7 Films to Love and 1 to Hate for Good Measure

I don't really pay much attention to the Oscars, and I certainly don't make a habit of waking up early to hear the nominees, the moment they are announced, each January. But when I woke up this morning and heard the documentary Blackfish didn't even get a nomination? I was pretty surprised. I believe the term I used in response to a friend's tweet was, "fucking OUTRAGEOUS", but I digress.

Forget the Oscars. I've got my own list of must watch documentaries. And at the very top, of course, is...

Blackfish

The Central Park Five 

Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay

The Stories We Tell

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel

Happy People: A Year in the Taiga

Drew: The Man Behind the Poster

And like every complete list, there's always at least one dud, right? For me that would definitely be Room 237. While the premise of the movie is so good - so very, very good - all the theories of meaning and symbolism around Kubrik's The Shining. What does it all mean? The execution is...lacking. There were too many crackpot stories that didn't amount to much and weren't really that interesting. But what do I know. Apparently it has "generally favorable reviews" and a score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Still, I would have rather watched The Shining one more time than waste those 2 hours that I'll never get back on Room 237. 

Comments

[Jim W]

Yay posting! And it's nice to hear a counterpoint for Room 237. I worry about seeing it having only seen the Shining once.

[Chris]

I love that like two years go by and boom, there you are with a post AND one relevant to me as I am always looking for a good DOC!

Thanks :)

[sprizee]

Jim, I don't think you necessarily need to have seen The Shining a bunch of times to get Room 237. Then again, I think Room 237 is mostly a waste of your time. If you're really interested in the theories there's probably a great wiki article or forum online that can run down all the interesting ones is less than 2 hours. Or go watch other of those documentaries because the rest are all winners and time well spent.

Chris, I know? Time flies when you've had a kid and you work full time and you no longer have the luxury of spending most of your hours staring at your belly button. That said, I have been thinking about blogging more this year. We'll see.