Occupy Unmasked

Documentary claiming to expose the true origins of the Occupy Wall Street movement that seemed to rise out of nowhere back in 2011. And, to some degree, it succeeds in that regard. There's some rather damning video and email information shown detailing how the media helped to, well, create the movement. Unfortunately, that kind of hard-hitting actual investigative stuff is a small portion of the movie. The rest of the movie is more of a Breitbart and Brandon Darby hit piece akin to Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" segments where they show Occupy protesters that are clueless to the movement itself. They also spend a fair amount of time talking about rapes & sexual assaults at the various Occupy sites. And then there's a long diversion into a tangent somehow trying to link murders of Cambodians post-Vietnam to the Occupy movement that is just truly bizarre. Mostly, though, the movie is a lot of Breitbart ranting intermixed with clips of Occupy protesters swearing at cops or looting. In the end, this is not really a quality documentary but there IS some good stuff to be seen here. It's just lost in a mess of other nonsense. 4/10.

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A friend asked me to watch this and, well, I did. I can't say I was impressed in any way. This is one of the laziest documentaries I've seen in a long, long time. The makers take what could be an interesting subject - "Youtubers" who make a living posting videos to Youtube - and do nothing with it. What we get are short 5-10 minute interviews with each person, a tiny bit of behind-the-scenes at how their videos are made and...that's it. The people profiled seem nice enough - Hannah Hart, in particular, seems pretty darn cool (though I suspect I'd find her "drunk chef" videos incredibly annoying) and SeaNanners seems pretty cool as well. But, again, nothing much is done with them other than the interviews. Then, in one interview, we get what is almost the documentary equivalent of one of those annoying Facebook clickbait articles. They put up a little screen that says they asked one guy some really personal question and show him not answering. Then another screen saying three weeks later he's willing to address it. Then he...doesn't. And at no time are we told the actual question. It's sort of implied that the question is along the lines of "ARE YOU TEH GAY???????" but never stated as such. It feels like a "We asked this guy a really personal question. You won't believe his shocking response" clickbait thing. There's some mention of a "Youtubers convention" but not much is shown of it. There's references, and a couple brief video clips, highlighting the fame some Youtubers achieve but, again, not much done with it. In the end, the whole thing just feels like one big missed opportunity. 5/10.

The Act of Killing

WTF. This is one of the most messed-up, surreal movies I've ever seen. On some level, I get these guys being matter-of-fact, even proud, of the killing they did way back when. But to agree to make a movie about it? And re-enact all the torturing? And so on? And then to do it in various genres, like a musical? With one of the guys running around in drag for 80% of the movie? Again...WTF. I can't say this was a good documentary but it was compelling. And interesting. But good? I dunno. The one guy coming to the crushing realization at the end of the movie as to the horrors he's committed was certainly something to see. I did find myself wondering the whole time, "How the heck did the filmmakers even get this setup in the first place?" Anyway, worth seeing. 8/10.

Rampage: Capital Punishment

Uwe Boll's sequel to the surprisingly good Rampage about a guy who loads up on armor and guns and shoots up his town and...gets away. Now he's decided to take over a TV station and broadcast his "You are all brainwashed" message to the world. This one is nowhere near as good. There's just nothing here, really. A very disappointing sequel to a movie I liked a lot. 3/10.

Undefeated

Documentary covering the 2009 season for the Manassas (Tenn.) High School football team. Bill Courtney is the volunteer head coach entering his 6th season after taking over a program that had gone 5-95 in the 10 seasons prior to his arrival. He has built up a respectable program and is obviously very dedicated to the kids and to the team. This is a fantastic documentary, wonderfully capturing the highs and lows of the season. The movie focuses on three players in particular - the superstar lineman (OC Brown), the returning felon (Chavis), and the undersized smart kid (Money). Their stories are well-told and you root for all of them. Anyway, I'm a sucker for good sports documentaries, especially football, and this one is no exception. Netflix told me going in they thought I'd give this a 9/10 and they were right. 9/10.

The Last Gladiators

Documentary on the great NHL enforcers and fighters of the 1980s and 1990s, with 90% of the movie being the life and career of Chris Nilan. Lots of great highlight clips shown, including lots of fights (of course). Nilan has had a difficult life - before, during, and after hockey. Abusive father, fights with management, drugs, shoplifting, and so on. He is brutally honest and pretty unrepentant about all of it. We also get interviews with fighters like Tony Twist, Todd Ewen and, in perhaps the last interview before his death, Bob Probert, who died during the making of this movie. The end result is a compelling look at this aspect of hockey and a very entertaining movie. 8/10.

Don't Stop Believin' - Everyman's Journey

Documentary from 2012 charting the selection of Arnel PIneda to join Journey as their new lead singer. Pineda is a real-life version of the movie Rock Star, literally plucked from a cover band thanks to a video of him singing on Youtube. The movie covers that process a bit, Pineda's life in the Phillipines before joining Journey, and the band's first tour together. This is a fun look behind the scenes with everybody in the movie coming across pretty likeable, particularly Pineda who's having the time of his life. I got a chance to see these guys on the tour covered in the movie and they were awesome. Anyway, if you're a fan of the band, or rock documentaries in general, this is a good one. 8/10.

Playing For Keeps

I remember for some reason wanting to see this when I first saw ads. Maybe because I generally like Gerard Butler? Maybe. I dunno. Anyway, this movie is AWFUL. Butler plays a former soccer pro trying to rebuild his relationship with his son and ex by being his son's soccer coach. You can write the entire plot beforehand - conflict with the ex, conflict with the son, losing team becomes good, jerk of a parent, and so on. There's literally nothing even approaching mediocre in this, let alone good. And it's not funny. Meanwhile, what the heck happened to Jessica Biel? Remember when she used to be hot? Now she's the 4th hottest woman in this movie (out of 4) - behind Uma Thurman, who I've never thought was good looking. Time to make some changes, Jess. Anyway, this movie is just terrible on all levels. 2/10

Home Run

Alcoholic major league superstar goes off the rails and coaches his brother's little league team to find his way back. This is a Christian movie not up to the standards set by Kirk Cameron's movies. Bad acting, weak plot, and so on. Still, I made it all the way through somehow. 2/10.

The Central Park Five

Ken Burns documentary on the five black teenagers (wrongfully) convicted of a 1989 attempted murder and rape of a white female jogger in Central Park. If you want to be angry at a whole bunch of people at once, this is a good choice to watch. You've got the cops focusing on this group of teenagers for no apparent reason other than they were somewhere in the park that same night. And then they interrogate them for hours and hours without attorneys or family, eventually coercing factually incorrect false confessions from four of them. Then the DA pushes forward with a prosecution with - literally - only the confessions as evidence. The defense attorneys are incompetent, either doing nothing or claiming "well, he just watched" instead of actually saying their guy was not present. It's all a big mess. And, oh yeah, the cops had DNA from the case and DNA from the guy who actually committed the crime and either never compared the two or ignored the results. The end result is a powerful documentary that is well-made but not a complete home run. The question of what crimes the five may have actually committed that night is never answered, for example. Still, this is a good doc. 8/10.

* - The end of the movie states that the boys' lawsuit against NYC and others had yet to reach resolution. Since the making of the movie, a settlement was announced but I don't know if that ever came to fruition. Meanwhile, the DA in the case still thinks the boys are guilty even though the only DNA present at the scene was that of the guy who confessed.

The Story of Luke

Luke is a 25-year old autistic man raised by his grandparents from an early age. His grandmother, who taught him to cook and homeschooled him through high school, has just passed away, leaving Grandpa to go into a nursing home and Luke to go live with his aunt and uncle. They are nearing a divorce, the aunt is unlikable, and Luke thinks he'd like to get a job and "screw". The movie centers on Luke's different relationships with the folks in his life - the bitchy aunt he helps to soften, the receptionist at the job place that he decides he should date, the cousin who helps him look for jobs, etc. And those relationships work well. It's the one with his job trainer, played by Seth Green, that doesn't. Green plays an autistic man very aware of his condition who pretends to be normal but mostly just spends the movie screaming at Luke and calling him "retard". It's a painfully awful exaggeration of a character and a huge negative on the movie. He's also developed a software program that imitates "normal" people so Luke can talk to it and practice being normal. That's about as realistic as me dating Julianne Hough & Amy Adams - at the same time. Good grief. Green's entire character drags the movie down big-time. Luke himself is awkward but a lot higher functioning than expected, in that he's able to understand sarcasm and figures of speech, etc. In the end, this is a movie that could have been a nice, sweet tale of a young man overcoming difficulties but instead is just a mediocre maudlin attempt at doing that. 6/10.

Last Stand

I had been wanting to see this since I first saw a trailer. Arnie is a sheriff of a small town through which a major drug lord is going to pass to try and escape to Mexico. Arnie and friends - including scorching hot Jaimie Alexander - put together an arsenal to stop him. Much carnage ensues. This is old school violent action with humor mixed in on top of a not-deep plot. And it's great. Lots of crazy action, lots of blood. 7/10.

Out of the Clear Blue Sky

Cantor Fitzgerald is a bond trading company. In 2001, their US headquarters were at the top of the World Trade Center. On September 11, 658 of Cantor's 960 employees reported for work. All 658 died. This documentary is the story of the company, the aftermath, and the utter devastation suffered. It's a searing, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching movie. Tough to watch, yet utterly enthralling. You'll be right there with the CEO as he cries about the families and employees lost. You'll be right there with the families as they become angry over a payroll decision. You'll be livid at the callousness of Cantor's competitors. But mostly you'll be glued to the screen for this powerful story. This one was really, really good. 9/10.

Informant

Brandon Darby is a/was a radical activist bent on the overthrow of the US government. Only he sees some things he doesn't like and ends up turning FBI informant. This documentary covers that flip flop, talking to Darby and lots of his former compatriots. It seeks to explain his motivations for turning while also exploring the feelings of betrayal many of his former friends are having. In the end, it does a little of both but never really makes anything clear. Darby isn't particularly likeable, his former friends aren't much better, and this just isn't very good. 4/10.

The Short Game

A Netflix-produced documentary, this covers about a dozen youth golfers as they seek out world championships. They're competing in the 7 & 8 year old categories. This is actually really well done and the kids come across a lot more likeable than you might expect, the parents a lot less so. You'll be right there with the kids, pulling for them, bummed out by their failures. This is a well-done documentary and quite engrossing. 8/10.

Here Comes the Boom

Kevin James plays a biology teacher who becomes an MMA fighter to raise money to save his school's music department. He trains with Bas Rutten. Obvious reality issues and money stupidity aside, this was really funny. The MMA stuff is handled pretty well, too. 90 minutes of light entertainment. 7/10.

Pink Ribbons, Inc.

Documentary on the "pink industry" that surrounds breast cancer. Starts with a premise that I can get behind - that "breast cancer awareness" has essentially become a business, co-opted for profit by various groups, but wanders a bit off-track along the way. Instead of focusing entirely on things like "Where is all the money going?" and "Why haven't we seen more results?" and other things like companies spending more money on advertising their breast cancer donations than the actual donations or companies that both have cancer-causing products and cancer medications, the doc gets a bit lost in discussions of other stuff. There's some good bits in there, like the history of the pink ribbon, but other stuff like people complaining about the use of the word "survivor" or "fighting the battle", while interesting, seem to be a bit off-focus. In the end, what could have been a really hard-hitting documentary instead ends just being interesting. Worth a watch but not great. 6/10.

The Numbers Station

John Cusack is a CIA assassin who gets reassigned after a particularly nasty mission. His new job is to guard Malin Akerman, who is a civilian cryptographer working at a numbers station broadcasting codes to agents. They get attacked, Cusack kills a bunch of people and Akerman saves the day. Good movie, good action, and the smoking hot Akerman. I'd watch her read the phone book, which is almost what she's doing here. 7/10.

Safe

Jason Statham action vehicle. Plot is convoluted but basically there's a mathematical genius Chinese girl that three rival groups (Chinese mob, Russian mob, dirty cops) are all trying to get ahold of. Statham rescues her. The end. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of bodies falling in this one. Pretty good movie for what it tried to be. I enjoyed it. 6/10.

Knuckleball

Incredibly disappointing documentary on Tim Wakefield and RA Dickey, the two most-recent pitchers to use the knuckleball in the majors. What should be an interesting discussion with good footage ends up being just a disjointed mess. Jumps all over the place and is just not good. 3/10.