Tag: Documentary

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – N – Next Goal Wins (2014) Movie Review

Director: Mike Brett, Steve Jamison

Plot: The power of hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, and an object lesson in what it really means to be a winner in life.


Tagline – S

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Next Goal Wins starts as we meet the American Samoa football team, filled with pride, but getting embarrassed on the football pitch. The team is looking to rebuild their pride in the South Pacific games, which they hold their own, despite losing every game.

Returning home, they find the island devastated by a tsunami, destroying the training pitch, bringing the community together to rebuild what they lost. We see how they get a new coach who will look to prepare the team for the World Cup qualifiers.

Thoughts on Next Goal Wins

Thoughts – Next Goal Win shows us how a football team would need to improve so they don’t get embarrassed again, after a shocking 31 – 0 defeat. The reality it they are all amateur players, they all work full-time, they have all the heart you would need from their culture, with the arms open approach to having a transgender player involved too. We see how the team gets transformed going into the World Cup qualifiers, which will see them make international news with their first win in 17 years, just years after they got demolished. This will show that no matter what level you are playing at, you can try to make history, as long as you give it everything, you will get that moment or memories that will stick with you forever, add in the mix of culture that isn’t anything we have seen before in football, and what it means.



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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – W – Won’t You Be My Neighbour? (2018) Movie Review

Director: Morgan Neville

Plot: An exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children’s television host, Fred Rogers.


Tagline – You Loved a Lot of Films This Year, But Only One Film Loved You Back.

Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Inspiring

Story: Won’t You Be My Neighbour? Starts as we learn the early career of Fred Rogers, how he stepped into TV after feeling like the children aren’t learning or being loved from what is being produced on television, he started with a smaller show before bringing ‘Fred Roger’s Neighbourhood’ where he would bring social issues to children, from death, racial topics and political ones, he would always speak to the children with love.

His career which spanned decades, would always evolve to help the children of America deal with the latest issues, despite the many parodies he received, the rumours about his past that spiralled out of control, he would always remain calm, loving and honest with his methods and theories.

Thoughts on Won’t You Be My Neighbour?

Final Thoughts – When it comes to documentaries it is always important to show an unaware audience about the subject, in England we barely know anything about Mr Rogers, his theories, show and differences he made to the childhood development. What we discover from this documentary is just how he had changed television in a world that was looking to become faster than anything else. We see how he was able to handle things so simply instead of making anything complicated like many people have in the past. We might only see the full positive effects he had on people’s lives, we don’t dive deep enough into the negatives, which are only touched on, which could have been a bigger talking point. Learning about an icon is brilliant to see, which always makes me think, who would be the English version of this? Would we ever be able to have somebody like this again?

Overall: Wonderful Documentary.

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Movie Review

Matangi/Maya/M.I.A (2018) Movie Review

Director: Steve Loveridge

Plot: Drawn from a never-before-seen cache of personal footage spanning decades, this is an intimate portrait of the Sri Lankan artist and musician who continues to shatter conventions.

Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Important Documentary

Story: Matangi/Maya/M.I.A starts as we get to learn about the childhood of Maya, a Sri Lankan woman that was taken away from her homeland to be raised in England in the 80’s, she had to learn to deal with the racism she was facing daily, with her escape being in music, where she got to find inspiration on what would drive her going forward.

Growing up she got close to artists that would help her reach a new audience, which she wants to use as a platform to help campaign for the troubles in her homeland.

Thoughts on Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.

Final Thoughts – This is a documentary that puts the spotlight on the first Sri Lankan hip-hop artists that became a sensation in the western world. She found barriers in the music industry, but broke them down, she didn’t just wait for music to make a change, she took her new found fame to a new level by using her position to campaign to improve the awareness of the troubles in her homeland. We get to see how the media and the government would try to censor the campaigns, trying to turn people against her, even if she refused to back down on her campaign for awareness in Sri Lanka. This is important, this is great to watch to see just how people can use their position of power for change.

Overall: Documentary about making a change.

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Movie Review

Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission (2021) Movie Review

Director: Christopher Johnson

Plot: WWII hero with the 4th Emergency Rescue Squadron, Lt. Royal Stratton, leads a deadly mission to save the lives of nine downed airmen adrift in enemy waters of a war-torn South Pacific. Immersive cinematography and gripping action, mixed with firsthand accounts and historical images, showcase the valor of this squadron who faced overwhelming odds to bring their brothers home.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission starts as we learn about the 4th Emergency Rescue Squadron that during World War II, helped search the open waters for down aircrafts, risking their lives in the rescues in the open water, which could be filled with enemies.

We learn about the different rescues from the survivors, who recount their experiences and from the relatives that have heard the stories from their loved ones, showing how important these rescues were to the soldiers & pilots.

Thoughts on Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission

Thoughts – Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission is a documentary that highlights the amazing efforts these brave men did rescuing the pilots from World War II missions, with daring open water rescues. We get a mix of the recounting the stories from the survivors to the recreations of those events, that do hold back on the horrors, but show us the situations that the rescue crews found themselves in. in a time when history is so important to remember, this will go down as one of the more unknown stories, which shows us just how important it was to get the heroic events out there for the world to see. Each personal story adds a new layer to what we are learning, showing they generations after will stand proud of the efforts shown by their ancestors. 

Final Thoughts – Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission highlights to true heroics soldiers, pilots and many others showed during World War II.



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Movie Review

Whitney (2018) Movie Review

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Plot: An in-depth look at the life and music of Whitney Houston.


Tagline – Her story: intimate, unguarded, in her own words

Runtime: 2 Hours

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Proof We Lost Talent Too Early

Story: Whitney starts as we learn about the early life of Whitney Houston, daughter of a world famous backup singer, surrounded by music from a young age, groomed into the industry before making her big break, stealing the headlines becoming one of the most famous artists in the world.

With fame comes the press, the stories, the decision being made to keep Whitney on the rise of fame to keep things on track, not let certain taboos for the time ruin her career, all before her marriage to Bobby Brown, which saw her fall into the vices of drugs, never knowing who she could trust.

Thoughts on Whitney

Final Thoughts – Whitney looks at one of the most successfully singers of all time, she broke barriers on her way to the top, while on the top and with deals she achieved. We get to see interviews with Whitney’s family that helped her get to the top, helped her with her drug problems, treating it like something they could do as a family, while her husband’s controlling her life, never addressing her own problems. We get to see how the celebrity status ruined her career, took her life and how she was never given the support she needed to get out of her problems to continue to bring the music they enjoyed bringing the world. While this documentary looks at the tragedy of her life over getting to put the spotlight on some of her amazing musical moments, which should be remembered by everyone.

Overall: Eye-Opening Drama

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Movie Review

Hot Money (2020) Movie Review

Director: Susan Kucera

Plot: Confused by the foundations of our economy, stocks, derivatives, cost of energy and taxes? You are not alone. Untangle the complicated realities of our global financial system and its profound relationship to government, politics and climate change with the help of international experts and all the humour of a New Yorker cartoon, as we ‘out’ the whole charade that could to societal collapse.

Runtime: 1 Hour 58 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Hot Money starts as we see how two generations of Americans General Wesley Clark and Wes Clark Jr are looking to tackle the climate change problems America is facing, looking at how the money in the world has started to make people act differently, looking at how this can see their whole world taken away from investment due to the climate change. We continue to see how people’s lives have been changed from flooding, or fire or other natural weather events are causing people to lose the homes they invest in being left with nothing and how the endless circle of money problems that people haven’t been connecting to the climate change coming.

Thoughts on Hot Money

Thoughts – Hot Money is a documentary that will look at the connection between money and climate change, seeing how the world is changing, does need to be addressed before it is too late. We see how mostly America is seeing a bigger problem with the insurance of investment being turned away after years of it being put into people’s head, with the insurance companies not wanting to risk the cover. This does want to highlight climate change coming, it works well in the discussion like format between the father and son, from different generations, but other sides of the film can come off like they are talking down on everyone who isn’t supporting the change. It does focus on certain ideas of what could happen to make a change, though it doesn’t get into the full look into the bigger projects that could fix many of the problems coming.

Final Thoughts – Hot Money is an interesting documentary that does end up showing us the warning of what is coming from a different point of view.



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Movie Review

Making and Unmaking (2020) Movie Review

Director: Shaun Rose, Andrea Stangle

Plot: From creative and personal highs to extreme lows, this film chronicles several years in the life of filmmaker Shaun Rose.

Runtime: 1 Hour 3 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Making and Unmaking starts as we see how filmmaking Shaun Rose came to get Upstate Story made, the struggles along the way, which will see him starting other projects, but dealing with his own personal struggles in life, with personal and health related problems.

We get to look at how Shaun looks back on this difficult years, to get this project made, working more jobs, battles his demons, but keeping the hope of making something people would enjoy, and that they did.

Thoughts on Making and Unmaking

Thoughts – Making and Unmaking is a documentary that follows a film maker Shaun Rose, as he opens up in a very personal way to describe the difficulties, he faced making the movie Upstate Story, be it personal, medical or even the production of this film. It is brave to see a filmmaker going into such a personal side to their development of a movie, it might feel like a running diary, which does show us just how much an indie micro budget director, who don’t have the luxury of time, money and endless support to make a movie happen.

Final Thoughts – Making and Unmaking is a brave, intimate and eye-opening look at the micro directors’ life.



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Movie Review

The World’s Most Dangerous Borders – Episode 4 – Hunger

The World’s Most Dangerous Borders – Episode 4 – Hunger

Story: Hunger sees Reza leave Chad, moving in Sudan, getting closer to his destination, only entering Sudan, Reza finds himself taken my intelligence agency locked away, waiting to hear about whether they would be free or not. Being back in Sudan shows Reza just how much has changed since he was last here, needing to avoid authorities trying to control him. We do head onto the next stage Ethiopia, another country that has changed for Reza, one where authorities are controlling, only not on the same levels, leaving us to look at the pure beauty of the landscapes in the country.

Thoughts on Hunger

Thoughts – Hunger starts with the conclusion of the cliff hanger from the previous episode, will Reza get out of the trouble he finds himself in and complete his journey, it shows us just how much peril the journey will put him on, how not every threat is going to come from militant groups, it could come from a countries own government. Moving away from the dangers, we get a contrast with the beauty of the open plains of Ethiopia where the danger is going to come from the nature itself. With the series coming to an end, we get a mix at seriously dangerous conditions Reza could find himself in, which do highlight the dangerous criminal activities controlling certain people do. Outside of this, we get to see what is needed to change things in the climate and how certain traditions are maintained to make everyone feel safe in the different countries.

Final Thoughts – Hunger is a nice conclusion that might start filled with tension, but shows the near the water links, the safer he finds himself. 4/5

The World’s Most Dangerous Borders on Digital and Amazon Prime Video now



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The World’s Most Dangerous Borders – Episode 3 – Boko Haram

The World’s Most Dangerous Borders – Episode 3 – Boko Haram

Story: Boko Haram continues into Niger, where he gets to learn the reality of the terrorist group Boko Haram, that murder countless people, with people being forced to join them in Nigeria, the effects of these people have seen the cities living in fear, moving in to Chad, we get to see even more of the problems are in this country, getting to meet survivors who have escaped the terrors.

Thoughts on Boko Haram

Thoughts – Boko Haram shows the shocking reality of the world in the central African countries of Niger, Chad and Nigeria, which will leave Reza the shocking truth about what he could end up experiencing himself, if he puts a foot wrong. This is a transitional episode as Reza says goodbye to his guide so far Henri and looks to prepare for the final steps of his journey. This is the biggest wake up call to the events in Africa, showing us just how dangerous the militant terrorist groups are to not just one country, but many countries in the area. The episode does end in a calmer nature, bring the journey back to the climate change happening with the change being done.

Final Thoughts – Boko Haram is the most uneasy episode so far, one that opens more eyes on the problems that goes unseen. 4/5

The World’s Most Dangerous Borders on Digital and Amazon Prime Video now