Documentaries

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Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas
I just
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island Of Dr. Moreau

I find the nuts and bolts of movie making fascinating. I find directors that make big budget films fascinating too because of the knowledge they must possess to do their job. Directors are basically building contractors in charge of a multi-million dollar project. They must know about construction, electrical, cameras, lighting, financial issues and how to deal with a wide range of eccentric people and on top of it all, they are artists. And they must complete their job under enormous pressure from the investors in a very short period of time.

So, what we have with this documentary is a movie that went terribly wrong and it's quite a spectacle to see. Richard Stanley had made a couple of small budget movies that were well received and New Line offered him an opportunity to do a film for them. He loved the HG Wells story and was very excited about doing The Island Of Dr. Moreau. He did a script everyone liked and the project was given a budget and a green light. Everything was going pretty good with the preliminaries until New Line somehow got Marlon Brando to be in the movie. When that happened (along with some other things) the budget swelled and Richard Stanley was in charge of something a lot bigger than he was prepared for. What turned out to be a great idea in the beginning turned into one of the worst movies ever made and the journey to that point is quite something to watch with a fired director and Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer sabotaging the film. Marlon Brando was just making stuff up as he went along to see how weird he could be. ;-D If you like this kind of stuff, this doc is one of the best.
watched this one too!
 
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Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island Of Dr. Moreau

I find the nuts and bolts of movie making fascinating. I find directors that make big budget films fascinating too because of the knowledge they must possess to do their job. Directors are basically building contractors in charge of a multi-million dollar project. They must know about construction, electrical, cameras, lighting, financial issues and how to deal with a wide range of eccentric people and on top of it all, they are artists. And they must complete their job under enormous pressure from the investors in a very short period of time.

So, what we have with this documentary is a movie that went terribly wrong and it's quite a spectacle to see. Richard Stanley had made a couple of small budget movies that were well received and New Line offered him an opportunity to do a film for them. He loved the HG Wells story and was very excited about doing The Island Of Dr. Moreau. He did a script everyone liked and the project was given a budget and a green light. Everything was going pretty good with the preliminaries until New Line somehow got Marlon Brando to be in the movie. When that happened (along with some other things) the budget swelled and Richard Stanley was in charge of something a lot bigger than he was prepared for. What turned out to be a great idea in the beginning turned into one of the worst movies ever made and the journey to that point is quite something to watch with a fired director and Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer sabotaging the film. Marlon Brando was just making stuff up as he went along to see how weird he could be. ;-D If you like this kind of stuff, this doc is one of the best.
And Val Kilmer! what an a**hole diva!
 
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Sigmund

Waiting in Uber.
Jan 3, 2010
13,979
44,046
In your mirror.
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island Of Dr. Moreau

I find the nuts and bolts of movie making fascinating. I find directors that make big budget films fascinating too because of the knowledge they must possess to do their job. Directors are basically building contractors in charge of a multi-million dollar project. They must know about construction, electrical, cameras, lighting, financial issues and how to deal with a wide range of eccentric people and on top of it all, they are artists. And they must complete their job under enormous pressure from the investors in a very short period of time.

So, what we have with this documentary is a movie that went terribly wrong and it's quite a spectacle to see. Richard Stanley had made a couple of small budget movies that were well received and New Line offered him an opportunity to do a film for them. He loved the HG Wells story and was very excited about doing The Island Of Dr. Moreau. He did a script everyone liked and the project was given a budget and a green light. Everything was going pretty good with the preliminaries until New Line somehow got Marlon Brando to be in the movie. When that happened (along with some other things) the budget swelled and Richard Stanley was in charge of something a lot bigger than he was prepared for. What turned out to be a great idea in the beginning turned into one of the worst movies ever made and the journey to that point is quite something to watch with a fired director and Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer sabotaging the film. Marlon Brando was just making stuff up as he went along to see how weird he could be. ;-D If you like this kind of stuff, this doc is one of the best.

I loved this doc.! Marlon Brando was totally cuckoo. Val Kilmer was a bipolar diva and the director?? I think his wide brimmed hat was a little too tight . :lemo:
 
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skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
Thanks for the heads up. I'll try and watch it this weekend. (While I eat my ketchup taco. Ha!)
Not liking the ketchup taco, you understand. :p It's the third time I've watched it, and it's not easy any time. People who have never struggled to get together a decent meal with limited funds...I wonder if they'll ever get it? One manuscript I'm working on is set in Baltimore, and deals with a lot of these issues.
 

Sigmund

Waiting in Uber.
Jan 3, 2010
13,979
44,046
In your mirror.
Not liking the ketchup taco, you understand. :p It's the third time I've watched it, and it's not easy any time. People who have never struggled to get together a decent meal with limited funds...I wonder if they'll ever get it? One manuscript I'm working on is set in Baltimore, and deals with a lot of these issues.

I don't want to turn this into a Hot Topic post but, it used to be food stamps were supposed to be SUPPLEMENTAL to a family's food budget. Times are tough and many times the food stamps ARE the food budget. Also, when people complain about obesity and/or child obesity. Some people can't go to the big grocery stores with better prices. Appliances (fridge, freezer, stove, micro wave) utilities (electricity, water) are not available so the choice of food is limited. You buy what you can eat not necessarily what is healthy. And the food pantries? Empty. (I'll shut up and sit down now. :))

Oh! I finally watched Cigarette Burns. I liked it!
 

HollyGolightly

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
9,660
74,320
54
Heart of the South
I watched this tonight, oh my Lord... total utter devastation and heart break. :down: Time and again babies and children are not protected when they should be... it is so sad and tragic.

But then.... what a beautiful family and the story that was told. If it is possible to heal from that, they at least have strength in their love and many bonds.

This was a terribly sad movie. I would have warned you not to watch it. Heartbreaking.
 

fljoe0

Cantre Member
Apr 5, 2008
15,859
71,642
62
120 miles S of the Pancake/Waffle line
And Val Kilmer! what an a**hole diva!

I just read the following about Val Kilmer and thought I would share it. ;-D

At 12, Kilmer landed his first acting job in a TV commercial for a fast food chain. He walked off the set because he could not find his motivation. He told the director he could not pretend to like the hamburgers he was advertising.
 

Dana Jean

Dirty Pirate Hooker, The Return
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
53,634
236,697
The High Seas
I just read the following about Val Kilmer and thought I would share it. ;-D

At 12, Kilmer landed his first acting job in a TV commercial for a fast food chain. He walked off the set because he could not find his motivation. He told the director he could not pretend to like the hamburgers he was advertising.
Holy moly! What a d*ckweed.
 
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RichardX

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2006
1,737
4,434
Finding Vivian Maier. This is an excellent documentary about the nanny who for decades roamed about taking hundreds of thousands of photographs of people and things that she never allowed anyone to see during her life. She died penniless. After her death the photographs were discovered and displayed in various shows. It's a bit sad, weird, and even creepy. A commentary on art, mental illness, and the general mystery of some people. She's a bit of a JD Salinger-type. Most fascinating is her relentless compulsion to take photos for no apparent purpose. Many were never developed.

 
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muskrat

Dis-Member
Nov 8, 2010
4,518
19,564
Under your bed
People who have never struggled to get together a decent meal with limited funds...

I loved this doc.! Marlon Brando was totally cuckoo. Val Kilmer was a bipolar diva and the director?? I think his wide brimmed hat was a little too tight . :lemo:

Seen Val lately? He hasn't missed any meals, tell ya that.

See what I did there?
 

Sigmund

Waiting in Uber.
Jan 3, 2010
13,979
44,046
In your mirror.
Just watched one called Casting By about Marion Dougherty who cast some of the most iconic movies and stars. Really a very interesting doc. By the end, I had tears in my eyes.

It makes me want to write a letter to the Academy of Motion Pictures.

Awww... you got teary eyed? I want to see it. (If it's on Netflix...I'll be on it.)

(Love your avatar Dana Jean )
 

Sigmund

Waiting in Uber.
Jan 3, 2010
13,979
44,046
In your mirror.
I have watched some really awesome docs recently!

Let the Fire Burn
A history of the conflict of the City of Philadelphia and the Black Liberation organization, MOVE, that led to the disastrously violent final confrontation in 1985.

Miss Representation
Explores the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America, and challenges the media's limited portrayal of what it means to be a powerful woman.

Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie

Before entire networks were built on populist personalities; before reality morphed into a TV genre; the masses fixated on a single, sociopathic star: controversial talk-show host Morton Downey, Jr.
 

Sigmund

Waiting in Uber.
Jan 3, 2010
13,979
44,046
In your mirror.
Just watched one called Casting By about Marion Dougherty who cast some of the most iconic movies and stars. Really a very interesting doc. By the end, I had tears in my eyes.

It makes me want to write a letter to the Academy of Motion Pictures.

Hey, Dana Jean!

Just finished watching Casting By. I had tears in my eyes at the end of it too. Excellent doc.