presentation of the documentary) was just a reasonable American breaking what he saw to be an unjust law and making a tidy profit because of it.

I mean, what's more American than that? It's amazing how easily I can rationalize away so much graft and corruption when it comes to Prohibition.

There's a small section for Capone, but Burns spends more time on the figures that the general public probably doesn't know... and I think that's to the better considering how much the myth of the Chicago Gangster influences our views on the era.

Remus and Temporary Insanity and Olmstead and Wiretapping are the key standouts, I think... as well as the row in the Democratic Convention  between two candidates who split the vote so much (The Prohibitionist KKK versus the Wet New Yorker) that the compromise over the third candidate may have ultimately cost the Democrats the election, putting Coolidge into office.

As with yesterday, Burns' Prohibition is a prime documentary that keeps me coming back for more education on a history that I know so little about. Just one more to go before I'm done. Maybe I'll complete it tomorrow... or maybe I'll give you, dear reader, a break and go for a movie instead.

We'll see, I suppose.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Forty-eight - Ken Burns: Prohibition, Episode 1, "Sometimes it's just a day for a little History."

Ken Burns documentaries are pretty much the Gold Standard of educational specials, I think. For what has to be over 25 years, he and his crew of dedicated, methodical researchers, scholars, and voice actors have put together so many quality programs focusing on key elements of American history. From Baseball to the Civil War to Prohibition, I have always found Burns' documentaries to be tremendously interesting.

Sadly, I think many of my classmates in the 80's and 90's used those in-class showings to sleep.

Narrated by Peter Coyote and featuring character readings by the likes of Sam Waterston, Patricia Clarkson, Jeremy Irons, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Blythe Danner, Oliver Platt, and so on, Prohibition's first episode covers the historical beginnings of the Temperance movement. Starting with the cultural shift and wave of alcoholism and public drunkenness caused by the switch from low-percentage by volume ciders and beers to high-proof distilled liquors like whiskey and rum, Temperance began with small town outrage and a religious push back by Protestant preachers against the mostly Catholic immigrants and their demon drink.

Both the Women's Crusade and Carrie Nation with her hatchet had stirring movements that eventually died down after their initial success... and as movements rose and fell, a new industry was booming thanks to German immigrants creating large brewing companies and forming lobbying groups to help them fend off the somewhat sporadic and spontaneous attacks by the morally outraged country women.

The Free Lunch was created by saloons and billiard halls where just that were served (later spawning the counter saying "TANSTAAFL" or "There ain't no such thing as a Free Lunch"), replete with salty meats and cheeses meant to entice thirst from men looking for a meal gratis, almost guaranteeing sales of alcohol.

The brewers attempts at fending off Temperance didn't last forever, though, as groups became more organized and politically savvy. With the antics of the Anti-Saloon League, I'm reminded quite a bit the Tea Party and other divisive movements in history and its tactics to pressure using "with us or against us" tactics. Politicians soon had to weigh the risks of being on the wrong side of the issue as voters were perfectly happy to show them the door if they didn't vote Dry.

It's hard to imagine that the Income Tax was the death knell for brewers and a victory for Temperance and Prohibition, but that's just what it was. It's also hard to imagine that World War One and anti-German sentiment helped destroy the beer garden and put the final nails in the coffin.

As an avid drinker, myself, I find myself almost misting with tears whenever I see the newsreel footage of protesters and G-men cracking kegs and smashing bottles, burning barrels and dismantling stills. It oddly hurts to witness this violence against property... almost as much as it does to see man hurting his fellow man. Maybe it's because I hate to see such waste. Maybe it's because an affront to one freedom is an affront to all. Either way, it's a personal subject for me.

This first episode covers pretty much everything up to the point of the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, only barely hinting at the troubles to come during the proper years of Prohibition... the era of the romance of Chicago crime... gangsters and bootleggers, the tommy gun and the speakeasy. I look forward to completing the series and hope to do so soon, not getting distracted by other offerings in my queue.

If ever you wanted to learn just how deeply interconnected our history is in America in regards to alcohol, this documentary is for you.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Forty-four - Beauty Is Embarrassing: The Wayne White Story, "Welp, if ever I was going to get a kick in the creative pants, this is it."

I've had this particular documentary sitting in my Instant Queue for a while. A friend of mine, who also just happened to be a co-host of our movie podcast The Void Zone (until he packed up and moved to the Big City), was so gaga over the piece that I had to add it.

Funny thing was... I never wanted to actually watch it.

It's not that I didn't trust my friend Gomez's recommendation, it just... well... it didn't feel right watching it without him. I wanted to save it so we could review it together for the show. It's an odd feeling when your watching habits become influenced by the absence of others.

Anyways, I finally decided to get over my weird mental hangup about NOT watching Beauty Is Embarrassing and, at one in the morning today, wide wake and buzzed on too much caffeine, I hovered my cursor over the doc in my Queue and put it on.

Best decision of the weekend.

True, in comparison, it isn't really a grand thing when I think about it, as most of my decisions over the three day holiday have been dubious, including: loading cardboard boxes into an open bed truck just before a monsoon hits, failing to find my install discs for Wings of Liberty and being forced to download all 14 gigabytes of data over DSL (it's still going two days later), and continually putting off doing laundry (currently on my last pair of clean shorts).

In that contrast, it's easy to see why Beauty Is Embarrassing is the highlight of my weekend... but, in light of the dull mediocrity of my weekend, it's difficult to express just how much of a highlight it is. Because, really, this is one of the best documentaries I've seen all year... and is right up there with Jiro Dreams of Sushi in my opinion.

Wow, I've rambled on quite a bit, haven't I?

Beauty Is Embarrassing tells the story of pop artist and puppeteer Wayne White, who is probably one of the greatest influences on modern geek art that comes to mind... and I didn't even know his name or who he was before watching the doc.... a fact which I find personally embarrassing (just not in the "Beauty" way).

The doc introduces you to Wayne through the lens of his current zeitgeist, being a touring artist who has become famous for his eccentric mash-ups of thrift store landscapes and vulgar, often comedic catchphrases. We see a bit of his process, hear his foul mouth, and listen to critics who are no small measure concerned with the possibility that his work is just a fad.

From there, we're treated to the long view of his life, which I do like... but, as cute and nostalgic as Super-8 reels of a young artist can be, what sticks out the most to me is when he hits New York and life begins to pick up. He meets his wife, whom we've already been introduced to in the modern era (but it's still a sweet story) and joins the production team for Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

Seriously... Pee Wee's Playhouse... the 80's avaunt garde acid trip for kids.

AMAZING!

Then there's the move to California... and the tremendously famous and award-winning work he did for Smashing Pumpkin's "Tonight, Tonight"... then Liquid Television, Beakman's World and so on.

Now, it's not as if he doesn't have setbacks before, during, and after these really rather astounding professional accomplishments. He suffers from the same critical self-loathing that so many creatives (including myself and my friends) do, but the man has achieved so much over such a wide variety of genres that it's hard not to be flabbergasted.

Eventually, the doc comes full circle and we're once again back in the modern era with Wayne, his family, friends, and colleagues, and looking at his current medium of art, the thrift store mash-ups. All I can think of is that I wish I had his life... and I need to make a similar one for my own. The only key difference that I can see is that he's always pushing, whereas I have mostly been a coward in my own life and with my own work.

Beauty Is Embarrassing is grand, insightful, and inspiring. Watching this documentary makes me want to push back again and try to make something of my creative impulses. The only question is, how long can I sustain that urge.

I hope it's forever.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-five - Prophets of Science Fiction: Phillip K. Dick, "Why on EARTH did they make those 'dramatizations?'"

As a writer, myself, and a big fan of Science Fiction in general, seeing this Science Channel documentary show up as a recommendation by the mysterious Algorithms, I have to admit that my interest was a little piqued.

Having watched the episode covering Phillip K. Dick, though, I must say that I was very disappointed.

To its credit, the doc gets a fairly wide spread of authors, filmmakers, and actual engineers, scientists, and theoreticians to comment on the man and his body of work. Attention is given to his mental stresses in addition to his far-seeing predictions concerning robotics, memory, technology, and alternate realities.

That part is just fine. Well, for the most part, I think.

What is really annoying, though, are the cheap dramatizations of him both as a child and as an adult, particularly as a paranoid stoner living in Southern California.

You can kind of choke back the laughter in the early bits that cover the possible invasion and ransacking of his home, but the moment they get to the "he opened his house to miscreants" bits and the fake beards and terrible wardrobes (not to mention the horribly melodramatic acting) come into play, I honestly couldn't take the doc seriously anymore.

I guess, going into the documentary, I was really hoping for an examination of his methods and messages in terms of the practical process of his writing... something that I probably shouldn't have expected. Really, the only mention of his writing process comes in the form of the wacky I Ching device he apparently used to work in his "alternate universe" stories, which makes him seem more like a loon than a creative writer.

Maybe it's my own fault for expecting more than a bare bones analysis that was played for sensationalism instead of insight. I mean, it's not like the doc was directed by Ken Burns or anything, but still.

Disappointment was definitely the theme for my feelings concerning this episode of Prophets of Science Fiction. I think that I'll hang on for one more (in particular, the one that focuses on Robert Heinlein), but after that I have a feeling that I'm going to wash my hands of the series.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Ten - Kimjongilia, "A strange mishmash of testimonials and NK Prop films."

I'm a big fan of VICE's efforts to peak behind the veil of North Korea's secrecy and tyranny, so when ANY documentary pops up on Netflix concerning the country, I generally put it into my queue until I feel the need for something non-fiction.

In this particular case, I probably could've done without.

Not to minimize the plight and suffering that the subjects of Kimjongilia went through in escaping the horror of the totalitarian state they were born to, it's less an analytical/descriptive piece and more an appeal to emotion.

Occasionally, the film puts up timelines describing the rise of the Kim family, turning everything above the 38th parallel into a dictatorial communist regime under the cult of personality for the Kim line, but... for the most part... it's just a series of testimonials of survivors who have escaped to China, Mongolia, and the South describing the suffering that they went through.

These testimonials are intercut with odd modern dance routines where the sole character is one of the infamous North Korean female traffic wardens who recreates moments of pain, despair, abuse, and suicide through interpretive dance.

Also providing contrast are dozens and dozens of NK propaganda performances and films which send up Dear Leader and promise that everything is just fine and dandy, despite the fact that the country is in a deplorable state, being crushed by the iron rule of the elite few.

Perhaps the format is necessary due to the extremely limited footage available from inside the dictatorship, but... as emotive the testimonials are, I'm not getting much out of this doc. Of course I sympathize, empathize with this people and the countless others still trapped under the yoke of the Kim Dynasty, but this film is all about pulling heart strings with barely anything in the way of facts and analysis.


I find it more than a little ironic that it plays so while airing propaganda that claims it's the West that is dying and decadent, trying to convince through emotion the opposite is true.

Yes, "Up is Down" to them, but just counterclaiming that "Up is Up" doesn't make for an all that interesting documentary.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Fifty-five - Happy, "How to get Happy? Try. That's it."

I am very rarely disappointed by documentaries... and I find it particularly ironic to be so with Happy.

On location across the world, in places both affluent and isolated, Happy tours the gamut of socioeconomic statuses, mostly focusing on the poor and communal showing them to be quite happy folks, much more so than your typical westerner who emphasizes money and materialism.

And, I think I could get behind that message if the piece wasn't so damned lazy explaining it. The science involved here is glazed over with relatively few experts barely touching their respective subjects and a disproportionate amount of airtime is spent lingering on poor folks doing what they love with whom they love and living very happy lives.

Well, that's great and all, but there needs to be more science and less anecdotal interviews when talking about a core concept.

I was especially disappointed when around the middle of the doc, there's this rather longish segment about a middle school lecturer/comedian trying to call out bullying with this "keeping it edgy/real" persona to connect with the kids. It comes out of nowhere and doesn't seem to fit with the themes of the doc at all.

That's not to say some of the interview subjects don't have relevant things to say, but most of them are just examples of possibilities without a lot of hard facts to back them up.

Take, for example, the karoshi segment. Heart-rending, to be sure. Interesting, most certainly, but barely any time is spent on the phenomena. I would much rather have had each and every one of these individual stories given prime treatment, turning them into hour long, in depth analyses with science to back them up. Instead, the doc briefly describes karoshi and gives a short segment on one of its victims.

ONE.

And that's the problem with the whole doc. Instead of spending its time honestly, it meanders from place to place giving fruitless vignettes about happy, salt of the earth types with a few tragedies or ironies to give the barest of contrasts.

It's a shame... because, as one of the researchers who is only briefly featured noted, no one used to talk about happiness, only depression. Now, apparently, they're talking about it to no effect. But that's okay, it seems. Just get out there and exercise and find some close friends.

That's all you need, really, according to the doc.That and an adjusted income of no more or less than 50k dollars.

It's nice to hear quotes from the Dalai Lama about compassion, but they lose their efficacy in a hamfisted doc like this.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Thirty-nine - Bully, "What is wrong with people? Seriously? WHAT?"

Watching this film makes me angry... a deep, visceral anger where I have to fight the urge to lash out, both at the real world and my own demons that are pulled up, kicking and screaming, from the haze of memory.

Old scars grow warm and smart watching this documentary.

Giving voice to several teens and adolescents who suffer day by day as outcasts, bullied incessantly and on the ragged edge of hope, the viewer is shown both their good times (which are few) and just a peek at the troubles unleashed upon them. Cameras follow kids still in school, those in juvenile detention for lashing our at their tormentors, and to the town hall meetings and funerals that result when two despondent children took their own lives.

It hurts to watch.

It hurts because I see parents who have no idea what their kids are going through. It hurts because I see administrators who stand there and do nothing, even blaming the victims as being "just like" their tormentors. It hurts because I've been there... and, in watching this, in some ways I still am there.

It also hurts because the MPAA initially rated this feature R for strong language.

You know what? Fuck you, MPAA.

When I was in kindergarten, Catholic school kindergarten, I was the one teaching curse words to the other children. This is a documentary that captures kids in their natural setting, often without adult supervision. They curse. We cursed... whenever we could get away with it and, in my case, even when I couldn't.

It was one of the ways I survived. Maybe I was lesser for it, as I was eventually kicked out of said Catholic school, but it was real. It was true. And giving this doc an R-rating for language, effectively cutting it off from its intended audience... forcing the filmmakers to release it unrated, limiting the theaters that would show it... ultimately forcing a recut that pulls it down to your "acceptable" limits of language.

Man... I really hate the MPAA right now. More so than usual.

I feel for these kids, I really do.

And, every step of the way, I want to smack around the administrators who just let it happen. The victim-blamers, the self-important, the politicians... they all deserve a good tongue thrashing. I even want to yell at several of the parents who put the onus on their children to be better in the face of kids who see them as weak or outsiders and will never leave them alone unless something is done on their end.

Ugh!

Bully should be seen by every child. And parent. And teacher/administrator.

Boys will be boys, my ass.

These kids didn't deserve to be pushed as far as they were, leaving several of them to feel they had no way out save for taking their own lives. Their peers and betters need to be aware both of their plight, the consequences of bullying, and the fact that there are plenty of other kids out there facing the same (if not worse) kinds of treatment.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Five - Cosmos: The Persistence of Memory, "Yeah, where's a Bird of Prey when you need one?"

To be honest, I've watched this episode twice in the last twenty-four hours. 

The first time was last night while I was arranging perler beads for a crafting project with friends. There was much in the way of half-listening and little in the way of actual watching. 

The second time, however, hours later, I was able to give Carl the full-attention that he deserves and felt almost the same amount of awe that I've recalled from previous episodes.

I say "almost" because, well, I wasn't too impressed with his "Dandelions" monologue on the complexity of life. 

He does have a nice bit on whales, their songs, and the effect that man has had both on isolating our mammalian cousins from each other thanks to muddying the oceans with noise pollution and hunting them so close to extinction. So much so that I think one of the writers of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home started writing the treatment for their script the moment they finished watching the segment.

Also, I was particularly enthralled with his comparisons between the sheer amount of information it takes to begin to understand life, our brains, and our need as a species to compile additional information in large memory banks outside our brains... in libraries.

He also goes into a little bit about the Voyager space program and the golden discs that are aboard both soon to be extra-solar vehicles. I find this additionally amusing due to the fact that a Voyager spacecraft was the main villain of the original Star Trek movie.

I think it's pretty fair to say that this wasn't the most thrilling of the Cosmos episodes, but it's still a certainty that I always learn something (or am reminded of a fact that I've long since forgotten since the first time I saw Cosmos is Debbie Prell's Physics classes). I wasn't exactly overwhelmed with delight when he spent a good ten minutes equating the knowledge of the human race in its various forms with stacks of books, but it was interesting how quickly he introduced the viewer to the concept of the bit... a simple yes or no that matters immensely to computer programers and logicians, but very little to the laymen.

Heck I still don't know the specific reason video game system generations operated using the bit as a measure of processing power. It was just something I always accepted with more meaning better, but hearing Carl talk about the bit as a logic gate, it makes me want to research it on my own.

And that's something I dearly love about Cosmos... even in its weaker episodes, it manages to pique my curiosity in some manner and goad me into learning something new outside the show. Sure, it's a silly little thing like what 8-bit versus 16-bit really means, but still.

As ever, I think Cosmos should be on everyone's queue and I look forward to hearing its soothing new age soundtrack and the sonorous lilt of Carl's voice again in the near future.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Ninety-six - Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets, "Look! Even Fry can make VH1-style crap docs!"

Alright, yes... I'm a Stephen Fry fanboy.

I find his debate footage intimidating, love his documentary where he tours all 50 American States, and pretty much adore every film role he's ever done. While his early television work with Hugh Laurie doesn't really thrill me as much as it does the rest of the internet, I still enjoy it to a decent extent.

The same cannot be said for the 100 Greatest Gadgets special.

To be sure, I wasn't kidding in today's title... this two part special that counts down Fry's favorite gadgets of all time feels exactly like an episode of 'I <3 the 80's" but swapping out "gadgets" for a specific decade. Most of the segments are all minute long mini-features that montage promo and demonstration shots of each particular invention in its various incarnations set to brief, vapid interview monologues with mostly generic British television personalities.

Swap out Breakfast Presenters for American Comedians and it's just another day block on VH1.

It's also annoying that some of his favorite gadgets are decidedly obscure UK tchotchkes from across the Empire like the ZED-X, a British designed game station from the early 80's (as opposed to the more famous and recognizable Atari 2600) or the Australian invented electric sandwich press.

Not exactly the freaking WHEEL, now are they... though, to be fair, I only watched the first hour so perhaps the wheel IS on his list, I just haven't gotten that far yet.

I can't say I'm all that happy with the weight he gives some inventions over others... I have no clue why the Aibo is even on this list, let alone the Sodastream (which is apparently used to make cheap, fake champagne). It's nice to see the Can Opener made it, but the Curling Iron? And above the Scissors, no less?

This is a crazy, arbitrary list that combines both useless junk and actually practical devices in a mish mash of pedantic interviews from useless Brit Icons (not to include Mr.Fry). If I had to see one more "Presenter" title as an interviewee's job description, I was going to scream.

To add to the monotony are the countdown slides which feature a rotating cast of the lists' actual inventions numbered to keep track of where one is in the program's trip down Fry's ghastly gadgets. The gimmick wouldn't be so annoying if they didn't reuse them every five or so. You'd think they'd be able to spring for this sort of insert based on every gadget, but no.

Sad. Boring. Ineffective. LCD.

The final straw for me, I think, was when the entire segment on the Walkie Talkie revolved around stock footage of the Royal Wedding that everyone went gaga over a while back.

I mean, honestly, what the heck is the point of showing footage of the motorcade and Kate and whatshisface's nuptial reveal as part of a feature on radio communicators? Oh, the 5000 police organized using them? Whoopdeedoo! Show them using the Walkies, not lingering shots on some pretty little thing marrying into figurehead status.

The Brits and their Royal obsession. Yeesh.

I can't really recommend this cheesy little pseudo-doc whatsoever, even if it is hosted by the esteemed Stephen Fry. I'll stick it out for the second episode to see where he goes with it, but I have the almost certain feeling that this will never again darken the door of my Netflix queue.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~