Man On Wire

This was such a good film! Everything was done well from the interviews, to the editing, to the music.  The characters told the story themselves, and we were able to relive this amazing experience with them.  This story was exciting because it involved a task similar to robbing a bank, but they weren't actually stealing from anyone, so it's ok to root for them.  It is interesting how we know he is alive, since he's talking to us at the very beginning of the film. However, the filmmakers still made it suspenseful.  The story did not start when he put his foot on the wire at the top of the Twin Towers. It started long before that.  The director managed to have us be in suspense because of the way the characters were presented, and the way they told the story themselves. They were in a comfortable environment, and were re-living the story as they told it themselves. They must have told the story hundreds of times, which made them good at it.

It was interesting to be a part of a story that happened years ago, without much actual footage or pictures from the real event itself.  The reenactments were done in a pretty realistic way, and didn't feel too cheesy.  The director took a great story, and told it in a great way.  This makes for a fantastic film.  The editing was really well done, which helped with the intensity of the storytelling. They also kept in the smallest details so we weren't left wondering how they did something. We were there for every moment they were hiding from the guards, or about to step onto the wire. I loved being a part of this world for the duration of the film.

Life In A Day

The idea for this film was very unique, and was something that would not have been possible a few years ago. It is a great example of how film is still evolving today due to the advances in technology.  The idea of this film also had the potential to be...not so great. However, they pulled it off really well and made a bunch of YouTube videos into a professional feature film.  I loved how they started the day right at midnight, and then kept going through the day. We were able to see so many different lifestyles from all over the world, and see what they wanted to show us.  It was a really beautiful film which showed all sorts of ranges of wealth and poverty. We were able to see into the lives of so many different individuals, but in a way that it all fit together.  It must have been extremely difficult to choose which clips to use due to the amount of footage they had.  The editing was basically what made this movie. If the editing had not been done well, it would not have been a good film at all. Another thing I thought was done very well was the music.  They had this one song that was so peaceful, it fit into so many different worlds. There were also different versions of it, one with a man singing, and one with a women.  There were times where there were short clips of individuals, and times when they focused on one person. These moments where they focused on one person were really deep and significant. It was as if this was their chance to talk to the world, even though they didn't think they were anything special. This film showed how everyone is unique and special in their own way, and the world has many different types of people, but overall we are all very similar. This was a very effective approach in showing the similarities and differences of people all around the world.  I was uplifted by this film, and can't wait to see it again.  I

Forks Over Knifes

I heard some people talking about this film, saying that it actually made them not want to eat meat. This intrigued me, and I almost took it as a challenge to see if it would convince me to change my eating habits. I never thought anything could be so convincing and persuasive in such a nice way.  The filmmakers did an excellant job with research and adding animations to give a nice visual. I was sucked into this film from the beginning, and almost surprised that I had never heard any of these facts before. The idea of the film was simple, but it gave us some stories of individual people as well.  This use of storytelling was done very well and made all of the arguments that much more profound. These were people that the general public can relate to being not so in shape or healthy.  We were able to see them transform into healthy happy people, by simply changing their diet.  Many of them were able to go off their medications, and testify that they have more energy.

If we just heard from the doctors and scientists in the film, and not the subjects, it would not been nearly as persuasive.  It was surprising to me how many people said that it wasn't as hard as they thought it would be. They were all pleased with the diet, and saw results quickly.  The information that the film provided was so profound that I really didn't pay much attention to the details. I was just waiting to hear the next amazing fact.  I think that is a goal of all documentary filmmakers, to have the audience so intrigued that they don't even notice bad lighting or sound. Forks Over Knifes accomplished that for me. After I watched this film I seriously considered changing my diet to plant based foods. I went to the store soon afterwords and ended up buying way more fruits and vegetables than I usually do. Now that is a powerful film!

I think the film could have been a little more fair to the other sides argument and given them some more time. However, by the time there was a disagreement, the other side didn't really have much of a chance after all of the information they were feeding us.  It made someone who is probably well educated look kind of dumb.  But it worked well for the film. It really changed the way I think about food and the way Americans eat as a whole.