Tag: Documentary

Categories
Movie Review

Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd (2025) Movie Review

Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd – Movie Review

The documentary "Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd" showcases the band’s 25-year journey, featuring insightful interviews and rare footage.

First Reaction – Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd is a great journey through the band’s career.

Watch Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd on Prime now.

Director: Didier Chatette

Plot: A documentary exploring Simple Plan’s journey from their Montreal beginnings to global punk-rock fame, featuring rare footage and insights from bandmates plus rock stars like Avril Lavigne and Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd

Recap

The documentary follows pop punk band Simple Plan and their challenge to sound different. It follows their small rise in Montreal and how the boom in the term ‘pop punk’ which more traditional punk bands and fans looked down on. The journey follows their 25+ year journey, the ups and downs in their career and lifelong friendships.

Best Parts

We might end up being a little bit bias here, as Simple Plan are one of my all time favourite bands. I have followed them since 2002 when I first heard ‘I’d Do Anything’ and still have the hard copies of their albums. Many documentaries following bands have dramas, which make things more openly entertaining. They address the biggest moment the band face and showed the feelings behind it. Away, from the behind the scenes moments, they highlight the bigger moments and impact their music had on their fans. If you are a fan of the band, you will love every minute of this and appreciate everything they have done over the years.

Final Thoughts – Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd reflects perfectly on their last 25 years.

Categories
Movie Review

Trainwreck: The Real Project X (2025) Movie Reivew

Trainwreck: The Real Project X – Movie Review

Trainwreck: The Real Project X is a chaotic documentary about a Dutch teen's viral Facebook party invite that led to rioting, showcasing viral chaos and consequences.

First Reaction – Trainwreck: The Real Project X is a short chaotic reflection on a viral event.

Watch Trainwreck: The Real Project X o Netflix now.

Director: Alex Wood

Plot: A Dutch teen’s accidental public Facebook party invite goes viral, inspired by Project X movie. Thousands RSVP. Officials ignore warnings. With no entertainment planned, arriving crowds in Haren turn to rioting.

Runtime: 48 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on Trainwreck: The Real Project X

Recap

The documentary follows a Dutch teenager who created a birthday party for her friends on Facebook. However, she left it on public and it turned into a viral invitation becoming Project X. 10000 plus people received the invitation and were heading to the event. However, it turned into a massive event which caused chaos in the quiet town of Haren.

Best Parts

The movie shows how quickly a Facebook invite can go viral and how people cane come together for a bigger event. It shows the panic for the people who wanted a simple party and how things spiralled out of control. The chaos created shows how easily people aren’t prepared for anything of this scale. We get clear signs from the victims of the event and the people who made it the bigger crazier event.

Worst Parts

This shows the selfish action of people who are happy to ruin people’s lives. Alongside the naïve nature of a mayor out of touch with the people. Elsewhere, it is too short of a documentary and doesn’t explore enough of the consequences of the actions.

Final Thoughts – Trainwreck: The Real Project X unleashes the chaos of a viral event.

Categories
Movie Review

Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story (2025) Movie Review

Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story – Movie Review

"Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story explores the band's journey, showcasing their music and enduring bonds."

First Reaction – Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story  is an interesting documentary about an unsung band.

Where to Watch

Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story is released on the 7th of July.

Director: Joseph Rubinstein

Plot: Shot at Elvis’ Palm Springs home with archival footage and documents Collective Soul’s 31-year journey, featuring their rise to 15M albums sold, 7 hits, and the family bonds behind their success.

Runtime: 1 Hour 46 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story

Recap

The documentary follows the highs and lows of the music band Collective Soul. In their epic 31-year career, they worked with some of the biggest names in the industry. However, they didn’t always have the same stardom as other musicians of the same era. It also follows their ups and loses they faced along the way.

Best Parts

The movie does a great job of showing the story of a band that loved the music they made. They might not have had the same fame as others, but they kept united despite the tragic things that occurred. Meanwhile, it shows their importance to everything going around them. We do learn about another important figure in music who may have gone a bit more unnoticed.

Worst Parts

It might show us another big band in music history, but for entertainment reasons, they don’t have as much drama as many other bands. It is a good thing for the people involved, but for entertainment reasons, not much is going on.

Final Thoughts –Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story is a solid, entertaining documentary.

Categories
Movie Review

Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel (2025) Movie Review

Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel – Movie Review

"Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel explores the toxic workplace dynamics under CEO Dov Charney amid the brand's rise."

First Reaction – Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel shows a nightmare scenario of an abusive psychotic boss.

Watch Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel on Netflix now.

Director: Sally Rose Griffiths

Plot: American Apparel rises as a major fashion brand in the 2000s, but its success under CEO Dov Charney masks workplace issues. As financial troubles grow and harassment claims emerge, employees face the reality of a toxic environment.

Runtime: 55 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel

Recap

The documentary follows the sudden rise of the fashion brand American Apparel. It offered an alternative style which felt different and hired unqualified people in bigger roles for the company. The company exploded in the fashion industry with an American-made product, and the owner, Dov Charney, grabbed the headlines. However, it doesn’t take long before the whirlwind turns into a nightmare because of the CEO’s behaviour.

Best Parts

The movie highlights how quickly a business can rise by being different on the surface. It shows the naïve nature of younger people who have been given opportunities that nobody else would offer them. This shows how disastrous the business was and how Dov ran things in a toxic manner.

Worst Parts

It shows the trapped environment the employees got caught in and how they were happy to take the abuse if they were considered successful. The naïve nature of the people interviewed is most surprising, as we know more people research before accepting any role.

Final Thoughts –Trainwreck: The Cult of American Apparel shows the terror in the workplace.

Categories
Movie Review

Shark Whisperer (2025) Movie Review

Shark Whisperer – Movie Review

"Shark Whisperer" highlights Ocean Ramsey's mission to protect sharks through understanding, facing media misconceptions, and inspiring change.

First Reaction – Shark Whisperer shows the battle to protect a species against humanity’s panic.

Watch Shark Whisperer on Netflix now.

Director: Juan Oliphant

Plot: Marine conservationist and social media activist Ocean Ramsey fearlessly swims with sharks in this documentary deep dive into her mission to protect them.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on Shark Whisperer

Recap

The documentary follows Ocean Ramsey and Juan Oliphant, who learn sharks’ patterns to swim and get to know them. They use their knowledge to connect and turn their experiences into a campaign to help save sharks from being butchered. The pair use Ocean’s social media presence to help create a campaign, but challenging people opinions on sharks is a bigger challenge than they expected.

Best Parts

The movie shows how people can take the time to learn and understand everything around them. It reflects the negative media around sharks and how people try to understand the attacks. However, it shows an increase in threat with more people in the ocean. There is a good series of stories that highlight how one bad incident doesn’t tell the whole story, and people panic easily.

Worst Parts

While this is a personal project about what the couple would like changed. It doesn’t do much to highlight the naïve members of the world who, needless or recklessly, put themselves in danger, causing the attacks in the first place.

Final Thoughts –Shark Whisperer is a good campaign documentary about making a change.

Categories
Movie Review

Sound of the Surf (2022) Movie Review

Sound of the Surf – Movie Review

"Sound of the Surf" explores the evolution of surf music, highlighting its cultural significance and audience divides while documenting its rock and roll history.

First Reaction – Sound of the Surf has interesting look into the surf music world.

Where to Watch

Sound of the Surf – July 1, 2025.

Director: Tom Duncan

Plot: Over 50 years ago, rock and roll fell in love with the sport of surfing and from that serendipitous moment, surf music was born.

Runtime: 1 Hour 10 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on Sound of the Surf

Recap

The movie follows the rise of rock and roll around the love of surfing. It shows how it was looked down at first before refusing to be forgotten and becoming the sensation we know now. The movie explores different people from the original people behind it all, and how it began a clash of cultures. We continue to learn about the different bands that became popular and how mainstream music tamed the levels the originals loved.

Best Parts

If you want a history lesson behind surf music, this does everything you would expect. It shows the difference in opinions that people have when different styles evolved and how it rubbed people the wrong way. This also works at showing how to the people who follow the music, they have an important memory and the first aspect behind different aspects of the music.

Worst Parts

If you are not a fan of the music, you will struggle to enjoy this one. It feels a bit more like a lot of people only like certain elements of the music, instead of accepting different sounds with the same good meaning and background behind the music.

Final Thoughts –Sound of the Surf explores the rise of the music that has a split audience.

Categories
Movie Review

Trainwreck: Poop Cruise (2025) Movie Review

Trainwreck: Poop Cruise – Movie Review

Trainwreck: Poop Cruise critiques society's entitlement, showcasing passenger chaos during a disastrous cruise caused by an engine fire.

First Reaction – Trainwreck: Poop Cruise shows how spoilt the world has become.

Watch Trainwreck: Poop Cruise on Netflix now.

Director: James Ross

Plot: A luxury cruise turns disastrous when an engine fire cuts power to the entire ship. 4,000 passengers face failing systems, sewage leaks, and food shortages, sparking passenger unrest and media coverage of “The Poop Cruise.”

Runtime: 55 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on Trainwreck: Poop Cruise

Recap

The documentary examines the events that led to the luxury cruise turning into a disaster. It experienced an engine fire, which resulted in a power outage throughout the entire ship, causing problems for everyone onboard. This follows the chaos created by the passengers who panicked and were unable to cope with shortages for a day or two.

Best Parts

This feels like a comedy as it shows how people can’t handle being without everyday luxuries. It shows the chaos created as primal needs consume them. This makes the passengers feel and look incredibly selfish. It shows the public can’t handle things out of someone else’s control and don’t want to face a moment of struggle in their life. This shows how spoiled the world has become in a moment of luxury.

Worst Parts

I get that this is a disgusting situation for the passengers to go through, but it was an incident which saw nobody getting hurt or killed. It shows how chaotic the struggle is and how the news outlets turned it into a bigger fanfare. There should have been a lot more time spent on the bigger investigation to the incident, rather than one random lawyer talking about it.

Final Thoughts –Trainwreck: Poop Cruise reflects the spoiled society the world has created.

Categories
Movie Review

I’m Your Venus (2024) Movie Review

I’m Your Venus – Movie Review

"I'm Your Venus" is a documentary about Venus Xtravaganza's unsolved murder, focusing on her families' quest for recognition and legacy.

First Reaction – I’m Your Venus has an important message about remembering an important of a community.

Watch I’m Your Venus on Netflix now.

Director: Kimberly Reed

Plot: A moving and timely documentary following the unsolved murder of Venus Xtravaganza, star of the legendary film Paris Is Burning, as Venus’ two families – biological and ballroom – come together to seek answers and celebrate her legacy.

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on I’m Your Venus

Recap

The documentary follows two families of Venus Xtravaganza who want a posthumous name to change to have the world accept her identity after her murder. It explores the impact she made on the world being a trans member of a Latin community. Elsewhere, they explore the murder that still never had answers.

Best Parts

The documentary shows the importance of two families coming together the memory a loved one. It shows the legal process and how the biological family overcame their original doubts to want to honour their sister. Elsewhere, it explores the difficulties of stepping out into the trans community and people around you not understanding as quickly.

Worst Parts

The movie gets caught up between the legal side of changing Venus’ name and the unsolved murder. It can get more frustrating not getting the answers about the murder, but exploring how it could have been solved, etc. This would have been nice to have answers about the crime

Final Thoughts –I’m Your Venus is a nice documentary sharing the memories of someone important to a community.

Categories
Movie Review

Grenfell Uncovered (2025) Movie Review

Grenfell Uncovered – Movie Review

"Grenfell Uncovered" is a powerful documentary revealing preventable decisions behind the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, sharing survivor accounts.

First Reaction – Grenfell Uncovered is hard-hitting documentary.

Watch Grenfell Uncovered on Netflix now.

Director: Olaide Sadiq

Plot: Reveals decisions by officials and companies before the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire that made it preventable. Survivors, families, and firefighters share their accounts of the tragedy that took 72 lives.

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict on Grenfell Uncovered

Recap

The documentary follows the events around the Grenfell tragedy. We meet residents, firefighters and investigators. This gives us a chance to hear their stories of survivors and other incidents related to the rescue. It investigates what happened and caused the tragedy to occur. This includes how the traditional safety measures were followed, but the building was built with deadly cladding.

Best Parts

There is a nice mix of the victims’ stories and condemnation of the people who cut corners. The stories are hard to hear and haunt the residents and the firefighters who tried to help during the tragedy. While nobody has ever been charged for the tragedy, it explores the errors and how people still haven’t learned from them.

Worst Parts

I think the most frustrating side of this documentary is not having answers or anyone to blame for what happened.

Final Thoughts –Grenfell Uncovered is hard-hitting, shocking and disturbing.