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Guest The Magnificent 7

HBO did a doc on the Kenyan terrorist mall attack called Terror at the Mall that is, well, intense. Apparently most of the security camera footage, which is very good, was able to be kept, and not only that there were people on the ground ballsy enough to come inside and film during the chaos. So it's basically an hour of first-hand accounts of trying to escape from the terrorists, or storming the mall. There's a plainclothes cop that organizes a team because the different forces at work can't decide on a plan and rushes in with a cameraman actually following him. And this was all instigated by like four guys between 19 and 23 years of age. At the end the plainclothes cop comes back on again for the final statement and it's this WHOA moment where he lays the hammer down on the terrorists, promising to fight against them as long as he's drawing breath and can fire a gun. Pretty serious shit. 

 

Spark: A Burning Man Story has been playing on Showtime a lot and it's really good in a far more positive way than the above... except for the footage from Burning Man '96 which is like a fever dream (or, as one woman says, "it was Mad Max").

 

I have the Terror at the Mall one recorded and plan to watch it soon.  I also recorded one on Beslan called Three Days in September.  I'll probably space watching those both out, as I don't want to slip into some major depression or something.

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As a random aside - I just wanted to mention that I have a really hard time watching documentaries that I know are going to infuriate me.

 

For example

 

 

Maybe that is just me but yeah...

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it is not just you.  

 

rEVILution made me want to start a dumpster fire, but you need to watch documentaries like that. 

 

You need to see the face of the enemy first hand.  I really really really want to punch Alex Jones in the throat.

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As a random aside - I just wanted to mention that I have a really hard time watching documentaries that I know are going to infuriate me.

 

For example

 

 

Maybe that is just me but yeah...

I need to see this.

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Hey, the Aussie's face right there was fair enough warning! 

 

I want to see what Danny Glover and David Simon have to say but I'm sure this is nothing I don't already know. Probably end up watching it at 2 AM on Free Speech TV next year.

 

EDIT: Okay now that Revisionaries trailer makes ME want to throw things in impotent rage

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Well, David Bowie: Five Years on Showtime made me feel very stupid. Bowie is a huge blind spot for me and hearing about all the amazing albums he put together in this short little space of time is awesome. And there is this great quote from the inimitable Robert Fripp of King Crimson, one of my favorite bands who I of course had no idea worked with Bowie:

 

"What -- is the difference -- between rock -- and pop? ... You might get fucked. Can I say it that way or do you want me to put it in alternative terminology?"

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  • 2 weeks later...

Watched Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways last night on HBO. It's a miniseries focusing on a different town for each song of the new album of theirs. I'm not a fan at all (and don't even really listen to Nirvana) but this looks to be awesome. They opened in Chicago, talking about and to Buddy Guy, Cheap Trick, Naked Raygun, Big Black, Wax Trax Records, the '80s punk scene there, and with Steve Albini at his studio. Interesting tidbit: Albini is a bigtime gambler who's saved his employees at the studio several times by winning poker games. Next ep they're going to D.C. so expect a lot of talk about Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and Dave's old band Scream. 

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Really enjoyed the documentary on Showtime of the band Genesis.  Didn't really follow the band until around early 80's when Phil Collins was completely in control.   The 70's version of Genesis with Peter Gabriel was really weird time as you have 3 relatively normal people stuck with a lead singer wearing all of these goofy outfits.  But the music was still really good

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Home sick yesterday, and finished with my binge-watching of Parenthood, so it's back to some documentaries:

 

Please Subscribe - Somebody on here asked me to watch this (apologies for forgetting who!)  Well, I did.  I can't say I was impressed in any way.  This is one of the laziest documentaries I've seen in a long, long time.  The makers take what could be an interesting subject - "Youtubers" who make a living posting videos to Youtube - and do nothing with it.  What we get are short 5-10 minute interviews with each person, a tiny bit of behind-the-scenes at how their videos are made and...that's it.  The people profiled seem nice enough - Hannah Hart, in particular, seems pretty darn cool (though I suspect I'd find her "drunk chef" videos incredibly annoying) and SeaNanners seems pretty cool as well.  But, again, nothing much is done with them other than the interviews.  Then, in one interview, we get what is almost the documentary equivalent of one of those annoying Facebook clickbait articles.  They put up a little screen that says they asked one guy some really personal question and show him not answering.  Then another screen saying three weeks later he's willing to address it.  Then he...doesn't.  And at no time are we told the actual question.  It's sort of implied that the question is along the lines of "ARE YOU TEH GAY???????" but never stated as such.  It feels like a "We asked this guy a really personal question.  You won't believe his shocking response" clickbait thing.  There's some mention of a "Youtubers convention" but not much is shown of it.  There's references, and a couple brief video clips, highlighting the fame some Youtubers achieve but, again, not much done with it.  In the end, the whole thing just feels like one big missed opportunity.  5/10.

 

The History of the Eagles - An official documentary on seminal rock band The Eagles.  Not sure if this is the same thing as what ran on HBO/Showtime last year or not.  Clocking in at just over 3 hours, this is pretty darn great.  Every band member - past, present, former, etc - participates as well as managers and music execs.  Because it's done by the band themselves, they don't go into a ton of detail on internal strife or controversy but every topic IS covered.  Each membership change is discussed, all the major lawsuits and controversies are covered.  LOTS of talk (and photos and film) of drug and alcohol usage.  Lots of great discussion on the creation of various songs.  Lots of great discussion on the music histories of each member.  And tons of great archival footage of past interviews and concerts as well as home video footage.  Truly a remarkable amount of that kind of stuff, quite frankly.  And perhaps the best little tidbit - audio of an on-stage argument between Glenn Frey and Don Felder during their last-ever performance that features Frey telling Felder he's going to kill him after the concert.  Seriously great stuff there.  That's all in the first part of the doc.  The second part covers the reunion in 1994 and subsequent albums and tours.  Interesting tidbit: a reunion was planned for 1994 and all guys had agreed to it but Glenn Frey backed out.  Didn't know that.  Discussion of Don Felder's removal from the band.  In general, most of the guys in the group come off pretty darn well in their interviews.  Don Henley, who has a reputation of having a massive ego and being tough to work with, comes across here more as confident and not overbearing.  Glenn Frey comes off the worst as he's the one telling the story of getting Don Felder involved in the reunion (Frey wanted Henley & Frey to make more money than the other three guys and Felder wasn't cool with that).  It's obvious Frey has a very large ego and is much aware of his role within the Eagles and the music industry.  On the flip side, Timothy B Schmit comes off as really humble and likable.  He joined the band late and is still very much in the "Man, this is great!" mindset, loving what he's doing.  Anyway, the whole documentary is really great and a must-see for fans of the band or rock in general.  Great stuff.  9/10.

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Even though the Eagles are far far far from my favorite band I thought that was an interesting doc, Joe Walsh being the primary interest. 

 

The Genesis doc I caught right when the Collins era started being discussed, which I've never had any interest in whatsoever, and honestly it made me want to puke. If you thought the Eagles were bland... I had to go listen to some King Crimson to get the bad taste out of my mouth.

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Recently rewatched The Rock a Fire Explosion! A documentary about the animatronic bands that played at Showbiz Pizza and a few other restaurants, tells the story of their beginnings, the company that produced them and the current state of the company and people who have rebuilt them. Its really quite fascinating , though I imagine it wouldn't be quite as fun if you didn't grow up with them.as a part of your childhood.

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