By: Henry J. Fromage –
This week I had a bunch of documentaries to catch up on, plus rewatched a stone cold classic and caught Apple’s latest.
711. Mayday
Apple’s latest straight to streaming blockbuster-type film pairs Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh in an 80s set buddy action comedy in which an American spy plane pilot is rescued after crashing by an ex-KGB America lover (who’s particularly a fan of Top Gun). Director pair John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein show further facility with staging eye-catching action scenes without sacrificing their action bona fides in this familiar yet thoroughly entertaining romp. Three Beers.
712. Everyone is Lying to You for Money
The O.C. actor, but also Economics degree-holder, Ben McKenzie directs and stars in this documentary about his quest to get to the bottom of what Cryptocurrency is doing for the world, exactly- a quest that even led him to the halls of Congress. His conclusion? It’s all a huge scam- yet another way for those with resources and insider information to take money from the eternally hopeful masses. He backs it all up quite well here, mixing an entertaining approach with devastating but perhaps unsurprising in accelerating age of get-rich-quick schemes fact-finding. Two Beers.
713. Turning Point: Generation 9/11
Netflix’s historical documentary series Turning Point already covered the events of 9/11, but returns here to delve deeper into its aftermath. It interviews a wide swath of people affected by that day, many who were too small to remember it or not even born when it happened. This film makes the damning case that many of the wars and much of the politics that have followed were inexorably skewed by this massive blow to the national psyche. Here’s hoping it won’t yet prove a fatal wound. Two Beers.
714. Murder 101
This Amazon documentary series follows Tennessee schoolteacher Alex Campbell as he and his high school sociology class investigate the 40 year old Redhead Murders, an unsolved series of what sure appear to be serial killings that occurred along a highway that passes through their town. As they request public information, try and locate and interview witnesses, and work with police investigators to draw attention to these cold cases, they get sociological lessons aplenty about what kind of lives are treated with value by society, and how we’ve learned to, or are still learning to, put aside prejudices in the search for justice. Two Beers.
715. Untold: Raygun: Breaking Badly
This installment of the Netflix sports documentary series tells the story of Rachel Gunn, better known to the world as Raygun, that Australian breakdancer that became a social media sensation for her undeniably bonkers routine in the Olympics. That level of internet fame isn’t good for anyone, but Gunn’s a refreshingly good sport about it, and it does sound like she more or less did exactly what she set out to do with that performance. A few of the folks around her (but not her perhaps too supportive husband) probably wish they’d had the chance to advise differently, though. Two Beers.
716. Untold: The Testimony of Vince Young
This installment delves into the rise and fall of the preternaturally talented Vince Young, who burst onto the national stage with a legendary NCAA Championship game against the seemingly unbeatable USC Trojans (that team with Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and LenDale White), then was selected 3rd overall the next year by the Tennessee Titans in what we later learn here may have been a pure spite pick. His early success, but then later struggles with confidence and mental health would become headline stories in the years to come. Definitely still some bad blood between him and Jeff Fisher though, eh? Two Beers.
717. Whiplash
My wife suggested revisiting this one, and I’m happy to report it’s every bit as brilliant as when it was a fresh showcase for the talents of Damien Chazelle, Miles Teller, and an absolutely beastly J.K. Simmons as the music teacher from Hell. It’s an almost two hour panic attack that questions what lengths it’s appropriate to go to in order to be great, or to try and make someone great. What a fucking ending, too. A Toast.
