True Films

In the Year of the Pig


inyearofpig

Passionate film made in 1968 — at the height of the Vietnam War — about how and why Vietnam was winning, and the US losing. Lots of revealing interviews and footage. The parallels to the Iraq War today are obvious and disturbing.

— KK

In the Year of the Pig
Emile de Antonio
1968, 103 min.
$3, Amazon Instant Video rental

Read more about the film at Wikipedia

Rent from Netflix

Available from Amazon

Posted March 31, 2008 at 5:00 am | comments
| in category History


Crazy Love


crazylove

Love is weird. This is a riveting story about a mutual love/hate relationship so obsessive, so disturbing, so insane, and yet in the end so conventional, that it challenges your own concept of love — and sanity. The guy is a certified psycho stalker, but what is she? The film’s twisted tale gets creepier as it goes along, but what makes this documentary memorable — and elevates it above a generic tabloid story — is how ordinary it all ends. Can love really conquer such psychosis? You could not make this plot up.

— KK

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Crazy Love
Dan Klores, Fisher Stevens
2007, 92 min.
$3, Amazon Instant Video rental

Official website

Read more about the film at Wikipedia

Rent from Netflix

Available from Amazon

Posted March 24, 2008 at 9:30 am | comments


Dirty Jobs


DirtyJobs

This reality series is far more educational than I expected. Sure, host Mike Rowe shovels a lot of shit and dispenses very funny jokes (potty humor anyone?) but these documentaries are about more than dirt. They are about admiration for the skill and hard work of the folks doing unwanted jobs. Rowe takes great pains to show how and why these essential hidden jobs are done. You feel his respect. He makes you appreciate their challenges. You get inside views, see things you ordinarily would not, learn how the world works. You get the thrill of being backstage. Kids love the shows, and I strongly encourage them to watch them all.

— KK

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Dirty Jobs: Collection 1
Mike Rowe
2005, 493 min.
$7, DVD, 2 discs

Official website

Read more about the film at Wikipedia

Rent from Netflix

Available from Amazon

Posted March 17, 2008 at 9:45 am | comments


The Great Happiness Space


great-happiness-space

Unblinking access to a strange underworld in Japan. It’s a story about professional pretty boys who are paid a lot of money to be platonic friends to pretty young girls, who are paid a lot of money for sexual favors by Tokyo salarymen. The boys are bored pretending to be friends to the girls who are bored having to pay for friendship. This circle of broken hearts, each unhappy soul trying to buy happiness or “healing,” is mesmerizing, and in the end heart-wrenching. Because their roles allows no one in the “great happiness space” to develop real relationships, they pay high dollars for fake friends and “healing.” Yet all of the “healers” need to be healed. As one reviewer on Netflix said, “I wanted to give them all a hug or send them to summer camp or something.” But the honesty and candid peek into this private world is totally captivating. An invisible subculture illuminated.

— KK

The Great Happiness Space
Directed by Jake Clennell
2006, 75 min.
DVD, $35

Official website

Read more about the film at Wikipedia

Rent from Netflix

Available from Amazon

Posted March 10, 2008 at 9:17 am | comments




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