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It's Show Time!
Feb. 10th, 2024 12:05 pmI don't know why I decided that watching documentaries beat out watching movies this month. Maybe it's because I bought the PBS Documentaries streaming service on Prime. I have PBS Passport, but a lot of the older documentaries aren't in there. Anyway, other than one movie, and one comedy concert, that's basically all it is.
MOVIES WATCHED IN JANUARY
Jan 2 - The Holdovers (2023)
A cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go and a grieving cook.
Director: Alexander Payne
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
A sweetly funny movie, with moments of bittersweet. It wasn’t really what I was expecting. I liked it.
Jan 10 - Ricky Germais: Armageddon (2023)
A stand-up show that touches on topics such as artificial intelligence, political correctness, family weddings, funerals, and the end of humanity.
Director: John L. Spencer
Star: Ricky Gervais
Not as funny as some of his concerts, but funny enough.
Jan 11 - American Experience: Murder Of a President (2016)
The life of President James Garfield, including his rise to power and the aftermath of his assassination.
Director: Rob Rapley
Stars: Shuler Hensley, Kathryn Erbe, Will Janowitz
I’d read about the total screwup after his shooting, but this was more about the man. I learned a lot. How very different our history might have been if he had lived.
Jan 13 - American Experience: Triangle Fire (2018)
It was the deadliest workplace accident in New York City’s history. A dropped match on the 8th floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory sparked a fire that killed over a hundred innocent people trapped inside. The private industry of the American factory would never be the same.
Director: Jamila Wignot
Anyone who thinks we shouldn’t regulate business (along with being a total moron,) should watch this documentary. It’s amazing what business thought it could get away with, and still does.
Jan 13 - Secret’s Of the Dead: Jamestown’s Dark Winter (2015)
Forensic anthropologists investigate the recently found remains of a young girl in the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia, which may prove the rumors of cannibalism in the colony during the time of great hunger around 1610.
Director: Richard J. Wells
Stars: William Kelso, James Horn, Jamie May
Things did not go well at Jamestown. The indigenous population is probably still kicking themselves for the help they did give the settlement.
Jan 18-19 - Walt Disney (2015)
Two-part biographical documentary on the life, career and legacy of Walt Disney. Making use of recently released archive footage, interviews and classic scenes from his films.
Stars: Rebecca Gethings, Walt Disney, Margaret Winkler
There was a lot I didn’t know about Disney, especially since so much of his life has been whitewashed. Very interesting were the background stories to the movies, especially the animated ones.
Jam 20 - American Experience: McCarthy (2020)
McCarthy chronicles the rise and fall of Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator who came to power after a stunning victory in an election no one thought he could win. Once in office, he declared that there was a vast conspiracy threatening America — emanating not from a rival superpower, but from within. Free of restraint or oversight, he conducted a crusade against those he accused of being enemies of the state, a chilling campaign marked by groundless accusations, bullying intimidation, grandiose showmanship and cruel victimization. With lawyer Roy Cohn at his side, he belittled critics, spinning a web of lies and distortions while spreading fear and confusion. After years in the headlines, he was brought down by his own excesses and overreach. But his name lives on linked to the modern-day witch hunt we call “McCarthyism.”
Director: Sharon Grimberg
What a total jerk this man was. And so much of what he did sounds so familiar to what’s going on now. Amazingly, Roy Cohn helped create two monsters. A must see.
Jan 21 - The War of 1812 (2011)
For two and a half years, Americans fought Against the British, Canadian colonists, and native nations. In the years to come, the War of 1812 would be celebrated in some places and essentially forgotten in others. But it is a war worth remembering-a struggle that threatened the existence of Canada, then divided the United States so deeply that the nation almost broke apart. Some of its battles and heroes became legendary, yet its blunders and cowards were just as prominent. The film shows how the glories of war became enshrined in history - how failures are quickly forgotten - how inconvenient truths are ignored forever. With stunning re-enactments, evocative animation and the incisive commentary of key experts, The War of 1812 presents the conflict that forged the destiny of a continent.
Directors: Diane Garey, Lawrence R. Hott
Stars: Christopher Kozak, Joe Mantegna, Craig Williams
I knew very little about the War of 1812; it was hardly covered in history class. Discovering all the lies about it, I can see why. It’s a war the US only sort of won.
Jan 30-31 - Secrets of the Dead: America’s Untold Story (2018)
Before Jamestown… before Plymouth… the first permanent European settlement in the United States was founded two generations before the Pilgrims arrived - in 1565 - not by English Protestants, but by a melting pot of Spanish, Africans, Italians, Germans, Irish and converted Jews, who integrated almost immediately with the indigenous tribes. America's Untold Story uncovers the story of America's past that never made it into textbooks.
Director: Joe Karably
Star: Jimmy Smits
Highly interesting documentary about the American history were not taught. Living in the Southwest, we were taught a lot about the conquistadors, but mostly about what was going on in Mexico and California/Arizona. Florida was something of a side note. Turns out its history was a lot more interesting than we ever knew. Highly recommended.
MOVIES WATCHED IN JANUARY
Jan 2 - The Holdovers (2023)
A cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go and a grieving cook.
Director: Alexander Payne
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
A sweetly funny movie, with moments of bittersweet. It wasn’t really what I was expecting. I liked it.
Jan 10 - Ricky Germais: Armageddon (2023)
A stand-up show that touches on topics such as artificial intelligence, political correctness, family weddings, funerals, and the end of humanity.
Director: John L. Spencer
Star: Ricky Gervais
Not as funny as some of his concerts, but funny enough.
Jan 11 - American Experience: Murder Of a President (2016)
The life of President James Garfield, including his rise to power and the aftermath of his assassination.
Director: Rob Rapley
Stars: Shuler Hensley, Kathryn Erbe, Will Janowitz
I’d read about the total screwup after his shooting, but this was more about the man. I learned a lot. How very different our history might have been if he had lived.
Jan 13 - American Experience: Triangle Fire (2018)
It was the deadliest workplace accident in New York City’s history. A dropped match on the 8th floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory sparked a fire that killed over a hundred innocent people trapped inside. The private industry of the American factory would never be the same.
Director: Jamila Wignot
Anyone who thinks we shouldn’t regulate business (along with being a total moron,) should watch this documentary. It’s amazing what business thought it could get away with, and still does.
Jan 13 - Secret’s Of the Dead: Jamestown’s Dark Winter (2015)
Forensic anthropologists investigate the recently found remains of a young girl in the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia, which may prove the rumors of cannibalism in the colony during the time of great hunger around 1610.
Director: Richard J. Wells
Stars: William Kelso, James Horn, Jamie May
Things did not go well at Jamestown. The indigenous population is probably still kicking themselves for the help they did give the settlement.
Jan 18-19 - Walt Disney (2015)
Two-part biographical documentary on the life, career and legacy of Walt Disney. Making use of recently released archive footage, interviews and classic scenes from his films.
Stars: Rebecca Gethings, Walt Disney, Margaret Winkler
There was a lot I didn’t know about Disney, especially since so much of his life has been whitewashed. Very interesting were the background stories to the movies, especially the animated ones.
Jam 20 - American Experience: McCarthy (2020)
McCarthy chronicles the rise and fall of Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator who came to power after a stunning victory in an election no one thought he could win. Once in office, he declared that there was a vast conspiracy threatening America — emanating not from a rival superpower, but from within. Free of restraint or oversight, he conducted a crusade against those he accused of being enemies of the state, a chilling campaign marked by groundless accusations, bullying intimidation, grandiose showmanship and cruel victimization. With lawyer Roy Cohn at his side, he belittled critics, spinning a web of lies and distortions while spreading fear and confusion. After years in the headlines, he was brought down by his own excesses and overreach. But his name lives on linked to the modern-day witch hunt we call “McCarthyism.”
Director: Sharon Grimberg
What a total jerk this man was. And so much of what he did sounds so familiar to what’s going on now. Amazingly, Roy Cohn helped create two monsters. A must see.
Jan 21 - The War of 1812 (2011)
For two and a half years, Americans fought Against the British, Canadian colonists, and native nations. In the years to come, the War of 1812 would be celebrated in some places and essentially forgotten in others. But it is a war worth remembering-a struggle that threatened the existence of Canada, then divided the United States so deeply that the nation almost broke apart. Some of its battles and heroes became legendary, yet its blunders and cowards were just as prominent. The film shows how the glories of war became enshrined in history - how failures are quickly forgotten - how inconvenient truths are ignored forever. With stunning re-enactments, evocative animation and the incisive commentary of key experts, The War of 1812 presents the conflict that forged the destiny of a continent.
Directors: Diane Garey, Lawrence R. Hott
Stars: Christopher Kozak, Joe Mantegna, Craig Williams
I knew very little about the War of 1812; it was hardly covered in history class. Discovering all the lies about it, I can see why. It’s a war the US only sort of won.
Jan 30-31 - Secrets of the Dead: America’s Untold Story (2018)
Before Jamestown… before Plymouth… the first permanent European settlement in the United States was founded two generations before the Pilgrims arrived - in 1565 - not by English Protestants, but by a melting pot of Spanish, Africans, Italians, Germans, Irish and converted Jews, who integrated almost immediately with the indigenous tribes. America's Untold Story uncovers the story of America's past that never made it into textbooks.
Director: Joe Karably
Star: Jimmy Smits
Highly interesting documentary about the American history were not taught. Living in the Southwest, we were taught a lot about the conquistadors, but mostly about what was going on in Mexico and California/Arizona. Florida was something of a side note. Turns out its history was a lot more interesting than we ever knew. Highly recommended.
