Waiting for Guffman...?

"Waiting for Guffman" is most likely Christopher Guest’s best creation to that I know about. Not only is this a satirical documentary, it is rather attention seizing. It features a man who is appropriately named Corky St. Clair, who is a director from the New York City who seems to be very out of place in Blaine, Missouri. His brilliant thoughts are too much for the little town, but above all he is totally adored. Corky is a very quirky guy, (shown in this clip, especially because of his outfit, Corky St. Clair), who takes role in leading the town’s people in preforming a musical play about the sesquicentennial founding of Blaine.

This clip shows how all of the players wanting to be in Corky's new production all live in a their own little lala land. Ron and Sheila Albertson are travel agents with some sort of acting experience. 

Libby Mae Brown works in the Dairy Queen, but her ambition is to be a well-known star and even the local dentist, Dr. Allan Pearl, has an ambition to become a performer.

One day, Corky receives a letter from Mr. Mort Guffman, a Broadway enthusiast who is interested in the show that is happening. HE announces that he is going to come and see it and all of Blaine gets excited and Corky believes that they might have the chance to go to Broadway. But will the town be forever waiting for Guffman?

How to die in Oregon

In today’s world, suicide is considered the wrong choice in one’s life. Many people who are against the notion of suicide believe that there is a negative connotation that suicidal people are most likely selfish and depressed, who are giving up on life. In my view I believe that suicide is an unfortunate personal choice, but it is a personal choice. I do think it is different though when one is willing to choose to die through the Death with Dignity Act. This Oregon law allows people who are suffering great pain from a terminal disease to have the choice to end their life with moral dignity via medication from a doctor. 

This is a rather emotional documentary that opens up with a scene that shows and old man drinking a liquid barbiturate, Seconal, which sedates him quickly into a coma and then into death. Showing this on screen is quite sensitive to some, especially because most of the people featured throughout the film die before it ends. I only see their presence as different examples to represent the sides of the issue.

The film mainly follows a single woman, 54-year-old Cody Curtis, as she plans for death with dignity after being diagnosed with only six months left to live as a result of liver cancer. Richardson also films another cancer patient who does not believe in Death with Dignity, especially when it appears that certain insurance companies and the government may recommend or encourage it because it will save them the money that would go towards treatment. All in all, it is a controversial topic that is addressed sufficiently and respectably, which causes the audience to influence awareness.

King Corn

When I first heard that this documentary was about corn, I thought to myself “oh brother, here’s another one of those monotonous dialog containing films. The second thing that crossed my mind was how on Earth people could make an hour and half film about the crop that shaped America, (physically and economically). In my opinion, Family Guy conveyed the message of corn very accurately in this side scene.

I had no clue that of all things, that corn would be as important as it actually is. There is even a nationally recognized Corn Palace  located in Mitchell, South Dakota. Visit it here at: http://www.cornpalace.org/

The building itself is very intriguing because the outside façade is entirely made of corn husks, and as a matter of fact I have been there.

One of my favorite quotes from the documentary was when it was mentioned that this is the first generation to have the possibility to not out live our parents. I think that is sad because it is solely based on the American diet, which is completely filled with high-fructose corn stuff. If Americans were more aware of their diet, then maybe the rates of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity will slim down. Another quote that that interested me was towards the end when it was said that: “we live in a generation that maybe has too much.” Then, the next clip was perfectly portrayed when it showed the mountainous pile of corn kernels. Just imagine how many people one of those piles/silos of corn could feed.

Catastrophic Cove

All I have to say about this documentary is wow. This documentary film crucially analyzes and questions the ways and morals of Japan's mass dolphin harvesting. Throughout the film, a well noted dolphin activist, Ric O'Barry, attempts to frame and capture the notorious actions that the Japanese fishermen are doing. As well as trying to protect the dolphins and free them, Ric O'Barry also does a very adequate job of educating the public on mercury poisoning that resides in the meat and highlighting the potential hazards that can occur.

This film is obviously is told from the ocean conservationists point of view, solely because he wants to illuminate what is going on the island of Taiji. He notes that the dolphin drive that is going on now accounts for over 23,000 dolphins being harvested each year, which is several times greater than the whaling industry that happened in the Arctic. It saddened me to find out about how these Japanese fishermen tortured and herded these dolphins, abusing them as if they were not alive. The scene that really grabbed my attention was when the female marine biologist was observing the dolphins within the cove and she spotted a certain one. This certain dolphin was swimming on top of the water, desperately trying to escape. Rather than escaping, it soon bled out from all of the spear wounds and sadly never came to the surface again.

Although this film has seem to cause a plethora of controversy, I believe that this documentary does a profound job at showing the "real and humane" side of things, as well as exposing the Japanese people for their inexcusable actions. The secret filming that went on showed that many of these island inhabitants did not want the rest of the world to know what they are doing and how, because ironically, they knew it was very wrong and that they would get shut down by the government.

I believe that Ric O'Barry was doing the right thing in protecting these intelligent creatures and I congratulate his courage for going against the Japanese people with such gusto. In any situation he could have been hurt or killed, yet he trifled on and continued to act on what he believed. In this clip here, it shows how dedicated these activists were in saving these creatures. All in all, this film was very interesting and it shined a light on a topic that a majority of  the world doesn't even know about. I guess the most shocking thing besides the cruelty towards these dolphins, was the fact that other Japanese islanders did not have a clue about what was happening or how their dolphin meat came to be.

Manufactured Landscapes

I honestly had no idea what to expect when I started watching this documentary. I thought it was going to be like An Inconvenient Truth and be boring, but it was not. I was really amazed how Edward Burtynsky could present the information that he wanted to bring forth. His pictures and the lectures that accompany them do a very unique job of portraying how humans are slowly destroying the landscape. With the continuation of the advancement in technology, it is pretty evident that large scale human activity is drastically altering Mother Nature as well as human life. One example that mainly stuck out in my mind was the Three Gorges Dam. I feel as if the input of work that was originally put into it was more damaging than beneficial. Yeah it produced a massive amount of power, but by changing the flow of the Yangtze River it also caused wasters to go astray and flood over a million people out of a living. I was also awed at the fact that the workers and civilians were deconstructing their own buildings for raw materials to further the production of the "World's largest dam." It amazes me what lengths a culture would go to through sacrifice in order too maintain a living/construction of large engineering master piece. Also, in this trailer link it shows the fast paced and monotonous job of an average Chinese worker. The fact that these people can preform the same task day after day after day blows my mind. Besides the intensity of it, I was also thinking about if I had to work in such environment. I would be so overwhelmed I would faint. All in all though I do thoroughly believe that the human ways need to be changed in order to protect our Earth. All of these non natural disasters are really taking a toll on the Earth, which inevitably will come back to haunt us.

¡¡ Koyannisqati !!

The feelings I had regarding this documentary are quite out of the ordinary. At first, I was very confused on what was happening. All of the slow motion cloud movements and barren landscape footage took me off guard because I was trying to figure out what Godfrey Reggio was trying to convey to me. Then it hit me. It was neither the bizarre time lapses nor the unique film shooting venues but the juxtaposition of Phillip Glass's music. The music provided a very in depth tone that made me think about the true beauty behind the footage being shown. Without the use of the music, I probably would not have sat through the entirety of the film. The music was essentially the only thing that kept me hooked on the documentary, solely because of the dramatic effects it caused. The use of this intense orchestral music made everything seem so much more intense than it really was. I really enjoyed watching these scenes: the nuclear explosions. The use of the booming music accompanying the nuclear explosions made it seem like a much more passionate montage. The fact that it did not have any diction simply made it a challenge for the viewer to figure out the true meaning behind the film. I really do not know the true meaning behind the film, but I exclusively tend to believe that it was to recognize the true beauty behind nature by thoroughly examining it through the lenses of a slow motion camera.

Grizzly Man Before and After

Original Paragraph

 

Many questions arise with regard to Timothy’s mental condition, especially because he was so adamant about protecting a species that really did not need the protection. He had the motives to try and persuade the nation and expose the true nature of these creatures but failed because of his final outcome. His eccentric personality was recognized by Herzog which he used to convince the viewers that he had a symbolic relationship with the bears. The symbolisms of the relationships he had with the animals can be described as unusual because of his clingy and over-attached attitude.  It was once mentioned that Timothy would be more satisfied in life if he was an actual bear. He believed he would be happier in life if he could be physically be morphed into one. His personal connections led Timothy to believe that he was invincible around them. The invincibility that Treadwell claimed he had around the bears can be noted as unscientific because he was living on the edge of death and testing his luck in The Grizzly Maze. Over the countless amounts of hours that were originally recorded, Herzog masterfully configured a film that psychologically exposes Timothy’s manic side.

 Revised Paragraph

As a viewer, questions arose regarding Timothy’s mental stability, especially because he was incredibly adamant about protecting these aggressive animals. His wild motives were ineffective in trying to unveil the true nature of these creatures to the nation, but sadly his life was abruptly ended. Timothy’s eccentric personality stuck out to Herzog, who used it to convince viewers that Timothy had a symbolic relationship amongst the bears. The symbolic relationships he had with the animals came across as unusual slightly due to his clingy and over-attached attitude. It was once mentioned that Timothy desired to be a bear. He believed that he would have more satisfaction in life if he could physically be morphed into one. His personal connections to the bears led Timothy to think that he was invincible in their presence. The sense of invincibility that Timothy acknowledged was definitely out of the ordinary since he was living on the edge of death by testing his luck in the Grizzly Maze. After inspecting the countless hours of footage, Herzog masterfully configured a film that psychologically hones in on Timothy’s manic side.