Doc #27 - Voices From Within - St. Elizabeth’s

Yeah, I’m spending my Friday night watching docs about mental health and serial killers. 

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: A little slow, but would recommend. We have a huge issue with mental health services in the United States. Mental health and war. Woof. 

Doc #26 - Bayou Blue

If you want a real solid illustration of institutionalized racism & classism, watch this documentary about a dude you’ve never heard of who killed 23 men in poor Louisiana, then think back to the national freakout over Jonbenet Ramsey.

Viewed on: Amazon Prime Rating: 100% sure we need to get our priorities straight

Doc #25 - Just Extensions

Well dudes, now I know way more than I ever thought I’d know about hair extensions. 

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: 5 kilos of Grade A Brazilian hair 

Doc #24 - After Porn Ends 2

Guys, if you haven’t seen After Porn Ends 1, go watch it. It’s fascinating. The sequel was not as good, but still worth a view. Two things I learned: 1) Porn stars in the 90′s really thought the industry was going to get better, but iPhones and video cameras ruined it, and 2) Georgina Spelvin rules. 

Doc #23 - That Sugar Film

Funny, well-produced doc about how much sugar is in purportedly healthy food. Also delves into the issues around poverty and obesity in Australia and around the world. The biggest takeaway? America is embarrassing. Stick around for the music video at the end, it’s well worth it. 

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: I’ll get your rating later, I need to go for a run.

Doc #22 - Hand on a Hardbody

What this classic lacks in production value, it makes up in crazy rednecks and religious fervor. I respect each of the elite athletes featured in this film, and am in awe of their stamina. I wouldn’t stand for twenty minutes for a free pick-up truck. A waverunner, maybe. Or a pontoon boat. 

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: An excellent glimpse into simpler times

Doc #21 - Tickled

Holy shitballs, you guys. This one made me yell “WHAT” about fifty times. I wish it had ended with more closure, but it was worth it. People are fucking crazy. 

Viewed on: HBO Go Rating: Five feathers and an electric toothbrush

Doc #20 - Lipstick and Liquor

Found this one insufferable, TBH. If you want to watch a bunch of well-off, white women gush about how sobriety is a gift, go ahead. I have to go find my eyeballs. They rolled right out of my head during the part where the former model starts a sobriety-themed t-shirt line carried at Fred Segal. I suspect they rolled across the street to the bar. 

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: A fart noise

In The Mind of Plants (Full Documentary on The Intelligence of Plants)

Doc #19 - In the Mind of Plants

So, turns out acacia plants can kill things. 

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: Scariest horror movie I’ve seen in months

13th Step new promo

Doc #18 - The 13th Step

This was a pretty fascinating look into problems with sexual assault and violence within the AA organization. I have my own personal beefs with AA, a number of which were pointed out in this doc, but I never realized that so many non-alcohol-addicted people are ordered into AA during court proceedings. That’s pretty nuts. I feel like this was a fairly biased doc, but eye-opening nonetheless. 

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: Obviously tilted one way, but what do I know I was drinking beers while watching. 

In A Town This Size - the documentary film (Trailer One)

Doc #17 - In a Town This Size

Woof, this was a tough one. It’s hard enough to hear testimony from multiple adults who were sexually abused by a pediatrician during childhood. But to hear this man hasn’t had to admit to or pay for his crimes? Ugh. Big ups to the people in this movie willing to share their stories, though. The more we all know about sexual abuse, the better we can combat it. 

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: Tough, required viewing. 

Accidental Courtesy - Festival Trailer

Doc #16 - Accidental Courtesy

Racism is still a major issue in the US, so it’s understandable that Daryl Davis, the black man who’s become friends with Klan members across the country, is a polarizing figure. I think that exposure is essential to bringing us all together. It’s harder to demonize someone that’s sitting right next to you. Clearly, Daryl won’t solve systematic racism, but bridging the gap between races, classes, genders, etc. can’t hurt. 

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: Show it to your racist uncles, but don’t stop there

In The Thicket - The Tony Bosco Story from Nick Czerula on Vimeo.

Doc #15 - In The Thicket

Short, sweet little doc about a dude who lived in the Goddamned woods of New Jersey for twenty years before being busted by the five-o for trespassing. Look, if you can live for twenty years in the woods, in sheds that you built with your own hands, eating food that you killed or foraged yourself, you should win a Nobel prize and an Emmy, not a citation. 

Viewed on: Vimeo Rating: 10/10. BRB, building myself a fort in Lincoln Park. 

Doc #14 - The Bus Movie

I don’t honestly care much about VW vans. My friend Wes had one in high school. From what I remember, it smelled kind of like cabbage and never started. But this doc is worth a watch just to see a group of maniacs off-roading VW vans in the mountains.

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: No Herbie Full Loaded, but it was alright.

Doc #13 - Frank & Cindy

Here’s a doc made by a college student about his dysfunctional family, only his dad was in a short-lived, fascinatingly awful band named OXO in the 1980s and his mom is insane. I could comment on how Frank is sad, in a probably-too-dumb-to-know-fame-is-fleeting kind of way. I could talk about Cindy’s obvious addiction to something like meth. But I CANNOT STOP THINKING ABOUT THESE SONGS. They are terrible. The videos are insane. And yet, I find myself singing Whirly Girl to my cat in the mornings. Let me tell you ‘bout a cat I know, he’s a handsome cat and he’s really fat. Or singing Dance All Night to myself on the morning commute.

Seriously, there’s a heartbreaking story about addiction and fame in here somewhere, but I can’t get past the sweatpants.

Viewed on: Netflix Rating: Please somebody else watch this so we can talk about it.

Vannin' - A Documentary Trailer

Doc #12 - Vannin’ 

Holy shit, I’ve found my people. This doc is about righteous dudes (lady dudes and man dudes) who were a part of conversion van culture in the 70s, and told the commercial van folks to fuck right off so they could continue to drink frozen margaritas in kiddie pools during the annual Vannin Nationals. This is the GD American dream. 

Viewed on: Amazon prime Rating: All the shag carpet and airbrushing in the world

Doc #11 - Sister Helen

Broads like Sister Helen are why the patriarchy should be terrified of women. She is a no-nonsense bitch, who is trying to save the lives of fucked up men. She has her morals, her vision, and she sticks with it, popularity be damned. This woman is working to save the lives of men, not for fame or fancy shit, just because she knows it’s right. Fuck yeah, SIster Helen. 

Viewed on: Amazon Rating: Zero. As in zero fucks left to give. In other words 5 stars.