'The Greatest Movie Ever Sold'
FOR: Ad fiends
THINK: 'Super Size Me' meets 'Everyone in Silico'
Hot Docs Screenings and Details
In 2002, Canadian novelist Jim Munroe wrote 'Everyone in Silico,' a post-cyberpunk tome about a mediated future. Taking a cue from his novel, he wrote invoices to corporations mentioned in the book in an attempt to gain funding. For 'The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,' 'Super Size Me's' Morgan Spurlock spins that idea into wild documentarian territory by creating an entire film about his quest for branding, advertising and product placement in his documentary -- essentially creating a documentary about marketing by searching out marketing for the film.
Stay tuned for our review tomorrow.
'Hell and Back Again'
FOR: War aficionados, concerned citizens
THINK: 'Stop-Loss' meets 'The Hurt Locker'
Hot Docs Screenings and Details
Most Iraq War films focus on one or the other -- either the dangerous, overseas world of war, or what it's like for soldiers when they return. Danfung Dennis' award-winning documentary merges the two into an immersive experience that intermingles the disorienting life at home, dealing with the daily minutia of everyday life and the danger of being a Marine in Afghanistan. Dennis was right there for the danger overseas, a custom Steadicam offering up footage that looks like it was shot by the Marines themselves, giving the viewer an intensely personal look into war and war's aftermath.
'Hot Coffee'
FOR: Progressive thinkers eager to dig beyond the spin
THINK: 'Spin City' meets ... 'The Verdict,' 'Michael Clayton,' etc.
Hot Docs Screenings and Details
We all know the story of the woman who sued McDonald's over hot coffee. What many don't know is that this seemingly frivolous lawsuit came after the fast food giant refused to pay the medical costs for the woman's horrifically serious burns and health trauma. Using her story as a jumping point, Susan Saladoff's informative documentary investigates the media spin prompted by companies eager for tort reform, and how key details are left out of the discourse to skew serious lawsuits as frivolous.
'How to Die in Oregon'
FOR: Those interested in the "pro" side of the euthanasia debate
THINK: 'A Woman's Tale' meets 'You Don't Know Jack'
Hot Docs Screenings and Details
In the '90s, Oregon passed a law allowing for physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Peter D. Richardson's documentary doesn't talk as much about the politics of this incendiary topic, but rather about the intimate exploration of the people who make this decision, and what their rationale is. Stunning audiences in the festival circuit, the film kicks off with a gut punch -- how one man slips into a coma and dies after drinking liquid Seconal.
'Limelight'
FOR: Club-goers of the '70s, '80s and '90s
THINK: 'The Last Days of Disco' meets 'Party Animal'
Hot Docs Screenings and Details
When Peter Gatien received a $15,000 settlement in his youth, he didn't waste the money -- instead, he opened a store. That led Gatien to a rock club, and ultimately led the Canadian to a bankrupt nightclub in Florida where the successful Limelight nightspots were born. When Gatien finally hit NYC, he became the man responsible not only for Limelight, but leading clubs like Tunnel, Palladium and Club USA. Filmmaker Billy Corben waxes nostalgic on the era, and how Gatien became the victim of Rudy Giuliani's quest to clean New York, faulty evidence and a whirlwind of drama including club promoter Michael Alig's murder of Angel Melendez.
'Magic Trip'
FOR: Fans of Ken Kesey, LSD and his Merry Pranksters
THINK: 'On the Road' meets 'Dazed and Confused'
Hot Docs Screenings and Details
In the 1960s, author Ken Kesey scored a bus, grabbed his Merry Pranksters friends (including Neal Cassady of 'On the Road' fame), and set off across the country to get high, spread love and attend the World's Fair in New York City. The journey was videotaped, but the footage was never fully compiled, save for hours and days-long screenings with viewers high on acid back in the day. That is, until filmmakers Alison Ellwood and Alex Gibney compiled footage. Equal parts an exploration of the '60s and of Kesey and his Pranksters, 'Magic Trip' remembers the arrival of acid and how it intermingled with mainstream society.
'Project Nim'
FOR: Chimpanzee lovers
THINK: 'Grizzly Man' meets 'MVP: Most Valuable Primate'
Hot Docs Screenings and Details
After winning the Oscar for 'Man on Wire,' James Marsh returns with another highly regarded documentary about a forgotten figure from the '70s. Nim Chimpsky was a chimpanzee who, just days after his birth, was sent to live with humans to see how human they could become if immersed in the same environment. Unfortunately, those humans were, perhaps, the ones in need of careful nurturing as Marsh outlines a cacophony of caretakers who led the chimp through a psychologically damaging human world.
'Wiebo's War'
FOR: Environmentalists and followers of religious extremism
THINK: 'The Village' meets 'Erin Brockovich'
Hot Docs Screenings and Details
Most documentaries about ultra-Christian communities rest solely on the strangeness and zealotry of its subjects. In 'Wiebo's War,' the beliefs are secondary to the more pressing cause -- a large family battling against the oil and gas industry that's harming their lives and livelihood. After recoiling from modern life, two couples built a mini Christian community (much like the basis of 'The Village') to live outside of the pressures of everyday life. But with the discovery of natural gas in their area, the families started suffering -- animals dying, deformed miscarriages, flammable drinking water. Now they're the prime suspects in a series of pipeline bombings that question which side is right and which side is wrong.
Keep up-to-date with all of Moviefone Canada's Hot Docs 2011 coverage
Ben Affleck Matthew Vaughn Miley Cyrus Leonardo DiCaprio Robert Pattinson Vin Diesel Blake Lively
No comments:
Post a Comment