Frank and Ollie is a documentary that had been on my IMDB “to watch” list for a long time, but was actually not available. It was therefore a positive surprise when I saw it available through Disney+ and could finally see it. I am always fascinated by films that are about making films and I was curious to know what this film had in store. Continue reading
When I was in Greece last summer, I visited a beautiful bay surrounded by rocks about 15 meters high. Of course I wanted to enjoy the view and decided to climb it. Atually the word climbing is perhaps a little much, because nowhere did I have to hang on a ledge or look carefully at how I could get up. There were many flat pieces and certain sections almost looked like stairs. Once I was on top, I already had the feeling of being quite high and I could imagine the consequences of a fall. It is therefore difficult to imagine that someone climbs a mountain range, El Capitan in Yosemite Park, of 2307 meters high. Without a single form of security. However, that is what Alex Honnold had in mind and that has resulted in the documentary Free Solo. Continue reading
Who Is Arthur Chu? That was the question I asked myself when I saw this title. Since Jeopardy! isn’t a show that’s available here I didn’t know anything about him. In this game show the answers are shown and the participants have to guess the question. Arthur Chu also participated and managed to win a lot of money. However, the way he played earned him a lot of criticism from the show’s fans, who felt that he was playing in an unfair way by not playing in a fixed order. Some people called him a “Jeaopardy! Villain”. This documentary spends little time on his participation, but focuses more on his life afterwards. Continue reading
The first idea you might get when you see the poster for this documentary is that it is a film about skating. A topic about which interesting documentaries have been made (Dogtown and Z-Boys), but that’s not what Minding the Gap is. Bing Liu is a skater who, within his circle of friends, is the one who has enjoyed filming and editing everything from an early age. From the start of their teens, the boys spend every moment they can skating and therefore have a close bond. They grow up together, but as they age, the mutual dynamics begin to change. What starts as a skate film develops to more than that during the running time. A journey of discovery that is not only about finding your own purpose in life, but also dealing with the past and knowing how to handle that. Continue reading
“Industry rule # 4080, record company people are shady!”, those are the words of A-Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip in “Check the Rhime”. In this YouTube Original documentary, former members of various boy/girl bands, including The Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, talk about their experiences with businessman Lou Pearlman. After years of working in the aircraft industry, he was inspired by the success of New Kids on the Block to also enter the music industry. He set up a record label and started a talent search to put together his first band, The Backstreet Boys. He provided shelter, dance lessons and everything the boys needed and spent a lot of time with them until their breakthrough. He was seen by the members of the band as a kind of father figure, a story that other groups tell as well. Yet Pearlman turned out to be a man with two faces. That became clear when bands were already a huge success, had sold millions of records, but the first check they received turned out to be even less than the minimum wage. In addition, it appeared that their mentor had also made themselves a member of the band and as a result managed to earn even more money. Continue reading
For centuries we have been wondering if we are the only ones in the universe and in the last century the idea of Martians and UFOs began to appeal to the imagination thanks to various films, the events in Roswell and the mysterious “Area 51” army base. And although enough footage has been through the years which shows unidentified flying objects, there was never enough evidence that conclusively determined that we are no longer alone. Until an interview took place with Bob Lazar in the 1980s. A researcher who worked for the US Army just outside Area 51 for a few months had an almost unbelievable cliam: He has seen several flying saucers and was hired to investigate how the engine of such a saucer, which could generate a gravitational field, worked. An extremely fascinating story, but does that also result in a good documentary? Continue reading
Uwe Boll is probably one of the most hated directors ever. This German is now no longer behind the camera (he runs a number of restaurants), but his films have caused a lot of controversy through the years. When directing he was someone who did not avoid controversy and at one point even stood in the boxing ring against film critics after he had challenged them to fight or simply shut up about his films. In this documentary, director Sean Patrick Shaul looks at this man, his films and the people he worked with. Continue reading
When the Wu-Tang Clan released their first album, Enter the 36 Chambers, in 1993 they stood out. Not only wasn’t there a group with so many members (9), but they also sounded different compared to what was out at the moment. The beats producer RZA created were very raw and the group quickly gained popularity. Back in the day I myself walked around with a Wu “W” on my backpack and listened to a lot of their music and the various solo albums the various artists released. 25 years later the group is still performing (I’ll be seeing them live on Thursday, together with Public Enemy and De La Soul). The four-part documentary series Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men looks at the group’s history, how they came together, their first album and many moments in their long career. Continue reading
The number of documentaries about Banksy keeps steadily rising. After seeing Exit Through the Gift Shop, Banksy Does New York, How to Sell A Banksy and Saving Banksy I couldn’t help but wonder how much this new doc would be able to add to those. The last two titles in this list already were about securing and selling the work of this popular street artist. They shed a light on the art market when it comes to his work, the art world in general and the ethical side of removing works which are displayed in a public place. Continue reading
How much better would the world be without internet? Despite the extra convenience and direct access to all kinds of information and products, it has changed the world, changed people and what’s important to us. Suddenly many try to show themselves from their best side and everything is about being seen, likes and number of followers. An artificial form of popularity that has earned many people money, but despite the fact that this is supposed to be social, it is anything but. And there are also plenty of people who try to share terrible videos, photos and texts via social media. And although large platforms try to take action against this automatically, it hasn’t gotten so good that people are no longer needed to make choices about them. Companies such as Facebook and Twitter have a true “army” of unknown editors, who are presented with horrible images every day (around 25,000) and have to make a choice whether this should be removed or seen. The documentary The Cleaners tries to get those people, who are trying to make the various platforms safe for us, to tell their story. Continue reading