Documentaries

Documentaries!

When they're done well, they're done very well.

Monday

Talhotblond: This it the true story of an Internet love triangle that takes place entirely online. Lies lead to murder in real life, as a teenage vixen (screen name 'talhotblond') lures men into her web. Revealing a shocking true crime story that shows the Internet's power to unleash our most dangerous fantasies.

This originally aired on MSNBC as a one hour special, but there's a longer unrated (or at least higher rated) version of this available soon. It's completely engrossing. The "cast" is amazing. I highly recommend this one.

Tuesday

WalMart: The High Cost of Low Prices: A look at the impact of the retail giant on local communities.

I didn't think I could hate Wal-Mart more than I already did. I was wrong.

Wednesday

Planet Earth: If you haven't seen this yet, you've been living under a rock. It's beautiful.

Thursday

When the Levees Broke: Spike Lee commemorates the people of New Orleans with a four-hour epic documentary that not only recounts the events of late August 2005 but asks why they unfolded the way they did in the first place. Weaving interviews with news footage and amateur video, Lee uses the film to give meaningful voice to the people who were left behind. With a detached and unsentimental eye, he delivers a poignant account of a major moment in recent U.S. history.

Made for HBO, this is definitely worth seeings. If only because we should never forget, and I was watching TV when Kanye made his infamous "George Bush hates black people" remark.

Friday

This Film is Not Yet Rated: Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence. Interviewees include John Waters, Darren Aronofsky, Maria Bello, Atom Egoyan and more.

As someone in the film industry, this is something every one should know. The ranting system is bunk and corrupt. Watch this to find out why.

Saturday

The Aristocrats: More than 100 funny people (including big stars and lesser-known talents) tell the same raunchy vaudeville joke -- with about 100 different results -- in director-comedian Paul Provenza's outrageously potty-mouthed documentary. Nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the unabashedly uncensored film catches a wide swath of comedians, writers and intellectuals at their casually comic best.

Heh. Heehee. This doc is hilariously wrong. Bob Saget's part is the best. It's basically a doc about the history of one of the oldest, most hilariously digusting jokes in history.

Sunday

Jesus Camp: This riveting Oscar-nominated documentary offers an unfiltered look at a revivalist subculture in which devout Christian youngsters are being primed to deliver the fundamentalist community's religious and political messages. Building an evangelical army of tomorrow, the Kids on Fire summer camp in Devil's Lake, N.D., is dedicated to deepening the preteens' spirituality and sowing the seeds of political activism.

This doc left me angry, sad, and unsettled. Any religion is capable of extremists as this shows. And too often, the fanaticism starts young.