“A Portrait of Donald J. Trump” by Vic Berger & VICE News (2020) [not listed on Mubi]
Both Gibney and Ai Weiwei provide an in depth and convincing investigation into the respective governments' incompetence in handling the pandemic. I'm still waiting for a documentary on Italy's catastrophic response, also based on deception, corruption and obfuscation. More state-wide corruption in The Collective. Nelson's The Street is a phenomenal portrait of gentrification in London: highly recommended. Makridis playful ornithological documentary is keeping Greece weird, and that's great. Two eye opening accounts on the American far right are Feels Good Man and White Noise; highly recommended. Based on Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams's book Invent the Future, Eric Medina's poetic adaptation is a good reminder that another world is possible. Now.
A FEW COMMENTS
Just Don't Think I'll Scream
"A groundbreaking work by a staggering genius or perhaps by an insane man, possibly both. A hikikomori manifesto. Diaristic, but never petty or self-indulgent. The closest description to my own misanthropic life under lockdown, sans collage-mania, clever juxtapositions or extreme cinephilia. Almost situationist in nature, it plays tricks with the viewer (Wait, what movie is that?). I question the label "documentary". ... the end titles, an interminable list of four hundred movies, in alphabetical order, is a short movie in itself, a testament to passion and obsession, a short encyclopedia of film, a new kind of database cinema (Lev Manovich) "Lazy, resigned, I have no hope in the outcome of the clashes. I support the demonstrators from my bed, rejoicing at the black bloc's chaos. I dream of burned banks, stoned police stations. A new world disorder." (Frank Beauvais)
Boys State
"It begins as a parody of a Christopher Guest's movie, but then the level of earnestness is cranked up to 11. It's sad that Boys State competition completely overlooks the role of lobbying and the fact that politicians are literally bought up by special interest groups. Predictably, mini-Trump + mini-Bannon put things into perspective by using social media disinformation & conspiracies to steal the election. Reality."
MIA
Being unable to attend film festivals this year, I have missed several fascinating docs, including Carmen Losmann's Oeconomia (I loved her 2011 doc Work Hard, Play Hard), Isabella Willinger's Hi, AI, Todd Chandler's Bulletproof, Jonathan Perel's Corporate Accountability, Mike Hoolboom's Judy Versus Capitalism, Courtney Stephens, Pacho Velez' The America Sector, Lynne Siefert's Generations , Chris McKim's Wojnarowicz and Petra Epperlein & Michael Tucker's The Meaning of Hitler among others. Yeah, I missed City Hall as well. I'm still waiting for the Mubi of documentaries. Ovid just doesn't cut it for me.
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