Two Sentence Documentary Reviews

Yesterday, I watched three documentaries and thought I would let you all know what I thought of them.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster: Interesting perspective on steroids and America's attitude toward both the drug and winning/competition. I did not know a great deal of the information presented and was interested to learn new facts about steroids.

Bonus: Learned about the craptasticness that is the supplement industry as well as other kinds of doping among musicians, students, and porn stars.

Side Note: Did people really seriously believe that pro-wrestling was real?

Small Town Gay Bar: Looks at life in a small town in a gay community, focusing the attention on several gay bars in the deep south. Nothing to revolutionary in this one, just interviews with people during which you learn it is, suprise, hard to be gay in a small town in the south.

Bonus: There is a fundamentalist pastor, Fred Phelps, whose extreme statements about Gods feelings on gay people are entertaining...but sad, because people believe them.

Side Note: I wish I had me some drag queen friends, even in rural Mississippi these ladies had a great attitude.

Lake of Fire: Intense yet even handed look at the abortion debate in America containing opinions from a wide variety of people on both sides of the debate. Not for the squimish as the film shows footage/images of actual abortion procedures, fundamentalist propaganda films, crime scene photos of murdered doctors, and images of women who died during illegal "coat hanger" abortion procedures.

Bonus: This is the first documentary I have ever watch that the filmmakers opinion wasn't immediately apparent so I applaud him.

Side Note: I am deeply afraid to live in a country where fundamentalists (of an kind...in this case Catholic and Christian) gain power.

The Dark Knight Part II

Last nights post about The Dark Knight was reactionary to say the least. Not that the feelings have dissipated, by all means, if you haven't seen it yet run to the theater. But, Joe noted that I have not reviewed any films recently and maybe I should put together a review of this one. Unfortunately I am still brimming too full with nerdy pleasure about Batman's latest adventures to write something decent. Instead I have put together a list of the things that I liked about the film and the things that I didn't (of which there are few). I encourage everyone who read this to add their thoughts in the comments and maybe we can start a lively Batman themed discussion.

Things I liked:

• Heath Ledgers performance: The Joker was actually believable and scary, which I never thought could happen. All the little ticks he put into the character, the walk, the voice, all of it amounted to a great villain and a great performance. He made that character his own and will henceforth be the Joker.
  
• The realism: Superhero movies often give up on trying to make us believe that these things could actually happen and instead run with the crazy, colorful world of a comic book. The Dark Knight happens in a believable world that feels real.
• The new Batsuit: I have always thought it was dumb that batman couldn't turn his head.
• The dark story: I don't want to give anything away--so go see it.
• Batman's imperfections: Batman/Bruce Wayne is a normal guy. Not someone with super powers and he is flawed. Unlike Superman, physically he can be beaten and emotional, well, dude has issues. I like that. People aren't perfect and I enjoy seeing movies that deal with the characters emotions and flaws.
• New Rachel: Maggie Gyllenhaal gave Rachel a little more personality than she had in the last movie
• Christian Bale: Really just because I like Christian Bale
• Alfred: Michael Caine's character added some levity to the film.
• Harvey Dent: Good character/preformance to contrast with Batman/Wayne's.
• The special effects: I realized that I didn't notice the CGI
  

Things I didn't like:

• Christian Bale's Batman Voice: I thought it was annoying in the first movie and continue to be annoyed with it this time. I understand that giving Batman a different voice helps cover up his secret identity. I get it. I just don't like it.