Documentaries

Registered User

05-10-21

⬆️ Excellent review, but I do hope you’re read some of Hemingway now. @GulfportDoc

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Stirchley

Registered User

05-28-21

I love ballet.

Stirchley

Registered User

06-02-21

Subscribed to Disney+ so I could watch this 8-parter. Really good. I love ballet.

Cheapskates Disney+ does not offer new customers a free week. And there�s not much content at all. I put Wandavision in my watchlist & one or two NatGeo animal documentaries. Will probably only stay one month. A lot of very old stuff too. Hayley Mills anyone?

Torgo

At Work

06-05-21

Gilbert -

I highly recommend Gilbert, which covers Gilbert Gottfried's life and career. It's a sweet and good natured documentary, which is surprisingly how I'd describe its subject given his abrasive and button-pushing comedy. His lovely wife Dara and his kids have a lot to do with this, and I very much enjoyed getting to know them, finding out how Gilbert and Dara met and observing their home life. I also found his quirks amusing, such as his thriftiness (he still takes buses to gigs and hoards hotel toiletries). It also gives a fair treatment to his comedy career thanks to a good mix of clips, footage of actual gigs and input from colleagues from Dave Attel to Jim Gaffigan.

Thankfully, the documentary doesn't shy away from the moments that made a lot of people hate him, i.e. his ill-timed 9/11 and Japan tsunami jokes. Speaking of ill-timed, how soon is too soon? The movie leaves that up to you, but then again, none of his colleagues can properly answer the question. I'm glad Gilbert has such a great family, but I would have preferred if the doc covered his career a bit more instead. It seems like its a 60-40 split. I still recommend it, especially to anyone who cursed his name after the aforementioned controversies.

Last edited by Torgo; 04-09-24 at 10:35 AM.

Stirchley

Registered User

06-07-21

Very interesting, but too much talking & wayyyyyyy too little actual music. Annoying.

Stirchley

Registered User

06-28-21

sammyw

Registered User

07-21-21

Loved this one. But i do prefer my octopus on a plate if im honest.

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Stirchley

Registered User

07-23-21

Thank God this poor elephant was relocated & is now in a happy place.

John Dumbear

Out in God's Country

07-23-21

Originally Posted by GulfportDoc

Hemingway (2021)

This three part documentary series, written by Geoffrey C. Ward, and directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick is an in depth overview of Hemingway�s life and novels from his youth in suburban Chicago to his death in Ketchum, Idaho in 1961.

I grew up aware of Hemingway, as I was Faulkner and J.D. Salinger. Hemingway died when I was 17. Although not ever having read any of his novels, even in college, I did go to the Pittsburgh premier of The Old Man and the Sea (1958) which had much of his prose included as dialogue or narrative. He was arguably the chief novelist of the 20th Century, writing in a unique lean and descriptive manor that was to influence scores of writers then and since.

It is impressive the volume of still photographs that the producers were able to utilize. Hemingway must have been one of the most photographed writers of his day, and the many home pictures gave insight into his personality. His first hand coverage of wars, uprisings, as well as the news coverage of his manly pursuits: hunting, fishing, love life, marriages, drinking, hell raising, always were well featured in newspapers and magazines.

Apart from plentiful gossipy accounts, I didn�t know much about Hemingway. I�d seen his home in Key West, although he only lived there for about 13 years, residing a big part of his life in Cuba. To say that he was larger than life is a gross understatement. Yet he had his demons (as do many of us), and they were responsible for driving his life and his writing. We discover that he had multiple accidents and repeated concussions, along with an apparent hereditary hemochromatosis which contributed to his mental and physical deterioration. He also was likely an alcoholic, and used drugs of all varieties for various maladies and for depression. He had romanced suicide over the course of his life, and finally accomplished it at home.

The most impressive thing about this documentary, outside of the fascinating subject matter, is the first rate editing, mostly by Erik Ewers. The voices of Hemingway, his wives, and important figures in his life were ably performed by Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Meryl Streep, Keri Russell and others. The narration was well handled by Peter Coyote. Extensive interviews were featured with Patrick Hemingway, Edna O�Brien, Tobias Wolff, to name a few. There was a slight bit of tsk-tsking over Hemingway�s un-PC behavior, but in the main the interviewers made excellent first hand observations and well thought out opinions.

If you�ve ever wondered about Ernest Hemingway, this documentary will give you a lot of answers.

Doc�s rating: 9/10

I'm interested in watching this. Back in high school, I wrote an essay about his history and learned a lot about him. Does the documentary touch on his life in northern Michigan. There's a lot of historical sites around Petosky and Harbor Springs, where he had a summer home.

GulfportDoc

Registered User

07-23-21

Originally Posted by John Dumbear

[Hemingway doc.] I'm interested in watching this. Back in high school, I wrote an essay about his history and learned a lot about him. Does the documentary touch on his life in northern Michigan. There's a lot of historical sites around Petosky and Harbor Springs, where he had a summer home.

I believe it does, JD, but I don't recall them dwelling too awfully long on it. It's a pretty comprehensive documentary for only 3 two hour episodes. If you're a fan, I believe that you would enjoy it. The Hemingway legend was greater than the actual guy. But not too much greater...

Stirchley

Registered User

07-30-21

Two very excellent documentaries.

honeykid