The 50 Word Review

Eric Steel’s documentary examines the post card perfect Golden Gate Bridge as a suicide jumper’s paradise. Does the camera go too far following a jumper plunging to his death? Are such sequences a bridge too far? This is a documentary first about filming taboos and mental health secondly. JJ

Facts sink if they don’t have context to buoy them. This documentary provides the context to not only the greatest boxing match in history, but around larger issues of civil rights, black pride, African pride and marketing of athletes. Ali vs Foreman. Saviour vs Uncle Tom. The Rumble in the Jungle.

William Hilderbrandt

The medium may be overburdened but the message is serious; ‘dude where’s the oil gone?’ ‘Awakening’ tackles the question of what next after the most ‘invaluable natural resource’ runs out. Stacked with harbingers entreating the viewer to consider the possibility that future generations will travel no further than the corner shop. Enlightening if overwrought.
JJ

In America it seems everything has a price so why not health? In Sicko the maelstrom that is Michael Moore Inc. tackles the hugely profitable (and deathly) U.S. health care system. As with all Moore films it’s: polemical, farcical, funny, poignant, teary, melodramatic, but shows signs of a mellowing Moore too.
JJ

The allure of Japan, especially Tokyo, has a magnetic appeal to moviemakers. Mike Mills’ documentary – the title is from an ad promoting anti-depressants - about five Japanese individuals suffering from depression is uneven and difficult to engage with. The camera work and subtitling are sloppy and the project lacks direction. JJ

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What are the limits to human desire? In 2005 a Seattle businessman died as result of injuries sustained during sex with a horse – exposing a secret community who share an extreme and exotic appetite for horses. Like Grizzly Man Zoo is provocative, but more concerned with style and aesthetic.
JJ

Seven directors; seven short films – each illuminating the erotic on screen. At least three of them are film festival fodder, Gasper Noé’s is an overdose and involves a blow up doll, Larry Clark’s is raw and uncomfortable. Balkan Erotic Epic is interesting. In a word; porn – via the art house.
JJ

American teenager meets film school student at a party and tells him that she sold her virginity on e-Bay. He suggests turning the experience into a documentary. She agrees. She wants to be a star in her own real life warts and all soft porno cry-for-help. Bewildering and disturbing. JJ

The internet really is the final frontier. This is a bewildering ‘reality television/documentary’ about a New York teenager who sells her virginity on e-Bay. Awkward viewing at times; the student filmmaker foolishly dramatises the events to add running time, thus rendering the second part redundant. Pathetic and sad.- JJ