Taxi to the Dark Side

With a title like Taxi to the Dark Side, you know it’s not going to be a light-and-fluffy film, but it’s a film that needed to be made, and should be seen by everyone.

The measure of a nation is how well it lives up to its ideals in the worst of times. 9/11 was that trial for America, and America failed. If you do not believe that former U.S. president George W. Bush, former vice president Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, White House Council John Yoo, and at least a half dozen other members of the Bush Administration are guilty of war crimes, you must see this documentary.

Even if you suspect they do, but have lingering doubts – you must see this documentary.

And especially if you don’t know either way, and know nothing about this issue – you must see this documentary.

This is not some sort of Michael Moore propaganda piece. This transcends partisan politics. It deals with a broader issue. It focuses on the treatment of just one detainee and will probably make you sick to your stomach – if you can stomach it at all. And then reminds you that this happened not to just one guy, but to 83,000 others too.

Hell yes, its difficult to watch - there is graphic photos of torture – but is that an excuse not to watch it? The fact is they are presented because showing them is necessary to fully understand the extent of what went on. And guess what? If you are an American, you damn well should sit through this, because you are guilty too – this is what your elected officials did.

Of course when word finally got out, and they got blowback for it, in an outrageous act of cowardice, they left their own subordinates out to dry.

The film makes the case, clearly, efficiently and thoroughly. Which makes it not only an excellent documentary, but an important one too.

The Gits

When I was still in high school, a bunch of friends and I piled into a car for a short road trip from Cincinnati, OH to Antioch College in nearby Yellow Springs, OH. There I saw a band that blew me away. That band was called ‘The Gits’.

It’s hard for people to understand today just how vibrant the music scene was between the mid 80s to the early 90s. A lot of music today sounds so stale by comparison. Those of us in Generation X have to be the first generation to not only rock harder than our parents but ALSO rock harder than our kids. And even at a time when so many good bands were coming out, The Gits stood out.

When Gits lead singer Mia Zapata was found brutally raped and murdered on a desolate Seattle street in 1993 it didn’t just end that band, it ended an entire music scene.

The first half of the movie is a rockumentary and a pretty damn good one too. It instantly transported me back to the days of drunken parties with bands playing in basements and backyards that was the era of DIY music making. Chronicling a band from it’s inception to it’s zenith. Even though most of the best band footage is culled from the grunge expose 'Hype!', it's great seeing it again 15 years later.

And right when you hit the meteoric midpoint of the film, the revelation of Mia’s murder (even when you know it’s coming) hits you like a sucker punch to the gut. The second half of the film unravels like a true crime murder mystery. Will Mia’s killer ever be found?

But the film has an outlook that was very in keeping with Zapata’s life and music – never afraid to look at the dark side of things without getting overly depressing or morose. It celebrates the exuberance and wonder of the artists and that special time now two decades behind us that seems like it was only yesterday.

The Trials of Henry Kissinger

The Trials of Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger is by far one of the most interesting political figures of the 20th Century. Much like former President Richard Nixon, under whom he served, Kissinger is both a brilliant political strategist, but in addition to that – or perhaps because of it – inhabited throughout his career many morally grey areas.

The Trials of Henry Kissinger is a documentary that examines recent charges that the former Secretary of State engaged in activities that would be considered war crimes under international law.

Eugene Jarecki’s documentary was inspired by, and takes its name from the book ‘The Trial of Henry Kissinger’ by Christopher Hitchins. Not having read that book, I cannot comment on it. I will however say the film itself both includes interviews with Hitchins as well has his detractors, so bias is no greater than any other documentary. The film lets the viewer make up their own mind about the situation, including interviews with those who support Kissinger’s policies. It’s pretty clear that while the majority of the film speaks toward the premise of Kissinger as war criminal, that is mostly because Kissinger himself has had the minutes of the majority of his meetings concerning the primary incidents either destroyed or sealed until 5 years after his death.

Regardless of the outcome of his policies (and totally leaving aside for a moment their legality), one can see that they were clearly shaped by a profoundly logical mind; and herein lies the challenge in analyzing and passing judgment on him. There is no question that Henry Kissinger was Machiavellian in his approach to international relations, but isn’t that what’s called for in a National Security Advisor? Is it also what’s called for in a Secretary of State? Is it even extricable from politics itself?

see the trailer

The problem with Machiavellian types is that they tend to apply the same techniques toward consolidating their own power for themselves as they do in their work as Civil Servants for the people. An idea which at it’s very core is un-American, and which for one such as Nixon proved more disastrous as his own personal paranoia grew. But for Kissinger, who managed to keep his wits about him through his work for multiple administrations (and perhaps in his post political lobbying career) it has allowed him to keep doing the work – some would say damage – he has been doing for most of his life. Or maybe he was just better at not getting caught. There is no question that Kissinger was a corrupting influence within the Nixon Administration, but as with all presidents, we expect them to weigh the advice of their advisors and act responsibly regardless of the advice of their advisors.

To this day there has never been a successful prosecution of a head of state anywhere in the world for war crimes. Nuremburg succeeded merely in providing relatively minor sentences to minor players in the Holocaust, but none of the major architects of the genocide ever saw their day in court. Likewise, from Pol Pot to Idi Amin, from Bosnia to Rwanda – the leaders of these massacres have never been brought to justice, despite the best attempts of the International community. It has been 65 years since the end of WWII and not a single head of state has ever been executed for war crimes by an international court (why do you think Saddam Hussein was tried in Iraq and not the Haig?).

Why is that? The Trials of Henry Kissinger may provide some answers.

Echoing Nixon himself, who said in the famous Frost interview regarding the Huston Plan, ‘but when the President does it, it is not illegal’, Kissinger has come out against the very idea of war crimes trials saying that ‘heads of state often have to choose between two evils’.

The Trials of Henry Kissinger is a thought-provoking documentary, which while focused on the career of one individual raises questions about power and responsibility in general. A must see for anyone interested in global politics.

Miracle Plant or Devil's Weed?

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High



The Union is a documentary about perhaps the most maligned plant in history, hemp, and specifically about the illegal marijuana trade in Canada. "The Union" of the title is the nickname for an entire economy (including many legitimate businesses) that is directly or indirectly related to the illegal marijuana trade.
British Columbian filmmaker Brett Harvey was inspired to make the film after witnessing first hand the boom in marijuana business in his home province.

The film delivers a lot of the back-story on cannabis in North America, but its done in a very accessible way, and never feels like a dry history lesson. The film’s primary focus though is on the current state of marijuana as an illegal cash crop. This is not an unbiased film – it’s pretty clear the filmmaker opinions are – but it is well sourced and logical in its arguments, and would likely be fascinating viewing regardless of what your opinions are on marijuana – even those who have no opinion one way or another are likely to get sucked in.

Assassin of Youth



Unless you’ve been living under a rock your whole life, you’re doubtless familiar with the infamous anti-marijuana propaganda film Reefer Madness, a film many find endlessly entertaining for it’s bad acting and heavy-handed moralizing. But Reefer Madness is hardly the only drug education film ever made, and for the camp connoisseur, Assassin of Youth (also known as The Marijuana Menace), is perhaps even better.

Like Reefer Madness, Assassin of Youth is a cautionary tale. Small town girl Joan is set to inherit her grandmother’s fortune, provided she can live up to the will’s morals clause. Linda, Joan’s cousin is next in line to inherit the dough, so she and her husband conspire to besmirch Joan’s character. Meanwhile, undercover reporter Art Brighton has come to town to expose Linda as a dope pusher. What follows is all the standard bad acting and kids-getting-high-and-doing-the-jitterbug scenes you've come to expect from a quality anti-drug film.

Adding to the hilarity is the fact that the surviving print of this film is full of breaks and splices which both helps pick up the pace, and lends some absurdity to the viewing experience, as scenes occasionally begin or end in the middle.

It almost seems like they were trying to make a pro-drug film. The only likeable characters other than the reporter and Joan are the dope smokers. While they are of course drug-addled buffoons, the adults are so self righteous that at times they give Dana Carvey’s infamous ‘Church Lady’ character a run for her money. The town gossip, for example, actually looks and sounds like the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz, and is shown cackling and flying by on her scooter so exactly like Hamilton in Oz, that it can't be a coincidence.

Why I'm Not Watching the Olympics

Bigger Stronger Faster



I used to love the Olympics, the Olympic ideal of the best of every nation on earth coming to one place and competing. The Olympics back in the 1980s were really something to see – new records were being broken all the time.

But first the rumors started, then everything came out in the open. Performance enhancing drugs – the East Germans were using them. Then it got so bad that we had to test everyone and some people got in and some people got rejected. And some of the ones that were rejected admitted to using drugs, and some denied it. Moreover, some of the ones that got in, and even won, later admitted to ‘doping’.

So whenever I’m asked about whether or not I’m going to watch the Olympics, or just about any other major sporting event, I’m reminded of the Saturday Night Live sketch about the 'All Drug Olympics’. I still remember the laundry list of drugs one athlete was said to have taken followed by the line, “This is not only not against the rules, it's actually encouraged in the all drug Olympics.” While it was made as a satire, this idea bears serious merit- there's always going to be new drugs, new ways of hiding them, people who play by the rules, people who bend the rules, people who cheat, etc. The only way to make it fair is make it ALL legal. Anyone can take anything, voila, once again it's a level playing field. No one can claim they were cheated because they too had the option of taking or not taking performance enhancing drugs. No one can have their record stricken from the record books or whatnot.

Bigger Stronger Faster actually includes a clip from that Saturday Night Live sketch. This film gives the straight dope on dope. Written and directed by a former anabolic steroid user who no longer uses steroids on “moral grounds”, this documentary covers the issue from all sides. Mark Bell (who can't compete with his own brothers without steroids) has made a thoroughly entertaining, and comprehensive examination of the issue. From interviewing Stan Lee of Marvel comics who created Captain America (for those not in the know, Cap basically took drugs to achieve physical perfection) to opening his own legal supplement business in the living room; from talking to a man whose child died from alleged steroid use to talking to his Congressman, to fighter pilots who still use performance enhancers, and with his own family at the center of the whole steroid controversy, there is no better insider to tell this story.

And it is a story we like to sweep under the rug. Even the title of this movie has been expunged, the full title is Bigger Stronger Faster* The Side Effects of Being American. But on the DVD it has the more palatable, Bigger Stronger Faster* Is It Still Cheating If Everyone’s Doing It?

Two Deaths in November

Two Deaths in November

Image of an Assassination



What is the most watched film in history? That distinction probably goes to 22 seconds of 8mm footage shot by a Dallas dress maker named Abraham Zapruder.

On the morning of November 22, 1963, Abraham Zapruder almost forgot his 8mm home movie camera, but returned home to retrieve it when reminded by one of his employees. Less than a block from his office, at Dealey Plaza, he shot a clear film of the assassination of the leader of the First World. Perhaps the only assassination ever to be caught on film to that time.

Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film

The DVD release of this film includes special features includes various versions of the film in various states of restoration and at various speeds, pages of events chronology from 1963 to 1998, other important news film and video clips from the time, and biographical and contact information of the film’s custodians making it an essential document for historians of the period.

Dear Zachary

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is a poignant film about the life and death of a small town doctor made by his childhood friend.




Kurt Kuenne always wanted to be a filmmaker and cast his childhood friend Andrew Bagby in all his movies. When Bagby was murdered shortly after graduating from medical school, Kuenne decided to make one last film with him, gathered from all the footage of Bagby he had, and interviews with family and friends, as a gift to Bagby’s infant son.

Right from the start, the film lands like the blow of a sledgehammer, as it swings back and forth between the wonder that was Andrew – a guy you really want to meet – and rapid fire cuts about the horrifying details of his death on November 7, 2001.

Bagby was so beloved by so many people that there were memorial services for him in at least 5 different cities in 3 different countries. Although the film is a tearjerker at times, it’s the kind of film that makes you want to live your own life to the fullest. But that’s not all - every time you think the story is over, a new twist comes to light, making it an engaging mystery, a poignant tribute, and a scathing indictment all in one.

Hearts, Minds and Votes

Hearts and Minds



A lot has been written about this film. It won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Documentary in 1975. Entertainment Weekly named it one of the Top 50 Documentaries of all time. And while it is distinctly not unbiased, it is very thorough, including footage and interviews with heads of state, military leaders, Vietnamese peasants, current and former soldiers, draft dodgers and even random people off the street.

Made in more than a year before the fall of Saigon, the Vietnam War was still ongoing at the time, Hearts and Minds is a document of the times, but given many of the events of the 2000s, it’s one that’s still relevant today.

The final 15 minutes of the film contains the still shocking images of child napalm victims running down the road, which unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 35 years you’ve probably seen dozens of times, but which still packs an emotional wallop.

Which brings me to a documentary of an entirely different sort…

Please Vote For Me



Please Vote For Me documents the class election of a “class monitor” in a 3rd grade class in Wuhan, China, supposedly the first such election anywhere in China for this position. The position is a bit of a cross between class president, and the kind of “informant” that the Chinese Communist Party has relied on since the very early days of the Communist Revolution there. The students did not demand a class election, they were just told they were going to have one, and were given no background in democracy or the democratic process by seemingly equally oblivious teachers, and all sorts of bribery and corruption work it’s way into the system, aided and abetted by the children’s own parents.

Democracy is something that must be embraced by those who want it, and whether it was the filmmakers’ intention to or not, Please Vote For Me accurately illustrates why democracy can never be imposed on people and efforts to do so are ultimately doomed to failure.