Winter's ApeDonkey: Netflix reviews - 12/28/10

 I have to be honest it took me a lot longer to write this post than usual. Could be the general malaise of the Christmas holidays or it could be that outside of the documentaries there really wasn't a great movie in the bunch. Even the best of them Winter's Bone had a couple great performances but was just a good movie. All the documentaries I've recommended below are good to great and should be seen by anyone who loves to watch docs. So if you're making your list of what to see based on my recomendations and I know you are, start with the docs, move to Winter's Bone then see if you have time to see the rest. If not, you'll be ok.

The Kids are All Right - See it - I hate Mark Ruffalo's face. I don't know what it is about the guy but I can't stand him. Somehow, I was able to get past my anti Ruffalo feelings and enjoy this movie. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore both give good performances. There's nothing truly great about this film but the central plot is interesting enough along with the performances of Moore & Bening make it worth watching.






Winnebago Man - See it - Jack Rebney embodies all that is good in this world. He's angry. He doesn't give a shit and he's got something to say. After watching the Jack Rebney Winnebago outtakes Ben Steinbauer was moved to track down Rebney to find out who this "Angriest Man on Earth" really is. What he finds is a guy who is out of touch with the world and how creations like youtube have turned him into a revered celebrity in some circles.





Exit Through the Gift Shop - See it - I probably switched whether or not I thought Mr. Brain Wash was real probably 20 times over the course of the movie. The fact that the movie was directed by Banksy leads me to believe that it is more of a commentary on the world of art and the artificial art market created through media buzz. Whether it's a real documentary or an elaborate hoax, it's very well done.






The Living Wake - Skip it -Netflix described this movie as an absurdist black comedy. I think a better description is "a steaming pile of shit." I hated every second of it. I added it to my queue because I like Jesse Eisenberg. You let me down Jesse. You really did.








Dealing Dogs - See it - This is a pretty good doc exposing the black market dealings of some very large kennels who are selling dogs for research purposes. The way the dogs are cared for and treated is dispicable and the fact that these kennel owners have created a market where stealing peoples pets at selling them for as little as $15 is worth it makes their existence that much worse.




Winter's Bone - See it - My assessment is great performances by Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes, good movie. I know @bcstagg disagrees with this but then again he's probably never gotten lost while taking a short cut in Arkansas and ended up on the Dolly clan's mountain. I'm more than certain, if I had actually gotten out of my car, I would have ended buried up some holler with hillbilly hump holes drilled in me. Anyway, the movie is worth it for the performances alone.





The Trotsky - See it - I'm a Jay Baruchel fan from his days on Undeclared. He's carved out a niche as a complimentary character actor in movies like Knocked Up and Million Dollar Baby. So it's nice to see him in the lead role of good movie. I was not much of a She's Out of My League fan. Baruchel delivers as Leon a seventeen year old high school student who believes he's the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky. When his wealthy father tries to teach Leon a lesson by making him attend public school, Leon finds a worthy adversary in the dictatorial school principal.




Shadow Company - See it -Interesting doc about how wartime jobs once performed by the military are being farmed out to private armies, security forces and mercenaries. There's a lot of insight provided by actual working "mercenaries" on how they go about choosing jobs, the issues that arise and the moral delimas that go along with their line of work. The doc also does a nice job presenting the history of soldiers for hire and their place in today's world.



Dancing Outlaw - See it - If I told you there was a documentary about a huffing, mountain dancer who will punch a hole in your face if you cook his eggs wrong, is that something you might be interested in?  Yeah I thought so. Jesco White became a legend after this 1991 documentary profile. He and his family are absolute gold in front of the camera. Netflix only carries the sequel so you'll have to do a little work to get the movie but it's well worth it. I was lucky enough to get to see it courtesy of @SeanINCypress and docdaddies.com.