92. TEN QUESTIONS FOR THE DALAI LAMA

his holiness, the dalai lama; spiritual and political leader of tibet, living in exile in india.  the director was granted 10 questions and 45 minutes with him, for 3 months in the future.  during the time leading up tot he interview, rick ray learned more of tibetan history, the history of the 14th dalai lama; the life of a monk; the life of average citizens.  he didn't want to waste his questions; he didn't want to embarrass himself; he didn't want to waste the lama's time.  it was fascinating to learn more about this man and this culture than i ever knew before.  i now understand the issue with china, which seeks to destroy the history, culture and people of tibet through systematic torture, murder and annihilation of all things buddhist.  i thought china was buddhist, but this is the communist dictatorship.  the film is full of historic clips; current images and face to face with the man himself.  the dalai lama seems to laugh a lot; takes a traditional non-violent approach to his enemies, and possess the wisdom of someone who spends great amounts of time in contemplation.  

this film represents the end of my year of documentaries.  i watched 92 this year; an average of one every four days.  a long shot from my original goal of one a day, but still pretty impressive to my mind.  i've learned a lot.  some weren't too good, but most were quite satisfying.  i've enjoyed reviewing my list in the last few days.  i don't know as yet what, if any, goal i'll have for the coming year.  i guess i have to decide soon.........ha  thank you again to keith for the smart tv which allows me to easily access documentaries of all kinds  i still have over 120 in my queue, with more being released all the time.  here's to 2015!!

91. SPINNING PLATES

a film about 3 very different restaurants.  the 7th best restaurant in the world, alinea, in chicago; a 150 year old establishment, breitbachs in iowa; a new mexican place, la cocina de gabby in tuscon.  each is followed in some detail, through successes and challenges, including finance, fire, and poor health.  it always amazes me the passion that goes into a successful restaurant....as well as long hours and a nearly obliteration of any personal life.  3 moving, personal stories as someone notes on the rotten tomatoes site.  all speak to the power of food; the power of coming together in a place of food.  from the very traditional, to the personal, to the far reaching molecular gastronomy approach, food speaks to people in very powerful ways.  i enjoy seeing the behind the scenes of restauranteuring. 

90. BETTY PAGE REVEALS ALL

pin up icon, betty page. boys wanted her; girls wanted to be her.   uninhibited but innocent.  she rose to fame in the early 50's and disappeared from the public eye at the height of her career in 1957.  filmed in the late 90's, about a decade before her death, we never see the actual person, but she provides a very candid voiceover.  we see how photographers loved her, since she instinctively knew what to do with her body; she also exuded pure enjoyment in all of her work.  despite the pin up poses, the nudes poses and the bondage photos and videos that she was well known for, she continued to portray some innocence on the screen.  her charisma is powerful and her photos continue to be well received and desired.  i didn't know!  she tells of her marriage and affairs.  she had a psychotic break in her late 30's or early 40's and spent 10 yrs institutionalized in california.  at some point, she made the acquaintance of hugh hefner.  she was known to him from her centerfold picture in the dec '55 playboy.  he put her into acquaintance with business managers who ensured she got properly paid for her images and she remembers that this is the period of her life when she made the most money ever, thus securing a comfortable living.  her image is iconic and many might say that it's because of her voyage into oblivion while at her peak.  it's really fascinating to hear her tell her story and it's the best part of this film. 

89. BROTHER'S KEEPER

did delbert ward kill his brother william ward?  4 simple-minded brothers, living in a shack of a house, dairy farming all to their lives.  william is found dead in his bed one morning, june of '90, and assumed to have died in his sleep.  until the next day, when the medical examiner raises suspicion of foul play.  delbert and brothers are hauled into the police station where they sign statements saying delbert did it as a mercy killing.  the problem?........none of the brothers are literate; they don't hear well; delbert can't see if he doesn't have his glasses and even then, not well.  the authorities apparently didn't offer any lawyer to be present.  the brothers certainly didn't understand the language of the law to know what anything meant.  it's obvious that these are all simple men; some more than others.  most would say they live in squalor.  the community has known them only as "the boys", has generally shunned them all their life.  they are incredibly dirty men, but gentle.  most townspeople have never had a relationship with them.  however, in the face of a 2nd degree murder charge, the community rallies around delbert to raise bail and defense attorney funds--no one believes delbert would have committed this crime on his brother who he was with every day of his life.  we are taken through the months after the death and through the entire trial to the verdict.  it's scary what can happen to simple people when the law is involved!

88. MEL BROOKS: MAKE A NOISE

mel brooks is a funny man.  this pbs documentary reminds us just how funny.  he basically sits at a table and discusses his career, interspersed with clips from his films.  i did NOT know that he created "get smart" with buck henry.  he talked about how he fought to make the gross fart scenes in "blazing saddles"; to film "young frankenstein" in black and white; to make "silent movie" silent.  he had some misses along the way, but in one real success, alfred hitchcock told him the newspaper print down the drain scene in "high anxiety" was "genius".  mel brooks finished his career with the production of "the producers", for which he won a ton of tony awards.  i enjoyed being reminded of several old films, and learning the reasons why certain scenes, actors, music, styling was used for each.

87. THE ART OF THE STEAL

dr. albert barnes compiled a great collection of modern and post impressionistic art in the early 1900's.  he built a home for it and displayed it in warm collections, much different than a museum.  he established a school and great numbers of people learned.  then he died in 1951, but with a trust firmly established.  or was it?  the trust very clearly stated that the art should never be moved from it's location and was in place to teach art history and appreciation.  however, the collection gained in value, currently estimated at $25-30 billion.  this nailed the attention of many powers that be.  the film unfolds with significant intrigue.  what barnes collected was initially disdained by the "art community".  however, his collection of nearly 9000 pieces of art, including mattisse, serraut, cezanne, picasso, renoir are considered to be the best examples of each.  the film is presented from the side of the barnes supporters.  albert barnes never wanted his works to be viewed as a museum; he wanted no connection to the art museum of philadelphia; he was basically anti government and anti-establishment in his attitude.  the film presents it as a great shame and tragedy if his collection is to be moved from where he created it, and come to rest in the hands of philadelphia power.  and, thus the film unfolds.  since i didn't really know the outcome, i was riveted to the end to learn of the barnes foundation fate.  now i know.

86. ANDREW JENKS, ROOM 335

a 19yo moves into an assisted living facility in florida, to learn more of the "outcasts" from society, as he feels the 80-90yo residents are.  this is an upscale place; well maintained and elegant.  andrew quickly integrates into the culture, bonding with several of the residents while asking them questions such as the meaning of life, love and death.  we learn that most don't want to be here; it's the only place they can be.  with no families to accept them into private homes or no willingness to impose on their children, these seniors have made harbor place their home.  andrew is charming and obviously cares deeply for these new found friends.  he experiences laughter and good heartedness as well as sadness.  we see the fragility of these people; vibrant one week and seriously ill the next.  the 4 weeks bring experiences that will last andrew a lifetime and likely guide his decisions in the future.  

as a postscript, i just read a little more about andrew jenks, an up and coming director.  his father is assistant secretary general of the UN.  he made this film while attending NYU.  he's made other films sense, as well as doing the award winning cable show, "world of jenks".  i'm not surprised to hear that he comes a bit out of privilege to this role.  i wondered all while i was watching it how he could afford the time and cost to make this documentary happen.  way to go, andrew jenks!

85. ADVANCED STYLE

fashionable over 60?  that's what street  fashion photographer air seth cohen sets out to show us.  he walks up to stylish women of a certain age on the streets of new york city to investigate their particularly unique fashion sense.  along the way, we get more information of what makes each of these women who they are in their personal lives, that addresses how they put together clothing and accessories to show that to the public.  it's interesting that several of the women describe their fashion as art; their bodies as the canvas; their choices based on what will make the picture complete.  it's fun to see these women live at a place in their lives, where they can be exactly who they want to be.  they might be perceived as "crazy old women" by many who see them walking in their sometimes outrageous outfits, but, indeed, they are just being exactly what they want to be.  it would be great if we all could approach life in this way.  mostly it takes most of us til nearer the end of life to decide to be exactly how we want to be.  i wondered how many of these women looked in their earlier fashion years?  i suspect they always had a totally unique style.  it was fun to watch.  and, fun to think about what i truly want to put out there to the world.

84. I AM SANTA CLAUS

mick foley, professional wrestler, produced this film because he loves christmas and loves santa claus.  so much so, that he keeps a christmas room year round in his home.  the film introduces us to several santas, as they live life in the months before christmas and as they gear up for the annual chore of being santa to hundreds of children.  we see how santa grooms, how he maintains his "figure", how he dresses.  some santas actually move to a location for a couple months to serve in the role.  many santas need their santa income to make it through the rest of the year.  all the santas take their role seriously........being santa both in and out of the costume.  mick foley becomes santa in this film and gets good reviews for his love of children and the job.  it's always weird to see santa conventions with dozens of similar, yet different, men milling around in red clothing and snowy white hair.  i admit to some fascination with these men who choose to "be santa".  the worst part of the film is seeing how some don't really have anything else in life except the santa persona; so they are happy and fulfilled for a couple months and lonely for the rest of the year.  right now, as i write this, there are santas everywhere ho, ho, ho-ing themselves into the minds and photographs of children all over the country.  to many of those children.........the ARE santa claus!

83. BEST KEPT SECRET

janet mino--the teacher who works tirelessly to make sure her classroom of students with autism reach their maximum potential.  the school is john f kennedy, in neward.  it's a poor district.  new jersey has the highest rate of autism in the country.  these students seem profoundly limited, yet she sees each for his/her potential and works to maximize that.  her entire classroom are aging out of the system in 2012 and for 2 years prior she evaluates options for life after school ends.  it's called "falling off the cliff" because services are so limited and these are families who are quite challenged already.  this woman agonizes over the lack of good choices for her students and we must admire her tenacity, while at the same time realizing that she has actually very little control over the situations.  she's a dear.  we don't learn anything about her personal life, and it's easy to believe that her classroom consumes most, if not all, of her personal time in addition to her professional time.  i think the best kept secret of the whole experience was watching ms. mino's tireless devotion to the well being of her students.

82. LOST ANGELS: SKID ROW IS MY HOME

50 blocks in downtown los angeles.  an area long ago designated as skid row in an attempt to provide low income housing.  in the beginning, the majority were drunks.  but after mental hospitals were closed in the 80's, the vast majority of skid row inhabitants have mental illness.  the majority are not sleeping on the street, as one might think.  the area has the largest concentration of single rooms, rented by people who earn less than $300/month.  still many do live on the streets and we meet many of them.  what the film shows is that some are educated; some have been married and have children; some worked in jobs.  we learn others have struggled their entire lives, been victims of abuse, struggled with substance addiction.  many actually FIND themselves on skid row and turn their lives around.  many find love and acceptance on skid row.  there is community and a general acceptance of who each one is.  i feel that i learned a lot, but i also feel like the majority of the people in this film were the ones that somewhat were getting their lives together.  even in this group, however, we see the mental or physical health issues that contributed to finding themselves on skid row.  is it a sad place?  maybe  should it be eliminated?  the speakers in the film think not.........where would thousands of displaced, mentally ill people go if this home were gone?  it's an interesting concept; one i'm going to try to think more about.

81. DESIGN IS ONE: LEILA AND MASSIMO VIGNELLI

this married couple came from italy to the united states in '57, she an architect and he a designer.  they became one of the power couples for design, ranging from graphics to the ny subway system guide to furniture and jewelry, household goods, churches, offices and corporate logos.  massimo prides himself on bringing "helvetica" to the u.s.  they like things simple and functional.  i've never given a lot of thought to corporate logos, for example, but this team designed the "ford" logo and the "american airlines" logo.  watching a film like this brings that into focus......everything is designed by someone and the best designed products don't really change; there's just no need.  i've looked at a lot of national park brochures and now i know that massimo used his grid system to design the layout for those.  back in the day when i kept the arch information desk stocked with brochures from the parks, they were very different.  now, the are graphically more interesting thanks to massimo.  the film shows him celebrating his 80th birthday in 2012.  he states his hope is that he lives on forever.  that seems likely given the proven longevity of so many of his creations.

80. LE BARE

only fair.  i don't feel that i learned much with this film, nor was i very entertained, which is some surprise, considering the film topic is a male strip club in dallas.  the film is produced by joe manganiello, one of the stars of magic mike.  this club may be the inspiration for that film, but it doesn't come off as hot at all.  the men are totally buff; most of them are respectful of women.  they eat healthy and exercise and most don't abuse alcohol, drugs or women.  but, it just falls flat.  i guess the most interesting takeaway is that the male dancers get both money and a sense of appeal and self esteem from their work; the women who come to the club feel accepted by the men and get confirmation that a hot man can find them attractive and acceptable.  even if it's all done for the act, those emotions seem powerful enough to keep the women spending big and the men doing what they can to raise the level of spending.  i'll just wait for the sequel to magic mike, which is guaranteed to be more interesting than this film.

79. ALIVE INSIDE: A STORY OF MUSIC AND MEMORY

the capacity of music to reach deep into our soul and revive memories past.  that's the theme of this film.  a social worker took an ipod to a nursing home and placed headphones on a man who is always disengaged and non-verbal.  he sprang to life--singing, talking, and telling stories.  it was amazing!  an expert notes that the part of the brain which stores music and associated memories is generally not touched with alzheimer's.  he began on a quest to provide ipods to all 16,000 nursing homes in the united states.  lofty goal for sure, but steadily, more and more homes are jumping on board to provide the experience to their residents.  i cried through this whole film!  it is sweet to see these blank, empty faces revitalized with good memories.  i think i've just decided a perfect gift for my mom for christmas!

78. BOUND BY FLESH

wow, it's been 2 moths since i last watched a netflix documentary.  there's been travel and family obligations and, of course, the start of a new television season.  i've been watching american horror story: freak show, so when i saw the film "bound by flesh" about conjoined twin sisters, i chose it as my netflix comeback.

the hilton sisters, as they came to be called, were born in england in 1908, to an unwed mother, who shrieked at the sight of the conjoined infants and refused to raise them.  her barkeep employer saw potential in the infants and took them as her own, selling admittance to the rear room to see the sight.  they were conjoined at the back/butt area.  nowadays, they certainly would not stay conjoined, since they didn't share any organs and each had 2 arms and legs.  however, in this day, there was no question of separating them.  and, mrs hilton exploited the curiosity.  they were taught to be entertainers, singing and playing musical instruments.  their lives became large and they were once the highest paid vaudeville act in the country.  but they were sheltered for all of their life, until the early 20's.  after emancipating themselves from a bogus contract, they were left to live life on their own, have adventures, experience all they had missed.  they drank, smoked, caroused.  one of the twins even became pregnant.  they couldn't sustain the entertainment life as the world shifted from stage entertainment to film and lived out the end of their days as produce clerks in a local grocery store.  it's always an interesting story to me--how people cope with their particular adversities.  i'd never heard of daisy and violet hilton....but, now i have!

77. FROM ONE SECOND TO THE NEXT

xzavier, a spinal cord injured boy, dependent on a ventilator for life.  he was crossing the street with his sister when he was struck and dragged when a texting driver ran a stop sign.  100,000 deaths a year from texting, and growing.  martin from indiana was texting when he hit and killed 3 children of an amish family, as they moved along the road in their buggy.  the text?  "i love you" to his wife.  debbie from vermont, brain injured, struck by a teenager who was texting and driving.  in just a second of time, lives forever altered.  pain for the injured; pain for their families; pain for the distracted driver.  don't text and drive.  directed by werner herzog, the film is powerful in it's 45 minutes.  i cried the entire time.  the message is simple.  when driving, put the phone away.  don't become one of the "regular" people from this film who's life is horribly changed by texting and driving.

76. THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE

12 step life.  can people in recovery share that they're in recovery?  has the tenant of anonymity hurt these people?  being anonymous doesn't mean being secret.  bill and dr. bob started the most successful addiction treatment process in the world.  the film encourages changing the message from, "i am an addict", to "i am a person in long term recovery".  the film shows history and attempts to show that the message could be better shared with the world, and the disease could lose stigma only WHEN the message stops being anonymous.  the film makes the point that if hiv had stayed "anonymous", there never would have been the funding, research and organization to make the difference we've realized in the past 30 years.  the director advocates that public awareness will go far in making the public as a whole understand addiction and recovery.  faces and voices of recovery was a grassroots effort that eventually spread nationwide to change the language and image of addiction and recovery. people in recovery need to be proud of their recovery and speak out about the pride of recovery. recovery is cool.  it's not weakness.  it's an illness without a cure, but it has a solution.  even with this powerful message, that i have a personal interest in,  the film is pretty dry and it took me 3 nights to get through the hour and a half; i just couldn't watch it longer than 30 minutes at a time!  however, make history; don't silent..  become part of the solution.

75. DARK GIRLS

racism.  we generally think of it as black/white.  but what about black women facing the "paper bag test"; if she is darker than a paper bag, that's too dark.  what about a little dark skinned girl of a more fair skinned mother saying, "i don't want to be called black".  what about dark skinned women being called ugly,  tar baby, etc by other blacks?  there is racism within the african american community regarding the level of dark skin.  men in the film state a particular preference for light skinned or dark skinned women.  young adults are reminded not to marry someone darker than them so as to make the race stronger and better by marrying lighter skin.  these women discuss so much pain;  thinking they are less valuable as the skin is darker.  women who don't want to have a dark baby.  and, this isn't just an issue in the united states, but even in predominantly black countries around the world.  skin lightening cream was a 43 million dollar industry in the year the film was made.  dark girls rise!

74. JOAN RIVERS: DON'T START WITH ME

joan rivers died yesterday at the age of 81.  this movie was filmed when she was 75, and trying to jump start her career.  she seemed quite desperate, and professed to taking anything that came her way.  she's brash for sure.  like south park, there doesn't seem to be anything off limits to her comedy act.  her career has spanned 50 years, yet she still seems filled with self doubt.  she makes a comment that if she had managed business better, she wouldn't still have to do this.  she also admits to a lavish lifestyle that requires continued income to sustain.  i don't know that i learned too much about her that i didn't know, but it's pretty fascinating to be with her behind the scenes, sharing successes and failures.  yes, she still has failures.  we learn toward the end of the film that she won her season on celebrity apprentice, thus kick-starting her career and making her very happy.  joan rivers was a comic icon and paved the way for women....a fact she both relishes and condemns.  and that might just sum up joan rivers.

73. DEGENERATE ART: THE ART AND CULTURE OF GLASS PIPES

glassblower snodgrass followed the dead.  he blew pipes. they were known as  snodgrass pieces.  through a fluke mistake, he developed color changing glass, and his eugene oregon business and training center grew.  the new generation in corvallis, oregon further developed the art, growing it to the point that  the glass tube industry saw fit to expand production of color tubes from about 10 to a couple hundred.  one featured bong maker earned $350 million a year, and when a container company designed an appropriate box to enable the product to be shipped and stored, he made $4 million!  internet sales  caused another boom, but ultimately led to arrests of 11 dot.coms in a sting called operation pipe dreams.  the industry cooled immediately, until coming back, once again, as underground art.  the designs are elaborate, truly art.  but, as one veteran glass blower asks, WHY does it always have to be a pipe?  another answers that without the bowl, it IS just art; it's like you need the underground tone of it being drug related to get it's proper reverence.  the entire film shows a lot of the production, but without details of exactly what's going on.  it also makes clear the industry is pipes, but doesn't ever directly say what the pipe is designed to do, i.e. smoke crack.  i have mixed feelings about the film.  it certainly shows the beautiful side of the production of these creations.  i can't help but think about the devastation on the other end.

72. SO MUCH. SO FAST

hoping to prolong time.  time means the most when you live each day like it's your last.steven is diagnosed with ALS and his family each makes every effort in their power to make life good. he has a supportive wife; a new baby.  he has a brother who starts a research foundation to find a cure for the orphan condition.  mom helps feed him; dad works extra to make money for technology.  steven is an attractive, smart, funny, kind man, struck in his prime with a death sentence diagnosis.  yet, he doesn't lament his fate; he embraces it, living each day to it's fullest, making those around him comfortable with his declining body.  meanwhile, the lab eschews normal research procedure to hopefully find something quickly which can change the course of steven's, and other's, als condition.  that work affects brother jaime's life pretty significantly.  especially right now, where everyone that everyone knows is taking the ice bucket challenge for als, this film is fitting and current. 

67. PARTICLE FEVER

the world wide web was developed to support communication about it.  the 20 year project to build the Large Hadron Collider, the biggest and most expensive project in the history of the planet, was necessary to support it. 10,000 scientists from 100 countries came together for the one goal of recreating conditions as they existed just before the big bang.  even though the film did a fine enough job of attempting to bring this big science down to the level of normal human beings, i still don't get it.  i don't quite get why we want to know.  but the film shows that scientists WANT TO KNOW.  the excitement with which they discuss theoretical and experimental physics is contagious.  the machine, located at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, sped particles in two different circular directions and when they reached a fast enough level, it collided them.  watching the faces of the scientists who have made this their life work, seeing the anxious anticipation as they awaited the collision, hearing the eruption of JOY when it happened and then following up with what it all means was riveting, even without totally understanding the meaning.  it was this project that identified the long elusive Higgs Bosen sub atomic particle, the GOD particle, for which Peter Higgs ultimately won a Nobel Prize.  The accelerator is shut down now for 2 years, but when it reopens, it will accelerate even faster and provide infinitely more data, which the scientists will use to further determine the origins of our universe and maybe the future of it as well.  as one scientist put it: this film shows what it must have been like when thomas edison lit that light bulb for the very first time.
it was the most fascinating film i've seen for really not understanding much at all about the topic.

71. KINGS OF PASTRY

do you want to be a MOF?  well, these 16 sure do.  Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, the highest honor for patisserie, or pastry.  of over 70 who compete in the semi-finals, only 16 make it to the finals, held every 4 years in lyon, france.  we watch a couple, as they train--pulling sugar, molding chocolate and developing divine pastries in preparation for the 16 individuals tasks the finals require.  under intense pressure and strict time restraints, the chefs must create elaborate and equally delicate creations from the most unforgiving of materials.  sticky sugar and thick chocolate are only a couple of the things that can go wrong.  most formidable is a very long walk each competitor must make with the show pieces, during which other MOFs run interference and all of whom are devastated when something bad happens to a piece.  as with all competition anywhere, it's all about what you bring to gameday.  years of building skills for the competition can be dashed in a second of wrong move.  the competitors are likeable and we meet a couple of them, their family, their friends and their MOF coaches.  we want them to win, and earn the right to wear the red, white and blue striped collar on their pastry jacket.  the final results feel as thrilling as the last minutes of any other competition.  i never knew this award existed, but why shouldn't it?  the creations are amazing and delightful and, i must say, the pastries look so delicious and apparently tast that way too.  the film focuses most on the large creations, but that still leaves at least a dozen other simple pastries to be judged on taste, appearance and creativity.  every move is judged from start to finish.  the pressure is intense.  as with any similar situation, some succeed and many fail.

70. MORTIFIED NATION

would you read your growing up diary, out loud, in front of an audience? remember all that angst about everything when you were growing up--parents, the opposite sex, bullies, teachers, hopes, dreams, sadness, anger?  most of us, if only briefly, wrote about it.  we could, and did, say about everything we wanted in that diary.  it was all so powerful at the time, huge in our life..........but, sharing it as an adult, in front of an audience, laughing, is healthy and liberating to hundreds across the country who "perform" at mortified performances. by "sharing the shame", mortified nation shows how most of us use the action of writing in a journal to explore what we want and who we hope to be.  there's not so much to learn here, but i'm trying to remember if i have ANYTHING that i can go back to and read.  fortunately, by looking back, most of us realize that what's seems enormously huge in our lives often turns out to be anything but.

69. EASTER ISLAND: MYSTERIES OF A LOST WORLD

Rapa Nui.  Easter Island.  since the first outsiders laid eyes on the maoi statues, the place has been revered as one of the most intriguing on earth.  how were they carved and moved?  why were they made in the first place?  and, what happened to the peoples and culture of the island?  dr. jago cooper, the narrator, proposed many theories, many of which surround eco-suicide; the idea that the residents deforested the land while creating the heads, then resorted to cannibalism when they were starving.  but, in fact, while the theories are still diverse, archeological evidence supports that these people understood their volcanic land, they used the rocks not only to create large heads, but to manage erosion, channel water, create small agricultural ecosystems, and live full and prosperous lives.  there is no doubt the population dwindled, and by late 1800's numbered only 111, with only 38 offspring.  all the native rapa nui are related to those 38. it seems most likely that early explorers brought disease to the people, who had never seen outsiders ever before, much less been exposed to germs and viruses from outside their world.   the island is in an environmental revival, but currently gets every bit of it's sustenance by plane.  the local population is at odds with the chile government, who have legal authority over the island.  there are very few concrete answers to the questions raised in the film.  however, the photography in the film is impressive and since the story is mostly told through narration by dr. cooper, there is plenty of footage shown of the island geography and cultural heads.
one thing i was most fascinated by is that the heads face the island, and were once nearly all downed.  some thought  by violence, but this film suggests they were laid down purposefully....a sign that the islanders were disenchanted with the lack of protection provided by the gods, in the wake of disease and death?  recent efforts have righted a large number of the heads, which stand as impressive silhouettes to the face of easter island--rapa nui.  so, easter island remains a mystery for the most part.......certainly one that i would love to have the chance to explore!

68. SPARK: A BURNING MAN STORY

omg!  FABULOUS.  i think i'd love to experience burning man.  ever since i first learned about this strange and beautiful celebration in the desert of northern nevada.  burning man celebrated it's 20th anniversary in 2012, founded by 6 people who are still affiliated with the organization.  from the first celebration on a beach in the bay area, burning man has grown to a city of 60,000 people now.  black rock city exists only for 1 week a year, although there are months of preparatory work for the hugest art installation in the world.  everything must be brought in, and everything must be taken out.  the event has grown so significantly that in the year of this film, there was a real issue with tickets.  who should get them when there aren't enough.  the organizers had to debate long and hard about what burning man is, and how it could maintain the same focus as it grows steadily.  in addition, what used to be a simple gathering in the desert is now hosting corporate sponsored "camps".  still, it continues to look pretty avant garde to me.  huge art projects; art cars; costumes of every sort, in addition to nudity....anything goes.  there are a lot of young, beautiful people for sure, but burning man speaks to all ages and socioeconomic situations.  i enjoyed seeing some of the behind the scenes of how it all comes together.  maybe someday, i'll be able to speak first hand about burning man!

66. I AM DIVINE

glenn milstead--a shy, overweight baltimore kid, bullied in school, befriended his down the street neighbor, john waters. a budding, offbeat, outsider filmmaker.  described as two entwined pieces of energy, they became fast friends.  waters featured him in eccentric films, and created the phenomenon known as DIVINE.  forever to be known as the character that ate dog sh** in "polyester", s/he (they refer to this person as one or the other throughout the film) went on to star in numerous films, and delighted in co-starring with tab hunter.  big, bold, raucous--she toured and performed on stage as well.  divine also had a music career,  punk before punk was popular.  increasingly overweight and stressed by many types of excess, those around him worried.  waters cast divine as edna turnblatt in "hairspray", one of my favorite films.  the film finally brought glenn to mainstream stardom.  while reported to be upset that, as john waters muse, he wasn't  the featured performer of the film, he embraced the role that any other mere drag queen would never have taken.  edna turnblatt in all her plain jane glory made us believe she was above all else, a wife and mother.  divine played the role as a true actor, which made him proud, his parents proud and all that knew him proud.  he had lived his life wanting to be a star and he'd made it.  the hairspray role led  to being cast on "married with children".  sadly, it wasn't to be.  at age 43, glenn died in his sleep from a massive heart attack the night before shooting was to begin.  as the drag queen of the century, he remains a cult figure, but one with genuine talent, a kind heart, a likeable personality, and proof that there's not just one way to live a successful, happy and productive life.

191 DAYS SO FAR IN THIS YEAR

65 films--just short of 1 every 3 days.  not as bad as i thought i'd been doing.

65. SERVING LIFE

all i can say is WOW!  louisiana maximum security prison at angola is the largest such prison in the country, with over 5000 inmates.  prisoners described as "the worst of the worst", 85% of whom will never again live outside its walls.  faced with an aging population of lifers at the end of life, the warden established an active hospice program,  believing that no one should die alone, that each deserves compassionate care at the end of life.  but more so maybe, is witnessing the transformation in the volunteer hospice workers.  the film follows the journey of 4 new hospice volunteers, who wrote letters asking to be considered, completed a face to face interview, 2 wk training program and then began the work of caring for fellow inmates at the end of life.  the inmate volunteers see this as a chance for redemption.  instead of watching another person die at their hand, they feed, bathe, perform hygiene and comfort the dying.  they are all obviously changed by this experience of thinking outside themselves.  as the warden notes, criminals are very self centered, by nature of crime itself.  we see death; we see sadness; we see frustration; we see repugnance.....all the while, we see compassionate care in a loving, supportive environment and we hear the voices of the dying as well as the caregivers as they balance the crimes that got them in to prison with the compassion that they learn due to the hospice experience.  i cried many times.  some of the most touching scenes for me was inmate hospice volunteer, steve, fabricating quilts for the dying.  the film is powerful.  it's hopeful.  it raised the question to me about how many other such programs like this are in prison settings.  the warden here says if he teaches skills to the inmates, he just makes stronger criminals.  if he teaches compassion and empathy, he builds stronger human beings.  certainly those that were featured here seem forever changed for the better.

64. THE LOVING STORY

mildred and richard loving married in june of 1958, in washington, dc, and returned to their rural farm community in virginia.  a month later, they were awakened to flashlights in their faces and arrested.  the crime?  she was mixed race of black and native american; he was white.  interracial marriages were banned by 24 states at the time.  after sentencing, they were exiled from the state of virginia.  they could return separately to visit family, but could not live together.  the couple were deeply in love.  the local community had little racial tension at the time and richard had many black friends.  farm girl mildred just couldn't accommodate to living and raising her children in the city.  with hope dwindling, she wrote to then attorney general, bobby kennedy, who referred her to the aclu.  her case was addressed by 2 young, jewish lawyers, not long out of school.  their case was a criminal case in the state of virginia, but the lawyers would soon resolve it to be a civil rights issue.  the case eventually was heard by the u.s. supreme court.  loving vs virginia struck down anti-miscegenation laws in all the states.  a narrative by the local judge was used as prime fodder in the case.  he had written that god created all the colors of people and put them on different continents because god didn't want or allow mixing of the races.  it took 9 years until the case was resolved.  the lovings and their 3 children  lived secretly in virginia for much of that time.  the film combines video footage, photographs taken by a life magazine photographer, and current interviews from some of those involved.  we see a couple truly in love, 3 happy children, family and friends deeply supportive of the couple, and 2 young lawyers involved in the case of their lifetimes while still fresh in their careers.  in the end, richard probably said it best, as he gave a quote to his attorneys that they relayed to the supreme court justices.  "i love my wife and i want to live with her".  very simple.  

63. TINY: A STORY ABOUT LIVING SMALL

christopher is almost 30, the product of a military family who moved regularly.  he's looking for a sense of home; groundedness; stability.  he decides to build a tiny home.  these places are generally between 100 and 200 sq. feet.  there are many local rules about the size a structure must be (generally at least 600 sq. ft), so builders of tiny homes get around that by building on a trailer.  christopher has help from his girlfriend.  he thinks the work will proceed quickly.  starting in may, he expects to move the home to the country outside of boulder by the end of the summer.  of course, he's never built a home, he doesn't have plans, and the work takes considerably longer.  about a year later, he places the home on the property he's bought.  his girlfriend was never sure if this would be her home as well, and she provides interesting commentary on the thought process surrounding that issue.  there are many interviews from other tiny house owners that are interspersed in the film.  some consider tiny houses to be a "movement", away from conspicuous consumption and materialistic values, to a simpler life that's based in necessity.  some think the tiny house owners might be settling.  christopher built his tiny house for $26,000.  but one of the interviewees said it best, "this is exactly what i want from life.  i'm not settling.  i'm exactly where i want to be".  i find this concept fascinating.  i say i'm trying to downsize; bringing fewer things into the house and sending more out.  however, i am a LONG way from fitting into a 200 sq ft space.  still.............i like considering whether i COULD.

62. COMMUNE

well..........finally back at it.  a 2 wk vacation for a trip to alaska and then all the time it took to get back to normal means that my documentary viewing is somewhat delayed.  i started back with a topic i always find intriguing........the hippie life.......and, in this case, a commune established in 1968 at black bear ranch in northern california.  the film combines vintage footage of the nude young residents living and loving and working it out together with current interviews of both the adults who established the first group family, as well as some of the children raised in that setting.  the motto of black bear was "free land for free people", and the property was originally financed by hollywood stars.  social issues beget the origin of the group living, but even in the remote woods of the klamath forest, there were issues to be resolved......the role of women in the society; the fbi who contended this was an anti-american cult; whether there should be rules and what the rules should be; and, a particularly troublesome "invasion" by the shiva liva "cult" which worshiped and apparently stole children.  for many, the communal life gave way to parents with children leaving to find schools and more normalcy; many of the adults moved on to jobs using skills they learned in the commune.  many became artists, activists, healers.  interviews with the children born and raised at the height of the black bear experience portrayed that many were, and are, conflicted by the group parenting and the social "dis"order of the living situation.  the black bear ranch continues today and is legally protected as a place of communal living for perpetuity.  if i were older during this time, would i have considered a form of living as this? is free land for free people a motto that i would have embraced?   i often wonder.  i think the person i am now might, but the younger me would most likely have been too afraid.  and, it's really hard to imagine raising my children as part of a group of parents.  it seems that for most who left, it had to do with children and the desire to raise them in a more typical form. 

61. MILE...MILE & A HALF

"wander a whole summer if you can....time will not be taken from the sum of life.  instead of shortening, it will definitely lengthen it and make you truly immortal."  john muir   in mid july of '11, a group of artists set out to hike the 219 mile john muir trail in 25 days, and record their experiences.  the group started at yosemite and ended at mt. whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous US, at 14,505 ft.  it was an epic snow year--a 200% snow year, making the challenging task even greater.  they were not only carrying standard hiking gear, but heavy cameras and sound equipment.  at one point, they weigh their packs, which average about 60 pounds.  one of the initial 5 has to back out on day 3, as he couldn't keep up and was slowing down the others.  i can relate!  one of the stops was devil's postpile.  i thought i was going to die just walking from the parking lot.  these people covered 3-4000 feet elevation in a few hours!  throughout, they seemed to enjoy each other; had fun, ate well enough thanks to the only woman in the original group who prepared a lot of food ahead of time.  there's a fun scroll at the end......how many miles, how many water crossing, days of snow, food consumed, solar battery usage, minutes of film documented, number of photographs taken, etc.  they finished in good shape.  they gathered others to the group toward the end.  they saw and documented stunning vistas; amazing sights one can only experience in such a unique experience.  i especially liked that they voiced over john muir quotes throughout the film.  john muir, a naturalist and founder of the sierra club, he was the original advocate for saving the wilderness.  i find his work and his quotes so inspiring.  i found this group and their project equally inspiring.  i can't imagine that i will ever be able to accomplish such a hiking feat, but i'm happy the area is there for those who can, and i feel lucky to have experienced many of these locations which can be accessed by a car.  there are so many who haven't even had that much time in the majesty of the sierras.

wa“Wander a whole summer if you can… time will not be taken from the sum of life. Instead of shortening, it will definitely lengthen it and make you truly immortal.” John Muir - See more at: http://themuirproject.com/mmah/film/#sthash.4nd9hgmY.dpuf

“Wander a whole summer if you can… time will not be taken from the sum of life. Instead of shortening, it will definitely lengthen it and make you truly immortal.” John Muir - See more at: http://themuirproject.com/mmah/film/#sthash.4nd9hgmY.dpufSS

60. UNHUNG HERO

patrick proposes to his girlfriend on the jumbo-tron at a ucla basketball game.  she runs away from him.  as if not devastated enough by this event, she ultimately tells him that one of the reasons is that his penis is to small.  patrick embarks on a journey to correct matters.  he tries pharmaceuticals, devices, explores surgeries, dresses as a hot dog with a "wiener talk?" sign, talks with women, talks with men, talks with professionals; he travels to the far east to learn of home remedies, including holding a weight just with the penis; surgical enhancement; injections.  he comes to terms with the fact that his penis is, indeed, smaller than normal.  the process of the film finds him experiencing many lows in his journey to make his penis more "normal".  in the end, he learns he has to come to terms with himself.  does size matter?  a lot of women in the film opined that it does.  however, the more insightful of the respondees pointed out that it's more what you do with it, how many ways the man learns to pleasure the woman, and how comfortable the man comes to be with himself that really matters.  patrick seems so likeable.  we want him to get past his penis obsession and move on with living, learning and loving.  i found this to be a fascinating film.

59. HOLES IN MY SHOES

this guy did everything; a jack of all trades.  born poor on the lower east side of nyc, he became NYC's strongest boy; a self taught engineer and ironworker; a dog trainer; an actor.  he lived to nearly 100 and this film was made when he was 94.  in it, he's thrilled to tears of his many life experiences.  he worked on the empire state building, radio city music hall. rockefeller center, lincoln center and dozens more.   he accomplished an engineering feat in the secret city of oak ridge tennessee, where he was responsible to construct a cyclotron in support of the manhattan project. by decreasing the time to finish construction by 80% due to his innovation, he is credited with bringing the war to a quicker conclusion; he showed boxer dogs at the westminster dog show;  he acted in more than 200 films.  he married a woman who didn't tell him she couldn't have children until 2 years later, which caused his love for her to die. although he committed to stay with her,   he eventually met another woman who he took as his mistress, marrying her upon the death of his wife.  he stayed physically fit through his entire life and demonstrates his ability to tear a phone book during the opening scenes of the film.  it was fun learning about him; fun seeing the rise of this guy who just did as his dad instructed him..........."no matter what you do in life, be da best!   from holes in his shoes to shoes too big to fill, jack beers made the most of his nearly 99 years on this earth!

58. PAGEANT

i used to watch the miss america pageant every year.  i never knew about THIS pageant--the miss gay america pageant.  held, in memphis tn for the 34th year, the film follows several hopefuls in their journey to win the ultimate title for female impersonators.  there are no hormones or surgical interventions allowed.  the competitors have won the state level.  they compete in interview, evening gown, solo talent, performance and final question.  our hopefuls all believe they have what it takes to win.  some are professional female impersonators, but others work normal jobs.  just as in any pageant, they spend a lot of time and money in preparations.  unlike others, significant effort is put into changing the male form into female.  these are not the most attractive women, but that's not so important; it's an overall feel.  there's a lot of drag makeup.  there's a lot of sequins.  there's a lot of lip synching.  one of the most surreal parts is seeing all these female looking heads walking around backstage with bare chests, which are very obviously NOT female.  oh, and the voices, which are not female in any way.  however, there is the same passion for winning as in any other competition.  curious to consider how many more years may pass before miss gay america pageant would be considered for prime time viewing.

57. HOLY ROLLERS: THE TRUED STORY OF CARD COUNTING CHRISTIANS

black jack.  las vegas.  casinos.  christians. leaders in their churches.  not words you expect to come together.  yet, this group of christians, trained in the art of card counting, won millions of dollars from casinos.  the fact that they were christian matters in that this entire operation of managers, players and investors worked on the premise of trust......that type of trust that one christian has for another because they come out of the same fundamental beliefs.  overall, the most interesting thing to learn in this film is a little about how to count cards in blackjack; to learn how the casinos react to those that do; and the vast amount of money that can be earned.  the internal debate that some felt in blending their christian life with the casino life is discussed by those with conflict.  the majority of the others seem to like the free wheeling lifestyle that earns them money without a 9-5 job. it seems this contradiction would be more unsettling to the players than it seems to be.   also, the only time the team really lost a significant chunk of money was when they admitted a non-christian to the group, who was later suspected of stealing.  some want to believe he's being honest and fair, but ultimately, this is business and something had to change, so the presumed offender was let go.  in the end, the card counter business dissolves.  but, with one small twist at the very end.  we learn that card counting, and beating the house at black jack, can be a lucrative business.

56. SMASH HIS CAMERA

he is scum; a bottom feeder; a stalker.  he's rich, he's married, he has over 3 million photos of the icons of a generation, he's published multiple books.  he was sued by jacqueline onassis, had 5 teeth punched out by marlon brando.  even at 77, the age he was for this documentary, released in 2010, he has passion, fire, energy to sit and wait, to plan, to drive like a maniac to get there first.  HE is ron gallela, noted paparazzi, who began his work in the 60s, when photographers still used film and dark rooms.  parts of the film are debates among contemporaries regarding just WHAT he does.....is it ART?  is it valid?  these questions are based on his exhibit in the metropolitan museum of art--does this exhibit belong there?  is there ART to the photos, or is it just all about capturing the famous person in a normal every day act?  a young viewer of the photographs can barely recognize any of them--bar DOT--who is bar DOT (pronounced how it is spelled). this one is of tayler burton?  (like that's one person's name, not the last names of 2 film legends).  another debate through the film is between attorneys--should the rights of the paparazzi be protected under the 1st amendment?  are the lives of public figures public in their entirety?  all recognize it as a slippery slope.  once freedoms come with restrictions, are they freedoms anymore?  i think that in today's world, we're all very aware of the paparazzi; how invasive they are; how ever-present; how sneaky.  most of us might say it's just not right.  yet.........we look forward to our people magazine every week; we buy that enquirer from the checkout line; the public seems to have an insatiable thirst for photos of the famous doing normal activities.  what is the answer?  not mentioned in this film, of course, is the efforts of some big stars of today to make it illegal for paparazzi to photograph children.  ron gallela did that regularly to caroline and john kennedy jr, one of the issues that enraged their mother.  at least THAT seems to be an issue most can agree is wrong.  the rest of it?........what IS the price of stardom?  the price of earning substantial millions to act in a film?  these are good questions, but there are currently no good answers.  by the way, the title of this film was spoken by jackie kennedy onassis, to the secret service agent protecting her son, as ron gallela hid behind a tree to snap a photo of mom and son riding bikes in central park.  the cameras were not smashed and the photo is among those 3 million housed in the enormous basement files at gallela's home.

55. DEAR ZACHARY

a tribute to a well loved guy, his well loved parents, by his long time friend.  we learn early that andrew bagby was the victim of a murder.  to say much more about the film would give away too much.  the filmmaker uses a unique style to tell the story and convey very clearly what a great guy andrew was, as well as what great people the parents (kate and david) that raised him are.  i can't help but think that's the way to live a life; to have soooooo many people miss you when you're gone and be so grateful for the time you were in their life.  and, how great it would be to have a filmmaker friend to be able to document it all so well in such a moving way.

54. AFTER PORN ENDS

 a film about porn stars and what their lives are like after they leave the industry.  it seems that a film like this should be so interesting.  however, it's quite tedious.  each describes how they got started in the industry.  most just fell into it because they were good looking, they didn't have anything else going on, and they could make quick money.  some of the women look ridiculous--so plastic'd up as they are.  most all note that their past comes back to haunt them.  some invested wisely, but many noted that once they quit, they went through their money very quickly.  many had issues with drugs and alcohol.  many have successful marriages and family after.  there's just not much else to say.  i can't say that i learned a lot from the film, except that it's a topic i didn't know much about.  i did find one story pretty fascinating.  the porn star woman says there isn't anything more to sex in the movies than sticking your finger in your ear.  just one body part poking into another body part and nothing more than that.  those that now have loving relationships are quick to distinguish sex from love; they're grateful they found partners that can overlook the past.  all that said.............that work doesn't go away......

53. GREGORY CREWDSON: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS

 a photographer who doesn't carry a camera or really even take the photos; the eye of a filmmaker, but freezing the film into just one frame.  he creates elaborately staged images, with attention to every detail.  the final products are large.....maybe 5 ft x 7 ft?  they are nearly all filmed at twilight, in small dying massachusetts towns, because he uses lighting to get the right effect.  as he notes, he has about 20 minutes to get the shot right.  some are shot on sound stages.  he credits a museum trip with his father, to see a diane arbus exhibit, for igniting his creative spirit.  liking a girl in high school, who was a photographer, prompted him to take a photo class and sealed the deal on his future life work.  haunting a certainly a desciptive word for his work.  he captures a moment in time, and insists he really doesn't care about the minute before or the minute after the image.  the filming took place over a 4 year period while gregory created his "beneath the roses" exhibit.  his eye focuses on the secrets beneath the scene; a strategy he relates to experiences when he was growing up in trying to overhear the psychoanalytic counseling sessions his father held in the basement office.  the images certainly make the viewer wonder just what's up; it's pretty powerful photography that involves dozens of people making one man's vision a reality.

52. THE ELEANOR ROOSEVELT STORY

a warm, honest fearless woman; the first lady of the world; a consummate humanitarian.  described as plain, and even ugly, in her youth; grown up somewhat lonely with a brother 6 yrs younger, her mother having died when she was a young teen  and her father sent away to convalesce due to effects of alcoholism, eleanor roosevelt found comfort and acceptance in her 5th cousin, FDR.  the film was released in 1965, and won best documentary feature that year.  it is comprised primarily of newsreels and old still photos.  one review described the film as reverent and it certainly is.  there are two things i found fascinating--i'd always heard she was the "eyes and ears" for her husband, but i didn't know she was the legs.  she put tremendous time and energy into travel--meeting with PEOPLE.  her interests, issues, and causes always came back to basic human emotions and people.  her heart took in the needs, concerns and views of the real people that she met and interacted with.  her opinions were often controversial.  she was a crusader for civil rights long before it was fashionable or acceptable.  this is proven out by truman's appointing her to be a delegate to the newly formed united nations, where she was appointed chairperson of the committee to develop policy on international declaration of human rights.  this is the second thing that i had no knowledge of.  the film also seems to indicate that had it not been for eleanor's efforts, FDR may not have become our president after being stricken with polio.  his strong mother was of the opinion to "just let him be", but eleanor persisted in her encouragement and support to get him on the ballot.  sure, she may not have been a delicate flower of a woman on the outside, but she owned a smile that showed her soul, where there was a virtual garden of good, kind, fair and true beliefs as to how humans should be treated.  i learned a lot about the great woman behind and beside the great man.

51. It's been a long time! 3 weeks or so. 20 FEET FROM STARDOM

well..........i took a bit of a hiatus, didn't i?  i was gone on vacation;  before and after must have been all about the trip.  i've been wanting to see this film since i first heard about it on sunday morning with charles osgood.  it was also nominated for, and won, an academy award.  backup singers.  do we give them much thought?  likely not.  but, we should; most definitely.  the film loosely addresses darlene love, one of the first backup singers of the generation when many such singers were black.  darlene started with "the blossoms".  prior to them, backup singers were generally stiff and just sang the music as written.  singers such as the blossoms FELT the music.  they moved.  they danced.  they added their style.  we know the voices.  we hear them on some of the most famous songs of all time--with the rolling stones, sting, stevie wonder, bruce springsteen, michael jackson and countless others.  at time, especially in the 60's, we THINK songs were performed by one group, when in reality it's the backup singers performing but not getting credit.  all of these women have stories.  many desired solo careers, some got them.  some succeeded, most didn't.  all of them have a deep love of singing and recognize that the sacrifice to being a backup singer is always harmonizing with the others; rarely being the singer that any one of them would likely be on their own.  there are interviews, archival footage, and music......lots of music sung by these extremely talented women.  most realized at some point that to sing backup allows them to exercise the passion of singing, without the drawbacks of dealing with the business aspects of the music world; without the drawback of always being recognized; without the drawback of singing only one genre.  this is a fantastic tribute to the women who actually make the music.  i don't know that i've ever given credit to the backup singers, but they MAKE the sound.  in fact, most of us only know the lyrics that are sung by backups..........since they usually sing "the hook".  i enjoyed the interviews with mick jagger, sting, bruce, stevie........all who recognize that their music exists because of the what the backup singers bring to it.  i recommend this film to anyone who enjoys music.  i guarantee you will pay more attention to those voices behind the star the next time you listen to a song!

50. JIG

another film about aspiring children....and, their parents.  this time, the topic is irish dancing, which as we learn in the film is not performed strictly by irish lineage.  we meet several participants, all who compete in the world championships in glascow.  just as with any high level competitors, these kids put their heart and soul into hours of practice and performance.  the parents put all their hope and finances into making a dream come true for their children.  i didn't really learn much about irish dance exactly....like, why don't they use their arms, and why are all the curly wigs a part of it for the girls?  not as surprising is learning most of the boys don't really publicize that they are irish dancers.  i may not have learned too much about irish dance, other than the fact that is produces strong competition, but i am reminded again that parents will sacrifice profoundly for the happiness of their children.

49. MAGIC TRIP

i always wished i was old enough to be a hippie.  packing into a bus, driving across the united states, living, and loving, maybe with the assist of some drugs--just being.  my thoughts about a hippie lifestyle, and probably those of most people, likely come from the magic trip that ken kesey and the merry pranksters took in the psychedelically painted "further" bus in 1964.  the film reconstructs over 30 hours of footage that was filmed over the several week trip, cut and interspersed with audio of each prankster remembering and commenting on the trip 10 years later.  kesey had intended to make his own documentary, but never finished.   deciding to go to the new york world's fair served as the impetus of the trip; but, of course, it all became so much more.  kesey had written "one flew over the cuckoo's nest" and "sometimes a great notion", but was burned out on writing.  he'd also had multiple experiences with the altered consciousness created by dropping acid following his first experience being a subject in a stanford university scientific experiment on the drug.  combined, the psychedelic experience was documented while it happened.  the pranksters get stuck in the desert; unknowingly swim in a segregated lake in new orleans; finally make it to new york only to be disappointed by the fair; party with alan ginsberg; hang at the home of timothy leary, play in yellowstone national park and return to san francisco where they revel in the music of the grateful dead--all the while smoking pot, dropping acid, having sex and filming everything.  i love this period in our history.  i really enjoyed learning more from the very beginnings of what is now perceived to be a hippie lifestyle.  very free; very cool; very magical.

48. GOOD 'OL FREDA

freda kelly was a young secretary in liverpool when a couple of coworkers took her to lunch at the cavern, where a young local group was performing.  she took an immediate liking to the music of the beatles and spent nearly 200 lunch hours or weekends watching their shows and getting to know them.  when brian epstein signed on with them as manager, he chose freda to be secretary.  she started the beatle fan club as well, and worked in the position for 11 years until the group went their separate ways.  freda is an amazing woman.  all that she knew and saw and heard and experienced--she remained totally loyal to the privacy of the members of the group.  indeed, after she resigned from her job when pregnant with her second child, she closed the book.  people close to her in later years, including her own children, rarely heard any stories of her time with the beatles.  after the death of her son and the birth of her grandson, she realized she actually wanted a piece of her legacy recorded, and so became this documentary.  as freda herself says, "i'm not famous.  i'm not rich.  i still work as a secretary.  i've come full circle.  when this film is done, i'm done telling my story".  the film is full of beatles' music, photos and footage and concludes with a personal message from ringo.  freda began as a fan, worked as a fan, and is still a fan.  she notes that they had so much fun in the beginning.  she always believed they would be a success, though she admits she never imagined the worldwide fame they enjoyed.  "i thought it would be success if they got a song on the charts."  she acknowledges she was naive when she started with them, but grew quickly with them.  how fortunate were the beatles to have freda in the inner circle??  it makes me wonder why any one, or all, of them hasn't done more for her in the past 50 years.  at least, the four were on board to allow their songs to be used in the film, the money for which was raised through kickstarter.  good 'ol freda is truly good.

47. THUNDER SOUL

funk.  jazz.  show band.  jazz band.  early 70's.  kashmere high school in houston, tx.  "prof" conrad johnson wrote the music, instructed the students, and led them this all-black band to national championships during a time when they were the ONLY such group. the band was essentially unbeatable.  the students toured europe and japan and released albums.  it was a magical time.  many noted that they were as good as any professional music group.  the students come back together for a tribute concert to the now 92yo band leader; the man who not only taught them the music, but guided them in life, teaching discipline, respect, and self-worth and pride in themselves.  the spirit and the music is amazing; there are lots of clips from the past, full of afros, pleated shirts and bell bottoms.  many of the past band members haven't even held their instrument since they graduated high school, but prof taught them so well, they are able to pick up where they left off and grow more successful with each day of rehearsal, culminating in the final concert.  this man influenced his students in the most profound way.  their music, their choreography, their deep respect--all comes directly from this talented man.  as other white band leaders from back in the day noted: their students played the music; prof's students lived, loved and felt the music--from their soul; their thunder soul!  there is now a memorial park for prof on the grounds of kashmere high school; the kashmere alumni stage band is available for gigs; the recordings have been re-released and are available for purchase.  what a difference one teacher can make in the lives of so many students! 

46. THE LAST WHITE KNIGHT

in the early 60's, paul beckworth made a decision to travel from his home in toronto canada to join the SNCC (student non-violent coordinating committee) whose mission was to register black voters; he was assigned to greenwood ms.  on his first day there, approaching the courthouse, he encountered 4 men, one of whom punched him in the face.  he ran.  the assailant was delay de la beckwith, the son of byron beckwith, who was eventually imprisoned for the murder of medgar evers.  after 45 years, paul decides to have a conversation with beckwith.  interspersed are conversations with harry bellafonte, morgan freeman, fbi agents, local residents, and a particularly chilling conversation with three current klan members, who remind us very clearly that blacks are inferior in every way.  beckwith is somewhat charming, somewhat sinister, often smirking for his intolerances of black president obama "the devil"; his lack of remorse for the hatred he spews; the inferiority of anything other than white america.  he does note that he's the last white knight..........at least of the beckwith lineage.  his children don't follow his beliefs.  he is forthright in his prejudice, but polite in speaking of it.  oh, by the way, paul is jewish and there are plenty of suggestions by beckwith as to why jews shouldn't be trusted or tolerated as well.  is there reconciliation in mississippi?  maybe some.  there appears to still be a lot of underlying hate.  scenes with children of mixed races promote hope.  however, bellafonte notes, "i don't trust mississippi.  i don't feel safe here".  what's to be made of the handshake at the end; the declarations that the two are "friends"?  does understanding another's point of view make intolerable events more tolerable?  i felt paul asked pointed questions in a kind, nearly non-judgmental way and i felt delay answered them from a point of view of not really having done too much wrong.  i want to believe in the hope of those children from the film and i also believe that one can't watch, listen and contemplate TOO much of the racial struggles of our American past.

45. THE ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM

we don't see any elephants in this film about exotic animals raised in captivity.  we meet tim harrison of ohio, in his job of public safety.  tim reponds when dangerous exotic animals raised in captivity either get loose, are set free, or who injure their owner or someone else.  tim got involved when a friend of his died at the jaws of the pet snake he raised in captivity.  we see news clips of wild animal stories, such as a chimp attacking hit owner, a girl attacked by an alligator, numerous pythons or other deadly snakes set loose into nature.  during a hunt for a wild cougar in southern ohio, tim laments, "am i a hero or a villian?  nothing good comes out of my dealings with big cats."  tim is noticeably shaken by this revelation.  ohio was one of a handful of states without a law concerning private ownerrship of deadly exotic animals.  tim wanted to change that.  in a part of the film we see an exotic animal auction in the heart of amish country; certainly bizarre.  however, the bulk of the fim revolves around terry.  suffering depression after a back injury, he chose to buy a lion and then got another. lambert and lacey.  lambert escaped his enclosure one night and was on the highway, attacking cars.  terry had to better control this animal and resorted to keeping the two in a horse-type trailer.  tim gets to know terry, lambert and lacey.  while most of us would say, "what is he, crazy to keep lions?", we see how deeply sentimental terry is regarding his animals.  there are twists and turns in this story; it felt suspenseful, so i don't want to share too much.  tim tries to locate an appropriate environment for this small pride, as terry deeply considers his life without his animals.  there is DEEP emotion here!
so, as you consider how much that pet dog or cat means to you and your family, at least some owners of dangerous, exotic animals feel the very same way.  after the story unfolds, we do learn that the governor of ohio signs a law preventing private ownership of exotic animals, a triumph for tim harrison.  for so many, pets make life worth living.  hard to believe when it's a snake or alligator for sure, but not very hard at all when you see terry with his lions.

44. HIPPIE MASALA

india.  the place where many hippies migrated to back in the 60's.  the film focuses on 6 individuals, 4 from europe and 2 sisters from south africa who stayed and made india their home.  one is a yogi; a woman is a meditator; the sisters sell clothing on the beach in goa; one is a farmer in the himalayas; the last is a painter with a wife and several children.  we see a lot of smoking what is assumed to be a drug of some sort.  its a long tube, that looks like a cigar, but hard, with the burning part on the inside.   it's obvious they all live simple lives.   the painter laments that he's an outsider; the wife of the farmer laments that when she went to live with the outsider, she was shunned by her family, friends and culture.  she tells us of her dream--she is single; she travels to europe and then comes back home.  her husband isn't so nice to her and she looks so sad when she talks.  however, the most fascinating part to me wasn't the individual lives of the hippies, but rather all the scenes of life in the culture of india.  there really isn't any geographic context, so it's unclear how close to each other these individuals live.  there are many scenes regarding religion, but no explanation of just what is happening or being celebrated.  being not so flexible myself, i'm amazed at the crouch that these people spend much of their time positioned in.  i think that i could never achieve that.  old stoners getting old; living a life that escapes them from a life they didn't find satisfying.  rebirth in mother india, one says.  i just wished they looked happier.

43. H.H.HOLMES: AMERICA'S FIRST SERIAL MURDERER

a con man, swindler, crook....a physican, trained at michigan state....the first serial killer in america.  h. h. holmes, one of many aliases, lived in chicago in the late 1800's.  though various frauds and scams, he was rather wealthy.  he built a huge home in englewood, outside chicago.  it was known as the castle, designed by him.  the multi-floor building was constructed with maze like hallways, tunnels, secret panels, airtight rooms with gas jets hidden in the walls.  though he had killed previously, he took advantage of the world's fair in 1893 to lure people into his "hotel", many never to leave.  his downfall came after staging a mock death of an associate, for the purpose of earning a large insurance policy.  he'd been arrested just prior to this, on another charge, bragged to a cellmate of his plan, and then, unwisely, double-crossed that same man.  ultimately, he was chased by the pinkerton agency, located, arrested, charged, tried and found guilty.  in prison, waiting his execution, he wrote his memoirs in great detail.  weirdly, one of the facts that i learned from this film is that he often reassembled the skeletons of his victims, which he then sold to numerous medical schools.  i wonder where those medical schools figured that he got all those skeletons?  h. h. holmes was hanged in 1896, 35 yrs old.  at his request, he was buried in a big slab of concrete, due to his fear that he would be dug up and studied.  no one knows how many people he actually murdered.  he wrote that he was born with the devil in him--is that true?  what explanation is there for people like this that find perverse pleasure in taking the lives of others?  i wonder if there were actually any other "multi-murderers" in america before h.h. holmes?

42. SCATTER MY ASHES AT BERGDORF'S

a peek behind the scenes at bergdorf goodman, the iconic, high-end new york city department store; the store with the clout to make a designer a star or keep him/her at second best.  to "show" in bergdorf's is apparently a designer's ultimate goal.  i didn't know.  but, then, i'm not much of a fashionista.  there are tons of interviews with designers, as well as personal shoppers, buyers, owners, and finally, the window decorator.  bergdorf windows are highlights and, by what this film shows, must cost a fortune!  custom art is created to make a window, or antique are purchased; the dresses come SECOND, and are chosen to fit the look of the window.  overall, there was definitely new information in this film, but is it any information that really matters?  i realize that fashion is life to so many, especially in new york.  but for me in my life, there's very little in this film that i need.  the title came from a cartoon in the new yorker.  two women having lunch, and one says this line to the other.  i expect my ashes will be spread at any number of places OTHER than bergdorf's.

41. VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS!

we have all said it.....we're going to dig to china.  i learned that an antipode is when 2 land masses can connect through the center of the earth.  and, the way our world is laid out, there aren't a whole lot of them, since drilling through many points would just get us into ocean.  the director is kossakovsky, and he visits 4 antipodes and films them luxuriously.  eventually, after either stunning vast overviews, or very detailed minutia, we get a hint of the lives of the people living in these places.  the photography is stunning; the pace is slow, but allows us to feel the presence of the landscape.  we start in rural argentina, with 2 men who live near a river and operate a toll bridge.  they know everyone who passes; they are in tune with the nuances of nature.  contrast that with its antipode, shanghai china, which is bustling and crowded, with masses of people all going here/there with no visible interactions.  the next is lake bakhail russia, a rural agricultural location, and its antipode of patagonia chile, another agricultural location.  the antipode of botswana with the big island of hawaii was interesting, much because the director contrasted the wrinkled form of the lava flows with the wrinkled hide of elephants.  the images of nature for these two were really amazing.  super close ups of flowing lava and super close ups of lion, giraffe, and hippos.  finally, there was the north island of new zealand and a location just north of madrid spain.  this was weird because new zealand footage was mostly on the beach, where a dead whale was on the shore, with concentration on the efforts of some people to dispose of the carcass.  overall, i learned about antipodes and i watched stunning photography, but i thought the editing was uneven and it was a little slow moving for my taste.  there was a delightful film style throughout; as we moved from one antipode to the other, the camera was upside down, like you would imagine it as a child, if you didn't know about gravity.  thinking about what can be found on the other side of the world from where we live is reinforced by a film like this.  there are very real differences, but there are simply the lives of real people in these places as well.  here in st. louis?--our antipode is somewhere in the middle of the indian ocean!

40. FAME HIGH

well....let's see what i learned.  parents will go to great lengths for their children.  parents who didn't achieve their life goals will go to great length to have a successful child.  parents may have an extremely talented child, but not view that ability as worthy.  some children know from a very young age what their life passion is meant to be and make great effort to that end.  fame high tells the stories of a four teens who attend LACHSA--los angeles county high school for the arts.  getting into LACHSA is, in and of itself, an accomplishment gained through audition.  there are only 130 spots each year; the tuition is free; the competition very high.  we see a couple freshman and a couple seniors profiled in this film.  we meet the parents and hear the stories of how they came to be at this school and what they hope to gain for the future from their high school efforts.  we see angst, hope, fear; we see intense mentoring from the staff; we ultimately see the outcome of each student's journey.  this program makes me remember the tv show "fame", but with real students, real parents, real struggles and real successes.  yes, it's SO true.....parents will go to great lengths for their children.  i enjoyed this film.

39. (A)SEXUAL

so............it's obvious that in the world, there are all sorts of relationships.  hetero, bi, homo, and many combinations.  this film concentrates primarily on david, who founded AVEN (asexual visibility and education network).  some research shows that 1% of the population is asexual.....generally described to be those who don't experience sexual attraction.  they have relationships; some get married; some have had sexual experiences; some still have sex.  but, when they do, it seems to be as a compromise to the person they are romantically involved with.  can there be romance without sexual attraction?  we know there are many romances/marriages, relationships without sex, but those people often forego sex because of other issues.  asexuals just don't feel the urge; though, the point was made that many still masturbate, but for a physical reason, not emotional.  i think the bottom line is there are people who feel different and joining david's AVEN group let's them know they are not alone.  the point is also made that asexual is not the same as celibate.  the celibate make the choice not to engage in intercourse; the asexual just doesn't feel any desire to do so--no urge--no drive--no interest.  it's an interesting concept to think about..........what sort of relationship occurs without sexual intimacy.  even david raises the point, in a 2 year followup, that it seems sex might be the glue to the type of relationship that lasts; sex gives a relationship weight.

38. I GOT OFF TRACK. THE SQUARE

the square--that's tahrir square in cairo.  this film travels the course of 2011-2013, during the uprisings that eventually oust mubarek and then morsi.  we follow real lives of revolutionaries and members of the muslim brotherhood, as they interact, and debate.  while the characters we meet are generally likeable, and the footage is from the inside of the revolution--we are there in the square during jubilation as well as dissent, i found it difficult and somewhat tedious to watch.  this 1 hr and 40 min film took me over the course of several days to get through.  i don't know why exactly--you have to read it, but that's not unusual for a foreign film.  maybe because of the handheld nature of the filming?; the timeline over the course of a couple of years?; the difficulty i found in sometimes keeping straight who was for what cause? the immersive nature of the filming technique?  in the end, i know this is an important film; telling a story of the desire for democracy amongst members of the same nation, but different mentalities, overshadowed by violence.  but, i'm sorry to say, i just didn't enjoy the experience.

HOW AM I DOING?

i've now watched 37 films on this, the 53rd day of the year.  not exactly one/day as i'd hoped, but still not too shabby.  the olympics have been on for 2 weeks now and mom was here for 7 days, accounting for 16 days total, since there was some overlap.  both of those events made it hard to dedicate time to the cause.  37 + 16 would be.........hey..........53!  i wish i could tell more people about each film.  i get to talk it over with keith at times, and i share a story here or there with others.  should i ever decide to make this blog public, that could make a difference.  i can appreciate film reviewers a little better.  its a delicate balance to tell about a film, and try to interject some of the emotion, without spoiling sensitive parts for future viewers.  that's why i was trying to stick to the theme of "what i learned".  i have to remember to do that every time.  it often depends on how much time i have to type up this post.  well......what will #38 be??????  i know i want to watch the academy award nominees, but dang!  they involve such serious subject matter and i have to say.....i prefer non-political, more human interest fare.  i question myself....is this duty i do, or pleasure.  the answer will guide my choices, that's for sure!

37. MEET THE FOKKENS

that is NOT a misspelling.  this is a film about twin sisters, 69 yrs old, who have been Amsterdam prostitutes for nearly 50 years.  they are aged, overweight, pink cheeked, white haired women now.  they seem to live separately, but spend a lot of time with each other.  louise had to give up the business a couple years ago because of arthritis "i couldn't get one leg to cross over the other"; martine is still at it, sitting in her red window in the red light district and imploring would-be customers to come in.  we see some of her work, mostly focused on men of a certain age, and with a theme of mild dominatrix.  it is unbelievable that with all the other young, shapely women we see in neighboring windows that martine still gets enough work.  we learn she can't live adequately on her state pension.  we learn it was her abusive husband who essentially forced her into the work, despite having 2 small children.  we learn of her regret at choosing to do the work her husband demanded she do and risking loss of her children to foster care.  but, generally, these two woman laugh, play, tell stories from their years of work, eat, drink and make art.  in fact, the film ends shortly after a gallery exhibit of their art--heavy on both male and female anatomy.  in every scene except the work scenes the women are dressed in identical, brightly colored and patterned outfits.  they warmly greet those they meet on the street, many of whom we assume are past clients.  the film raises more questions than it answers, but moves quickly.  they are so delightful that we just watch and enjoy.  it almost makes you want to go to red light amsterdam and look them up!

36. VEGUCATED

WOW!  this was interesting.  the filmmaker, a vegan, set out to see how 3 other people, from different walks of life, would take to spending 6 wks being educated in a plant based lifestyle.  she chose college student tesla, who lived with her parents; a single mom of 2 kids; and a single guy.  all of them like their meat.  the 3 learned what it is to be vegan; tasted foods; met others; and, most importantly to the film, were educated on all aspects of meat production.  this meant learning how the animals are raised, the fact that most all fertilization is artificial, the animals are confined to small spaces, animals that don't suit the purpose are destroyed--that's all in the production phase.  THEN comes the processing--animals facing fear, the ways they are handled, killed and made into what we buy at the grocery.  the film discussed the environmental downfall of eating animals; the health issues; the global warming issues.  at the end, we wonder which of the 3 will remain vegan.  it's much easier to be vegetarian, but, as one said, it seems you're just being half-hearted.  i must say the film was informative, if somewhat one-sided.  but, why would it be any other way?  although i believe many of the facts presented, i just don't think i'm ready to give up my milk, and eggs and meat.  netflix has several other films about food and health and diet...........who knows?  maybe i'll be come a convert.  for now, i'm just glad to know a little more than i did before.  as one quote from the film, by john lennon, states,"if slaughterhouses had glass walls, we'd all be vegetarian". 

35. BEEN RICH ALL MY LIFE

they were the chorus girls of the apollo theater, back in the 30's.  now (well in '06 when the film was made), they are the silver belles.  6 women, come together to continue decades of friendship and dance.  we learn a little about each of them and see rehearsals and performances.  the youngest is 86; the "queen" bertye lou, is 93, and the center of the group.  we see her at her feisty best and we see her decline.  the women are fun and vibrant; they came out of a time when they were the draw of the theater at the time; out of segregation.  they all seem to cherish their dance and they all seem invigorated by memories.  i don't know that i learned so much, other than seeing how passion and a zest for life creates a fulfilling senior time of life.    the best line in the film?  these women have flavor; the put seasoning into their steps.  oh, to have the soul of a silver belle!

34. GIRL MODEL

the olympics have significantly interfered with my documentary a day.  of course, i'm learning things from the olympics, too, just not in the style intended for this blog.  that said, it's friday night, so i don't have time limits.  i chose this film because it's on the short side.  it was eye-opening.  following scout ashley, a former model herself, we see a cold call for models in siberia.  apparently there are agencies there that scout girls when they are quite young, convincing the parents that modelling builds character....and, the check book.  13yo nadia is scouted as a model for the japanese market, which likes young innocent girls.  her family needs money and feel, from the contract details as they understand them, nadia will earn at least $8000.  nadia flies off on a plane, unattended, to japan.  there, a sad, homesick nadia tries to make sense of a culture and language she doesn't understand; goes on cold calls; gets a job for which she doesn't get paid; eventually returns home $2000 in debt.  we also follow scout ashley, as she hints at the many improprieties of this industry; makes innuendo to the pedophilic and pornographic culture of the modelling industry in japan; and, even though she had an awful experience as a model, stating many times how much she hated it, we see her continue to scout, knowing what the future holds for the girls she recruits.  it's sad and disturbing.  fresh faced nadia is sad through the majority of the film.  we ache for her.  the only consolation is we know a film crew is with her; we can't help but wonder the fate of girls not so fortunate.  the modelling industry is incredibly lucrative for many, but girls grow up very quickly.  i would say...much too quickly.  siberian parents--keep your daughters home with you!

33. CUTIE AND THE BOXER

2 married artists are like 2 plants in one pot, often struggling for enough nutrients for each to flourish.  but, when it works, the result is 2 beautiful flowers.  ushio shinohara and his wife noriko have an age difference of 22 yrs and a marriage of 40+.  he is now 80, a struggling artist despite working the craft for an entire lifetime.  his art has been a mix of cardboard sculpture and boxing paintings--those made by punching the canvas with paint soaked boxing gloves.  she put her art and education on hold when she met him in new york city after relocating from japan.  she served as his wife and assistant, while he led a mostly unruly life as an alcoholic.  they have stayed poor.  at this time in noriko's life, she exerts more independence and emerges as an artist in her own rite, with a series of drawings of cutie and bullie, depicting her life with ushio and her evolving independence.  at some points, we wonder if she likes him much, but near the end, she tells ushio that cutie loves bullie so very much.  at one point in the film, ushio comments that an artist can't do anything other than art, even if it's not good for him; there is no escape.  we see the power, and the sacrifice, of love.  i enjoyed learning about this interesting couple and, especially, seeing ushio's unique approach to his paintings.