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Reviews
Blindsided (2006)
Interesting topic...but please....can the sappy music!
For some reason the director felt the need to continually run really melodramatic, lame music through the film. This was really unnecessary and at times even obscured what the subjects were saying. It needlessly calls attention to otherwise poignant moments and underestimates the viewers intelligence, regardless of their musical tastes. If music was needed, it would have been better and less distracting to have music without lyrics. That really added to the sap factor. Other than that it's an interesting and sad topic (an 11 year old boy losing his sight and learning to cope.) It begins to get really interesting when we learn how the family has been torn apart because of this. Mainly a "talking head" type of documentary.
Demon Lover Diary (1980)
See this if you can
This is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. People compare it to "American Movie," which I loved, but this film really gets some in-depth interactions behind the scenes of an indie film. All the backbiting, infighting, feelings of frustration after years of hope and planning. If you like this, I also recommend "Driver 23/The Atlas Moth" by Rolf Belgum, as well as the Half Japanese documentary "The Band that Would be King" and the Wesley Willis documentary "The Daddy of Rock and Roll." Just make sure you don't have any sharp implements around while watching the first and last ones, especially if you are an independent musician or filmmaker, it may hit pretty close to home.
Horns and Halos (2002)
Liked it for different reasons
I thought that this was a well-done documentary, but didn't have the same response as I think was intended, or at least that the other people who left comments had. I found the two characters, Hatfield and Hicks, totally manipulative - hamming it up for the camera. Of course, Hatfield put his money where his mouth is at the end, but that last scene - where Hicks just starts getting teary and then weeps openly - my husband and I went into hysterics. It was like watching a bad acting class. The story is interesting, and I've read the book in the past - but (and I'm NOT a Bush supporter, for sure) the most compelling part of it is the initial tell-all biography of Hatfield. I ended up buying that 2.99 on-sale edition that included it.
Best Man: 'Best Boy' and All of Us Twenty Years Later (1997)
Touching and Beautiful
This movie really allows us to see the unobscured joys of life through Philly, a 70 year old mentally retarded man and cousin of director Ira Wohl. You really need to have seen "Best Boy" as a prerequisite, but I'm so glad I saw this follow up. Congratulations to Ira Wohl for capturing his family so well and for stepping in to make his cousin's life as good as it can be. I really feel like I know his family, I don't know if it's a Jewish thing or just a universal dynamic, but I certainly recognized all the characters. I hope Philly is still around in another 20 years, and if not, he will have lived a very full life anyway.