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Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013)
Great doc on people you don't hear enough about
20 feet from stardom honors the background singers, from the Blossoms to the Walters family these unsung legends of music defined the sound of hundreds of singers. Those twenty feet are a long walk, the leap to fame is unfortunately not always about talent but many times relies on the showmanship of the act. The film dashes through fantastic music and makes you realise that the parts you sing along with (the chorus) are made by the background singers. The film heavily relies on the commendations of superstars such as Stevie Wonder and Sting. This film is about those who were not lucky enough in the music business to be truly recognized for their art and this film is their recognition.
Cutie and the Boxer (2013)
Good movie, but a bit of a snooze sometimes.
Cutie and the Boxer describes the tumultuous relationship between two artists, the married couple of Noriko and Ushio Shinohara. Ushio is a japanese artist renowned for painting by punching a canvas with painted boxing gloves, though popular, his work does not sell well. Noriko is his younger wife that never had the opportunity to create as much as her husband. It does not help the situation that Noriko's inked depictions of "Cutie" and Bully" are much more accessible and understandable than Ushio's art. The movie makes you question why Noriko loves Ushio but also lets both qualities shine through. Noriko describes their relationship as two flowers in one pot, sometimes they don't get enough nutrients themselves but in the end two beautiful flowers bloom. The film shows how some suffer for art, Ushio and Noriko are poor and struggling but they are making art and art is what they love."Life is wonderful, when it's blown to pieces is when it becomes art."
Dirty Wars (2013)
Great movie
Dirty Wars describes Jeremy Scahill's journey throughout the middle east to find what the United States government tries to hide about the war on terror. From mysterious JSOC squads accidentally killing civilians and covering it up, drone strikes, illegal assassinations and an incursion into the not at war with us Yemen, this documentary has a pace more like a spy thriller than a historical account. Jeremy Scahill seems like a man who has gone down the rabbit hole, into a world where he knows the atrocities that are actually taking place. The film follows the reporter as his story is affected by the events of the war, focusing on JSOC and Yemen for the first part of the film and focuses largely on the American citizen that was on America's kill list without charges brought against him, Anwar al-Awlaki for the second half of the documentary. The movie is a must see for those who want to understand much of America's more controversial decisions in the middle east and remains an unbiased account of what did happen and still is happening over there.
The Act of Killing (2012)
The most disturbing movie I've ever seen
The Act of Killing revolves around a group of Indonesien gangsters celebrated for their role in the military overthrow of the government in 1965. Specifically the movie focuses on a man named Anwar Congo (Pictured) who led what amounted to a death squad and personally murdered thousands of people with his bare hands. Today they are celebrated in Indonesien media as liberators and heros. Anwar and his friends decide to make a movie to recount their "heroic"deeds for future generations. This is one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen. These are people who did not just get away with mass murder to the extreme but are celebrated for it. Over the course of the documentary they gleefully recollect how they decapitated "communists" and went on stabbing sprees stabbing "every chinaman I came across in the street that night." These are people who proudly compare themselves to nazis in their sadism. The movie is extremely surreal with strange scenes acting out the murders that the gangsters enacted and a musical number to "Born Free" that included the ghosts of murdered "communists" thanking Anwar for sending them to heaven. In general this movie shows just how disconnected people can get from the very moral ideas of right and wrong and shows just how much depravity people have gotten away with.
Al midan (2013)
One of my favorite documentaries of the year
The Square follows the Egyptian revolution of 2011 from the perspective of the ones that started it. The revolutionaries occupy Tahrir square in a strikingly peaceful protest and inspire the downfall of regimes ranging from a brutal military dictatorship to the muslim brotherhood, who manipulated voters using religion to gain unprecedented political power. This is a story that not many understood, it is a story behind the violence and turmoil that we've seen broadcasted briefly on the television. Egypt has been in constant political flux for most of the past decade. This film provides not just a comprehensive follow, through the events of the past three years, but also demonstrates an extremely intimate look at the revolutionaries responsible for what eventually became the biggest demonstration in history. These very modern political activists give a human face to the struggle of democracy in Egypt. The fact that these things happened very recently and are happening now make this film have a sense of urgency and extreme emotional impact. The goal of the revolutionaries is to create a government with a conscience, to replace the extremely repressive governments that come to power consecutively even as the people force the removal of old regimes. In summary this is not just the best documentaries of the year but one of the best movies of the year. It provides a wonderfully immersive look into egyptian culture and the problems facing it today and will leave you too demanding the fall of the regime.
Blackfish (2013)
Worth it
Blackfish follows the injustices plaguing the entertainment industry in regards to Orcas, specifically following the whale Tilikum. The film reveals to the audience the blatant lies Seaworld tells it's consumers, most of which are about the health of the whales. The seemingly inevitable circumstances of these aquatic behemoths killing their trainers is a dual tragedy of how mistreated these blackfish are. In the wild orcas are responsible for zero recorded human fatalities, however after leading lives confined in the human equivalent of a bathtub, the death toll climbs higher and higher throughout the film. These majestic animals, who in the wild swim hundreds of miles, are systematically trapped and mistreated for monetary gain.