Yeasts of the Southern Wild

When I was a junior in high school, in the Ninth Ward, everybody worked at the Reising Sunrise bakery there,” he says. “My first job, I was just picking up, putting away and cleaning out. But I’d look over at the boys in the bread department, and I’d think to myself, ‘Someday I’m going to be in bread.’”

I posted about Beasts of the Southern Wild back in November of 2012 when it was screened here in Lafayette as a part of the Southern Screen film festival, recommend this movie to my friends, and just recently purchased it so that mother-in-law could watch it while she Jozy-sat for us a few weeks back. It was a pleasant surprise to find this article in the March publication of the Smithsonian magazine, a profile on Dwight Henry, the baker from New Orleans who plays the father in the film. It's a fun little read about his business, his buttermilk drops and the possibilities of his future. Click here to read the article. Road trip anyone?

Here's the trailer for the movie if you have not seen it yet and are interested. Highly recommended.

One Life / Earth Day

As someone who works in the environmental space, I thought that taking the week of Earth Day and choosing a documentary that features the commonality, and really, when it comes down to it, the magical similarities across different species was an appropriate selection for last night. This preview has no spoken words. It pretty much doesn't need any.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

Say what you say plainly, and then take responsibility for it.

Ai Weiwei

The latest documentary in this year's list was Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, a film that explores the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, his work, his message and his impact on Chinese culture. The story is inspirational, his courage is contagious and if you are interested in art of any kind, liberty or the impact of technology on free speech and political and cultural change, this is a movie that you will enjoy without a doubt.

To top it off, following the movie, I made a point to visit some of this work that is currently on display in Washington DC during my last trip up there. Unfortunately, I missed his traveling exhibit by about 1 day...but the pieces I got to see were pretty awesome so I have nothing to really complain about. A couple photos below.

Me and the dragon, one of 12 zodiac heads in his piece Circle of Animals.

His Cube Light

His list of names, all of the children who died in poorly constructed schools as a result of the massive 2008 earthquake that hit Sichuan, China. 

 

Brooklyn Castle

An expiring story that touches on chasing your dreams, the financial crisis and how pressure and competitive environments reveal and shape your character. Check out this documentary about  Intermediate School 318, an inner-city public school in NY that has won more national chess titles than I can count. Another great installment from my 2013 documentary kick.

Budrus

No matter how much I learn about the culture and politics of the Middle East, it just always remains a mystery to me. This film is about non-violent demonstrations which united a people during the early 2000s, conducted by the residents of a Palestinian town called Budrus and eventually included others from around the world, to protest against the building of the Israeli West Bank barrier inside of their village. Why this wall needed to be built through this town is never explained. How the people triumphed in this tale of unity across cultural lines and years of bloodshed is just pure inspiration. With that, I'll let the trailer speak for itself and leave yet another documentary on your doorstep with a highly recommended label.

Boogie Man - The Lee Atwater Story

The latest documentary that made the rounds here is Boogie Man, the story of Lee Atwater, who was an advisor to President Reagan and Bush Snr. He was Karl Rove's mentor and chairman of the RNC. This movie explores Atwater's rise to power, his influence on modern politics, campaigns and the political rhetoric of our times. The movie is not as polished as some other documentaries I have seen recently, but the story and the background you get from watching it overshadow that fact by far. Also, fair warning: it doesn't necessarily paint the Republican party in a positive light be be forewarned if you are of that persuasion and decided to give it a shot. Ebert gave it solid reviews; and it gets solid marks on IMDB as well.

I recommend this for anyone who wants to understand some of the roots that make up the divide we live in today... Dig in and see "how the sausage is made..."

Inside Job

Continuing on the documentary theme, we watched Inside Job this past weekend, a...

...2010 documentary film about the late-2000s financial crisis directed by Charles H. Ferguson. The film is described by Ferguson as being about "the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption." In five parts, the film explores how changes in the policy environment and banking practices helped create the financial crisis.

I don't have much to say about this film that will not include a superlative. It does a remarkable job of making a complex web of financial instruments easy to understand. So easy that after you understand it, and the greed that triggered their creation and manipulation, you are left disturbed, educated and of course, entertained. If you're a lay person and you want to understand how we got to where we are today with the financial crisis, this movie is a must. Trailer below.

Looking for a great book on the subject? Try The Big Short by Michael Lewis.

A Catalan NY Times-Picayune #Longread

I shared this link on Twitter a few days ago but wanted to post it here as well. This movie just seemed especially relevant after watching the 60 Minutes report this past weekend on Sunday on the cutbacks and focus on digital media that has caused an uproar related to the Times-Picayune, established in 1837 (!).

As someone who has refocused my reading on paper based books this past year, I have an emotional attachment to the idea of a newspaper I guess. Although the concept of reading physical paper books is not something I switched back to for simply emotional reasons. And truth be told, when I watched the 60 Minutes story, I found myself reflecting on the fact that paper-print journalism is not the only way to achieve quality journalism...

Anyways, here is an excellent documentary on The New York Times as it grapples with the similar pressures that led to these changes to the Times-Picayune. Highly, highly recommended.

PS:  Semi-related, I find myself wondering sometimes what it says about our attention span as a society that multi-page articles have led to the introduction of the phrase #longreads into our vocabulary. 

PPS: ...and for you soccer fans out there, did you catch the Barca piece on 60 Minutes as well?!? Cool stuff. Ives posted it here in case you missed it. 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Last night my wife and I went to view a screening of a movie called Beasts of the Southern Wild,  Caméra d'Or winner from the  2012 Cannes Film Festival. The film is based on the Louisiana community found on the Isle de Jean Charles, an island of 25 families that lies south of the 72 mile levee designed to protect the coast from erosion.  The movie is not a documentary but rather a poetic almost magical story of a father and daughter and their fight for survival against the elements, the father's struggle with a fatal illness, as well as the fight for the survival of a unique culture and way of life.

I found this movie inspiring, sad, and comical all at the same time. Any film that makes you laugh, cry, and wonder what is real and what is not in about 90 minutes is highly recommended in my book.

The screening was part of the Southern Screen film festival here in Lafayette. Read more about the festival here. 

The Island President

I pretty much stopped watching movies a couple years ago. Not through any deliberate choice but simply as a result of a lack of time after factoring in work, soccer, reading, playing with Jozy, spending time with Carlee and sleep. This past month, I decided to take a crack at renting movies via my iPad, with a focus on documentaries. Tonight I just finished my first and I post it here as a strong recommendation to all of my friends and family: The Island President. I'm kind of thinking I might be adding the Maldives to our list of places to visit in the next few years before it is too late. 

THE ISLAND PRESIDENT—A Documentary By Jon Shenk | Official Trailer from Sawyer Studios on Vimeo.

Invincible

Watched the film Invincible tonight - based on a true story about a long shot for the NFL who gets to play for the Eagles. Pretty good film - feel good and get a little extra football in this weekend.

Read a little more about the real Vince Papale (who the story is based on) here.

#1: Football. #2: Beer. #3: Women.

This looks like a really cool video documentary covering the 2009-2010 Manchester City season. The title to this post is a quote from a fan in the trailer. He follows this priority list with:

"....this is probably why I am single."

Check it out. Worth a few minutes of our time for sure. If you are a Man City hater, then you can unite under the fact that these guys are trying to buy their way to a championship and have failed thus far...but I would imagine that this film is worth it just from getting the chance to have some unique insight into the life of an EPL fan. Check this description out from the Umbro blog which describes the film in more detail:

Rather than a conventional story of the season told through simple match footage, Blue Moon Rising is much more of a blockbuster, following a group of City’s supporters who travel to watch the team home and away in their own converted people carrier they’ve christened Helios. We follow these guys throughout the film, and it’s their commitment (and their eccentricities) that fans of any club will recognise – teaching their children to dislike the colour red, and claiming to vote Conservative simply because of the party’s colour are some of their more outlandish ideas.

August Rush and the IMPACT Repertory Theatre

Watched the movie August Rush tonight. I really enjoyed this movie a lot. I think that being away from home, traveling for work so much makes me more susceptible to sappy movies. Regardless, this portion of the film's score was awesome so I thought I would share it. Enjoy.

This tune from the movie was also really cool (Raise It Up by the IMPACT Repertory Theatre). I like this tune a lot and its different from most music I listen to. This is the IMPACT Repertory Theatre performing the song at the 2008 Oscars.

The Drifter & The Racontuers

This movie looks pretty cool...appeals to the vagabond streak in me. And just went and downloaded The Racontuer song (Carolina Drama) in the trailer. Cool tune.

Drifter Trailer from Poor Specimen on Vimeo.

Funny People Trailer

What's funnier than watching Edtv at midnight? The trailer to Funny People. Both are keeping me up a little too long tonight.

Mark: When my grandfather died, there was one candle next to his bed. And the candle started flickering. We all thought it was him going to Heaven, you know?

Leo: You don't pass through fire to get to Heaven. I think he went to Hell.

Slumdog Millionaire

My wife and I watched Slumdog Millionaire this past weekend and it was absolutely amazing. This could quite possibly be placed on my list of favorite movies of all time and I highly recommend it to all my friends. It is a great drama, mystery, romance, and fantasy story all rolled into one...with a killer soundtrack. Check out the preview below.

And I Want My Scalps: Inglourious Basterds Trailer

New Quentin Tarantino movie trailer - check it out. I have a feeling this one will be a bit gory.

Milk or a White Russian

Drinking a White Russian while watching Milk. Good movie.

Let no man forget how menacing we are

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes - for any film addict or even partial fan of the movies. Prepare for inspiration and some definite chuckles as you watch this montage. via Neatorama

Ha Ha Tonka - St. Nicks on the Fourth in a Fervor

Bluegrass + Southern Rock is always sure to peak my interest so when I heard of Ha Ha Tonka (from the Ozark region of Missouri) I needed to check them out. Lucky that I did, because this tune may become one of my favorite songs pretty quickly. Not only does it rock, but the lyrics are pretty damn good as well.

Lets get one thing straight from the get-go
This glimpse of brilliance is better than a long look at mediocrity