Documentary Film Review V

I haven't actually dived in to the documentary film maelstrom for a while, but I do have a list of ones to be reviewed.  Time to get cracking.  Don't worry, I won't review Super High Me again.

Very Young Girls- Did you know the average age for a girl to become a prostitute in the US is 13?  Holy shit.  How can we allow this to happen? This is a great documentary that looks at the amazing human service workers that are working with these girls.  I love me some human service workers.  Watch it.

My Flesh and Blood- Speaking of amazing human beings, this film follows a family who have adopted 11 children with special needs.  I've met these type of families, and I have almost no explanation for the amount of compassion, love and empathy one person can have. We can all learn something from them though.  Watch it.

The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia- Hard to believe, but laughing at the poor and uneducated can only take you so far.  I got real tired of it after awhile. Don't watch.

Paper Clips- This is a movie where some kids from Tennessee fill a train car with trash (paper clips) because they feel sad that the Holocaust happened.  No comment.

The Parking Lot Movie- I wanted to dislike this one, but I admit it... it was fun. You'll hate it a little bit, but watch it anyway.

Small Town Gay Bar- This is one of those films that takes an interesting subject and turns it into a pile of shit. Someone should give me a video camera.  I could do way better. Don't watch.

American: The Bill Hicks Story- LOVED this.  Love Bill Hicks.  You should love Bill Hicks too, therefore you should watch this and love it. Anyone want to go out to the middle of nowhere and drop some acid with me? It seemed like a great idea in the movie...

Classified X- I guess if you really need racism in movies laid out for you VERY slowly and simply you could watch this.  It's not particularly deep, and there's so many examples there's almost no discussion. Only watch it if you need to.

Inside Deep Throat- This is an excellent film for that history of porn class I was planning on teaching.  If you need something a little provocative to watch this weekend you could give this is a spin.

Strictly Background- Are you feeling low about yourself? You could watch this if you need to feel better than someone else, I guess.  Don't watch it though, really.

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead- There's a bunch of these healthy eating/we're too fat/weight loss journey movies on the market, but this one is actually a really fun watch. Watch it.

Naked States- This is about totally fun photographer Spencer Tunick's journey around the US photographing naked people in public places.  What's not to love?

American Movie- This is pretty much what I've always assumed life to be like for folks who live in Wisconsin (or wherever... midwest-ish).  You will enjoy this film about the making of a low-budget horror flick and all the love and dedication (ish) that goes into that.  And if you're like me, you will wonder how it is that some people have so much time on their hands.  Watch it.

There you have it.  Films for thought.  I'm always taking suggestions (though not always to heart).

Various forms of self.

So my challenge for the winter is to tackle the self-portrait.  Or forms and variations thereof.

This has it's positive sides, my subject is always around and usually willing, unfortunately it has some major downsides.  Not the least of which is it's notably difficult to take pictures of myself.

I know what you're saying "but I own an iPhone and snap wicked pissah shots of myself ALLLL the time", but... there is no but to that.  I just don't own an iPhone or I'd have this in the bag.  Instead I have to use my fancy-ass DSLR and a tripod, table, beer can, etc.  Damn I'm jealous of you...

Keep your eyes peeled towards my photography website- http://squintingphotos.zenfolio.com/

Self-portrait section should be on it's way in the coming week.

And if all else fails I'll cut off my own ear and go from there.

Plebeians.

Richard and I are BFFs.

So, tonight I showed up at his apartment (in Everette, mind you, just so you know what kind of high class we are dealing with.) with a 12 pack of PBR and a copy of the Sun. I was thrilled to find out Cops was on. Ain't no shame.

While I realized he hated things like peace before and often is known to be crass towards those who need him I never knew how serious he takes his hatred of Burning Man.

After a 5 minute speech about how people who tailgate are plebeians, I somehow accidentally tricked a wire in him and got him off on burning man. Before you get too upset please realize that hating things is just part of what he does.  There's nothing really wrong with Laura Linney.

Some of the finer points of his hate-speech:

1. it's not only what's wrong with this country, but what's wrong with the world.
2. it is on the same level as other hated things such as the Westboro Baptist Church and Scientology
3. it's self-reverential garbage, and hearing people speak about their "spirituality" makes him want to puke.
4. there was some babbling about feathers, sand, nudity, drums, vague musings about "freedom"
5. people don't need to go to the desert to "make art" and "be free"
6. the horrifying idea that anything can be "art"
7. hive mind individuality
8. he spat off for quite some time about the rich...

But if you're a peace loving, naked-feathered-hippy don't get too down.  He also was telling me earlier in the evening that I can't possibly go through with my dream to vaca in Serbia.

Frankly, this blog post might have reflected more kindly on him had he not tried to dream-crush me.  I'm going to Belgrade and no one and nothing can stop me.  There's supposed to be a fantastic nightlife and the Belgrade Beer Fest has free of charge entrance, and you KNOW how I feel about that.

It's not like I can forever not go to any country we've ever bombed.  I'd never leave the house. Plus, after watching what happens there at gay pride I now know that Serbia has some damn-ass BRAVE gays.  I need to shake those folks hands.



...Okay, maybe I can concede a little bit as to why he thinks going to Serbia would be a bad idea.



Stop trying to dream-crush me Richard.  After I get back from Serbia with a new healthy respect for life I may go to Burning Man just to spite you.

Ick. On second thought, probably not.  I think I hate all those things too... and not in the good way.

Except burning effigies.  I absolutely LOVE burning effigies.

Odetta

If you don't occasionally find yourself listening to Odetta, you should get on that.  I will help.

How the ICA Effects my Affect

So, despite the warnings of potential bad art the smart and beautiful Miss Megan gave, Michelle and I headed our cocky asses to the ICA.  It's free on Thursday nights and I'm gardening my personality.

Contemporary art is what it is. So I amused myself by quietly slinking through the galleries and re-naming the pieces in my head.

There was, of course, "Dizzy Bitches on Clotheslines" a performance piece.

Then there was "Is This an Actual Pile of Shit? (Seriously, who the fuck curates this museum? Am I MISSING something?)"  a work of sculpture.

And I don't have photo-evidence so you'll have to take my word for it, but then there was a dresser filled with cement.  I called it "Fucking Heavy".

There were like two whole rooms of what appeared to be macrame. I'm not even sure what to say about that.

But all was not lost.  There was a pretty intense short film of Serbia's first gay pride parade in 2001.  It looked like a nightmare.  There were neo-nazi groups screaming homophobic slurs (which was captioned) and a rather grotesque amount of violence. Unfortunately I can't find information about the film maker on ICA's website. There's plenty on the internet about the violence though. They did not have another gay pride parade in Serbia until 2010, which again erupted in riots and violence.

There was another installation of 9 screens which played Isaac Julien's Ten Thousand Waves. Which was so beautiful it was worth the trip. I look forward to looking into his work further.

All in all, as Michelle said, it was a great vehicle for getting us out on the town and having a beer together afterwards.  If someone even so much as lip-syncs the word "free" I get so excited I can barely notice what they're handing me is a pile of shit.

So don't forget the ICA is free on Thursday nights, Kids! And frankly, you want to see  "Dizzy Bitches on Clotheslines" as much as anyone else.

Documentary Film Review Part IV

Let's Talk About Sex- Not talking about sex HURTS children.  I said it.  It hurts them and the adults they will become.  It creates unhealthy attitudes and behaviors. It leads to unsafe behavior.

Here's some cold hard facts from our friends at the CDC.

Of note in 2009 39% of the reporting sexually active teenagers did not use a condom the last time they had sex. That was in 2009, kids.  Male latex condoms are the most effective way to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.

In 2009 there were an estimated 48,100 new HIV infections. Holy crap.  Why are we not rioting in the streets right now about this? Oh that's right. A sweet, sweet mix of racism and homophobia.

Let's all just go to bed now. I've had a long day at work... Waitaminute. That doesn't sound at all like me!

What the hell can we do?! Get involved. Talk about it! I know you're probably on facebook right now...

We can also implement my plan: helicopters dropping condoms liberally all over the world.  I think we can do this pretty cheap, folks...

Abstinence only education doesn't work.  Not even kind of.  

2/3 of teen pregnancies are unintended. Half of teen mothers don't graduate high school.  I'd doubt that 46% of high school students will become serious cyclists, but we never question that we should teach them to ride a bike. With 46% of high school students reporting they have had sex how can we just stand by and not provide them proper safer sex education?

I can't.


The easiest way to dispel myths is to have the facts.  We can TALK to each other.  Educate yourself. Educate your friends. Educate the young people in your life.

If watching this documentary will help you get pissed off about it.  Then watch it.  Or take me out for a beer and I'll rant for an hour about it.  Whatever will mobilize you more.

Oh, and the movie is about Americans unhealthy views regarding talking about sex.  There's a lot of comparison with Europe.  Whatever, take me out for a beer.

I'll review some more films in my next blog post. Stay tuned.