Change Your Image
bandarmae
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Encounter (2021)
For moviegoers who want to take a leap into the unknown and experience a different kind of story.
The real problem is the preconceptions of many viewers and their desire to box everything up into tidy categories so they feel comfortable. This film transcends genres. And who cares that Amazon botches its advertising as it often does for good movies. Ignore the superficial nonsense and just watch the movie--and decide for yourself. Don't miss out.
Remarkable acting propels this story about a struggling father and his two young sons. These three actors deliver strong and true performances. I felt deeply connected to them and their plight. That's not something we can say about most characters in films today. The bleak world of "Encounter" is often a physical and emotional wasteland with no easy answers, but surprisingly, hope and redemption are still possible. It's love that has the last word in this bittersweet journey. That made it worthwhile for me.
Alcatraz (2012)
Compared to most other new shows, it seems kinda good--but most other new shows are terrible
Alcatraz looks better than it is because its weaknesses are masked by:1) good camera work/cinematography, 2) good production design/costume design, 3) good editing, 4) decent enough music score, 5) many good actors, and 6) Sam Neill. Check him out in The Tudors, My Brilliant Career, and The Piano.
Will Sam Neill turn out to be the big bad antagonist? Well, he certainly can get the job done...if the writers can do a hell of a lot better. Unfortunately, Sarah Jones can't get even half the job done as the protagonist. Sorry, nothing personal, but she's gotta tumble off a rooftop (in the storyline)--or this series is gonna tank. Jorge Garcia is a good actor but just miscast. Same might prove true for Parminder Nagra. Only time will tell, depending on both her and the writers.
Makeup department applies foundation and eye makeup with too heavy a hand, especially on Garcia in brightly lit shots. Conspicuous makeup distracts me, just as glitches in the story do.
The pilot for Alcatraz was mediocre. The pilot for Lost remains one of the best I've seen in recent years. Will tune in for a few more episodes. Thank Sam Neill for that.
The Future of Food (2004)
The Trouble with Monsanto
This documentary is an essential crash-course on GMOs. It's an honest, accurate exploration of how GMOs are threatening the world's healthy food supply. You also learn everything you need to know about Monsanto's plot to control all our food and witness the death-squeeze the company is putting on American farmers--especially farmers who are remarkably courageous to stand up to this cold-blooded corporation. What Monsanto is doing to farmers is just criminal. Boycott Monsanto products.
Deborah Koons Garcia, the widow of Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, directed this film. You can even view it for free at http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food .
The Yes Men (2003)
Fighting for the People
These two guys are just the kind of political activists we need today. They show how every person can fight for justice and even go up against enormous corporations if you plan a careful and clever strategy using dark humor as your main weapon.
What's really amazing is that they're small-town filmmakers from upstate NY who have pulled off a movie that's much better than most of the stuff Hollywood churns out.
Though this is an older film, it's still one of the funniest and most satisfying documentaries you'll ever enjoy. You won't believe the stunts they get away with--and you'll be rooting for them every step of the way.
You can even check it out for free now on Hulu.com.
Incident at Oglala (1992)
Free Leonard Now
It's unbelievable that Leonard Peltier remains sitting in prison to this very day. A classic example of extreme oppression and injustice dealt out by the federal government. Though this film was originally released in 1992, it's no less riveting today. The documentary makes its case clearly and logically, unraveling the intricate details like a thriller. This film is not slick--and that is precisely its strength. Without using cheap visual gimmicks, it relies on the power of story and truth.
Few documentaries can match the intense content of this story. Every American needs to see this film to realize exactly what's happening in this country. The war waged against native people continues from centuries ago. You'll also see how this injustice was only a warm-up for the current Green Scare campaign against political activists and ordinary citizens defending earth from destruction. Learn more about the Green Scare in articles by journalists Dean Kuipers and Will Potter.
Food, Inc. (2008)
The Myth of Happy Meat
Yes, factory farming is horrible for the animals, and it's killing the earth. The movie gets that part right. But like The Inconvenient Truth, this film addresses only part of the issue. Michael Pollan and others would like us to believe factory farming is not sustainable but that smaller farms like Joel Salatin's Polyface are. The truth is that ALL ANIMAL AGRICULTURE IS NOT SUSTAINABLE. Human overpopulation and plain simple math make this a fact. Every hour a million chickens are murdered in slaughterhouses in the U.S. Obviously, we as a nation love KFC and McNuggets.
Polyface slaughters chickens on-site on the farm but sends pigs and cows and other animals (like rabbits) to the regular terrible slaughterhouses. Nothing humane about that. So if Polyface, the shining example of the smaller farm, still does cruel business as usual--what do you think most other small farms will do? And to build many more farms like Polyface will only destroy the earth. There's no room to churn out less "product" and use more land and water doing it.
This film is not so much an unbiased documentary as it is a slick tool of propaganda to pave the way for proponents of "humane meat"--which is a total myth that doesn't exist. (See HumaneMyth.org for informative slide shows.) The movie guilt-trips us about the horrors of factory farming but, gee, isn't it odd that no one is suggesting we become vegetarians or vegans? But then how would Michaal Pollan and Joel Salatin profit? Their books and farm business are all based on the premise or myth of humane slaughter.
Historically, we may look back on "Food, Inc." as "greenwashing" or simply the duping of the American public. Though to be fair, about one hour into the film, there's some basic helpful information about Monsanto's insane quest to control the world's food supply. (For an in-depth look at that problem, see The Future of Food, a film made by Jerry Garcia's widow. It's now available for free on Hulu.com .)
Michael Pollan and Joel Salatin talk about the "wants and needs" of the animals. To truly respect their wants and needs would be not to kill them, don't you think? As long as animals are treated as "products" and "property," they will continue to be used and eaten. They will be seen as "resources" instead of individual animals with a right to their own lives.
Watch the new documentary "Peaceable Kingdom: the Journey Home" when it comes to a film festival near you or when it's out on DVD next year. That film really delves into the lives of animals as individuals with their own wants and needs.
Ironically, no one ever raises the most basic question in "Food, Inc.": Is it just plain wrong to kill animals? Just because we can doesn't mean we should.
The movie only suggests that we become nicer killers.