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The Naughts: The Documentary of the '00s
7 December 2009 10:17 AM, PST
| ifc.com
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Sometimes superlatives need to be slung, such as when speaking of the richest, most ambitious and exciting decade yet for nonfiction film -- and, really, what other variety could back up that boast? To nail down a single doc as the preeminent work that typifies these years is no easy task, especially since the best of the bunch attacked specific subjects with laser-like precision and idiosyncratic techniques. (Sit tight, the lede is about to be buried.)
The '00s legitimized the allure of the "pop doc," a trend that shoehorns potentially lackluster material into glossy narratives. Spelling bees were transformed into suspense thrillers ("Spellbound"), quadriplegic rugby players did their own stunts ("Murderball"), tangoing kids got their dance-off ("Mad Hot Ballroom"), a reckless but beautiful feat of derring-do was reenacted like a heist procedural ("Man on Wire"), and a PBS-style nature film became a blockbuster saga of familial survival ("March of the Penguins"). Who'd have thought,
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- Aaron Hillis
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Review of the decade: Peter Bradshaw's noughties round-up
7 December 2009 3:01 AM, PST
| The Guardian - Film News
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Hollywood struggled to respond to the war on terror, documentaries went through a golden age, and Michael Haneke was the noughties' moral conscience
If it is possible to whimper at the volume of a bang, then that is how this decade is ending on the big screen: with two high-profile, high-budget movies about the end of the world: Roland Emmerich's cheerfully silly 2012, and John Hillcoat's cheerlessly serious The Road, which arrive with a good deal of commentary to the effect that these movies typify the zeitgeist of the decade.
The noughties – that jokey word coined in the carefree 90s – are seen as damaged, injured, traumatised. The decade looks cracked from top to bottom by a sensational act of terrorism; by a reaction that achieved neither political palliative nor military success; by the confrontation between first-world prosperity and developing-world poverty; by the coming environmental catastrophe that threatens to engulf both; and finally,
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- Peter Bradshaw
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12 Things I Learned from Watching Ninja Assassin
6 December 2009 4:14 PM, PST
| ScreenRant.com
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The argument has been made several times that people learn things from Hollywood. Whether it’s an opinionated “fact filled” documentary like Sicko, Fahrenheit 911 and Inconceivable Inconvenient Truth or a research documentary like Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me, movies are always trying to teaching us something – but only if we are listening.
Long time visitor and regular commenter Xigbar was listening during his viewing of Ninja Assassin and decided to share what he learned with us last week in our popular Open Discussion Wednesday thread. Check out what he had to say after the jump:
12 Things I Learned from Watching Ninja Assassin
1. Ninjas project an aura of such mystery and terror that their blood, as well as the blood of those around them, curdles into a viscous substance not unlike delicious strawberry jam.
2. Although ninjas have lightning-fast reflexes and have been trained to use all 5 senses to superhuman degrees,
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- Paul Young
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Spurlock To Pay Tribute To 20 Years Of The Simpsons
2 December 2009 4:06 AM, PST
| WENN
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Filmmaker and huge The Simpsons fan Morgan Spurlock will host a 20th anniversary special honouring his favourite TV cartoon series in January.
The Super Size Me star and director will celebrate the show in The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special: in 3-D! on Ice on 10 January after the 450th episode airs in America.
The episode, Once Upon a Time in Springfield, will feature Anne Hathaway.
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Fox Announces 2009-2010 Midseason Schedule
24 November 2009 7:05 PM, PST
| Collider.com
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Fox has announced their 2009-2010 midseason schedule. As usual, American Idol returns in January with a two-night season premiere Tuesday, January 12th and Wednesday, January 13th. The other big news from the press release is Lie to Me got picked up for a full season, Fringe airs its winter finale on February 4th and returns April 1st, Glee’s fall finale is December 9th and new episodes won’t start again until April 13th, and Human Target premieres Sunday, January 17th.
For a full listing of the schedule including info on all the new and returning shows, hit the jump for the press release:
Fox 2009-2010 Midseason Schedule
(All times Et/Pt except as noted)
Monday
Monday, Jan. 4:
7:30 Pm-cc Et Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Live)
Monday, Jan. 18:
8:00-10:00 Pm 24 (2-Night / 4-Hour Season Premiere, Part 2)
Mondays, beginning Jan. 25:
8:00-9:00 Pm House
9:00-10:
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- Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub
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Fox Announces 2010 Midseason Lineup
24 November 2009 12:50 PM, PST
| MovieWeb
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Fox is announcing premiere dates of new and returning series as well as revisions to its 2009-2010 midseason schedule. Fox also has ordered a full season of the sophomore drama Lie to Me.
January starts off on a high note when the ninth season of American Idol, television's No. 1 series, begins with a two-night premiere Tuesday, Jan. 12 (8:00-10:00 Pm Et/Pt) and Wednesday, Jan. 13 (8:00-9:00 Pm Et/Pt). Immediately following American Idol on Jan. 13 (9:00-10:00 Pm Et/Pt), Fox unveils the not-to-be-missed series debut of Our Little Genius, a new unscripted series that features America's most gifted kids as they are tested with some of the most challenging and difficult questions that only a remarkable little genius could answer.
A special extended primetime event on Sunday, Jan. 17 kicks off with the Nfc Divisional Playoff (4:00 Pm-cc Et live/1:00 Pm-cc Pt live), which leads
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'9/11' Tops 'Telegraph' Movies of the Decade List
7 November 2009 1:11 AM, PST
| GetTheBigPicture.net
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We're just a couple months away from the acknowledged end of the decade (it's really next year, because there was never a year zero, so this decade actually ends in 2010), and that means we'll get Best of the Decade lists on top of Best of the Year lists. I'm actually looking forward to the process myself and I'm revisiting some of the 25 movies or so I think have a chance to make my own list.
The Telegraph has unveiled a top 100 list, but not necessarily in terms of quality. Instead, we have the most significant hundred films from the past decade, the movies that "defined" the decade. There are, of course, some picks you'll certainly agree with; we have the top 25 listed and you can read the paper's entire list and see even more great films. But their selection of Fahrenheit 9/11 as the number one movie of the past ten years is almost completely unqualified.
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- Colin Boyd
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'Food Inc.' now on DVD and Blu-Ray: Will it ruin your appetite?
5 November 2009 1:12 PM, PST
| EW.com - PopWatch
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When I saw Food Inc. this summer, it was the first experience in which a movie actually changed my lifestyle. I've seen my fair share of docs -– Fahrenheit 9/11, Super Size Me, America the Beautiful, and American Teen, among others -– but after watching Food Inc. and its graphic portrayal of chicken coops, meat processing centers and alarming stats about corrupt agriculture practices, I quit meat cold tofurkey.
Before seeing it, I called myself a "flexitarian," meaning I dabbled in meat here and there, but I was pretty much a vegetarian. But since the movie, those images (I'll be vague
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- Archana Ram
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Snagfilms: Watch Free Documentaries Online
28 October 2009 10:49 AM, PDT
| newsinfilm.com
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Last week there was talk of the conglomerates behind Hulu turning the typically free product into a subscriber-based system. While we’re still crossing our fingers that “The Office” — or worse, our beloved “General Hospital”* — doesn’t go behind a pay wall, what about other sources for free movies online?
Check out Snagfilms.com, a website dedicated to providing free streaming full-length and short documentaries.
The site has a library of 950 different films to choose from, but there are a few gems I’ve seen and personally recommend. Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me is a must see movie about one man’s crusade to expose McDonald’s and America’s unhealthy addiction to fast food. There’s also Darkon, a fascinating look at the fantasy world of live-action role playing. Plus Confessions of a Superhero that chronicles the lives and motivations for the comic book characters posing for pictures on Hollywood Blvd.
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- Jeff Leins
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Marge Simpson To Pose Nude On Playboy Cover
9 October 2009 12:37 AM, PDT
| icelebz.com
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TV's blue-haired mama Marge Simpson is posing nude for Playboy. "The Simpsons" matriarch is reportedly showing off her yellow skin sans her green tube dress on the November cover of the adult magazine.
Eonline.com's sources reveal that Homer's wife will be featured in a three-page pictorial complete with interview and a data sheet, marking the long-running Fox animated series' 20th anniversary.
Hugh Hefner even teased Marge's appearance in August, posting on his Twitter account, "Marge Simpson has a surprise for her fans in the November issue of Playboy."
"The Simpsons" will kick off their "Best. 20 Years. Ever" 20th anniversary celebration in January. "Super Size Me" filmmaker Morgan Spurlock will also produce and direct "The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D on Ice," the conclusion of their year-long global celebration.
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No sequel for The Simpsons Movie for now
7 October 2009 8:02 PM, PDT
| AOL - TVSquad
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If you fondly remember watching the first Simpsons Movie hoping that the sequel would bring you equal amounts of life affirming excitement, keep hoping.
Matt Groening and Al Jean said an interview with Morgan Spurlock, the Super Size Me star and director hired for the show's big anniversary extravaganza, that they have no plans to start doing another Simpsons movie anytime soon.
They didn't rule out the possibility of another movie, but it certainly won't be in the foreseeable future. The pair said the process for the first movie was so frustrating that they couldn't fathom even starting a second one without some kind of heavy duty anti-psychotic medication.
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, The Simpsons, Reality-Free
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- Danny Gallagher
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No Simpsons Movie Sequel?
7 October 2009 10:15 AM, PDT
| ScreenRant.com
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Apparently making The Simpsons Movie while simultaneaously cranking out the TV series was so exhausting for showrunners Matt Groening and Al Jean that they’ve sworn off doing a sequel to the film at least until the show finally wraps for good - an end date that is (somehow) still undetermined at this point.
Basically, what I’m saying is: No Simpsons Movie 2 for the forseeable future.
Groening and Jean were being interviewed by documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) at a key note event for the Mipcom sales mart, where Groening and Jean will be receiving a Creative Icon Award. Spurlock is also directing the upcoming special, The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3D on Ice, which will examine the cultural impact the show has had during its two-decade plus run on TV. The special airs in January.
Here’s what Groening had to say about another Simpsons
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- Kofi Outlaw
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Biggest Doc Ever?
28 September 2009 4:20 PM, PDT
| FilmExperience
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Jose here with some box office news. Reuters is reporting that Michael Jackson's This Is It has broken advance ticket records all over the world.
The documentary/concert film spans the rehearsals of Jackson's eponymous "comeback" that would've taken place in London before the entertainer's sudden death.
In cities like Los Angeles and New York, fans waited outside in line for days before the tickets went on sale yesterday morning. In Tokyo, the film sold $1 million in advance tickets. With the undying passion of Jackson fans could this eventually become the highest grossing documentary of all time? This genre hasn't been particularly lucky in the money making department.
The highest grossing documentaries stand as follows:
1. Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore) $119,194,771
2. March of the Penguins $77,437,223
3. Earth $32,011,576
4. Sicko (Michael Moore) $24,540,079
5. An Inconvenient Truth $24,146,161
6. Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore) $21,576,018
7. Madonna: Truth or Dare $15,012,935
8. Religulous $13,011,160
9. Winged Migration $11,689,053
10. Super Size Me $11,536,423
(numbers courtesy of Box Office
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- Jose
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5 Movies That Make Us Hungry
20 September 2009 9:02 AM, PDT
| FilmSchoolRejects.com
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With the release of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs this weekend, I caught a commercial on Adult Swim the other night that said this film was either the cause of or solution to "a serious case of the munchies." It made me hungry. What's this? A man and woman frollicking inside jello? Oh, sooo much spaghetti! Those gummi bears look f*cking scrumptious!
I immediately got up from my couch and made a bowl of ice cream. With Heath bar crumbs. And caramel topping. Mmmm. Then I sat down and wondered, "wait, what just happened?"
It got me thinking -- some action movies make you drive a little faster once you leave the theater; some dramas make you re-think your life and donate money to the Red Cross. Which movies make you hungry? I thought long and hard (on an empty stomach) and came up with five films that make me salivate.
Honey
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- Josh Radde
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September 18: DVD alternatives to this weekend’s multiplex offerings
19 September 2009 8:12 AM, PDT
| www.flickfilosopher.com
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We know how it is: You’d like to go to the movies this weekend, but it’s raining spaghetti and meatballs out there. But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the right DVDs. And when someone asks you on Monday, “Hey, did you check out that new 3D animated movie this weekend?” you can reply, “No, I stuffed my face on other awesome kiddie flicks.”
Instead Of: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the animated tale of giant food falling from the sky like weather, all the doing of a not-quite-mad, just-sorta-silly scientist...
Watch: Oh, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory -- the original 1971 flick, not the recent, similarly titled remake -- both for Gene Wilder’s wonderfully demented mad foodie but for all the mad food as well. The new creative boundaries of animated films such as Cloudy explores are also on
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- MaryAnn Johanson
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The Cove Stops Dolphin Slaughter in Japan
3 September 2009 6:00 AM, PDT
| WorstPreviews.com
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Once in a while a documentary comes out that shines a spotlight on an issue that has the entire world take notice. McDonalds changed a large part of their menu after "Super Size Me," and the Green movement became a top priority after "An Inconvenient Truth." You can add another movie to that list, "The Cove," which exposed the annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins in the small fishing town of Taiji, Japan. Upon returning to Taiji, Ric O'Barry, who became an activist after his work with Flipper, noticed that "there were no dolphin killers in sight." While it's still too early to know whether the illegal activity will ever pick up again, at least "The Cove" documentary can be credited with saving several dozen dolphins.
"The Cove" Trailer:
If you cannot see the player, click here.
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'The Cove' worked! Dolphin slaughter stops in Taiji
2 September 2009 2:04 PM, PDT
| EW.com - PopWatch
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It is all too rare when filmmakers can know they've directly caused a major change in the world, but that is exactly what the team behind the most excellent documentary The Cove can claim today. The film, which has been making some small waves on the art-house circuit this summer, focuses a bright spotlight on the annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins in the small fishing town of Taiji, Japan. The practice had gone on for years unseen inside an isolated cove until director Louie Psihoyos -- inspired by the work of Flipper trainer-turned-activist Ric O'Barry -- put together a crack team to capture the killing via hidden cameras and underwater microphones.
Yesterday, O'Barry returned to Taiji for the start of the dolphin killing season, but this time, he says, "there were no dolphin killers in sight." Granted, this time he came with a small entourage of international journalists, including members of the Japanese press,
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- Adam B. Vary
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The Gripping Statistic: How to Make Your Data Matter
28 August 2009 6:00 AM, PDT
| Fast Company
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We're awash in data. Here's how to make yours matter.
Imagine that the federal government announces a second-stage bailout in the amount of 703,000 hectoshekels. (We've gone metric!) You're probably not sure how to feel about this. (Though if you're already incensed, you should probably cut down on the Fox News.)
To assess the bailout, you'd ask: How much money is that, exactly? Is it too much or not enough? (Also, in this crazy metric world, how many centiliters do I weigh? And do I look skinnier?)
For all practical purposes, an $800 billion stimulus package is as opaque as a 703,000-hectoshekel package; we have no real grasp of what it means. Big numbers fuzz our brains, and that is just as true in business as it is in public policy. Speaking in "millions" and "billions" is like your second year of Spanish: You've memorized the vocabulary, but it's hard to think in the language.
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- Dan Heath & Chip Heath
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Spurlock Investigates 'Ancestry' Of Simpsons Character
28 August 2009 5:16 AM, PDT
| WENN
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Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock is determined to solve a dispute over The Simpsons character Groundskeeper Willie as two Scottish cities battle to claim the fictional janitor as their own.
Officials in Glasgow have posted a picture of Willie - voiced by American funnyman Dan Castellaneta - in their online hall of fame, citing a 1997 episode of the animated comedy, in which the character describes himself as "the ugliest man in Glasgow".
But he is also shown rooting for Aberdeen's soccer team in a dream in a 2003 episode, prompting sporting chiefs in the Highlands city to claim him too.
Now the Super Size Me director has jetted to the U.K. to solve the puzzle, speaking to authorities in both cities in a bid to trace the roots of the grumpy school employee for a film.
An employee at Aberdeen Football Club tells the Daily Record, "He spoke to a few people. It's great publicity because it's going to be seen by a huge audience."
The footage will be shown as part of Spurlock's new Simpsons documentary marking the 20th anniversary of the long-running cartoon.
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The Simpsons Announce All-Star Guest Voices
6 August 2009 9:22 AM, PDT
| MovieWeb
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Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Anne Hathaway, Jackie Mason, Neve Campbell and the late Eartha Kitt are among the guest voices on the upcoming 21st season of The Simpsons airing Sundays (8:00-8:30 Pm Et/Pt) on Fox.
In "Homer The Whopper," the season premiere episode co-written by Seth Rogen airing Sunday, Sept. 27, "Comic Book Guy" casts "Homer" as the lead in "Everyman," a feature film based on the new comic book superhero he created. To whip Homer into superhero shape, the movie studio hires celebrity fitness trainer "Lyle McCarthy" (guest voice Rogen), but Homer has trouble sticking to his new healthy regimen.
Jonah Hill guest-voices as "Andy," a former Springfield Elementary student hailed as the best prankster ever in the upcoming episode, "Pranks and Greens." Neve Campbell plays "Cassandra," a Wiccan accused of blinding the town with a spell (a la "The Craft") in "Rednecks and Broomsticks." Jackie Mason returns as Rabbi Krustofsky,
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