Documentaries

Current tv (the channel) just wrapped up their five-part miniseries 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die.

I can't pinpoint the day I became a fan of documentaries. I recall seeing Hoop Dreams when I was younger. That might've been my first exposure to a non-educational documentary. Nevertheless, I love them. There are wonderful subjects and different parts of culture that I am now exposed to because of the intimacy and sincerity of these films.

I like this list a lot. I've seen more than half of them. My favorites that I can view multiple times are Supersize Me, Murderball, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, King of Kong, March of the Penguins, etc.

There are independent documentaries I've had the pleasure of viewing that aren't well known and haven't made this list.

Wiener Takes All: A Dogumentary - the film explores wiener dog races and the owners who love them.
Song Sung Blue - NFL Films Director followed a Neil Diamond impersonator and his family over the course of a few years.
Wesley Willis's Wild Joy Ride - Chicago musician who had his talents and his demons. A staple in the local music industry
Vincent: A Life in Color - Another story of a Chicagoan with an interesting life. I was lucky enough to meet Vincent and the director Jennifer when I introduced the film at a festival.
Indestructible - Ben Byer, the director and subject of his film on living with ALS. This film moved me in so many ways. I saw this at a film festival and I recall being so thankful the room was as dark as it was cause I couldn't stop myself from crying. This film is so powerful, yet so difficult to watch as Ben lays everything out for the viewers.

the list for those of you who are curious
50. Spellbound (2002)
49. Truth or Dare (1991)
48. The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
47. One Day in September (1999)
46. Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1998)
45. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
44. Burma VJ (2008)
43. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)
42. Catfish (2010)
41. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
40. When We Were Kings (1996)
39. Biggie & Tupac (2002)
38. March of the Penguins (2005)
37. Inside Job (2010)
36. Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)
35. Paragraph 175 (2000)
34. Brother’s Keeper (1992)
33. Tongues Untied (1989)
32. Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)
31. Jesus Camp (2006)
30. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
29. Man on Wire (2008)
28. Gasland (2010)
27. Tarnation (2003)
26. Murderball (2005)
25. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
24. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
23. The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)
22. Shut Up & Sing (2006)
21. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)
20. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
19. Touching the Void (2003)
18. Food, Inc. (2008)
17. Street Fight (2005)
16. Bus 174 (2002)
15. Crumb (1994)
14. Dark Days (2000)
13. The Fog of War (2003)
12. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
11. Paris Is Burning (1991)
10. Grizzly Man (2005)
9. Trouble the Water (2008)
8. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
7. The Celluloid Closet (1995)
6. The War Room (1993)
5. Supersize Me (2004)
4. Waltz With Bashir (2008)
3. Roger & Me (1989)
2. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
1. Hoop Dreams (1994)

Band Battle

When I was in high school, I went to a fair share of various "Battle of the Bands." I went there to support my friends that were competing and also to check out new music.

I haven't been to any band competition in about 10 years, until recently. One of the best music venues in the DC Metro area is Jammin Java in Vienna. I've frequented this place a few times before to check out the Damnwells and Jesse Malin.

I check the Jammin Java calendar occasionally and I saw the were sponsoring a Mid Atlantic Band Battle for a few weeks. It intrigued me, but I held back on pulling the trigger until I saw the finals were approaching. I didn't know any of the bands on the bill, but that didn't bother me.

I pulled up to the parking lot in the rain and got there on time - which I usually make the mistake of doing. The bands never start on time and I'm left sitting around waiting. I didn't know any of the bands on the bill and I honestly can't tell you any of their names except one - Bethany & the Guitar.

Bethany writes songs with her brother Kurtis, who also plays guitar in the band. Her style is singer-songwriter influenced by artists such as Colbie Caillat and Bon Iver. The combination of her voice and the music backing her is incredible. She is providing more than just something mediocre, it's got substance, it's got heart. I'm particularly drawn to her songs "Careful with Me" and Passion Pit cover "Sleepyhead."

Bethany & the Guitar won by the way.

Qwerty

My friend Nat Dykeman is a fellow film fanatic and has turned me on to many independent films through our friendship and the Lake County Film Festival, which he founded.

Nat's new project is an independent film that he produced. He recruited director Bill Sebastian, who brought the play Midlothia to the screen in 2007.

The film I'm talking about is Qwerty. Now, an independent film is tough to make. I know Nat went thru a lot just to get this off the ground. They are accepting support thru IndieGoGo, a great resource for independent artists. Check out the trailer and head over to the page to learn how you can help.

the Book of Mormon

I took a trip to NYC and was exploring Times Square. I wanted to check out the theatre district and see all the plays on Broadway.

I know how expensive these plays are and I'm aware tickets for the Book of Mormon are sold out until 2012, but I thought it was worth checking out.

So I went to the O'Neil theatre with a friend of mine and discovered they have a lottery 2 hours before every show. You enter your name and you can purchase up to 2 tickets for $32. The face value is at least $155 and they are being scalped for twice that. After hanging around for a bit, they started calling the names. My friend's name was called and we were shocked.

Our seats were a bit obsctructed as we were seated by the side of the stage, they were still so close and worth $32. I haven't been to a ton of Broadway shows in the past, but this was brilliant. I've seen a lot of Parker/Stone's work from Cannibal the Musical, Orgazmo, Team America and South Park. It's a lot of the same humor, but strategically catered to appeal to their own fans and the theatre crowd.

I hope to catch this again as they announced they will be making a Chicago run in 2012!

Half Measures vs. Full Measure

24 hours away from Breaking Bad S4....

It's Always Sunny S7

I cannot contain my excitement for the new season.

Check out the news from CinemaBlend.
So Rob McElhenny who plays Mac gained 50lbs for the new season just because "he thought it would be funny." That is commitment and I applaud his sacrifice for comedy.

This season is going to feature Kings of Leon doing a Glee-like episode, a Toddlers & Tiaras ep, and Frank has his own 'Pretty Woman' experience.

X-Men Family Tree

i think i kinda need this in poster form.

Seal Bomb

A daily staple I partake in is a visit to Cute Overload. Seriously, the world would be a better place if everyone just took five minutes out of their day to check this site.

This was on their top ten list and is not photoshopped.

New Year's Day

Goodbye 2010: the year I exited credit card debt and entered school loan debt.

I'm going to make more time to journal some thoughts, reviews, randomness, etc

Starting off the year, Matthew Ryan - one of my fav singer songwriters has released a new track appropriately titled "New Year's Day"