Tag Archives: Documentary

Sep 5 2020

One More Orbit (2020) Movie Review

Director: Terry Virts

Plot: As a tribute to Apollo 11 which took off 50 years ago -former astronaut Col. Terry Virts and crew depart from Cape Canaveral in an attempt to break the round-the-world speed record for any aircraft flying over the North and South Poles.

Runtime: 1 Hour 12 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: One More Orbit starts as we meet former astronaut Col Terry Virts, who is looking to honour the Apollo 11 mission by putting together a team of pilots to try and break the world record for round-the-world speed flying over the North and South poles.

We get to see the plan and follow the crew on their attempt, which will see them having to face different problems along the way.

Thoughts on One More Orbit

Final Thoughts – One More Orbit is a documentary that will put focus on the vision of trying to break world records, using the memory of one of the greatest achievements of all time Apollo 11 mission as the motivation to target this mission. The plan is set out, with moments to look at each locations historical impact of the Apollo 11 mission, being part, we have the international crew, proving that working together will be the reason any of this could be achieved, not one country should get the credit for what was trying to be achieved. The biggest problem with the mission, is the fact that everything runs smoothly, it is a record that doesn’t have any major peril moments, it is just a routine attempt to break a record, which isn’t going to be the most thrilling thing we could expect to see. We can’t take away the record itself, it is an incredible achievement, that we could have all watched along during the attempt and is the movie that spends the most time in Mauritius that I have ever seen.

Head over to the website for more information on the journey and check out the movie yourself from 6th October.

 

Jul 29 2020

The Speed Cubers (2020) Netflix Movie Review

Director: Sue Kim

Plot: Discover the special bond — and uncommon competitive spirit — shared by the world’s Rubik’s Cube-solving record breakers in this documentary.

Runtime: 40 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Rubik Cubing Becoming the Highlight

Story: The Speed Cubers follows the build up to the 2018 world championship of Rubik Cube solving on different size levels, from 3×3 rising up through 4×4, 5×5, 6×6, with one- and two-handed styles being used. We see the two favourites lives Feliks Zemdegs the original superstar in the sport, who held all the records before Max Park arrived on the scene, started breaking records and taking the world title in the previous event.

The two are friends, with Feliks encouraging Max to continue to break his records, while getting to show the reality of what is happening with the players, growing up, becoming adults, they must face the reality of life and getting a job, while the younger players have the time to become the best in the world.

Thoughts on The Speed Cubers

Final Thoughts – The Speed Cubers brings us into this world with ease, showing how much the competition means to the players, how much this world has helped Max Park develop, as his autism had given his parents problems, this world bought him friendship and even understanding social situations like never before. Seeing what this means to the players, while maintain the friendship created between Feliks and Max is great to see and we do get to see in other competitive worlds. To make this seem like an event we would like to watch is great and showing the art behind perfecting the skill shows us just how much it means to everyone involved.

Overall: Entertaining Documentary.

Apr 5 2020

Maserati: A Hundred Years Against the Odds (2020) Movie Review

Director: Philip Selkirk

Plot: Celebrate the long and storied history of one of the world’s most recognizable icons, Maserati. From humble beginnings into a small Italian garage to the coveted and luxurious automobile we know today, witness the evolution of the business, the brand, and the cars themselves over 100 years. Featuring interviews with the Maserati family, world-famous racers, collectors, and more.

Runtime: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Interesting Documentary

Story: Maserati: A Hundred Years Against All Odds starts as we learn about how the Maserati brothers worked together to create the fastest race cars, dominating the sport of racing in the era of racing, they faced different competition through the years, financial problems and World Wars, they must learn to evolve to survive the every growing change in the car industry, be it in the racing or commercial use.

Thoughts on Maserati: A Hundred Years Against All Odds

Final Thoughts – When we look at documentaries, we need to learn from them, in this film we need to squeeze in 100 years of history, which is already going to be difficult with the length of the film, being less than an hour and half. We do learn the key moments in history, the rise in racing, the move into commercial use before others and the big decisions which saw the company go in different directions. While we do learn the basics, which I would imagine anyone who has done basic history in Maserati would know, it does feel like this could have been a mini series that could have dived into more details, with certain moments being, this happened, things changed, then onto the next chapter, we don’t get enough time to dive into the impact on these moments. If you wanted to get into the small details of the company and its history, you will feel like you have missed out on big moments, which could have shown the true struggles and successes the company had.

Overall: History Lesson 101.

Mar 23 2020

Apollo 11 (2019) Movie Review

Director: Todd Douglas Miller

Plot: A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Stunning

Story: Apollo 11 starts by showing us the behind the scene footage of the final preparations of the Apollo 11 mission, we know how this story unfolds, but this time we get to see unseen footage from mission control, leading to the take off and while on the mission, seeing how Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins would go onto make history for all mankind.

Thoughts on Apollo 11

Final Thoughts – The best way to describe this documentary is incredible to see, it shows how the operation occurred, how calm the team stayed through the mission despite the fact it was a high pressure situation that was important for NASA to achieve. We are seeing the behind the scene footage over anything else which does show us how the people involved on Earth were just waiting for information to make sure the incredible happened, while seeing the close ups of the mission in space, dealing with the isolation factor in Collins position and how close to the moon the astronauts got. We don’t get interviews about what happened, we are just seeing the mission shown in documentary form, cutting out the slow moments of waiting till the next stage, this is important to see how big this moment in history was.

Overall: Important Documentary

Mar 16 2020

Facing East (2019) Movie Review

Director: Tommy Baker

Plot: This story follows the history of the most over buried commercial cemetery in America. It comes full circle to present day and documents a non profit’s efforts to take care of the abandoned and abused burial ground.


Tagline – The True Story of The Most Grossly abused Cemetery in the Country

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Interesting Documentary

Story: Facing East starts as we see the investigation into the Eastern State Cemetery, a location in Louisville, where the owner had been burying people on top of other graves, which has been happening for decades, they didn’t hide it, they just kept taking the money from the families that wanted to bury their relatives.

We get to see how the federal investigation went through the grave to learn the shocking truth and how the owners were running the cemetery breaking nearly every law in the book, with it not sat abandoned with families needing to find their own way to their loved ones graves.

Thoughts on Facing East

Final Thoughts – When it comes to a documentary, we always get the spotlight thrown onto a situation which is getting out of hand, this does show us the shocking behaviour being cemetery owners who took people’s money and just buried people on top of each other, following part of the criminal case against them after breaking the laws. We have a mix of archive footage showing the case, mixed with the interviews of former employees that opened up the case and victims of the operation. This is interesting to see, because it could have been happening for years in other location, while we do only focus on one place that has been exposed, it does pose the question about how many more could be out there.

Overall: Eye opening documentary.