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Postcards from Babylon - Evangelicals in the Shadow of Christian Nationalism (2021)
Important Examination of Evangelicalism and Nationalism in the U.S.
This documentary looks at American nationalism and how many of those who are radically conservative also claim Christianity. Along the way, it looks at militarism, Trump, political power, racism, and toxic masculinity. The documentary is a critique of this point of view. (While these are separate issues, obviously people who believe one often hold to the rest as well.) It achieves its goal primarily through a series of interviews of a number of Christian thought leaders.
While the message is important and pertinent, unfortunately the images left a lot to be desired. Most of the "b-roll" and video not of a specific interview was filmed with a hand-held camera. It was so shaky as to appear to have been captured on a cell phone. Fortunately, the audio was good and the message comes through in this way.
Crucifixion Quake (2020)
Lacks conclusion
This documentary follows one man's quest to see if geology can prove that an earthquake took place as described in the gospel of Matthew. Unfortunately, he has not finished his study at the time of the documentary's creation. This did make it seem like the documentary did not have a clear goal or conclusion. Along with this, many different people from a variety of disciplines were interviewed. Most of these shared their differing viewpoints on the bible in general and did not comment regarding the quake specifically. This to led to a lack of clarity regarding what if any point the documentary was trying to make.
Zeitgeist (2007)
Garbage
This isn't a film in any normal sense, not even a documentary. Significant portions of the "film" are just clips of random people saying one thing or another. There isn't any unifying theme or story. The "film" is divided into 3 unrelated sections. I see no reason for these to be merged together; they should have been presented separately.
Often the video is blurred or some other non-image. As for the content, it is dangerous because is passes off half-truths, contested interpretations, and debatable conclusions as facts.
I have no idea who has been rating this "movie" so highly. I saw some comments like, "makes you think", "do your own research", and "think for your self". As someone who does these things, I can say that there are mountains of content available-especially now days-which are way, way better than "Zeitgeist".
Moonage Daydream (2022)
Mixed Feelings
This isn't a documentary in any traditional sense, only in how it portrays a real person. The film is bright, colorful, loud, chaotic, and cacophonus. Many parts of the movie have loud music, ambient noise, and some voice over all piled on top of a rapidly changing series of visual clips of random scenes. It's a real trip and almost an overload on the senses. Fortunately, the movie does calm down for periods so as not to be a complete assault from start to finish.
On one hand, the film is a visual work of art. The reason I rated low in spite of this was because the film didn't know when to stop (in my humble opinion). 2+ hours was just too long for a movie which didn't really move. Interviews and clips at any point in the film seemed to be taken from throughout Bowie's career, so I didn't get a sense of a progression of chronology. In fact, there were numerous clips which were repeated at different times in the film. Also, the film doesn't have a story or narrative to carry it along either. And unlike many documentaries, there are no interviews from people who knew Bowie. With the exception of interviewers questioning him, the only voice we hear through the movie is Bowie himself.
On one hand, this "documentary" succeeds in that I have a better sense of who Bowie was than before I watched it. On the other hand, I think what I did get I could have had in an hour or less. The film could, in theory, have been more informative. Yet its colorful and chaotic nature expressed what it may have been like in Bowie's head.
The Falling World (2022)
Good until the end
I thought the movie was good until the end. The story was suspenseful and kept my attention. It wasn't at all clear how it would resolve. The film looked good and was well acted. I was only disappointed by the end of the movie. It didn't resolve as clearly as I would have liked.
God's Fool (2020)
Are Wealth and Faith Incompatible?
I read some scathing reviews before watching this movie myself (including all of the 1 star ratings here), so I went in with low expectations. The movie isn't *that* bad. The opening scene of St. Francis is probably the weakest part of the movie, but this is only a few minutes out of the whole. I liked the idea of setting this movie in present day New York City as opposed to trying to do a reenactment of St. Francis' life. I thought modern part of the movie was well produced (considering it didn't have a Hollywood budget). Ultimately, how one feels about this movie will likely have more to do with how much one resonates with the message than the technical details of the film. The message is thus: to truly follow Christ and find fulfillment in life, one must renounce wealth and obey the teachings of Jesus. Through the movie, a young man is poised to inherit his father's business and wealth. But he doesn't see any meaning in it. He encounters a Franciscan priest who befriends him and teaches him about the Franciscan way. The young man is pulled between these two calls: to live a "normal" life, enjoying his family's wealth and prestige, or severing these ties in order to identify with and serve "the least of these".
Sisters with Transistors (2020)
Women in Electronic Music
This is a well crafted documentary on the contributions of a handful notable women to early electronic music. Up through the 1960's, electronic music was effectively all experimental and this documentary focuses on this side of the medium. (So don't expect any dance music-what many people think of when they think of electronic music now days.) About the only complaint I would make about this film is something which is a common challenge for many creative works: I felt it started to lose momentum toward the end and dragged out a bit longer than it needed to.