Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections (2007)

Suppose that you’re a normal, everyday moviewatcher. You’ve seen a few documentaries and now I come to you and ask you to make a documentary your own self. “Who, me?” you say, “What do I know about making a documentary?” “Just give it a try,” I say, and I say, “David Earnhardt did it. This [...]

Out of Balance (2007)

the world is going to hell. you can stop reading now – you already know it. “out of balance: exxonmobil’s impact on climate change” provides 60 minutes of bad news, none of it new news. unless, that is, you yourself don’t believe that the world is going to hell or are somehow not aware otherwise [...]

Africa Unite (2008) – Can ganja save Africa?

THE FILM In 2005, the Bob Marley and Rita Marley Foundations organized “Africa Unite,” a series of events to be held in Ethiopia. Nominally created to posthumously celebrate Bob Marley’s 60th birthday, Africa Unite was meant to encourage and nurture unity between nations and peoples on the African continent and to inspire self-sufficiency and world [...]

You’re Gona Miss Me (2005)

You’re Gonna Miss Me (2005) Directed by Keven McAlester. Documentary. Not rated. 94 minutes. “You’re Gonna Miss Me” is a well-made documentary about Roger (Roky) Erickson, a ’60s lead singer from Austin whose career arc spiked early and then descended steadily, taking him on a long slide from modest stardom to incarceration to abject and [...]

Manda Bala (2005) – Put down that frog and step away

Before dealing with the end of the world as we know it, which this movie does not explicitly mention but which is lurking there in the unspoken background – before dealing with that, it being a pet peeve of mine, let me mention first an equally annoying pet peeve: many podcasters, the Spout podcasters occasionally [...]

Woof (Sun Dogs)

Before beginning this review, a tip of the hat to sun dogs, aka parhelia, those common bright circular spots on a solar halo. Sun dogs are “an atmospheric optical phenomenon primarily associated with the reflection or refraction of sunlight by small ice crystals making up cirrus or cirrostratus clouds.” Also, a little love for the [...]

Win big $$$ playing games: E-@thletes (2008)

Jonathon Boal and Artem Agafanov made the documentary E@thletes at a time when competitive team-gaming seemed ready to expand into a new world of professional competition. The film presented, at the time they released it, a cutting-edge view of two teams out on the road, just before both teams joined a new league. By the [...]