The Corporation

[Hagbard]

Finally got round to watching this film (there was a thread about it a while ago, see the bottom of the post), brilliant stuff.

Best thing I've seen in ages, yes it was pretty scary but it also had a really positive vibe to what can be done on the whole. A real step up in quality from things like Michael Moores films and super size me etc.

Actually it's good to see Michael Moore coming over well in a film that he didn't direct.. it wasn't cheesy and patronising at all like 'Farenheit 911'... more like a friendlier 'Manufacturing Consent'

http://www.geekroar.com/film/archives/the.corporation.poster.jpg

http://www.thecorporation.com/

I know Tim Exile already posted a thread about this but it had one of those half-foot pongoid posts in it so I didn't want to bring it back to life again, sorry Tim ;)

[penciLneck]

it was great. more good documentaries please.

[nikrem]

duly added to my i love film wants list

[seawolf]

i saw 'hearts and minds' the other day - the documentary about vietnam made in 74. it was amazing. very much like the modern day michael moore-esque docus. but without the patronizing arm round the shoulder style. no voiceover whatsoever that i remember but just edited really well.

[dan gulberry]

This is great. I saw it in Canada, in the cinema, and it was funny to see all the Coke containers people were leaving behind. They obviously didn't want to be seen holding them on the way out. That film must be the bain of lowly cinema staff everywhere. Don't know if it's because Canadians are less inhibited and more vocal but at the end of the film there was cheering and clapping.

The DVD is ace too. Loads of useful extras and interviews etc - 8 hours of stuff!

dg

[Spandex]

I watched it recently too.. really enjoyed it. It's definitely closely related to the book, but not such a complete dupe that it's not worth reading that too. In fact, the film was like a nice digestible reminder of the book.

[Goonie]

Originally posted by penciLneck
it was great. more good documentaries please.

i do think it deserves it's own thread, however I will be kind enough to post it here also.

http://www.americanmovie.com/

[Hagbard]

Another recent one that I've not seen but is supposed to be excellent.. 'Fog of War'..

http://www.sonyclassics.com/fogofwar/

On this side of the Atlantic, Robert McNamara is a name vaguely associated with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, whom he served as Secretary of State for Defence. He remains a much more vivid figure in the US, where a generation quivered in the shadow of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis and later protested when thousands were sent to die in Vietnam. Here, the 85-year-old reflects on a career of conflict — from his involvement in the firebombing of Japan during the Second World War to the Vietnam debacle. The film's title suggests that war is rarely a matter of black and white, and this is reinforced with some remarkable revelations and insights from McNamara. The overall impression — one that some may feel he has carefully constructed — is of a principled man who still believes that on the big issues he was right. Acclaimed film-maker Errol Morris (who won the year's best documentary Oscar for The Fog of War) provides McNamara with a platform and gently teases out some uncomfortable but unavoidably pertinent truths about the way war is waged.

[dan gulberry]

Fog of War - totally recommended. RM is still ultra-lucid - he's in his late eighties as far as I know. He's also sincere in his feelings about the extent of his involvement in the decisions of Johnson and Kennedy during the Vietnam war.

Another doc with another old codger with an amazing memory is "Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary".

Perhaps we should have a docs thread?

dg

[Hagbard]

Former Worldcom boss Bernard Ebbers wept openly as he was sentenced to 25 years in jail for his part in the scandal which brought down the firm.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4680221.stm

He should have got the full 85. Still at least he's likely to never get out.

[TimB]

Good stuff. I hope Ebbers rots.

[tony little]

watched this at the weekend too and thought it was excellent. will pick up the book if there's additional info not covered in the DVD - anyone read it?

[alan_decal]

Anyone seen the documentry about the republican effort to destroy Clinton?
Can't remember what it's called.

Saw "The Yes Men" - not very good. Some nice ideas but I don't think the film did much to represent their work :(

[stinkfinger]

i really like the greekroar.com image at the top of the page.
"stealing bandwidth is for losers"

[Spandex]

Originally posted by tony little
watched this at the weekend too and thought it was excellent. will pick up the book if there's additional info not covered in the DVD - anyone read it?

It goes really well with the film, and some of the interviewees in the film are in the book too, but there's more in the book. I really enjoyed it... very readable, well reasoned etc.

[love_tempo]

Must get hold of the corporation then.

I've seen the Fog of War recently too and I'd recommend it. Although, McNamara may be sincere but I don't think he is always reliable. At least if you talk to people who lived through those periods, they will cast highlight his agenda. He is a politician at heart, after all.

Another decent recent doc was "Capturing the Friedmans."

[dirtyho]

I like Tripping With Zhirinovsky by Pawel Pawlikowski. He's done some other pretty good stuff from what I gather. I've heard mixed reviews about "Detroit - Ruin of a city" by Michael Chanan - people I've spoken to hate the music (Michael Nyman) but I thought it might hold "special interest" for people on this forum.

[penciLneck]

he directed 'my summer of love' - top film.

[dirtyho]

Yeah and "Last Resort" top film too

[love_tempo]

Summer of love was really good, I forgot I even saw that. Great acting by the red-haired freckled girl.

It was great the way she didn't quite follow through all the way at the end. Sorry, I'm being vague so as not to spoil it for anyone.

[penciLneck]

yeah and good old paddy considine,from a room for romeo brass, dead mans shoes. Trying to get hold of 'last resort' at the moment.

[dirtyho]

I'd also recommend "Occupation Dreamland" if you can find it anywhere. I saw it at the Rotterdam Film Festival - the footage is raw, it's not a particularly "cinematic" doco but it's really interesting, being with US soldiers as they do their shit (as you'd expect there's a lot of cynicism from the guys that are actually out there- mostly poor and recruited on the basis of limited job prospects in the US). Here's a link
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0510,halter1,61727,20.html

[dirtyho]

Oh and "Tarnation" is worth a look - not to everyone's tastes (not to mine really). But doing something different - albeit overly long and self-indulgent.

[penciLneck]

Gunner Palace. Interesting although slated for being one-sided.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424129/

[love_tempo]

Wasn't Considine involved in 'In America' too. That looks like a load of paddy-whackery shite.

[dirtyho]

I might make some QT's of the last couple of doco's I worked on and post a link to download if anyone is interested. One is about US ex-pats living in the UK during the election last year. The other is about Polish migrant workers coming to the UK to find work.

[dirtyho]

My friend did the music supervision for "Dead Mans Shoes" - he's never seen the release version and after watching it at Rotterdam I had to tell him they spelt his name wrong in the credits!

[penciLneck]

Originally posted by love_tempo
Wasn't Considine involved in 'In America' too. That looks like a load of paddy-whackery shite.

he was indeed, don't rate him in that though. I like it when he flips out and acts scary.

[dirtyho]

Ah just remembered a couple more - Dog Town & Z-Boys for those interested in skateboarding. And Dark Daysabout people living in subway tunnels in NY

[penciLneck]

Être et avoir was a great little french documentary.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318202/

it was on tv recently about a little village school. thats it.

Went all darkside tho when the teacher wanted some money for the film.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schoolsworldwide/story/0,14062,1315152,00.html

[Hagbard]

Dog Town & Z-Boys is a great film, my girlfriend really enjoyed it too and she couldn't care less about Skateboarding.