DVD : 4/5 Rating : Baadasssss Cinema - A Bold Look at 70's Blaxploitation Films

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Rotten Tomatoes
IMDB
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Trailer (rottentomatoes.com)
Blue Dot

IMHO REVIEW :
saw this documentary on the IFC channel a few times. it's a great documentary and i'd highly recommend it. it's a look at 70's 'Blaxploitation' films and it's history. it being in the 70's they interview many of the actors / directors / those influenced by the movies of that time.

one highlight of the movie - where and who coined the phrase 'Blaxploitation.' the NAACP - not white middle america, but by The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

DVD : 4/5 Rating : Born Rich

LINKS :
Rotten Tomatoes
IMDB
Wikipedia
Trailer (first 8 minutes - rottentomatoes.com)
Official Website (HBO)
Blue Dot

IHMO REVIEW :
saw this the other day and really enjoyed it. it's a documentary filmed by Jamie Johnson (20 year old heir to Johnson & Johnson), interviewing his friends who are also 'born rich.'

i enjoyed this movie very much because it gave insight to a sub-culture which few ever see (myself included) of people born into wealth and how they handle their lives. it's facinating to see the stuff they have to deal with which most people will never experience.

for example - one heir who was being interviewed told a story of when he turned 18. his parents came to visit him and then gave him a stack of paperwork to sign - one of which was his will. crazy~

what i got from the movie was that these kids who don't have to do anything become one of two things. one - crazy / depressed / don't have any direction or goals in life or two - they find something which gives them purpose / interest / facination. and those who find purpose seem to be better off. i guess that could be said of anyone.

bottom line - BUY / RENT / BORROW - watch it.

DVD : 3/5 Rating : Dave Chappelle's Block Party

LINKS :
Rotten Tomatoes
IMDB
Wikipedia
Trailer (apple.com)
Official Website (Rogue)
Blue Dot

IMHO REVIEW :
just got this today from netflix - watchin it RIGHT NOW! so excited. it's unrated + it has EXTENDED PERFORMANCES!!!! WOOOOOT!!!!

after watching the DVD i was a bit disappointed. the extended performances should have been called 'extended performance.' there was only 1. :( plus the extras (which i had hoped would be additional performance footage) were makings of... and following some peeps who were invited... interesting, but not what i was hoping for.

i was hoping for the full concert! each artist played 5 songs each! there were 9 main performers - that's 9 x 5 = 45 songs!!!! where are they! what were they! doh! why isn't it featured in the DVD / soundtrack???? i would have loved to have this DVD be a 2 DVD set - the first being the movie and the second just cover the concert. :( oh well.

DVD : 2/5 Rating : Paper Clips

LINKS :
Rotten Tomatoes
IMDB
Wikipedia
Trailer (apple.com)
Official Website (Miramax)
Blue Dot

IMHO REVIEW :
just finished watching this... the theme / idea is a great one. the way it was directed / edited is total crap. the first 5 minutes were so aweful i almost turned it off - but i heard good things about it so i powered through it... it got better.

again - the story, the people everything about the movie is great except for the way it was shot, edited and the good aweful soundtrack. i would give it a higher rating if not for those items i mentioned.

the project happened from 1998 - 2001.

here's what amazon.com had to say bout it : Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee is the setting for this documentary about an extraordinary experiment in Holocaust education. Struggling to grasp the concept of six-million Holocaust victims, the students decide to collect six-million paper clips to better understand the extent of this crime against humanity. The film details how the students met Holocaust survivors from around the world and how the experience transformed them and their community.

DVD : 5/5 Rating : Favela Rising

LINKS :
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Wikipedia
Trailer (Official Website)
Official Website (Think Film / HBO)
Blue Dot

IHMO REVIEW :
just watched this movie last night - don't let the trailer fool you, it's not about a documentary on a band or music genre that came out of Rio de Janerio. it's a story about a cultural movement that sprang from 'Favela' (Brazilian slum).

the reason i'm giving this a 5 star is because i think everyone should see this movie - but beforwarned - it has graphic images and knowing that all the footage is real - gives you pause.

the beginning of the documentary sets up what kind of place a favela is - a slum with druglords and 'outlaws' - and how the police are nothing more then another gang. a journalist state - "if the druglords are making all this money - why is there no millionaire druglords? it's because the police takes the money, sells them the guns and drugs."

4 cops are killed - in retaliation the cops kill 21 people in the favela - the movie states that these 21 people were random people who had nothing to do with the druglords / outlaws. one of the 21 people killed is the brother of 'Anderson.' - the main focus of this movie.

the reason i think everyone should watch this is because the movie had me at the edge of my seat - knowing that everythign is real and not knowing if these people would die. i was angry with what i was seeing - and yet these people living it daily sought a nonviolent outlet.

BE SURE TO WATCH THE EXTRAS - ESPECIALLY THE MAKINGS OF.

DVD : 2/5 Rating : Word Wars

LINKS :
Rotten Tomatoes
IMDB
Trailer (official website)
Official Website
Blue Dot

IMHO REVIEW :
saw this documentary on scrabble and four people via-ing for WORLD SCRABBLE CHAMPIOOOOON! mainly got this sucer cause it seemed interesting + saw a few dots from friends about a book called 'word freak' which is a book about the competitive scrabble world.

the documentary follows four people who are ranked within the top 25 and follows them for 9 months leading up to the wold championship. it's fairly interesting - but i think it hurt that i had talked to my friends about some of the crazy stuff that these people do - so when the documentary exposed their lifestyle i was kinda like - yeah... i knew that already.

it also felt like they excluded a lot of random gems to make the story arc. i say this cause in the bonus section they have random footage which they didn't use - which are humorous. i.e. interviewing two older ladies. when asked what one gave up - she states - i gave up sex. it's the best thing i ever did. lol.

if you know nothing about the world of competitive scrabble then you'll enjoy this documentary - but if you know a wee bout it then you'll be left with just the story arc - which isn't too exciting. the peeps they followed doesn't have much charisma i felt and didn't really care who won or lost.