Tag Archives: Documentary Review

Documentary, No Spoiler Reviews

HOME (2020): The Things I Liked…

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Home (2020), Apple TV+
Home (2020), Apple TV+

Apple TV’s Home documentary series is more than just eight episodes that showcase some of the most unique and inspiring homes in the world.

From Chicago, Maine, Bali, India, Hong Kong, New York Sweden and more, we get to learn about some awe-inspiring homes, as well as the visionary people behind them.

Focused on new ways to solve both existing and future problems in specific communities, we get to learn the moving stories behind the featured architects/designers and what inspires them to create the way they do. Every single episode may not appeal to you in the same way, because I certainly have my favourites. However, what happens in each episode is undoubtedly the kind of thing we need more of in the world.

Watch Home for a look at some possibilities that hadn’t even crossed your mind. And the moving stories of the people behind them. At the very least, you’re in for a memorable visual feast.

In order of appearance, the featured architects, artists designers and home owners on Home are Anders Solvarm (Sweden), Theaster Gates (Chicago), Elora Hardy (Bali), Gary Chang (Hong Kong), Athony Esteves (Maine), Anupama Kundoo (India), Chris Brown (Austin), David Hertz (Malibu) Alexandria Lafci (Mexico), Brett Hagler (Mexico) and Jason Ballard.

Happy Film Loving

G

Documentary, No Spoiler Reviews

DANCING WITH THE BIRDS (2019): The Things I Liked…

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Dancing With The Birds (2019), Netflix Documentary
Dancing With The Birds (2019), Netflix Documentary

I definitely enjoyed the new Stephen Fry narrated Netflix documentary Dancing With The Birds. Though mainly for the stunning images of the beautiful birds of paradise. I couldn’t help but appreciate the moments the film made me realise just how much humans and birds actually have in common, especially when trying to attract a mate.

The only downside of Dancing With The Birds for me is how the whole experience felt oddly unfinished. Perhaps because I’m used to a more thorough telling of an animal / bird / nature story – as per the works of Sir David Attenborough. Whereas Dancing With The Birds focuses purely on the mating rituals / dance routines of some of planet Earth’s most stunning birds of paradise.

Don’t get me wrong, the dance rituals are definitely something to see. So much so that they had me thinking that I really could probably do with sharpening my own dance skills. Probably.

Watch Dancing With The Birds for the truly stunning images and for the similarities between us and those with feathers, wings and the gift of flight.

Happy Film Loving

G

Documentary

THE GREAT HACK (2019): The Thing I Liked…

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The Great Hack (2019), Brittany Keiser, Netflix
The Great Hack (2019), Brittany Keiser, Netflix

‘Data is the most valuable asset on earth.’

These eight words as spoken by Brittany Kaiser, the former business development director for Cambridge Analytica, a now defunct data mining political consulting firm is the reason I watched The Great Hack, Netflix’s documentary about the Facebook / Cambridge Analytica scandal.

I don’t really have many complaints about the content of The Great Hack, except maybe my dislike of some moments that seemed too graphics heavy and the rather surprisingly slow narration at the beginning.

Overall, directors Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim’s film is well structured and does a good job of explaining why the above quote is true and a great job of breaking down the scandal through the roles of several affected persons. One such person being the aforementioned Brittany Kaiser.

As an individual with some background in tech, plus a general understanding of how ‘shady’ many corporations are, prior to viewing, I suspected that much of what would be revealed in The Great Hack was unlikely to be especially surprising to me, and I wasn’t completely wrong. For this very reason, perhaps more than the revelations about the levels of surveillance already happening and the ways our personal data is used by the likes of Cambridge Analytica and Facebook, what I liked most about The Great Hack is actually the ‘character study’ of Kaiser. Specifically, the close look into her journey from Cambridge Analytica executive to whistleblower – plus her life before then. By the end of Kaiser’s story, it wasn’t hard to see how a person could have ended up in her precise predicament.

In addition to informing me in more detail about everything I missed by not closely watching the news when this scandal broke, The Great Hack reminded me of the long-standing need for humanity to re-evaluate its priorities. I’m not sure how possible it is to watch this film without thinking about the broken state of capitalism in it’s current form.

‘The more you know, the more you realise you have no idea.’ is an old adage that may cross your mind as you watch this film. Watch it anyway. Especially if you didn’t closely follow the scandal when it was trending very widely. It may not have a lot of good news for you, but perhaps The Great Hack will help you look into the ways to limit the amount of data that’s readily available about you online. 

Also, there is that Brittany Kaiser story. I wonder when the movie of her story will come.

Happy Film Loving.

G