Fun in -10

It's the darkest, most stressful time of the year. But many of the most fun films ever made take place at Christmas. Movies like Die Hard, Gremlins, Lethal Weapon and Silent Night, Deadly Night. So I figured it would be suitable to take a look at some of the films meant to be fun released this year. Now, I will do a best of the year list nearer to the end of this year (after all, there's still about 5 % of the year left). This post will feature some action movies that we watch just for fun. They aren't probably good enough to get to my end-of-the-year list, but I can still rate them by their funness, right?

The A-Team
Director: Joe Carnahan

The A-Team (c) 2010 20th Century Fox

First stop is the film version of the TV series about a crack commando unit I used to watch every sunday morning on reruns. Despite this, I never had any idea what was the crime our heroes didn't commit, but were accused of, which made them survive as soldiers of fortune. Not surprisingly, this remake is all about that subject, as it tells the orgin of (cue machine gun shots) ...The A-Team. And I still couldn't care less about the plot. The film's strengths are the same as the series': Charismatic lead actors and stupidly complicated plans to accomplish everything. And of course, as is suitable for a summer blockbuster, a bunch of stuff blowing up.

I suppose the morale of the story is that military should be privatized and bureaucratic ladders cut down. But one can also see why Mr T refused to have anything to do with the film. In the series, the character he used to play, B.A. Baracus, is a sworn pacifist. I don't think the A-Team ever actually killed anyone, even though they are soldiers of fortune. In the movie, much of the running time this same status quo is kept. But before the finale, Liam Neeson gives Baracus (played by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson") an idealistic speech about how one must be prepared to fight for what's right, and quotes Gandhi as saying this. As the film takes place after USA has withdrawn its troops from Iraq, the message coudn't probably be clearer.

Fun: ★★★★
Film: ★★★

Iron Man 2
Director: Jon Favreau



I might be more forgiving to this film if they would've kept this awesome opening scene instead of the Spider-Man and Se7en copying vengeance montage there is in its place.

I had high hopes for Iron Man 2, as I think its predecessor was one of the funnest action films of the Naughties and could balance between light-hearted humour and massive explosions pretty niftly. It was all carried by it's boyish charm. the sequel promised more of everything, but bigger, as they usually do. And while everything seems to be OK on the surface - dialogue's still good, action is kick-ass, soundrack has AC/DC and The Clash on it - there is something amiss in the film.

It might be because the sequel tries to juggle so many stuff at once. There's Tony Stark's vunerability to his battle suit, which brings him ever closer to death and alcoholism. There's his quarrels with the US Military over the ownership of his technology and with a rival arms manufacturer Sam Rockwell (who is excellent as a puny douchebag). There's a vengeful character from his father's past (Mickey Rourke), who seems to have a one-up in creating battlesuit technology. There's his relationship with his assistant Gwyneth Palthrow, and him making her a new CEO of his company so he can deal with all the shit mentioned above. And finally, there is some pointless bullshit about the secret SHIELD organization testing Stark for the Avengers initiative to connect the film to the upcoming Avengers blockbuster. Iron Man is one of the rare superhero films where I'd rather watch the man behind the mask than the actual superhero himself. There is actually pretty little Iron Man action in the film. And two times out of three it's all very good. But the end fight feels a little anticlimatic, just like last time. It's a little worrying, since director Jon Favreau is no Pixar genius. Does he actually have any more tricks up his sleeve for the third part?

Fun: ★★★
Film: ★★★

Machete
Directors: Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis



Ah, I've waited long to see Machete. And had such bad luck doing so. When the Night Visions-prize winning mexploitation finally rolled on the screen, my expectations were as high as Cheech Marin on his glory days. And I was let down, even though the film isn't exactly bad.

Like Iron Man 2, Machete has had to cram way too much stuff into it. Everything that was in the Grindhouse fake trailer has to be there, as well as meaty enough roles for every one of the impressive ensemble cast. Even though this is the first film where Danny Trejo's starring, he still feels like a bit-part player. But he does deliver. I was surprised to notice that Machete the character actually isn't depicted as the sharpest tool in the shed. But then again, he gets double-crossed so often, and seems to always aim to look good killing, rather than efficient, that he is bound to be. Also entertaining after way too long are Robert DeNiro, Don Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and Steven Seagal, who finally got a role insane enough for him. Yet the anti-US border politics threads are way too hardhandedly delivered for a ridiculous exploitation flick and some of the battle scenes, particularly the one in the end, are too sloppily directed. There are some fun scenes not featured on the trailer (like the one featuring a turkey thermometer), but not nearly enough. I would've been happier with just the trailer, yet it's clear other people enjoy this more, so it's good that it got made after all.

Fun: ★★★★ for newcomers, ★★ for people who have seen Grindhouse
Film: ★★★

Predators
Director: Nimród Antal

Predators (c) 2010 Troublemaker Studios

So Robert Rodriguez didn't even direct Machete alone. Is he too busy or what? Unlike the old times where he released one action film and one kids' film per year, he brought us two action films this year. And the first one he didn't even direct, just produced and helped to write.

I am a Predator apologist. I think the first film in the series is one of the best action films ever made and I enjoy the hell out of the batshit insane Predator 2. The experience of watching AvP films was softened a little because they had Predators in them. But somehow, I didn't expect that much from this film. And unlike Machete, it managed to take me by surprise. It was quite good!

In a nod to the first film, the action takes place in an actual jungle once again. This time, the soldiers have been specifically brought there to be hunted down. By evil pussy-faced aliens. There is a nice international variety to the fighters this time around, and they react in a different way on all the slaughter going on around them. The Predators themselves are kept mostly at shadows. We don't learn much new about them we didn't already know and maybe this is for the best. Some characters are better when left a little mysterious.

Predators isn't still anywhere near the goodness of the first film. The characters are too heavily archetypical to become anywhere near more interesting than the dogmeat they are. In the first Predator, this was accomplished with very little dialogue and just short scenes. I would've also hoped some more (or at least some) humour in the film too. It's nice that the Predators are taken seriously, but the first one had the best macho bullshit ever written and this one only raises a smile when the action gets insane enough. Make wittier dialogue! Machete had some good quotes, at least.

Fun: ★★★★
Film: ★★★ 1/2

Piranha 3D
Director: Alexandre Aja

Piranha 3D (c) 2010 Dimension Films

And last, we come to probably the funnest of them all. For once, this is true exploitation instead of something trying hard to be. This is seen also on the decision to convert the film in post-production to 3D, which is a cheap gimmick which allows the producers to raise ticket prices. But I digress.

Piranha 3D is an unashamedly chauvinistic film. The first half shows big-breasted ditz's and moronic douches party out at a lake and the latter half shows them being ripped to sheds by prehistoric fishes as well as various accidents caused by mass panic. Unlike with action films, with horror I like the fact that the more ridiculous the premise is, the straighter it must be played. And Piranha manages to balance just right on the line between goofy and obnoxiously self-aware. Aja as a talented horror-director even manages to create one scene with actual suspense, even though to call the characters two-dimensional would be an insult to the Pong bats.

Returning to the previous rant, the biggest fault of the movie is the crappy 3D, which is probably the worst I've ever seen. Mostly the just looks like ViewMaster slides, with flat characters lined in different depths. but occasionally it gets a lot worse, as objects are sloppily cut and their outlines exist in two different dimensions at the same time. Even the supposedly flat lake seems as round as the whirlpool from the opening scene never left. Even though I enjoyed the film, I'll probably think twice before wasting my hard-earned money on another 3D film converted in post-production.

Piranha: ★★★★
3D: ★

Leslie Nielsen - the man, the myth, the movies (or: A Dangerous Assignment)

Drebin: A good cop - needlessly cut down by some cowardly hoodlums.
Ed: That's no way for a man to die.
Drebin: No... you're right, Ed. A parachute not opening... that's a way to die. Getting caught in the gears of a combine... having your nuts bit off by a Laplander, that's the way I wanna go!

Last week had about the worst possible beginning as I heard my long-time hero Leslie Nielsen had passed away, aged 84. Goodyear? - No, the worst. But, at least that gives me an excuse to take a look back at some of his earlier films which I hadn't seen and of course remember some of the quotes and classic scenes from his classic films. You can read my appreciation for Forbidden Planet here.


The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Directors: Ronald Neame and Irwin Allen


This one is notable also because its director Neame has also recently passed away. He was in the ripe old age of 99 when he died. The film is about a capsizing cruise liner, as you may well know. Nielsen plays the ship's captain, who has a habit of answering various Bat-phones with blinking red lights around the ship. As a stock character, he is the one official getting worried about a threat, and when he tells some higher officials about it, they in their greed ignore his warnings. Nielsen's deadpan delivery of ridiculous lines would serve him well later on in the ZAZ movie Airplane!

Otherwise, it's the typical 70's catastrophy movie, with a lot of people falling to their deaths for two hours. It also has an ensemble cast worth dying for delivering cheesy lines as hammy as possible. A proper sandwich for a movie, then. As usual, if there is one character one would wish to die painfully and as early as possible, it's the annoying kid. Too little Nielsen, too much of this snot-nosed brat.

The Captain (Nielsen): It... seems to be building up to those shallows. By the way, Happy New Year.

★★ 1/2

Project: Kill (1976)
Director: William Girdler


Amazing title for a movie. This is the sort of film especially the later Nielsen parodies used to spoof, but without any jokes whatsoever. It is played as straight as can be. The hard-as-a-rock sergeant Nielsen escapes from an army base which plans to assassinate assassins or some shit and thus brainwash soldiers to do their bidding. It may seem like a good laugh from the premise, but mostly it's just dull, dull, dull. Still, it did have this scene:



★★

Prom Night (1980)
Director: Paul Lynch

Nielsen was advertized as the lead actor in this cheap Halloween ripoff, yet he is a long way from Donald Pleasance - he only appears in two unimportant scenes! He plays the mourn-stricken father of a long-since dead child and is OK in his role, I guess. Otherwise the film isn't very good at all, even though the opening scene with taunting children is suitably creepy and horrific. The attempts to create a threatening athmosphere just make the long wait for the carnage an even longer one, and for gorehounds there isn't enough tits and blood. The ending saves a little, but not much.

★★

Airplane! (1980)
Directors: Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker

Dr. Rumack (Nielsen): Can you fly this plane, and land it?
Ted Striker: Surely you can't be serious.
Dr. Rumack: I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.

And thus, Leslie Nielsen reinvents himself. It's funny that some of his most hilarious lines were actually from the film Zero Hour! of which Airplane! was a comedic remake of. Lines, like:

Dr. Rumack: The life of everyone on board depends upon just one thing: finding someone back there who can not only fly this plane, but who didn't have fish for dinner.

The role of Rumack is one of the most serious in Nielsen's comedic career. There are no goofy faces, no embarrasing situations. Just saying the most stupid possible lines with as straight a face as possible. Nielsen is still just a part of an ensemble cast, but as there is in fact no difference in his acting here, and say, The Poseidon Adventure, he stands up well on his own. The fact that he gets some of the most famous lines and funniest skits doesn't hurt, either.



Dr. Rumack: What was it we had for dinner tonight?
Elaine: Well, we had a choice of steak or fish.
Rumack: Yes, yes, I remember, I had lasagna.

Dr. Rumack: You'd better tell the Captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.
Elaine: A hospital? What is it?
Dr. Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now.

★★★★

Creepshow (1982)
Director: George A. Romero



A friend of mine always keeps reminding how shocked he was to find that the Nielsen-starring sequence of this film isn't at all funny - at least in the patented ZAZ -way. Nielsen plays a jealous husband set to have his vengeance on his wife and her lover Ted Danson. The smirking sleazebag buries them in sand and watches the videos of them drowning back home. Nielsen may be overplaying, but it's exactly the style which fits this over-the-top tribute to the EC comics of the old days. The fact that his character may make a fan of his comedies uneasy just tells how good he has done both his goofball roles as well as this role here.

★★★ 1/2

Police Squad!, The Naked Gun Trilogy (1982-1994)

As well as Chaplin had with The Tramp and Peter Sellers had with Inspector Clouseau, Nielsen found his signature role in Lt. Frank Drebin. And created one of the greatest comedy characters there has ever been. Like Clouseau before him, Drebin is completely insane and unaware of scale of the destruction he causes around him. Unlike Clouseau, however (and hilariously), the outside world doesn't treat him as the menace he is, save for commissioner Annabelle Bumford.

Bumford: Do you realize that because of you this city has been overrun by baboons?
Drebin: Well... isn't that the fault of the voters?
- The Naked Gun 2 1/2 - The Smell of Fear

It all started at the Police Squad TV-series which represented the ZAZ comedy at its peak. The serialized police series was as much done to death for being ripe for satirizing as the catastrophy genre before it. And the Zuckers sure had it. The series boasted on inspired running gags, great dialogue ("Sergeant, take her away and book her." "Sergeant Takeheraway, Sergeant Booker.") and the likes of Joe Dante and John Landis directing episodes. But the heart and soul of the series was Nielsen's wonderfully straight-faced cop Frank Drebin. If most of Drebin's hilariousness comes from Nielsen's poker face, the scene where he goes undercover as a stand up comedian is pretty funny itself. Unfortunatelly I couldn't find the clip on YouTube, but suffice to say Drebin adopts a sleazy entertainer-persona and tells the lamest jokes - yet makes everyone in the room howling with laughter. A goofy parodying of the fact undercover cops are always perfect when they have to act their part - or meta-level jokemaking on the fact of how we laugh at Nielsen the straight-faced actor in increasingly loony situations? Can't it be both? Police Squad also gave us things like these:



Drebin: We're sorry to bother you at a time like this, Mrs. Twice. We would have come earlier, but your husband wasn't dead then.

Drebin: Ed and I drove around for hours for no particular reason. We came up empty.

Veronica: Say, that was nice work. You took a big chance doing that.
Drebin: Well, you take a chance getting up in the morning, crossing the street, or sticking your face in a fan.

Ratings-wise the show was somehow a complete bomb, which is a shame because the world was gifted a mere six episodes. Yet the world of Police Squad! with its bumbling policemen and moronic cop-show logic was so perfectly formed that it could be transferred straight to cinema screens.



I still don't think I've ever laughed as much as when I first saw The Naked Gun. I was a small kid who had never seen a comedy with raunchy humour. And here was an old uncle-like policeman who forgot to take off his microphone and farted in the bathroom. The instant love for Nielsen as well as the whole ZAZ humour was sealed by one scene, which I still think is the funniest in the whole motion picture history:



Ludwig: Drebin!
Jane: Frank!
Drebin: You're both right.

Drebin: I've finally found someone I can love - a good, clean love... without utensils.

Drebin: The attempt on Nordberg's life left me shaken and disturbed, and all the questions kept coming up over and over again, like bubbles in a case of club soda. Who was this character in the hospital? And why was he trying to kill Nordberg? And for whom? Did Ludwig lie to me? I didn't have any proof, but somehow, I didn't entirely trust him either. Why was the 'I Luv You' not listed in Ludwig's records? And if it was, did he know about it? And if he didn't, who did? And where the hell was I?

The first Naked Gun is the most plot-heavy of the trilogy, taking about the most clichéd cop-movie plot there is and turning it to a gag-parade. It just wouldn't work without Nielsen's perfect delivery of stupid lines, aside from the moronic faces he occasionally makes. See the scene where he first meets the queen for details. The second one is nearly as good, but it also contains a bitter political analysis of the era of the first Bush in the White House.

Baggett: What's that smell?
Drebin: Oh, that would be me. I've been swimming in raw sewage. I love it!

Drebin: Oh, it's all right. I'm sure that we can handle this situation maturely, just like the responsible adults that we are. Isn't that right, Mr... Poopy Pants?

Drebin: I'm sorry I can't be more optimistic, Doctor, but we've got a long road ahead of us. It's like having sex. It's a painstaking and arduous task that seems to go on and on forever, and just when you think things are going your way, nothing happens.

...and of course there are plenty of poop-jokes and below-the-navel-gazing. The last one in the trilogy has its moments, which at best are still brilliant (the opening scene with the disgrunteled mailmen and the film parodies at the Oscar gala), but it depends a little too much in movie-parodying and celebrity cameos to be a coherent one. In fact, it is starting to resemble the parody films of the Naughties. Nielsen's delivery, however, is still pretty much perfect.



Police Squad: ★★★★★
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! ★★★★★
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear ★★★★
The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult ★★★

Wrongfully Accused (1998)
Director: Pat Proft



The best of the parody films Nielsen made without Zuckers. Director-writer Pat Proft of course has been an asset to numerous films by the ZAZ team, so no worries there. This one targets mostly films like The Fugitive and The Usual Suspects - a fact of which I was not aware of when I first saw this as a preteen. Although the movie-parodies carry the plot, there are still plenty of good lines and silly slapstick to make it an enjoyable experience. I would've liked to say the same about Spy Hard, but after rewatching it recently and finding out that the Dynamic Duo of the Death of All Comedy are writers behind it (I'm not going to name any names. Look them up at IMDb if you must), some good will towards that movie is gone. Even if it has the I <3 style="font-style: italic;">Ryan Harrison (Nielsen): Your dog sure has a surprised look on his face.
Lauren: That's because you're looking at his butt.
Harrison: Uh, then he's certainly not going to enjoy that treat I just fed to him.

Harrison: Don't move. I've got a gun. Not here, but I got one.

Harrison: Your lies are like bananas. They come in big yellow bunches.

Wrongfully Accused: ★★★ 1/2
Spy Hard: ★★ 1/2

Scary Movie 3 & 4 (2003, 2006)
Director: David Zucker



I'm almost ashamed to say this, but I like the two latest Scary Movie sequels. It's largely thanks to David Zucker, taking over from the unfunny and talentless Wayans brothers. The films are not exactly subtle, and contain many bad, bad, groan-worthy jokes (Charlie Sheen's Viagra scene, anyone?), but hell, they have Nielsen playing the president of the United States and they make fun of the inexplinably popular Signs movie so I have no beef with them.

President Harris (Nielsen): These men died for their country. Send flowers to their bitches and hos.

President Harris: You're excited? You should feel my nipples.

President Harris: I just don't get kids. Remind me to sign that abortion bill.

Scary Movie 3: ★★★
Scary Movie 4: ★★★

I didn't dare to touch on any of the films he made after the Scary Movies. Let's just give salute for Leslie Nielsen. He was a true one-of-a-kind legend. As Peter Graves and Lloyd Bridges are also now dead, at least. But seriously, I will Shirley miss Nielsen and will continue to rewatch Naked Guns whenever I'm feeling particularly blue. Let's guve the last words for Leslie himself. What has he to say over his career longer than 50 years?

Drebin: Oh, and by the way: I faked every orgasm!

OK, how about what message would he leave for us mere mortals over our mundane lives?

The Documentary 00's

The Best Documentaries of the 2000s - Part IX of a series

The Fog of War (c) 2005 Sony Pictures Classics

The 2000s treated the Documentary genre quite good. In fact, the genre had a certain resurface, as the films are quite cheap to make and there are plenty of interesting true stories to be told. So it's no wonder inventive filmmakers, both old and new, tend to take the opportunity to do a documentary. I even had to drop out music documentaries and some war documentaries from the list (they will probably appear in later lists). This time around doing a mere Top 10 proved to be hard, so here's a Top 15.

The 3 Rooms of Melancholia (Melancholian 3 huonetta, 2004)
Director: Pirjo Honkasalo

One of the most acclaimed Finnish films of the decade was this documentary by the veteran filmmaker Honkasalo. On the surface the film is about the war in Chechnya told from three different perspectives. Yet there is quite little narration and Honkasalo allows her strong imagery to do most of the storytelling. The end result is actually a film more about mood than story, which is quite a rare feat for a documentary. The athmosphere is very intense all through and one could even compare this piece of art to certain other anti-war art pieces, such as Picasso's Guernica. Both give the strong impression of grief, chaos, fear and death lurking around every corner during the wartime.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)
Director: Chris Bell

A Michael Moore -like populistic documentary about American steroid abuse. The twist is that the film is not actually against the use of steroids per se. Rather it takes on the mindview that makes people want to grow big, phony medical firms, and two-faced politicians and athletes. It brings up some important questions such as what is considered cheating, and is funny at the same time. The whole movie even starts with Hulk Hogan beating the Iron Sheik. What's not to love?

Bowling For Columbine (c) 2002 Dog Eat Dog Films Inc.

Bowling for Columbine (2002)
Director: Michael Moore

Say what you will about Moore, it's a good chance someone has already said it. At least his example brought documentaries to multiplexes and revitalized the political agenda in films. As such, he may be one of the most important directors of the 21st century (so far). I myself am a Moore-apologists, although I do recognize he has a tendency to go over the top at times. Not so here, his most balanced work which takes on the American mindset of fear as a explanation of the nation's obsession with guns. One would be amiss to think of the film as journalism. This is a pure pamphlet, although entertainingly told and very funny to boot. And this time Moore still had the ability to go around unbothered to ask annoying questions to the people in power. Okay, the much-maligned bothering of Charlton Heston is maybe a point where Moore goes too far. But people keep forgetting that the demented old man, looking almost symphatetic, was an extremely powerful frontman of one of the biggest lobby groups in America, which had even power over legistlation. Why shouldn't he be asked some hard questions?

Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Director: Andrew Jarecki

While Moore's filmmaking style is to start searching for proof to his presupposed answers, Jarecki stumbled upon his own story while attempting to do a film about birthday clowns. The end result was a film about a normal-looking American family. The Friedmans appear regular to the point of boredom until it's revealed that there is evidence that the family's father and son have committed cruel perversive acts with small children. Jarecki's film is one of the most equal towards its interviewees I've ever seen. Everyone gets a turn to speak their mind, whether they believe the Friedmans are guilty or just framed. Everyone can make their own mind what to think about the charactera. At the same time the story is a clear tragedy happening before our eyes. The Friedman family is slowly disintegrating as the tensions grow and the final judgement seems imminent.

The Cove (2009)
Director: Louie Psihoyos

I've always said that the measure of a good movie is how big emotions it wakes up in the viewer. The Cove made me furious. And I expect I'm not the only one. The documentary about the mass-murder of the second-most intelligent creatures on the planet for altogether petty reasons should have awoken a number of activists. I'm glad they won the Academy Award for the film so that the message will get across. This is essentially another pamphlet-like documentary, but one which destroys every argument the opposing side has with a clear, unnegotiatable argument. The Japanese fishermen are depicted as brutal and ruthless, yet the film wisely has time to interview also regular Japanese people that are as appalled at the treatmen of dolphins as the filmmakers (and the viewers). The world of humans is shown to be ugly and dirty, yet the underwater shots are amazingly peaceful and beautiful. The message is clear: as people have destroyed their own habitat on land, they will move on to destroy the life on the sea. I probably won't go to any dolphinarium as long as I live. If I'll ever have children, I'll make sure thay won't either.

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
Director: Errol Morris

Man, oh man, is it hard for me to think of anything to say about this wonderful film that wasn't just said in Helsingin Sanomat in a column about this film. So you'll excuse me if I have some similar arguments.

There are a couple of movies on this list that feature only one old man talking about their life. They all are fascinating looks back and tell a lot about the past times and the world itself at the same time. Morris's film focuses on the former Secretary of defense Robert S. McNamara. He was an extermely controversial figure, with having planned military operations in WWII and Vietnam which killed a lot of people. Yet in the documantary can be seen that he was an extemely intelligent man who just happened to be put to these hard decision points. McNamara was the kind that learned from his mistakes and used working methods again. Thus he's just the right man to tell about lessons in war. It's obvious that it's not easy to make decisions that kill people, and McNamara takes his responsibility and is even moved by some painful memories. All in all, the film is a fascinating look behind the curtains of some of the biggest decisions in the military history in the 20th century.

Grizzly Man (2005)
Director: Werner Herzog

This is truly a story too weird to be fiction. A man loved bears with all his heart and lived with them every time he could. Eventually he became too trustful and one of the wild animals killed and ate him. Chillingly, the movie makes you ponder whether the worst thing a man could do to an animal is to treat it as a fellow human. And what about man's relationship with nature? If one tries to be one with it, will he destroy his mind first and eventually his whole life? This is a very unexpectional film, which dares to ask these hard questions.

Werner Herzog utilizes much of the material left behind by Timothy Treadwell. There is a strange beauty and poetry to Treadwell's images. Yet at the same time the film material portrays a really sinister spiral into madness. It's clear why Herzog has chosen him to be a worthy main character for a film. The man has so many times depicted men with obsessions which come to overtake them as well as the ultimate power of nature over man. In Treadwell's madness there is something Kinski-like, which Herzog himself confesses in his narration. Gold.

Jesus Camp (2006)
Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady

From one man's madness to a whole community's. Jesus Camp is a film that may be seen as a hilarious comedy or the most spine-chilling horror film of the decade. It takes us to children's camp in mid-America. The kids are brainwashed there by one-sided opinions and charismatic evangelist speakers. I don't care what your religious stand is. When one subject dominates your life in every category and is the only thing which you think about when reasoning, it is dangerous. And one shouldn't pass this narrow-mindnessness to children. Yet this is a film that addresses some of the core issues of being an American. As such it's much more than the chance for a liberal European to laugh at the stupid white trash.

The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
Directors: Nanette Burstein, Brett Morgen

Another documentary that has an old man speaking. Yet for anyone interested in the history of Hollywood, this is a must-see. For the man interviewed is Robert Evans, one of the most important figures in the 60-70's revitalization of American film industry. The man produced, both individually and as a studio chief, classic films such as The Godfather, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, Love Story, Marathon Man and the Odd Couple. Yet like the case usually is in these sort of cases it's a Rise and Fall story. Evans is a very likeable main character in that he doesn't shy away from his weaknesses. He has a certain amount of regret for doing mistakes, yet it is clear that this is a man who lived for his work and the results can be seen in a wonderful filmography. The film material in the film itself is good too, and although nothing shocking or particularly new isn't shown, it suits Evans's speech well. It doesn't feel flat and obvious like someone like even Errol Morris can sometimes fall into.

Murderball (2005)
Directors: Henry Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro

I'm not a sporting man and don't usually like sports movies. Yet I'll have to say this film was quite captivating. It's about the world of full-contact rugby for paraplegics. Even though these guys don't have functioning legs, they are every bit as macho (maybe even more so) than any other athletes. The will to win is big. The film follows American sport-hero Joe Bishop who has jumped to coach the Canadian team, which is seen as betrayal by many fans and athletes themselves. Joe himself just wants to prove himself, which he felt he couldn't do back in the American team. The paraplegic-stuff is handeled pretty early on. The rest of the movie the viewer is just captivated by the sporting drama unfolding before his (or her) eyes. Like in the world of sports, I imagine one can have their own hero in the film which one can root for. It is a good sign of the documentary's quality that one is allowed to do so. There are no real villains here, save for the natural competitiveness of people.

The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006)
Director: Sophie Fiennes

This is an unresistably charming entry gate to the world of Slavoj Žižek. The film features just the undeniably charismatic old communist-philosopher Žižek talking about the way to interpret films via psychoanalysis and sexuality. It may jump from one subject to another quite quickly, but the interpretations are very clever and the film gives a great deal of why-the-hell-didn't-I-think-of-it-like-that -moments. I could listen to Žižek talking for hours, which is good because the film is a bit long. Yet it doesn't feel a minute too long and the viewer is kept at the edge of his (or her) seat to hear all this wonderful analysis.

The White Diamond (2004)
Director: Werner Herzog

Herzog again, and once again with a tale about both aviation and the jungle. For doing so much films about similar themes, Herzog is an incredibly inventive filmmaker. Every one of his films has something unforgettable. This one tells the story of an attempt to build a blimp in the middle of the jungle to shoot the treetops and caves. The film has the luxury of a great main cast from the friendly main character who carries a lot of guilt over his friend's death and ambition to do things properly this time around. The supporting cast of exentrics is memorable too, the highlight being Marc Anthony, the rooster-owning family man. Herzog himself is also prominently a character here too, going so far as to affecting the outcome of some situation just so he could get to shoot his film. And great shots he does achieve, from the weird and wonderful nature of the jungle to the technicity of blimps to a crew member dancing like Michael Jackson with the majesticity of waterfalls behind him. The emotional centre however, is the confession of the tragic events that happened previously near the film's end.

The Winged Migration (Le Peuple Migrateur, 2001)
Directors: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats

An extremely impressive nature documentary. The French filmmakers decided to follow birds on their migration flight. This required an insane amount of time and the construction of a huge number of complex flying cameras. Not to mention getting the birds used to being photographed. But the end result is nothing short of breath-taking. To see the birds in the air one feels like flying himself, so I would recommend watching this on a canvas a sbig as possible. Time is also spent on following the bird's life on the ground. Although these scenes aren't bad themselves, they are more of the regular nature documentary stuff.

Workingman's Death (2005)
Director: Michael Glawogger

Yet another documentary without narration. As Glawogger also trusts a lot of his storytelling on his strong images, this list has gone a clear circle from Honkasalo to here. Glawogger has toured the Earth to find places and occasions where work is still the activity which creates and defines a man. People go to weird extremities just to do their work from a sulphur mine in Asia to a meat-market in Africa. This all is contrasted when we finally come back to Germany, where an old factory building has been put to museum use, and children are playing among the once-dangerous machinery and platforms. I don't know whether the documentary is nostalgic towards old times or hints that the western countries make the poorer countries do all the actual dangerous work. Yet it is a powerful piece of filmmaking however one wishes to interpret it and a terrific mood-piece as well.

Bubbling under:

The King of Kong - A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
Man on Wire (2008)
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)
Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
Viva Zapatero! (2005)

To be seen:

Darwin's Nightmare, Hell House, The Staircase, Stevie, Wings of Hope