How to Draw a Boney

For a documentary which focuses on solely one person, the audience should be incredibly invested. I almost feel guilty for not caring. We follow a man who was in the shadow of the Warhol movement. They were friends which surely heightened Ray's lack of sales. The glimpses into his art are insightful. He was creating modern art, at a time when the concept of modern art was being created. Yet I cannot help feeling that more of a personal insight would have helped this piece as a whole. What influenced Ray? Where did Ray draw his inspiration from? At the heart of it all, who was Ray? Sadly for us, we gain a brief glimpse into his life, but these questions are never answered.

The Prisoner: Or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair

An incredibly simplistic documentary which touches on what many Americans remain unaware of. When mentioning the idea of people being wrongly accused of terrorism a common response is 'well they must have done something.' This film follows a man who was detained for nine months of his life. Their only response at the end? Sorry. Nothing can make up for the time that they stole from his life or the pain they inflicted upon him. As a respectful Muslim he was asked about his sexual conduct. He suffered verbal abuse, electric torture and malnourishment. Army officers spat in his face and called him a son of a bitch while telling him to shut up. What saves American face in this documentary? That of an American soldier who worked at the camp he had been detained to with his brothers. Yunis ignored his anger and helped to restore piece in a restless camp full of innocent detainees. For those who believe that the war being fought is fair and that America is a hero this is just one of many stories which must be heard. Many innocent civillians have been arrested and tortured, accused of crimes, such as planning an assasination against Tony Blair, yet no evidence is required. If this is how we treat Iraqi's then we must ask ourselves, are they really better off than they were before?

Grosse Point Blank

This film only requires brief comment. It is incredibly clear on the tone it wishes to portray and the pace it desires to keep. It is a well written, well constructed piece of film. Yet somehow I find myself not caring about the characters. Do I really care if John Cusack wins back Minnie Driver 10 years after ditching her at the prom? No! The films only real gem is the performance of Joan Cusack. Though a supporting role she catapults comedy into a piece which tries hard to achieve this at several moments, but never quite achieves it.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

The main flaw within this documentary is the lack of an explantation of Enron's background. As somebody who grew up in England and at the time of this huge fiasco was too young to have cared about this side of life I had little sense of the company's objectives. They talked of various ventures but never set out a clear description of the company for those of us not in the know.
This film moved delightfully through its paces from person to person. It wasn't necassary for them to stick with one point of view for the entire film but they skipped from person to person according to who fit the moment best. I have to say it is all good and well for people to partake in this documentary and state on film that they knew the company was committing a crime, that they felt that things were not right. But in reality, how many of them really knew at the time? Is it simply a case of saving face for the camera? The most honest perspective is that of a journalist who created an article about Enron shares being over priced. They seemed to be over estimating the worth of the company (which they truly were guilty of at the time) and she ventured into this water. She admits that she was too naive to explore deeper and understand what was truly occuring within the company. For this I admire her far more than people who partook in company dealings but since the demise state that they knew all along.
This documentary is almost fable like. The story of a company who lied a little, forcing them to lie a little more as time went on. It shows how covering tracks to produce results can lead to enormous discrepency between the truth and fact. The executives pushed the truth a little to make the company successful, after getting away with this, why not push it a little further? This film shows us why.

Diving Belle and the Butterfly

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a movie truly made to inspire film makers. When I was younger, I used to wonder why film credits were so long. Of course there is the obvious answer that so many people make a contribution. But does an audience really need to know who the drivers were, or who provided kraft services? The answer to that is no. It is like the Academy Awards which is watched by millions, but only a small handful of people know thos in the long lists of names reeled off by emotional receivers in between sobs and proclamations of 'oh my god.' The real answer to why film credits are so long lies within a film such as The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Every now and then in life, we find a film that is just so powerful we need more than the running time to take it all in. The credits run so we can absorb the masterpiece which we have just observed. So that we can deal with our emotions. In watching films, we often involve ourselves so strongly that whilst simply sitting in the darkness, we have taken a long emotional journey. We have felt every aspect of the spectrum of emotions and we feel as if we have physically been through something. I now believe that sometimes credits are not long enough for us to deal with everything a movie takes us through. Maybe for some special films, we need just a little bit longer to help us to readjust to our own lives before we head back out to face the world.

So todays movies were:

One True Thing - I absolutely loved this movie when I was younger. I remember having it on vhs when I lived at home and would be up all night. I would sit watching movies but because my parents room was just above I had to keep it really quiet so I would have to sit right up close with headphones on. Granted I didn't have any decent heavy duty headphones so cue me sitting attached to the set that came free with my walkman! Meryl Streep is just a power house. She makes the movie. It's a very stereotypical story - dying parent has to be taken care of and reconnects with a child they were never close to growing up. But something about this one just works. Its so well written and visually realized. I remember sitting in said living room attached to the tv welling up at the sight of Meryl Streep unable to get out of the bath tub and when they were singing carols in front of all the trees. It's not her death that was sad as there is no sentimental tearjearker moment for the popcorn crowd but isntead its the journey they take and the way the characters grow.

Crash - I have to admit to not being bowled over completely when I last saw this. But watching it again there are so many minute nuances that make it special. Having said that I do think it still pushes a little too heavily on stereotypes even though it is supposed to be highlighting the immorality of that. Not a movie I feel a need to watch over and over, I'll have to go back and look at what else had been nominated for Best Picture the year it won the Oscar. Surely there must have been a stronger contender which wasn't so much of a one tone piece.


It has been noted to me a lot recently that I really like depressing movies. This is unequivocably true. They are the pieces which really evoke emotion, the pieces we learn from and the pieces we ultimately grow from through sharing an experience on the screen.