The narration was puerile at times, but the information presented was interesting. I gave it 4/5 stars on NetFlix. 2 weeks ago

8. Bully (2011) – This documentary follows several families dealing with the consequences of their children being bullied. I felt pain for the families and frustration with what I saw of the schools seeming apathy or attempts to save face at the expense of their students’ wellbeing. That being said, I wouldn’t recommend the documentary. It has a narrow focus (small town America), fails to follow up with any of the people involved, doesn’t provide any challenging commentary, and can stand to present ideas for solutions (particularly those being instituted in other schools/communities). Maybe it’s the sort of movie you show to middle schoolers to encourage a little introspection and compassion. Also, there is an affiliated website, thebullyproject.com, that seems to be more action driven. I haven’t taken the time to check it out.

9. Waiting for Superman – I would recommend this doc, if you’re asking. It has as strong of a human element as #8, while also being a researched, informative film that can’t fall victim to the complaints I waged against Bully. Waiting is about the major failures of the American public school system, and some of the people and programs working to turn things around.

That being said, not everyone agrees% with the information provided in the movie. From Jal Mehta’s op-ed, “Sorry, “Waiting for Superman”: charter schools are not a panacea and have not performed, on average, better than regular public schools. Successful schools — whether charter or traditional — have features in common: a clear mission, talented teachers, time for teachers to work together, longer school days or after-school programs, feedback cycles that lead to continuing improvements. It’s not either-or.” 1 month ago

My friend insisted I watch this one. She’s been an active proponent for women’s birthing rights for many years.

I liked…

Even though I am not interested in having a home delivery, I found seeing very smooth home births empowering and comforting.

The documentary presents plenty of useful and interesting information. It has a fully disclosed bias so, hopefully, viewers process the information through a critical lens.

I wasn’t so impressed…

Some of the potentially powerful information was ultimately useless. Referencing what happens “in Europe” or what goes on in “hospitals in New York” doesn’t it for me. Is the movie pulling statistics from the two worst hospitals in NY it could find, or do said statistics come from a study of ALL hospitals in NYC?

...

I deeply appreciate that my friend wants to make sure I am well informed going into my first child’s birth. I’m also grateful for each of the million wonderful things she’s done for me, none of which I thought or knew to do for her when she was pregnant. I wish that I had taken the time to educate myself on pregnancy when she was going through hers.

2 months ago

This 2000 documentary centers on a family decisions regarding getting cochlear implants for their children. At the center of the story are two brothers, each with a deaf child and each with a passionately different opinion on the subject of cochlear implants.

I found it interesting how openly and directly the entire family communicated with one another.

...Also, there’s an update [which can be found on youtube] that came out in 2006! 2 months ago

Another interesting documentary. This should be something that all pre-meds discuss as they prepare to become doctors. 2 months ago

This one is very interesting. Never knew this type of thing happened.

Will do more research on it. 2 months ago

A film by Jaime Johnson who is a family member of the Johnson and Johnson company family. He is questioning why there is a gap so large between the rich and the not rich. It was an emotional movie. I loved the end. 2 months ago

Whore’s Glory interviews and follows the daily routines of prostitutes in Thailand, Bangladesh, and Mexico. Recommend.

I also watched a few pulp documentaries that I won’t count towards this goal (i.e. “The Queen of Versailles” and “After Porn Ends”). They were entertaining, perhaps, but not enriching or enlightening.

I won’t be the first person to note that Virginia Nebab, the “Queen of Versailles,” was surprisingly sympathetic. Insert transition here. One of her horrible kids negligently starved a lizard to death.

“After Porn Ends” panders to those who want to see humbling sadness and struggles in porn actors’ lives. Entertaining enough. 2 months ago

Though I didn’t watch it, listening to This American Life’s “Harper High School” certainly jives with the spirit of the goal.

“We spent five months at Harper High School in Chicago, where last year alone 29 current and recent students were shot. 29. We went to get a sense of what it means to live in the midst of all this gun violence, how teens and adults navigate a world of funerals and Homecoming dances. We found so many incredible and surprising stories, this show is a two-parter…”

-This American Life

Highly recommend. 2 months ago

I enjoyed this documentary immensely. Like with Children Underground, I’m not sure that I learned something concrete from it, so much as got to spend time with people as they went about and reflected upon their lives. Then again, I grew up in the Russian immigrant community in the States, so many of the images, songs, stories, thoughts, and traditions shared in the movie are embedded at my core, as though they were my own memories. 3 months ago

The beginning of the movie offers a little information on some of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s drastic 1966 policies to aimed at increasing the Romanian fertility rate, namely outlawing abortion and contraception. The fall of communism was accompanied by the dissolution of many resources that helped care for the children born owing to Ceaușescu’s regime, causing many children to end up on the streets.

The documentary follows several children through their day to day lives, then checks in with them a year after filming. It’s intimate and thorough in that sense. However, besides getting a glimpse into how these children live, the documentary doesn’t offer much by way of significant or specific information about the political, social, and economic contexts of Romania under communist rule or circa 2001, when the documentary came out.

The latter isn’t a complaint, so much as an observation. Children Underground is a stellar documentary for its purpose. 3 months ago

This was another movie that I really enjoyed. Very imformative and I liked how it was done. Sad – really just plain sad. I am starting to not think there is hope for man kind – really. SO SAD.

If you want to watch something that deals with possible theories on the distruction of the human race than this is the movie. 3 months ago

Recommend.

Ribbons focuses on the corporation driven, hypocritical, ineffectual, placebo, happy culture side of the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer research. The documentary is much more plantable than my description, I was just trying to be concise. 3 months ago

I enjoyed it and there were nice quotes from it. Short and sweet. 3 months ago

... quite a few documentaries in my queue, so I am going to repeat this goal.

(Updated)

56 Up

C: Craiglist Joe

D: Doin’ It Again: The Beach Boys

E: Exporting Raymond

F: First Position (2011)

K: Kumare

M: A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt (2010)

P: Pink Ribbons, Inc

Q: Queen of Versailles

S: Seeking Asian Female

U: Undefeated (2011)

W: The Woman Who Wasn’t There(2012) 5 months ago

http://www.whatawaytogomovie.com/ 5 months ago

Wow – what a film, suspenseful, focused, a message, a powerful one. 6 months ago

3. Sound and Fury (Netflix Streaming)
This is really eye-opening about deaf culture.
My Rating: A-
Synopsis: SOUND AND FURY documents one family’s struggle over whether or not to provide two deaf children with cochlear implants, devices that can stimulate hearing. As the Artinians of Long Island, New York debate what is the right choice for the two deaf cousins, Heather, 6, and Peter, 1 1/2, viewers are introduced to one of the most controversial issues affecting the deaf community today. Cochlear implants may provide easier access to the hearing world, but what do the devices mean for a person’s sense of identity with deaf culture? Can durable bridges be built between the deaf and hearing worlds?

4. Afraid of the Dark (History Channel on Demand)
My rating: B-
Synopsis: This chilling special explores all the reasons why the dark was so feared throughout the eras. It takes you around the globe to places where real night still exits, and examines our modern-day fear factor when the lights go out during blackouts.

5. Philosopher Kings (Netflix Streaming)
My Rating: A-
Really shows that people who lead seemingly simple lives can have the most insights an experiences to share.
Synopsis:In search of wisdom found in unlikely places, The Philosopher Kings takes us on a journey through the halls of the most prestigious colleges and universities in America to learn from the staff members who see it all and have been through it all: the custodians.

6. Hollywood Complex (Netflix Streaming)
My Rating:B+
This one made me grateful for my own parents!
Synopsis: The film chronicles several children and their parents, who have dropped everything to live in Hollywood and get their children to auditions. 6 months ago

2. China’s Lost Girls
So sad!
Synopsis: Lisa Ling examines China’s reproductive policies as she follows a group of families who travel there in order to adopt a baby girl. 7 months ago

1. Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead
I liked this one. Not preachy, but inspiring.
Synopsis: FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD is an inspiring film that chronicles Joe’s personal mission to regain his health while traveling across America, juicer in tow, and inspiring others to do the same. 7 months ago

(updated)

A: All in this Tea (2007) | Angels in the Dust (2007)

B: Burzynski, the Movie (2010) | Bombay Beach (2011)| Broadway or Bust (2012)

C: Czech Dream (2003) | Casino Jack and the United States Money (2010) | Crossing the Line (2006) | The Coca-Cola Case (2009) | Client 9: Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010) | Catfish (2010) | The Card Game (2009)

D: Dakota’s Pride (2007) | Divorce: Iranian Style (1999) | Dive! Living off America’s Waste (2010)

E: El Bulli: Cooking in Progress (2011)

F: Fresh (2009)

G: Good Fortune (2009) | Gotta Dance (2008) | Getting into Cirque du Soleil (2012) | Genetic Roulette (2012)

H: Hell House (2001)

I: Inside the Body Trade (2007)

J: Jane’s Journey (2010)| Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

K: Karamoja City Warriors (2012)

L: The Last Mountain (2011)

M: My Run: The Terry Hitchcock Story (2009)

N: Natascha: The Girl in the Cellar (2010)

O: The OxyContin Express (2009)

P: The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (2011) | Project Nim (2011) | Prostitutes of God (2011)

Q: Queen of the Sun (2011)

R: Ride the Divide (2010) | Running the Sahara (2007)

S: Semper Fi – Always Faithful (2011) | Sweetgrass (2009)

T: Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls (2009)

U: Up the Yangtze (2009) | Urbanized (2011)

V: Virtual Adultery and Cyberspace Love (2009)

W: Windfall (2010) | Waiting for “Superman” (2010) | We The Tiny House People (2012)

X: Xingu – The Struggle of the People for the River

Y: Young Yakuza (2007)

Z: Zinat, One Special Day (2002) 11 months ago

This movie definitely has a firm stance. It’s one that I mostly do agree with- as a vegetarian for 7 years I’m an advocate of all that a plant-based diet can do.

I really identified the one thing keeping me from a vegan diet; cheese. Eggs kind of gross me out unless they’re baked into something. I don’t drink milk and I’m not really one to indulge in cakes and cookies. Cheese is another story, though. I could eat it all day long.

Somehow, I managed to let it slip my mind that cheese actually contains cholesterol. Surely something this tasty can’t. The hormones in the dairy products that are being produced today are another wake-up call.

Although the movie made me consider it, I can’t say it’s going to prompt me to make the switch to veganism. It has gotten me to cut back on dairy products, and substitute the ones I use for soy alternatives or organic dairy. 12 months ago

I forgot to post this when I watched it, but a while back I watched All in This Tea. It was a very interesting documentary about the a commercial high end tea buyer and his experiences in China and India. 14 months ago

Watched a great environmental documentary about a man who generated zero trash for an entire year: No Impact Man. 15 months ago

I also rewatched the Planet Earth documentary recently (finished it today). It’s a 550 minute series divided into 11 episodes. I love nature documentaries. 15 months ago