100 Years of Warner

8/10

This new documentary mini-series on Max (formerly HBO Max), traces the history of Warner Bros. through four episodes that divvy up the time periods. 

I felt this was a well put-together mini-series. It flows well with solid choices in film and interview clips. 100 Years really serves as an ode to film-making itself. It's interesting to see how the film-making process changes over these episodes.

Of course, they don't have time to go over everything, and they don't cover everything one would want to see. Though, they do plug in a ton of clips, even ever so brief, from the Warners catalog.

100 Years does well in covering the change in racial and gender coverage over the years, including firsts in representation. The mini-series doesn't hide from less savory parts of Warner's earlier years. (Jack Warner, not a great guy.) However, it's clear that Warner isn't in the mood to discuss more recent issues, such as the fallout of the DC Snyderverse or AT&T's acquisition of the company and then letting it go after it realized HBO Max wasn't working out. Current Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is one of the interviewees, so 100 years definitely doesn't discuss the controversy of his shelving completed films. For all the mini-series' talk about the times Warner took chances, it doesn't want to address its more recent focus on the bottom line.

Recommended. If you're a film buff, I think you'll be pleased with this.

Jack@$$ Forever

8/10

In what is supposed to be the last JA entry (at least for the original gang), Johnny Knoxville and company do what they always do: subject themselves to a ton of intensely rough pranks and stunts. 

Except for maybe one or two clips, I didn't see the original show or the first three films. Never had much interest. However, the movie trailers have been shown a LOT in theaters and for what feels like forever. It got in my head, and I couldn't resist it's siren's call.  

I can't say as to whether this is as good as "classic" JA, but I found it to be hilarious. The pranks and stunts here are pretty clever, sometimes bizarrely so, and delightfully violent. (Yes, I'm aware I am taking pleasure from people royally messing themselves up, which might have terrible long term effects on them later in life. I'm not proud of this.) The guys are having fun and their merriment is infectious. 

Be prepared for a lot of male genitalia in this. I mean a LOT. Also, there's a lot of gross stuff. (Not a fan of that part.) I was not expecting to see so much poop, or any poop at all. Weird thing is, there's more poop in this than vomit. I'd have thought it'd be the other way around. Live and learn.

The pacing in this is really tight as we're competently switch from one prank or stunt to the next. I can read between-the-lines with this film and a lot of pranks or longer scenes got cut. They clearly knew what to stick with. 

I give Knoxville and company credit for being honest about the toll and dangers of the stunts on this show. The movie doesn't flinch from showing when the paramedics are called in. Knoxville got brain damage from a stunt here.

Speaking of the toll the movie took, that's one reason it's the gang's last film. They're not getting any younger, and one can only take so much. To help lighten the load, the movie brought in several new faces, which I liked well enough. Again, not a long time follower of the show, so I really can't compare them to the OG crew. Understand that this is missing a couple JA members. Ryan Dunn died in a car crash (supposedly another reason this was made as a sort of tribute and last hurrah) and Bam Margera broke his sobriety clause.

If you like hardcore pranks and stunts, then this movie is for you. I guess this would probably satisfy any longtime JA fan. However, if you don't like gross out humor or things just getting weird then you'd best avoid.

Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage

9/10

This installment of the HBO documentary series Music Box looks at Woodstock 99, the third and so far last of the Woodstock concerts. It was intended hit to the zeitgeist of the nineties music scene by hosting a huge amount of big names at the time and had an audience of 400,000. However, it didn't properly plan for the heat, water and bathing conditions. In the end, there was massive violence/vandalism, including multiple counts of rape or other sexual harassment, and one man died of heat stroke. Eventually the police had to be brought in to clear it up and MTV News, which was covering the entire thing, had to vacate.

This is just a really well orchestrated doc. It carefully follows each day of the festival and does a great job of carefully building toward and explaining how things went nuts. This is one of those narrationless documentaries where everything is set up by the interviewees dialogue. 

I remember the MTV/news coverage of the chaos and this really brings it all back for me. (They even got MTV's Carson Daly to interview. Unfortunately Kurt Loder, the network's other major face to at the concert to the best of my memory doesn't participate.) It is also just an excellent all-encompassing glance into the nineties culture in general.

I thought this was a better done concert-gone-wrong documentary than those two Fyre Festival ones. This felt more comprehensive of the situation. Also, I felt it more interesting to see an ill-fated concert that should've worked in theory run by guys with experience than the overtly ambitious and untested dream run by guys new to concert promotion. 

Speaking of the organizers, co-producer John Scher makes himself the perfect villain. He goes out of the way point the finger towards anyone besides himself and just insultingly tries to avoid the blame in general. There is one remark from him that may have you yelling at the screen.  

The doc definitely earns its TV-MA rating. This is a very honest portrayal of what went on at the festival, by which I mean there is a crazy number of boobs and dicks. I mean a lot. There is one of photograph of the inside of the occupied women's shower, and I don't feel comfortable with it. I'm pretty sure that not every if not all women were aware and/or gave their consent for that. Cringey choice by the director. 

Highly recommended. Really covers the concert and its time period. Great for both people who remember it and the younger generation if they want to know more.

The Holiday Movies That Made US

 

8/10

This spin-off of The Movies That Made Us, which itself was a spin-off of The Toys That Made Us. looks at the creation of the Christmas films Elf and The Nightmare Before Christmas (sorry, no Christmas Story or Muppets Christmas Carol). It's only two episodes. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a four episode order that got split into two seasons and we'll see the second one around Halloween. 

I liked this. Like MTMU, this provides some interesting factoids about the films, including struggles to get them made, all packaged in a well paced and fun format. 

Just be forewarned, that this doesn't snag a lot of the big names, such as Will Ferrell, Tim Burton, or John Favreau, but we still get a lot of faces behind the films' creation. Also, you do get a heap of Oingo Boingo's Danny Elfman, so there's that. 

Overall, if you liked the previous shows, I think you'll like this. 

High Score

 

7/10

This six-part documentary series on YouTube looks at the the history of the video game industry. It was an interesting watch. You get to learn about such things as programmers dealing with technical restraints for early games and stuff that happened when the industry was still new and the rules were being built.

Visually, High Score makes good use of 8-bit video game-inspired interstitials.

The composition of this can be kinda sloppy. Each episode has a general theme, but the material connections can sometimes be tenuous. The show picks and chooses what it goes with and doesn't necessarily feel substantive. It feels like the creators couldn't decide on a tone either. The third episode is joke heavy, while the others aren't. 

The show focuses on whoever they could get to interview. If you're expecting focus on big name video game creators or producers, they're not mentioned much if the show couldn't get them. A lot of video games are made in Japan, so if you're not a big subtitle fan then be forewarned.

I recommend this. It has a lot of interesting info., just be forewarned that this isn't as comprehensive as you'd think.

The Social Dilemma

9/10

The Social Dilemma, a Netflix documentary, looks at how social media and advertising logarithms have had an unhealthy affect on psychology and politics. I found this interesting. 

This documentary is a really cautionary tale on where the world is headed. And is intriguing in how social media came from a place of good intent and went in a path unintended by its creators.

All the major aspects are addressed and the whole thing is well paced. Has some nice visuals and an engaging group of interviewees.

The documentary also uses some filmed segments about a family's relationship to social media to help get the point across. I'm not hating it, but I'm not loving it. You ever see one of those anti-drug cautionary films in school? It's kinda like that. I think the documentary would be just as effective without these segments. Also, the lead character is played by Santa Clarita Diet's Skyler Gisondo, who while not a household name has been in a decent number of shows and films over the years. The casting of a known actor kind of derails the illusion of a sample family but maybe it's just me.

I recommend this, especially if you're raising kids during this era.