Documentaries

I was looking to watch that one at some point 

Amanda Knox (2016)
I’m usually not one to follow tabloidy “trials of the century” and often don’t know some of these cases exist until they’re over and people suddenly start freaking out about their verdicts. The Amanda Knox case was no exception to this so I don’t know that I had much more than a cursory knowledge of this story before watching the new Neflix produced documentary about the subject, and frankly I don’t know that I have much more than a precursory knowledge of it after watching it either. This documentary feels very… short. It has the unfortunate timing of coming out hot on the heels of a string of highly detailed long-form true crime documentaries like Making a Murderer, The Jinx, and of course O.J. Simpson: Made in America, which all make this 90 minute account of the case, trial, and media frenzy around this case feel rather rushed and incomplete by comparison. The number of talking heads here seems rather limited, there were clearly principals involved in the case who refused to cooperate with the documentary and the film completely fails to illustrate how the prosecutors came to believe their rather strange theories of the crime. I feel like there’s another side to all this and while one cop who believes in Knox’s guilt is interviewed extensively he doesn’t do a great job of making his case, which says to me that he’s either the wrong person to be making the case or that the film simply isn’t letting him. All through the movie though I kept being frustrated when you want some of the interview subjects they do have comment on certain aspects of the case and they just don’t. Directors Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn seem to have put a lot effort into this movie’s look (they’ve clearly studied their Errol Morris, whose film Tabloid is a much smarter and more nuanced exploration of a media circus caused by British tabloids) but I wish they had simply provided a more detailed account as they leave a whole lot of interesting questions on the table.

** out of Five

Which is strange to me, firstly because evil sex cult murder seems like a rather odd assumption to leap for and secondly because every cultural stereotype points to America being the land of puritanical attitudes, out of control media, and hasty prosecution while Europe is supposed to be the land of reason and enlightened sexual attitudes... how the hell did the roles get reversed so dramatically?

Would have been good information to include in the documentary...

Right, but they could have done more to explain why someone would give a shit.

Dracula SnoBorderZero Ramplate

The History Channel's Donald Trump documentary. It's almost 2 hours long and should have been required viewing before the election.

Long story short: Trump took advantage of 70's New York, which was practically bankrupt, and became a billionaire. Yes, at one point, Trump was actually a billionaire and on the Forbes top 40. Then the 80's arrived and it has been one constant fuck up ever since. He destroyed the rival league to the NFL. He went bankrupt in Atlantic City. He had a failed airline business. He lost money on the Plaza Hotel. He had a nasty divorce with his first wife. By the 2000's he was rich in theory and has relied on his celebrity status ever since.

Ladies and gentlemen, your President:

I'm rewatching Trapped on netflix.

It shows the effects of TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) Laws, and follows a group of doctors and other medical professionals dealing with the fallout.  A lot of clinics in the south were shut down because these TRAP laws were being passed that really only provided more hurdles for women to jump over in order to obtain an abortion under the guise of "we just care about the woman's safety".

I think it's really well done, but of course that opinion will probably vary based on viewers' thoughts and feelings regarding the issue at hand.  It does a good job of presenting facts rather than relying on emotion to make a point.

Seakazoo

Tickled

There was also the sock with the blood drop soaked through on both sides as if it was applied while it wasn't being worn. That wasn't brought up in either the doc or the mini-series and I have no idea why.

Yeah, but like, these projects aren't exactly starved for runtime, you'd think one of them would have found space for that piece of the puzzle.