Documentaries That Are Better Than Summer Blockbusters
I prefer a documentary to any summer blockbuster. It is true. My Netflix queue is full of them. I’m so engrossed with the subjects of the documentary because, well, they’re real people. Sometimes documentaries can be as entertaining as a comedy or as heartbreaking as a drama. The best part about watching a documentary is when you think to yourself, “Man, I can’t believe that actually happened.” Here’s the first installment of documentaries to watch when you fancy something more than an hour and a half of Hollywood:
Beyond the Carpet (2000)
It is true that I am not a fan of wrestling. I’ve always seen wrestling as a fake sport where guys dress up, pretend to get mad, and then pretend to kick the living tar at each other. The only reason I saw this document is because the guy I was dating at the time forced me to see it. For the sake of our relationship, I saw it. It amazingly held my attention from start to finish. It focuses on wrestlers like Jake “the Snake” Roberts, Terry Funk, and Mike “Mankind” Foley. We see how wrestling has drastically damaged them physically and emotionally; not only to them, but also to their families. In the end, I wasn’t ready to start watching lucha libre on Monday nights, but I did start to see wrestlers as human beings instead of just fighting like puppets in a ring.
Catfish (2010)
In this social media society we currently live in, it’s no wonder that most people connect and communicate with others through sites like Facebook and Twitter. In catfish, a man recounts his brother’s online relationship with a family he met on Facebook. The family consists of a mother, an older daughter who sings/dances/composes songs, and a young daughter who appears to be a child prodigy. His artwork is amazingly mature and talented, considering he’s only eight years old. The brother soon begins a kind of romantic relationship with the older sister through text messages, emails, phone conversations and, of course, Facebook. A surprise road trip to meet this too-good-to-be-true family brings surprising twists and turns.
Crazy Love (2007)
Burt Pugach and Linda Riss fell in love in the late 1950s. She was a terrifyingly attractive 21-year-old from the East Bronx; she was a terribly rich lawyer who liked to have fun. Everything seemed perfect until Riss found out that Pugach had a wife and child. From here the story begins to resemble a story made up by a soap opera writer. Lies are told, threats are made, and eventually a crime is committed. The less you know more about this “love story”, the better. You expect several surprises until the end.
Gray Gardens (1976)
What’s fascinating about this particular documentary is that this mother-daughter duo once had it all. Edith Bouvier Beale (often known as Big Edie) and her daughter by the same name (but known as Little Edie) had plenty of money and lived comfortably in East Hamptons. Their home, known as Gray Gardens, was a vacation spot for young Jackie O (she was Big Edie’s niece and Little Edie’s cousin). But when hard times hit the two Edies and money ran out, they were left in their Gray Gardens mansion with nothing but memories and lots of cats running around. The house began to deteriorate because they did not know how to take care of it themselves. It was a huge scandal in the mid-1970s when it was revealed that Jackie O’s relatives were living in poverty and barely surviving. This documentary is more than just an examination of the filth in which they lived; It is more about the relationship between mother and daughter and how these two women were able to survive their hardships by leaning on each other.
King of Kong (2008)
Billy Mitchell. Your turn. You can walk around with your American flag tie and your long dark brown hair blowing in the wind all you want. You’re still a walking piece of shit in my eyes. For those who have seen King of Kong, I hope you feel my hate. For those who haven’t, you should check it out ASAP. This strangely captivating story revolves around the old Donkey Kong arcade machine and the battle between two men who want to hold the world record. One is Billy Mitchell. He is the current champion. He also sells hot sauce and owns a chain of hot wing restaurants. He is a real jerk. However, the man most people root for is the underdog Steve Wiebe. He is a good and decent person in every way. He has never been the best at anything despite being pretty good at many things like baseball, drums, etc. After buying a Donkey Kong arcade, he realizes that he has a gift for the game. He strives to beat Billy for the Guinness World Record. Even if you are not a fan of video games, you will be excited king of kong.
Overnight (2006)
Writer/director Troy Duffy was something of an enigma when he arrived on the Hollywood scene after writing the cult classic. The chosen ones. Duffy was a waiter when he wrote a script that opened doors for him. Even Harvey Weinstein of Miramax Pictures took an interest. Weinstein wanted to finance the film and help Duffy become the greatest writer/director since Quentin Tarantino or Kevin Smith. Weinstein bought Duffy’s script for $300,000, gave him a $15 million budget for the film, and allowed Duffy to have the final cut. This is practically unheard of in Hollywood. Duffy’s ego, however, got in the way. overnight captures how he managed to alienate everyone around him due to his behavior, ultimately damaging his reputation in Tinseltown.
Paradise Lost: The Chlid Murders in Robin Hill Woods (1996)/Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2001)
In 1993, three young men were murdered and maimed in West Memphis, Arkansas Creek. Three local teenage outcasts were singled out for the crime and allegedly killed the three children in some sort of satanic ritual. The interviews with the relatives of the victims are painful, but equally painful are the interviews with the defendants and their families. The three teenagers (nicknamed the West Memphis Three) say they are innocent and easy targets because they wear dark clothes, are not religious and listen to bands like Metallica. The first documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders in Robin Hood Woods Follow the trial as he interviews those whose lives have been upended by these murders. The sequel, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations catches up with everyone four years after the trial. Whether you think the West Memphis Three are guilty or innocent, you will walk away from these documentaries both enraged and saddened by the collective loss they all feel.
Super Size Me (2004)
Sure, documentarian Morgan Spurlock makes some valid points in this documentary where he only eats McDonald’s for 30 days. If you eat fast food every day, you’ll probably get fat and die a lot sooner than you should. Portion sizes have gotten out of control. Exercise is equally important when it comes to maintaining a fit body. Advertisers are brainwashing our children by using kid-friendly mascots to sell greasy fast food. All this is true. But you know what else is true? every time i look Super Size Me, I’m hungry for a McDonald’s. And maybe once I took a doc break to go find a McDonald’s. Of course, only once. Do not judge!
Walkers (1999)
star trek fans are examined in this highly entertaining documentary. Some only dress up during conventions, while others carry their love of show business into their everyday lives or even into their professions. They show their love for all things Star Trek for all the world to see and they are proud people. It is true that I laughed throughout the documentary, but most of the interviewees seem genuinely happy. Are they just a bunch of loners who have deluded themselves into a happy existence through star trek? Or are they onto something the rest of us haven’t quite caught on yet? Only time (and maybe space) will tell. if you happen to look hikersthere is a sequel called trekking 2. Although not quite as good as the first, some of the original Trekkies are revisited and talk about how their lives have changed since the first movie.