2011 Documentary Nominees

2011 Best Documentary Feature Nominees

Just a weather update since my last post - the weather has not improved and parts of the greater metropolitan Twin Cities have seen up to 12" of snow - in MAY. So, that gives me one last good excuse to stay inside and watch more movies.

Anyway, back on the movie watching wagon. Last month I posted my thoughts (actually, my feelings) about the 2011 winner of Best Documentary Feature, Undefeated. I hope you have added this to your watch list. Here are the rest of the nominees for 2011. It's quite a variety and they all elicited different reactions.

Hell and Back Again follows Nathan Harris and his wife, Ashley, as he returns from the war in Afghanistan with severe physical injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. It's not pretty and at times hard to watch, but I think it's important, especially as the dialogue continues in this country about how to help the men and women who serve our country when they return home. Nathan is very determined, but I was also struck by his wife's strength and her support of him.

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front mostly made me angry. Angry at what is happening to our forests and natural resources, and angry at people who think that destroying property is an okay way to stage a protest, and angrier that they seemed to think they shouldn't be punished when they got caught. Talk about going through the looking glass. The movie focuses on Daniel McGowan, his evolution into an environmental zealot, and his fellow members in the world of eco-terrorism. There is some discussion around the use of the word terrorism in the film, so it is not my word, but what the government called it. I don't think you can dispute that there is some very serious destruction of our forests, mountain ranges and other natural resources; I think you'd have to be very naive or in denial. The members of the Earth Liberation Front did not think that peaceful protests or any other non-violent, non-destructive protest methods were working, or were too slow, so they took to vandalism, arson and sabotage. The means justify the ends. After I watched this movie, I watched How to Survive a Plague, about the fight to find a cure for AIDS, and was amazed at the fact that people were dying, but the activists stuck to protests (some very loud and aggressive) and trying to crash the government's party, and had some success.They didn't commit arson. Perhaps times changes, perhaps the 21st century would not be as friendly to the AIDS activists. You may not agree with everything in the movie, maybe you'll get upset as well, but it tells a story that is not often told, and it is pretty fair-handed, I think, in that it tells both sides of the story, and you can make up your own mind about ELF and its goals and the logging industry.

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory is the third (most likely final) installment in a compelling story of murder, prejudices and the legal system. I strongly recommend watching the first two movies (Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations) to get the full picture, although this film does a good job of recapping the case. This film follows up with Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin as they are in the 18th year of imprisonment after being convicted of the murder of three young boys in West Memphis in 1994. Echols was sentenced to death. There are a lot of twists and turns. There were accusations of Satanism; the stepfather of one of the murdered boys was at one time the most aggressive accuser, certain of their guilt, but as time passed, and other evidence was found, he became one of their most vocal supporters (it was very cool to see that transformation), actors (Johnny Depp) and musicians (Eddie Vedder, Dixie Chicks) put their support behind the 'West Memphis Three'. There are interviews with Misskelley, Echols and Baldwin, as well as contemporary footage from the trials and news coverage. This is a real-life mystery, which is not quite solved, but it will keep your attention.

Pina made me wish for that hour and forty-three minutes back, at about 10 minutes into the movie. I probably wouldn't have been so ticked off if this was in the Foreign Film category (it was also nominated there) instead of the Documentary category. If you like dance, this may be for you, becasue it was certainly not for me. I like Riverdance, not people putting pieces of veal in their toe shoes and dancing around, or shoveling dirt on other dancers. To me, that's like putting urine in a jar and calling it art. Pina of the title was a dancer and choreographer, who apparently inspired the members of her company to do amazing things. I would have liked to know more about her, and that might have helped me to appreciate the dance and the film more. I just felt it was self-indulgent of the director, Wim Wenders.