Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

This is a really unique documentary that kind of fell into the lap of Banksy, the notorious graffiti artist. A very amateur documentarian asks to film graffiti artists who are actually engaged in social commentary and gets caught up in the culture so much that he decides he is an artist as well. What is so remarkable is that the film becomes more about the videographer and his hours and hours of footage and what his art represents than the amazing art we see him trying to emulate.

The Rum Diary (2011)

It's funny because when I remember this film the details blend with the Bond movie Dr No. Hunter S Thompson's (also Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) novel is portrayed with plenty of colourful characters and implausible villains and heroes, but it's fun to watch as there is slapstick comedy, beautiful island culture, and Johnny Depp's ever present surprised look.

Moneyball (2011)

I wasn't drawn to this story initially as it seemed like it was based on a theory book more than actual human pathos. Watched it anyway based on reviews and lauded performances and was pleasantly surprised. Sure there was a human element, but I took away the theory part more than their personal struggles: you can use formulas to make great ball teams out of low cost players whose total is far greater than the sum of each athlete's individual ability.

Bobby Fischer Against the World (2011)

Chess legend Bobby Fischer's rise to the game's crest is tragically undergirded by his own unaddressed mental illness. This documentary juxtaposes Fischer's fame with his perceived antagonism by his handlers, the chess establishment, and ultimately by his own country.

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An Unreasonable Man (2006)

Ralph Nader's independent presidential runs in 2000 and 2004 are regarded by many as having given George W. Bush the elections in both those years because he drew Democrat votes away from the Gore, then Kerry.

This documentary handily lays out the controversies that surround Nader's unwillingness to compromise and support those he shares some values with.

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A Dangerous Method (2011)

A peek into the lives of 19th century psychologists Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud through the lens of one of their patients. The film centres on Jung's desire for professionalism and moral integrity as it is challenged by a masochistic patient who occasionally has psychotic episodes.

The film is a product of Canadian director David Cronenberg whose previous work also focuses on the the mentally disturbed or abnormal. This one seems more grounded in reality and easier to follow than say, Naked Lunch. I'm not sure I agree with his bent on pushing for us to follow our passion so that we can be released (it seems he leaned much more on Freud's side of the debate in the film).

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The Way Back (2010)

I often fear that film interpretations of fact based epics will default towards the emotional rather than take pains to help the viewer enter the pain of the protagonist. The Way Back tackles the incredible trek of gulag escapees from the Soviet north down into northern India. It becomes clear that while they can not spend time on each of the characters, they do not default to a soft retelling. The harsh realities are depicted unfettered by too much orchestral dazzle.

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Deep Water (2006)

Deep Water is such a compassionate account of a cornered man who disgraces himself. This documentary follows a competitor in a solo yacht circumnavigation of the globe back in 1968. It is a gripping story told with passion and balance. Highly recommended.

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Fair Game (2010)

Here is an important movie making personal the effects of overreaching political power, namely the Bush/Cheney administration. Fair Game is the true story of CIA operative Valerie Plame who is outed by the administration when her recommendations are contrary to what the executive branch demands. By publicizing her name, her covert (and noble) operations put in jeopardy and she becomes a target of hawk Republicans.

The film is upsetting on multiple levels, but the most troubling is the fact that Mrs. Plame and her husband are not able to defend themselves in any arena. Top notch acting from Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.

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The Two Escobars (2010)

When I saw the opening credits state that this was an ESPN Film, my hopes dropped. Wow! Was I ever impressed. This documentary chronicles the lives of two of Columbia's most prolific men: Pablo Escobar the drug lord and Andrés Escobar the soccer star and the amazing symbiotic relationship they both had with their nation and each other.

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Blaise Pascal (1972)

As my son is named after this theologian/philosopher/scientist, a work buddy lent me this made for TV bio-pic, now a part of the Criterion Collection. The production is both elaborate in its sets and costumes, and yet quite simple in its script. The film essentially follows Blaise Pascal from his late teens through to his death giving him opportunity to speak some of his writings out loud and with props. There is little story or character development. In fact the setting draws the viewer in most as we are exposed to Catholic politics, scientific rivalries, provincial taxation, and superstitions.

The movie is slow, but full of Pascal's genius, so it's well worth the 2+ hours of view time.

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The Iron Lady (2011)

This film didn't try to accomplish too much by critiquing British Prime Minister Thatcher's policies, laying out her legacy and analyzing the woman herself. Instead it succeeds by focusing on the latter almost exclusively and through the frailty and vulnerability of an old Margaret Thatcher who is battling dementia and recalling her life as one of the most powerful women of the 20th Century and certainly one of the most steadfast British PMs.

Watching the film, you would forget you are watching Meryl Streep as she so boldly portrays such a cultural icon. The Iron Lady doesn't tiptoe around some of Thatcher's controversial decisions either, they just let her tell it as it is. As one who was not a great fan of many of Thatcher's policies, I did gain a appreciation for the love of country and for her sacrifice in public service.

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J. Edgar (2011)

I saw this movie because Clint Eastwood directed and Leonardo DiCaprio starred, not so much because I have a fascination with J. Edgar Hoover. Apparently, critics have disliked the movie for all that it left out of this iconic and powerful figure of the 20th century. My hunch was that the film makers didn't want to overshadow the story of the man with details of the FBI - I was right.

J. Edgar traces a couple strands of the first and long lasting FBI director's life. His relationships with his mother and two very close secretaries combined with his determination to both keep the FBI funded and in his complete control. There are plenty of references to some of the defining events in his career (Lindberg kidnapping, Dr. King, and the communist pogroms), but the focus of the film is his obsessions, indiscretions and desire for defining his own legacy.

An intricate and detailed film with a steady pace and tremendous acting.

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Edvard Munch (1974)

A great skill was used to develop the film I just watched. It paints the portrait of celebrated and groundbreaking 19th century Norwegian artist Edvard Munch - famous for "The Scream." For three hours and forty minutes we survey scenes from Munch's life filmed as though it were a documentary where the characters are aware of the camera. Some characters are interviewed. Munch's diary is read as it was written, in the third person. And a narrator pronounces the chronology.

Beginning in a Protestant Christian home as a part of the middle class in Norway's capital city, Munch is surrounded by death, illness, and a social order that extorts and mistreats the lowest classes and their children. After losing his mother, he emerges into manhood and begins his rebellion with a group of bohemians who challenge every aspect of their culture. It is here that conflict arises between he and his father, but more strikingly it is where the great theme of his life's work begins: the threads that bond men and women together.

The series of failed relationships cast the learning and altogether rejected artist into a class all his own. He depicts the world in swirling colours, faces with pale and sickly complexions, and fades the sensory organs of his subjects where they meet their lovers.

Edvard Munch gains enormous popularity during his life while being lambasted by nearly all art critics across Europe. Pressing through all of this, Munch advances his new art form: visual psychology.

This is a masterpiece, unlike anything I have ever seen.

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127 Hours (2010)

Danny Boyle and James Franco tell the gutwrenching tale of an outdoorsman who is trapped with no prospect of rescue in the remote wilds of Utah. It is a formidable film and the final sequences are stellar!

The film lovingly captures the sacredness of life.

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It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004)

This biopic of legendary DJ Frankie Wilde is wacky and colourful - like it's subject. Thematic elements about this self-indulgent star only serve to contrast his transformation after he goes deaf and is resurrected by the honest love of a caring woman. It's kind of a disturbing start to what becomes a glorious finish.

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Finding Farley (2009)

This is a National Film Board produced documentary about a family retracing famed novelist Farley Mowat's journey's through much of Canada. A couple and their toddler leave Canmore Alberta in a canoe and head east switching up their modes of transportation several times to end up at Farley Mowat's home in Nova Scotia. Along the way they visit several remote settings for Mowat's books.

Finding Farley is a lovely and intimate look at Canada.

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The Social Network (2010)

The Social Network is a hipped up version of Mark Zuckerberg's rapid and ruthless rise to wealth and power as the founder of Facebook. The remarkable thing is that even if you don't care about Facebook or Zuckerberg, the film stands on its feet as an innovative and a supercharged pace narrative about relationships.

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Midnight Express (1978)

Midnight Express is based on the true story of a man who was caught smuggling heroin out of Turkey in the 1970s. From the beginning we are shown that Billy's decision to board a plane with drugs strapped to his body was a clear mistake and not one he made of sound mind pushing us to want clemency for him. The Turkish authorities decide to use him as an example - I guess to keep the drugs in their own country? - and sentence him to over 30 years in prison.

Billy nearly goes insane in the harsh prison conditions and almost loses hope. The film seemed quite balanced in its approach to justice, American patronization, and freedom.

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Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

I can't imagine how long it took to edit this film. Originally intended as a memoir film for a child about his dead father consisting of dozens and dozens of interview with the deceased's friends and family, it becomes a film about a grave injustice and gut wrenching tragedy.

An independent documentarian travels the U.S. and Britain to tape interviews and ends up in Newfoundland where Zachary, the orphaned baby of his murdered best friend is living jointly with his grandparents and mother, is living. Zachary's mother is also accused of murdering the boy's father and is fighting extradition to the U.S.

The emotional impact of the film is huge and you can not end the film without a palpable sense of rage.

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