Hot Dog Launcher Documentary

This is just a friendly reminder that to get the full Mud Puppy effect, you’re going to want to be plugged into all of my outlets. If you’re not, you’re missing a bunch.

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Filed under: Documentaries, Hot Dogs, Social Media

The Story of Stuff

The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. It exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.

Having recently seen a bunch of related documentaries (Who Killed The Electric Car, Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price, The End of Suburbia) I can tell you that this isn’t a fad. The underbelly of our consumption is a serious problem. Shoot, our consumption is a serious problem.

Watch the whole thing and let me know what you think.

(ht: Missio Dei)

Filed under: Consumerism, Consumption, Documentaries, Economy, Environment, Stewardship, Sustainability

Movie Reviews

I watched a flurry of movies and documentaries over the last month without getting a chance to review them. So instead of the usual treatment, here’s simply the listing, and maybe a word or two of my thoughts…

I Am Legend – Great movie!!

Balls of Fury – I laughed.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets – The new Indiana Jones?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – Not worth the 4 hour commitment.

Water Horse – Excellent family movie.

Bowling For Columbine – Better than Sicko.

Comedian – Jerry Seinfeld is a pro.

Who Killed The Electric Car – Short answer, the oil companies.

The End of Suburbia – Scary documentary.

Murderball – Wow. Inspirational and funny.

Born Into Brothels – Depressing, but inspirational at the same time.

The next three in the Que: 3:10 To Yuma, Walmart: The High Price of Low Cost, and Rescue Dawn

Filed under: Culture, Documentaries, Jerry Seinfeld, Movies, Murderball, Oil, Photography, Reviews, Suburbia, Will Smith

Documentary Reviews

I decided to throw my hat into the documentary arena. I have never rented or watched a single documentary before, and it wasn’t half bad. I think I may have spoiled myself a little by the order I watched these, as they got progressively worse. But I think as a whole it’s been a good experience and I’m looking forward to watching many more.

An Inconvenient Truth — This being my first documentary, I was extremely impressed. The flow and artistry of this film was awesome. It seemed to flaunt the fact that it was done using a mac, so that too was nice. I admit I went in skeptical, but I really enjoyed this documentary. Al Gore may be robotic, but he sure is passionate about this subject, and for that he should be commended. Although you will come out of this thinking that the sky is falling and that we will all die very soon (which I don’t believe), I do think there are some very good points about the direction we are heading on this planet. The only real problem I had with this film is that he spent very very little time on ways we can help solve the problem. Actually, it was mostly during the credits that we received solutions. I would have liked to have seen more discussion on the simple ways we can fix this problem individually.

Helvetica — Let’s say I gave An Inconvenient Truth an A. This one was off the charts. A+++ with bonus points and smiley stickers. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with my profession and passion, and a lot of people wouldn’t find it as appealing or informative, but I can’t wait to get my hands on my own copy. I’m even buying it as a gift for a few people I know. Not much more I can say about this. It’s just a great piece on a classic font. A must watch for designers.

Sicko — I’ve heard so much praise for Michael Moore in the last few years that I fully expected to not agree with him but still be impressed with his presentation. The complete opposite happened. His presentation was terrible, and he was painfully unfunny. However his case for a nationalized health plan was intriguing. I don’t think the idea is something that we should just throw out without putting some serious thought into. Our current health system is a joke, and only makes money when it denies you service. But that part of his film is where his idea falls apart. He goes on in length about how corrupt the government is, yet he thinks it’s a good idea to put our health care in their hands. Not sure that’s as brilliant as he made it out to be.

Jesus Camp — Documentaries like this one display some very real problems within christiandom. The problem is that they only further add to the stereotype and pigeonhole that the rest of us get lumped into. I wish there were some way we could impress upon the rest of the world that people like this, and the church in Westboro, are the extreme exception to those who follow Jesus. But for some reason these people get all the attention. As for the film itself, it was alright. It really didn’t have a direction or a point, other than to show you how crazy these people were.

No End In Sight —  Boooooorrrringgggggg. The war in Iraq was ill-concieved and mismanaged. Yeah? Tell me something we don’t already know. I thought maybe this would uncover some new material or hard hitting facts, but really it just chronicled the war and occupation, and all the missteps along the way. It didn’t get too much into our reasons for going into Iraq. It mainly focused on our lack of preparation for a post-war Iraq. Which is really why we’re still there today—a serious lack of planning. I almost fell asleep during this one. Twice.

Filed under: Al Gore, Culture, Documentaries, Fonts, Global Warming, Health Care, Iraq, Michael Moore, Movies, Reviews, War

Bowling For Documentaries

I figure it’s time to venture into the documentary section of Netflix. I had plans to simply pick five of the big hitters for my next round of reviews, but after rumbling around in their database for awhile I came out with the following nine choices:

1. An Inconvenient Truth
2. Fahrenheit 9/11
3. Bowling For Columbine
4. Sicko
5. Roger & Me
6. Helvetica
7. Who Killed the Electric Car
8. No End in Sight
9. Jesus Camp

Of course now I have to make it an even ten, so I’m stuck choosing one out of the rest. Here are my current top choices.

• Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
• Grizzly Man
• Murderball
• March of the Penguins
• Born Into Brothels

Any suggestions or recommendations? (I’ve already seen Supersize Me.)

Filed under: Al Gore, Culture, Documentaries, Global Warming, Michael Moore, Movies, Netflix, Politics