• “One person can’t make a difference”
• “What we don’t know won’t hurt us”
• “Ignorance is bliss”
• “They (politicians/companies) won’t do anything, so why bother”
• “I’m not voting – it’s not going to make a difference anyway”
• “That’s (insert subject matter here) not true, I don’t believe it”

We all have a responsibility to educate ourselves and to seek the truth.  If we continue to walk around with our ‘blinders’ on, we remain ignorant to the events that are happening around us.  Ignorance is not bliss, it is just plain ignorant.

I have compiled a list of documentaries that explore different political and social issues that have allowed me to become more informed and educated on the certain specific topics of what the films are based on.  I hope that you allow yourself to ‘remove the blinders’ and become more aware of what things are happening throughout the world, who the players are and become inspired to act for the greater good of the planet, your health and for the wellness of all of humanity.  Here is my list:

Forks Over Knives (2011)

Directed by Lee Fulkerson

This movie examines the benefits of a low-fat whole foods, plant-based diet as a means of combating a number of diseases.  It also provides an overview of a 20-year China-Cornell-Oxford Project that led to Professor T. Colin Campbell’s findings, outlined in his book, The China Study (2005) in which he suggests that coronary disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer can be linked to the Western diet of processed and animal-based foods (including dairy products).

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

Directed by Davis Guggenheim

Al Gore’s film about the current and potential future effects of global warming or climate change.

Zeitgeist:  The Movie (2007)

Directed by Peter Joseph

Presents a number of conspiracy theories based on religion, the financial crisis and the September 11, 2001 attacks.  This movie has companion pieces in the form of Zeitgeist:  Addendum and Zeitgeist:  Moving Forward.

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Directed by Michael Moore

A look at the Bush administration and the events that took place prior, during and post the 9/11 attacks.  This documentary is currently the highest grossing documentary of all-time (preceded by Madonna’s Truth or Dare, which held that title for 11 years).

I Am (2011)

Directed by Tom Shadyac

Narrated by Tom Shadyac - this movie follows Tom’s personal journey to seek the answers of the nature of humanity and materialism after a near-fatal bicycle accident in 2007. 

The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)

Directed by Robert Epstein

Looks back at the rise, death and legacy of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to get elected into public office in the United States.

Blue Gold:  World Water Wars (2008)

Directed by Sam Bozzo

This movie looks at the world water crisis and examines the impacts (both environmental and political) on the planet’s decreasing water supply

Who Killed The Electric Car? (2006)

Directed by Chris Paine

Narrated by Martin Sheen, this movie explores the creation of the electric car and the bureaucracy/politics as to why they were not made widely available.  A great companion piece to this documentary is the 2011 documentary (also directed by Chris Paine) entitled:  Revenge of the Electric Car.

March of The Penguins (2005)

Directed by Luc Jacquet

A look at the lives of a group of emperor penguins in the Antarctica and the hardships they face.  This Oscar-winning documentary is narrated by Morgan Freeman, Sotie Grabol, Marek Kondrat, Gosta Ekman, Amitabh Bachchan and Fiorello.

Sicko (2007)

Directed by Michael Moore

Investigates the state of the health care system in the United States and compares it to other health care systems around the world.

Vegucated (2011)

Directed by Marissa Miller Wolfson

Explores the challenges faced by those who have chosen a vegan diet.

Bowling For Columbine (2002)

Directed by Michael Moore

This film takes an in-depth look at the causes of gun violence in America after two students went on a shooting rampage in a Columbine High School.

Inside Job (2010)

Directed by Charles Ferguson

Who helped create the 2008 financial crisis that crippled world economies?  This film helps us answer this question.

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama (2006)

Directed by Rick Ray

This movie follows the filmmakers attempts to seek the 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) in hopes of asking His Holiness questions such as:  “Why are the poor traditionally so much happier than the wealthy?” and “Is it necessary for a society to abandon its centuries old traditions to move into the future?” – just to name a few.  The move also delves into the history of various cultures despite the threat of the political dangers.

Grey Gardens (1975)

Directed by David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer

This documentary looks into the everyday lives of a reclusive mother (Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale – Big Edie) and daughter (Edith Bouvier Beale – Little Edie) who both live in a run-down, rodent infested home.  Both reminisce about the past and their socialite past.  A HBO film called ‘Grey Gardens‘ starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore was aired on HBO in April 2009.  The film won six Primetime Emmys and two Golden Globes.

Super Size Me (2004)

Directed by Morgan Spurlock

Morgan documents himself as he eats nothing but McDonald’s – the results are not very surprising but never-the-less interesting.

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!

Day 64/365

Title: Grey Gardens (1975)

Starring: Edith Bouvier Beale and Edith ‘Little Edie’ Bouvier Beale

Dir: Albert and David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer

Basic Synopsis (from IMDb): An old mother and her middle-aged daughter, the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, live their eccentric lives in a filthy, decaying mansion in East Hampton.

My Mini Review: 

Odd, sad, and yet strangely fascinating. The levels of dysfunction between this mother and daughter is off the charts – yet they seem to have such a co-dependency that neither one will ever escape from the toxicity. A very interesting dynamic is created, lots of emotional tension, and hard to tell which one is more eccentric. 

Being a documentary, I would have liked to learn more about their lives before they ended up in the dilapidated mansion surrounded by cats and raccoons.  Due to the lack of backstory, I felt it had a touch of an exploitative vibe, but I don’t think it was necessarily intended by the filmmakers. This documentary inspired another movie of the same name released in 2009, and also (if you can believe it) a broadway musical. 

Overall Rating: 3/5

CONTRIBUTED BY JAKE THOMPSON

Best Documentary Feature can be an excellent showcase for documentaries that should not be missed.  I admit that I don’t get to see as many as I would like to, but when I do get to see a documentary on the big screen, it’s always a rewarding experience.  Strangely, the docs I do get to see are rarely nominated for the Oscar (Werner Herzog’s Encounters At the End of the World and Charles H. Ferguson’s Inside Job are the only docs I’ve seen in the last five years that actually got nominated).  Even this past year (2012, a year in which I saw a personal record-breaking 11 documentary features), it turns out that I’ve only seen two of the shortlisted documentaries for the Oscar (Five Broken Cameras and Bully).  There have been some major snubs for this award in the past (and some of the most famous documentaries ever weren’t even nominated).  Let’s check out these major snubs.

One major snub is 1975’s Grey Gardens, is a documentary feature directed by Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer, and Albert and David Maysles.  It depicts the everyday lives of two reclusive socialites, a mother and daughter both named Edith Beale (the aunt of first cousin of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis).  Both women lived at Grey Gardens, a decrepit mansion at 3 West End Road in the wealthy Georgia Pond neighborhood of East Hampton, NY.  It’s such a shame that Hovde, Meyer, and the Maysles brothers weren’t nominated for their work here.  The Maysles brothers are one-time nominees (1 Documentary Short Subject nod for 1974’s Christo’s Valley Curtain).  Hovde and Meyer have never been nominated.

The actual nominees at the 48^th Academy Awards were:
The Man Who Skied Down Everest – F.R. Crawley, James Hager, & Dale Hartleben (*Winner)
The California Reich – Walter F. Parkes & Keith Critchlow
Fighting For Our Lives – Glen Pearcy
The Incredible Machine – Irwin Rosten
The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir – Shirley MacLaine

Another major snub is 1988’s The Thin Blue Line, a documentary feature directed by Errol Morris.  It depicts the story of Randall Dale Adams, a man who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.  A series of interviews about the investigation and re-enactments of the shooting based on witnesses and detectives are presented.  It’s too bad Morris wasn’t nominated for this film.  Morris is a one-time nominee (1 win for 2003’s The Fog of War).

The actual nominees at the 61^st Academy Awards were:
Hotel Terminus – Marcel Ophuls (*Winner)
The Cry of Reason: Beyers Naude- An Afrikaner Speaks Out – Robert Bilheimer & Ronald Mix
Let’s Get Lost – Bruce Weber & Nan Bush
Promises To Keep – Ginny Durrin
Who Killed Vincent Chin – Renee Tajima-Pena & Christine Choy

One major snub that definitely comes to mind is 1994’s Hoop Dreams, a documentary feature directed by Steve James.  It follows tow black high school students, William Gates and Arthur Agee, in Chicago as they dream of becoming professional basketball players.  It raises a number of issues regarding race, class, education, economic division, and values in America at the time while offering an intimate view of inner-city life as the boys struggle to achieve their dreams.  The Academy should be ashamed for not nominating this film in this category, although strangely enough the film did get a nomination for Best Film Editing.  James is a one-time nominee (1 Film Editing nod for 1994’s Hoop Dreams).

The actual nominees at the 67^th Academy Awards were:
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision – Freida Lee Mock & Terry Sanders(*Winner)
Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter – Deborah Hoffman
D-Day Remembered – Charles Guggenheim
Freedom On My Mind – Connie Field & Marilyn Mulford
A Great Day In Harlem – Jean Bach

Another major snub would be 2004’s Fahrenheit 9/11, a controversial documentary feature directed by Michael Moore.  It takes a critical look at the George W. Bush presidency, the war on terror, and its coverage in the American news media.  It contends that the corporate-owned American media didn’t provide an accurate or objective analysis of the rationale for the war or the resulting casualties (in essence, they were “cheerleaders”).  It’s a shame Moore wasn’t nominated for his work here even though he technically didn’t even submit it for this category (he actually aimed for a Best Picture nod).  Moore is a two-time nominee (1 Documentary Feature nod for 2007’s Sicko, 1 Documentary Feature win for 2002’s Bowling For Columbine).

The actual nominees at the 77^th Academy Awards were:
Born Into Brothels – Ross Kauffman & Zana Briski (*Winner)
The Story of the Weeping Camel – Luigi Falorni & Byambasuren Davaa
Super Size Me – Morgan Spurlock
Tupac: Resurrection – Lauren Lazin & Karolyn Ali
Twist of Faith – Kirby Dick & Eddie Schmidt

One final major snub would be 2008’s Religulous, a controversial documentary feature directed by Larry Charles.  It follows comedian Bill Maher as he looks back at his own history with religion as well as traveling to various holy places to talk to regular people, as well as clergymen/theologians, about their religion/faith.  He contends that religion is mostly b.s. and that it’s bad for us.  This film was so controversial that it was banned in most of the southern United States.  It’s too bad the Academy didn’t nominate this terrific work, for Charles and Maher have yet to receive a single Oscar nod.

The actual nominees at the 81^st Academy Awards were:
Man On Wire – James Marsh & Simon Chinn (*Winner)
The Betrayal- Nerakhoon – Ellen Kuras & Thavisouk Phrasavath
Encounters At the End of the World – Werner Herzog & Henry Kaiser
The Garden – Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Trouble the Water – Tia Lessin & Carl Deal

Other films that were considered include 1982’s Koyaanisqatsi, 2005’s Grizzly Man, and 2012’s The Central Park Five.

#31 — Grey Gardens (Ellen Hovde, Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Muffie Meyer, 1975)
There are some things in this warped, wild, mixed-up world that outpace even the most fantastic and fanciful of imaginations. Upon discovering such a thing, perhaps the best approach for a documentary filmmaker to take is just point the camera and shoot. Sure, maybe there will be a little prompting, a question here and there. Perhaps there will be the occasional round of verbal sparring with the subject whenever their wavering willingness to be the focus of such scrutiny rears up. For the most part, though, just let the camera roll.

That openness to the totality of the experience is by and large the approach favored by the Maysles brothers, Albert and David. With the film Grey Gardens, they and their collaborators, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer as well as producer Susan Froemke, bring that patient scrutiny to the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale, known respectively as Big Edie and Little Edie. The two are former grand socialites who now live in relative decrepitude in a rambling, crumbling house in East Hampton, New York, the sounds of their former glory echoing in their ears, as if the tones of galas and dinner parties are trapped within the domicile, ricocheting from every corner in a vain attempt at blessed escape. During the time that the film takes place, Big Edie is in her seventies and Little Edie is in her fifties, but they cling to former identities as a slightly adversarial mother and child, jockeying for attention in a rarefied society where that is the only real currency.

The Beales first came to national attention a couple years before the release of the film, when various publications wrote about the squalor of their residence, a fascinating topic because of their fairly close proximity on the same family tree as Jacqueline Onassis, hands down the era’s most irresistible figure to the tabloid press (and arguably the legitimate press). In that genesis of their notoriety lies the thematic potency that the film beautifully exploits. The Beales together were the funhouse mirror reflection of the imagined and adopted glamor of the American experience in the years following World War II. Just as the fashion sense, poise and, eventually, dignity of the survivor that characterized Little Edie’s famous cousin was the culture the country aspired to and often felt it lived up in the moments of loveliest self-delusion, Little Edie herself represented the awful truth of the situation, which was becoming more and more apparent as the nineteen-seventies marched on. She was the missed opportunity and the foolhardy perseverance in the face of defeat that had to ring especially true for moviegoers still reeling from the Vietnam War and Watergate. When she strides down the stairs and dances aimlessly but proudly with a miniature American flag…well, the filmmakers couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Despite the slow-motion tragedy of the Beales’ shared lives, the Maysles betray no nasty superiority, no cruel mockery of their subjects. They approach the Beales with a resolute empathy. They don’t mollycoddle them, discreetly turning the camera off, say, when their shenanigans reach the point of supreme embarrassment, but the directors also unfailingly keep the film at the level of pure observation. They effectively live with the Beales and invite viewers to do the same. That commitment surely exposes the ladies’ daffiness, but it also invites an inevitable affection. It’s hard to get so close to people without feeling some level of deeper understanding, an affection for their foibles that overrules any inclination for judgment. With Grey Gardens, the Maysles and their cohorts prove that cinema itself can achieve that sort of closeness, especially when there’s some willingness on the directors’ part to bend the established rules of the form a bit.

Double feature: “Inheritance” most often refers to a lot more than just money – expectations, limitations, disappointment, and guilt.  “Grey Gardens” and “The Heiress” are two films that explore this broader, weightier conception of inheritance and family legacy.

Both films center on complicated parent-child dynamics that result in the latest generation of a high society, old money family failing to meet the expectations of their forebears.  Both will provoke thoughts in the “nature vs. nurture” vein, especially the tangled web of parental influence that is often inefficiently, euphemistically referred to as “nurture.”

And both films are singularly frightening in their psychological implications.  Both clearly warn against a sensitive child’s over-attachment to a parent, and over-absorption of that parent’s expectations for her behavior and success.  This internalization subsumes the natural development of the children’s personalities, and leaves both parent-child couples surreptitiously struggling beneath a mutually accommodating surface.

That one family’s struggle takes place in external splendor, and the other’s in squalor, makes little difference.  Their shared shame is that the parents’ most fervent hopes for their children’s well-being thwart the children’s happiness, and the children’s strong desire to secure their parents’ approval keeps them from obtaining it.

Riveting watching, both.

For a marathon: “Rebecca” is linked to “The Heiress” in its heroine’s lack of confidence and feelings of romantic inadequacy, and in every other characters’ underestimation of her full capabilities.

(Creative Commons licensed original images courtesy of “kaitlyn rose” and “Drewbonics” at Flickr)

The Kennedy’s are the closest thing that America has to royalty. Every royal family has members it would rather forget about and for the Kennedy’s it was Jackie’s aunt and first cousin. The two lived in a rundown mansion in the Hamptons. In fact, it was so run down that the cops tried to evict them and Jackie herself had to step in on their behalf to bring the house up to code. Then came the Maysles’ brothers of Salesman and Gimmie Shelter fame to give us a look at the world these two women have created in a mansion called Grey Gardens.

Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale

Edith Bouvier Beale

At first, the mother and daughter are just funny and pleasant to watch, but as it goes on a seemingly unhealthy relationship begins to emerge. Little Edie goes around living as if tomorrow she will leave to go back to New York City where she feels she was ripped away by her mother. Edith is nearly bedridden and although we get glimpses of a darker side she mainly shows us how she has learned to cut through Edie’s bull. My favorite quotes from her are, “Everything’s good that you didn’t do” and “People discover me every time I go out.”

The impression this film will give you is that of a woman in her twilight years who likes things her way while a daughter who can’t take responsibility for her life is finding something at Grey Gardens that makes it worth her while despite all her bitching and moaning. The directors show us bits of the estate and a couple of rooms, but almost all the action goes down in a few places where little Edie says nothing with volumes of words while her mother says a lot with few.

This is one of those unique experiences that will stay with you. It’s difficult to pinpoint precisely why, but it will. They are quite the characters and I highly recommend you see them.

You can watch it over at Hulu at the time this was published: Grey Gardens

The Beales are two of the strangest, most haunting figures I’ve come across. 80-year-old Big Edie, and her 56-year-old daughter Little Edie, live in Grey Gardens, a dilapidated mansion. They must have lived there forever; it doesn’t seem like they’ve ever been apart. Big Edie is Jackie Kennedy’s aunt, and when the Beales were threatened with eviction unless their house was cleaned, Jackie helped them clean it up. It was like Hoarders before Hoarders existed. We don’t get a great sense of the house in the movie, except for a few rooms here and there, and though it looks cleaner than it must have before, that’s not saying much. Big Edie’s bed looks like a cluttered desk, and she makes corn on the cob in a pot on her nightstand. There are raccoons living in the wall, and Little Edie pours out a loaf of Wonder Bread for them.

The Edies are trapped in an exceedingly odd relationship. It seems that Little Edie has never left or married because Big Edie disliked all of her boyfriends: “It’s my mother’s house and she owns it. She wanted the people she wanted in it, and she didn’t want the people that I wanted in it.” Little Edie keeps threatening to leave because it seems like her mother’s bizarre friend Jerry, who’s like some sort of jack-of-all-trades handyman,  is going to move in any day. What, then, will Little Edie do? Is she jealous of Jerry? Is he going to supplant her as mother’s little darling?

The Beales used to be marvelous people, as their relation to Jackie Kennedy implies. Big Edie was a great singer; Little Edie was a great dancer. They used to go to fashion shows, and I’m sure put shame to many of the other ladies there. At some point, all that glamor faded, but the Edies kept hanging on to it. Even now–or in 1975, since they’re both dead now–they sing and dance, constantly trying to impress the Maysles brothers, who are occasionally drawn into the film by the women, who do seem like decent, if twisted, people. The Beales never grew past a certain age. Little Edie admits she doesn’t see herself as a woman at Grey Gardens. She only sees herself as a woman when she travels to New York City.

Albert and David Maysles, with assists from Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, attempt no sort of narrative structure in their portrait of two fading stars. It’s essentially a bunch of footage of the Edies engaging in sad, grotesque actions edited down to 95 minutes. As such, it comes across as a ramble, even if it’s a compelling one. The Maysles used this same approach with the Beatles in The First U.S. Visit, and that is an indispensable document of a remarkable time in popular culture. Grey Gardens is far from dispensable, but the Beatles are the Beatles, and as fascinating as the Beales are, they are not the Beatles. The film left me wanting something more, though I’m not sure what. A good documentary, nonetheless.

B

Grey Gardens (David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, 1975). A fascinating slice of cinema in that it is prying but restrained, the documentary provides an intimate look at the lives of the Beales, an older mother and daughter living in a decrepit mansion in the Hamptons. The filmmakers bring their cameras into their home, into their lives and simply let it run, taking in all their idiosyncrasies. There is little form to the construction, no real attempt to try and build a narrative. The film is unvarnished and unadorned, making for an odd but enticing viewing experience. I can only imagine what it felt like to watch this film upon its release in 1975, before the entirety of American pop culture had shifted to the point where off-kilter behavior became the fastest route to celebrity. Held up against the aggressively needy behavior of the denizens of modern reality programming, the harmless delusions of the Beales, singing songs to each other and dancing around the house in a daffy state of sustained high society performance, is almost quaint.

The Tracey Fragments (Bruce McDonald, 2008). The simple story of sad teenage girl who loses track of her little brother is presented as an intentional visual hash in McDonald’s experimental feature. Nearly the entire film is presented as a jumbled composite shot, with multiple images competing for attention and, ostensibly, reflecting the conflicted nature of the title character. Unfortunately, the film is all experiment with no purpose. It’s hard to glean any sort of enhancement the relentless technique gives to the story, the characters or the overall emotional impact of the piece. Ellen Page plays the title character with her customary commitment. She may not elevate the character beyond the limitations of what she was given on the page, but she certainly gives it her all.

Broadway Danny Rose (Woody Allen, 1984). A fairly insignificant offering from Allen, especially considering it arrived between the twin triumphs of Zelig and The Purple Rose of Cairo. To be fair, this was during the stretch of his career when insignificant offerings still held some charm, as opposed to the brutal missteps of recent years. Allen casts himself in the title role, a anxious talent agent whose roster is a patchwork quilt of misfit vaudevillians. In order to prop up a client crooner with an unexpected shot at a big break, Danny Rose must cajole the blowzy, brassy dame who he canoodles with to come to his performance. That character represents the most interesting part of the film, considering its probably the juiciest role Allen handed over to Mia Farrow during their thirteen film collaboration. Farrow handles it capably, but, in the end, the performance, like the film, is amusing but forgettable.

Prizzi’s Honor (John Huston, 1985). A big, sturdy slab of movie, befitting the towering figure who directed it. Huston’s penultimate feature is a dark comedy thick with plot about the twists and turns within a crime family. Huston doesn’t push too hard. He assembles all the complications and nuanced shadings with resolute patience and care, leaving plenty of room for his gifted cast to carry the storytelling burden with the potency of their interactions. Jack Nicholson balances the thickness of his character role with a deft, almost offhand insight. This film also represents Kathleen Turner at the peak of her considerable powers, commanding the screen with a feline self-assurance, looking for all the world like not only the cat that just ate the canary, but the cat that managed to cajole some poor fool to hand-feed the prized bird to her, fingers trembling with enthralled anticipation as he did so. Still, the best performance remains the Oscar-winning game changer by Anjelica Huston, whose crooked grin is the front for a heart and sensibility similarly skewed, but no less shrewd because of it.

(Posted simultaneously to “Jelly-Town!”)

Meet Big and Little Edie Beale: high-society dropouts mother and daughter reclusive cousins of Jackie O. thriving together amid the decay and disorder of their ramshackle East Hampton mansion. An impossibly intimate portrait and an eerie echo of the Kennedy Camelot Albert and David Maysles’ 1976 Grey Gardens quickly became a cult classic and established Little Edie as a fashion icon and philosopher queen. Thirty years later the filmmakers revisited their landmark documentary with a sequel of sorts The Beales of Grey Gardens culled from hours of never-before-seen footage recently found in the filmmakers’ vaults.

Grey Gardens / The Beales of Grey Gardens – Criterion Collection (2-disc set) is available at Amazon for $44.99. To Order click here
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Other Products of Interest

• The Beales of Grey Gardens – Criterion Collection
• My Life at Grey Gardens: 13 Months and Beyond
• Grey Gardens – The Musical
• Salesman – Criterion Collection
• MemoraBEALEia: A Private Scrapbook About Edie Beale of Grey Gardens First Cousin To First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis