"Wework" "Betting On" the "Action" that is "The Last Blockbuster": Three Meh Documentaries Plus One Charming One

Heyo,

I've watched several documentaries in the past few months.  Some of them have been... fine?  Which led me to the following inspiration for today's post: As I review some of the underwhelming documentaries I've watched in the last little bit, I will also offer alternatives I've seen that vastly outshine them.  And to top us off, I'll share one film that is a delight!  

Let's roll!

First stop on the meh train to mehville:

Anyone who has read some of my past posts can probably guess that I am a giant sucker for a tale of a megalomaniacal new-clothed emperor wannabe wunderkind meeting their comeuppance.  Those stories scratch a certain kind of deep itch--a wish for there to be order and justice in the universe.  I wanted "Wework or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn" (2021) to be that, and it just fell flat.  I got nowhere near enough of the gory details I crave about what the hell exactly happens at Wework to appreciate its gigantic ruse and its eventual gigantic stumble, and of course Adam Neumann hasn't exactly met with the humbling he seems to very much deserve.  I gave this movie a 2.

As an alternative, might I suggest "Fyre Fraud" (2019) or "The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley" (2019), both of which are:

• way better at delivering big yummy helpings of comeuppance
• way more generous with those juicy details of exactly how cataclysmically poorly conceived and executed each of their silly sham businesses were, and therefore
• way more fun.
• Also I'm kind of devastated I didn't write a post about "The Inventor" because I find Theranos FASCINATING.

Next up on our tour of meh-diocrity (sidenote: the redundancy of this neologism makes me lol):

"Betting On Zero" (2016) reveals the deeply questionable business practices behind the deeply suspicious health food/supplement company Herbalife.  As the company enters the crosshairs of iconoclastic hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, whose gigantic financial position predicting that Herbalife will fail lend the film its name, he subsequently falls into the crosshairs of his apparent rival, mega-investor Carl Icahn.  While this sounds like a perfect recipe for a riveting documentary, this film suffers from the fact that it concluded before the whole real life story.  Just like with "Wework", Googling the outcome of this clash-of-financial-titans battle after finishing this film only deepened my sense of disappointment.  I gave this film a 3.

As an alternative, I recently rewatched "The Big Short" (2015) which is:

• way more watchable
• in a depressing and aggravating way, way more intellectually satisfying
• crucial education that every American should have received at, if not before, the time of the events depicted, and
• admittedly not technically a documentary.

And now for our third and final lackluster mehpisode:

Again, "Class Action Park" (2020) has the makings of a satisfying documentary, but it ultimately falls apart (much like the disastrous rides that comprised this terrifying-sounding amusement park) because it doesn't really seem to know how to tell the story it's telling.  Much of the movie is a tour of Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey in the form of archival footage of the park interspersed with interviews with non-A list celebrities you may or may not recognize who either worked there or patronized the establishment in their youth.  The generally jocular, devil-may-care tone struck by this structure becomes more and more discordant with the fact that literally people died because of the horrific negligence of the park's owner...??  Like.... this is not remotely amusing??  This is an emotionally confused and therefore unsettling film.  I gave it a 2.

As an alternative and in closing, may I present to you:

"The Last Blockbuster" (2020) is remarkably similar in structure to "Class Action Park": it explores a business that had outsized impact on the culture around it and its ultimate downfall through contemporaneous footage with playful interjecting interviews with celebrities with whom you may or may not be familiar (including the delightful Ron Funches!!).  

It is different, however, in some very important ways:

• no one died
• no one is forced to be callously cavalier about the fact that someone died, because no one died
• Blockbuster is actually charming and therefore actually worthy of our nostalgia
• I really liked Blockbuster
• I really miss Blockbuster, and
• this movie makes me wonder if there really was a distinct Blockbuster smell and if so, would I recognize it if I ever encountered it again?

Despite its structural and superficial similarities to "Class Action Park", "The Last Blockbuster" is actually more in keeping with documentaries like "The Perfect Bid: the Contestant Who Knew Too Much" (2017) and "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" (2007); it is a sweet, earnest, gentle, good-hearted biography of the plucky people that comprise microcommunities brought together by their love of a generally wholesome thing entering its twilight.  It's a nice film that leaves you feeling nice.  I gave it a 4.

Fin!

{Heart}

Antiracist Accountability x Pride: "Paris is Burning" for "Kiki"

 Hi friends,

This Pride month, as with last year's, I want to uplift Black and Brown trans and gay people.  While last year I talked about Marsha P. Johnson's gargantuan influence on the movements for gay and trans rights, this year I want to share with you two documentaries about thriving enclaves of safety, joy, and artistry that gay and trans people of color have created in New York City and their evolution through the decades.  

The first is the electrifying classic "Paris is Burning" (1990).

The second is the unofficial epilogue to "Paris is Burning", "Kiki" (2016).

Viewed together, the films offer time-traveling front row seats in the uproarious performance halls and intimate apartments of New York City's gorgeous, resilient, burning bright ball scene.  

"Paris is Burning" introduces us to New York's ball culture and some of the major houses it was comprised of in the late 1980s.  The film reveals the origins of appropriated terms still used today (such as "throwing shade"), but more importantly centers the deep love, ingenuity, and vitality fostered in a community assailed by seemingly endless acts of individual and systemic violence.  Its beauty and joy is made ever sweeter by the heartbreak at the film's conclusion, when the audience learns how many of the film's participants lost their lives to illness and other manifestations of the brutality of oppression.  The poignancy lent to "Paris is Burning" by the ephemerality of its performances and, ultimately, many of its performers lends an enduring, weighty ache to an already indelible film.

As its unofficial sister film, "Kiki" updates us on the state of this community by focusing on the young people who are part of the kiki scene--essentially ballroom culture for teenagers.  "Kiki" shows us that in some ways, things have improved since "Paris is Burning": kiki performers have access to more resources and, in some cases, broader support from family and loved ones than their '80's ballroom forebears.  But of course, societally there is still so far to go until kids in the kiki scene gain the supports, resources, safety, and respect they richly deserve.

These truly are wonderful, uplifting, inspiring, and deeply human movies.  If you haven't already seen them both, I strongly recommend them and I hope you enjoy them!

You can watch "Paris is Burning" here.

You learn more about "Kiki" here and watch it here.

Perhaps obviously, I gave both of these glorious, gorgeous movies a 5.

Happy Pride!

{Heart}