Things have been quiet around these parts as of late. I haven’t had much time (or inspiration, to be honest) to do much posting lately but I figured I’d join in with rest of the internet and share my ‘best docs of 2013′ list.

Feel free to agree/disagree in the comments!

10. Northern Light (Dir. Nick Bentgen)

9. At Berkeley (Dir. Frederick Wiseman)

8. Bending Steel (Dir. Dave Carroll)

7. The Crash Reel (Dir. Lucy Walker)

6. The Last Station (Dir. Cristian Soto & Catalina Vergara)

5. 12 O’Clock Boys (Dir. Lotfy Nathan)

4. Maidentrip (Dir. Jillian Schlesinger)

3. Jodorowsky’s Dune (Dir. Frank Pavich)

2. The Expedition to the End of the World (Dir. Daniel Dencik)

1. Tim’s Vermeer (Dir. Teller)

Honourable Mentions: 15 Reasons to Live, Beyond the Edge, The Unknown Known, Blackfish, Dragon Girls, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible

Most people might recognize Jesse Heiman from Go Daddy’s controversial Super Bowl commercial in which he tongue kissed a model. For me, he’s the guy that popped up in the background of practically every movie made in the last 10 years, providing a ‘spot THAT guy’ mini-game while simultaneously breaking down my suspension of disbelief by inadvertently connecting otherwise disparate movie universes that should remain separate. Try watching Old School and The Social Network back to back and watch for Heiman looming around in the background. Suddenly I find myself picturing Vince Vaughan throwing the Final-Clubs parties and Will Ferrel streaking through Harvard’s campus grounds.

Needless to say, Jesse’s status as a ‘cult extra’ and his sudden rise in popularity thanks to Go Daddy has put him in an interesting position in his career. Documentary filmmaker Nick Weis has recognized this new trajectory and has been filming Heiman for the upcoming feature documentary Jesse Heiman: World’s Greatest Extra.

Jesse Heiman, an unlikely star, has since worked steadily, on hundreds of films and television series alongside some of the most prominent names in the business. Directors from Spielberg to Fincher have placed him in the center of the frame for their highest profile projects – albeit as a wholly anonymous presence. From Old School to The Social Network, Catch Me If You Can and Spiderman — Jesse has offered up the face dreammakers sought: homely, earnest, innocent, and brave. Over time, Jesse’s pure determination has made him an unlikely, irresistible worldwide face.

Weis and his crew are looking to raise $65,000 for the film and they have about 16 days to go. Check out the trailer above and then head over to their Kickstarter page and help these guys and girls tell Jesse’s story.

Steve Hoover, director of the Sundance favourite Blood Brother has just kicked off a Kickstarter for his follow up documentary titled Gennadiy. Unfortunately I’ve yet to see Blood Brother but the teaser for this follow up looks to be a beautifully crafted, character driven story that poses some complex questions.

Gennadiy works through the political system as an activist, and he runs an orphanage, but the system doesn’t work fast enough for him—or for the thousands of street kids who live in his city of Mariupal, Ukraine, most of whom are addicted to a lethal cocktail of injected cold medicine and alcohol. So at night, he goes on raids for the lost children in the ruins of this empire.

The plan is to use the money raised from the Kickstarter to pay for travel arrangements for the crew and additionally, the cost of hiring Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails collaborator Atticus Ross (The Social Network, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) to compose the score. Head over to the Kickstarter page to learn more about Gennadiy.

Some of you have surely seen Sean Dunne’s work. I’ve posted about many of his documentary shorts here at The Documentary Blog so be sure to make use of the search bar if you’re not already familiar. Recently he started up a Kickstarter campaign for his feature film debut titled ‘Oxyana’, and it turns out it was a success. The film is completed, has played Tribeca, and is now available for digital download via Vimeo and DVD/Blu Ray. An official trailer has popped up as well and I think the film looks amazing. Here’s the synopsis:

Tucked in the Appalachian mountains of Southern West Virginia, Oceana, is a small, once thriving coal-mining town that has fallen victim to the fast spreading scourge of prescription painkiller Oxycontin. As the coal industry slowly declined and times got tough, a black market for the drug sprung up and along with it a rash of prostitution, theft and murder. Soon its own residents had nicknamed the town Oxyana and it began to live up to its reputation as abuse, addiction and overdoses became commonplace. Oxyana is a harrowing front line account of a community in the grips of an epidemic, told through the voices of the addicts, the dealers and all those affected. It is a haunting glimpse into an American nightmare unfolding before our eyes, a cautionary tale told with raw and unflinching honesty.

Be sure to check out the trailer above and then head over to Vimeo and buy/rent/download ‘Oxyana’. It’s also available on DVD and Blu Ray here.

Filmed for The Avante Guard Diaries, Darkon co-director Luke Meyer’s Unlocking the Truth looks at twelve year old Malcolm Brickhouse and eleven year old Jarad Dawkins’ heavy metal band of the same name. When they’re not planning make believe world tours in their basement, they’re performing around the streets of New York City and pontificating on the creative and emotional release that heavy metal has afforded them.

These kids seem to be getting a lot of attention lately, including an appearance on America’s Got Talent. Meyer’s short doc is a succinct and inspirational look at one of the heaviest preteen metal bands in the world.

Yes!! Very excited for this one:

Before entire networks were built on populist personalities; before reality morphed into a TV genre; the masses fixated on a single, sociopathic star: controversial talk-show host Morton Downey, Jr.

In the late ’80s, Downey tore apart the traditional talk format by turning debate of current issues into a gladiator pit. His blow-smoke-in-your-face style drew a rabid cult following, but also the title “Father of Trash Television.” Was his show a platform for the working man or an incubator for Snooki and The Situation? Ironbound Films’ ÉVOCATEUR: THE MORTON DOWNEY JR. MOVIE dissects the mind and motivation of television’s most notorious agitator.

‘Evocateur: The Morton Downey, Jr. Movie’ hits theatres and On Demand June 7th from Magnolia Pictures. As a bonus, here’s a favourite Morton Downey Jr. clip of mine featuring Lloyd Kaufman from Troma!

I managed to catch Blackfish at Hot Docs this year and it was one of the better films of the festival. Now an official trailer has been released and I’m totally resold. This is a truly great trailer.

Shocking, never before seen footage and riveting interviews with trainers and experts manifest the orca’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity over the last four decades, and the growing disillusionment of workers who were misled and endangered by the highly profitable sea-park industry. This emotionally wrenching, tautly structured story challenges us to consider our relationship to nature and reveals how little we humans have learned from these highly intelligent and enormously sentient fellow mammals.

Blackfish hits limited theatres July 19th via Magnolia Films. In the meantime, check out this great poster as well:

This Hot Docs specific episode of The Documentary Blog Podcast was recorded in collaboration with The Film Junk Podcast. Listen to more episodes of The Film Junk Podcast here.

0:00 - Intro
2:44 - Dragon Girls
13:17 - Shooting Bigfoot
28:48 - 12 O’Clock Boys
35:34 - The Unbelievers
43:29 - The Expedition to the End of the World
51:17 - The Great North Korean Picture Show
59:18 - We Always Lie To Strangers
1:06:17 - NCR: Not Criminally Responsible
1:13:21 - Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys
1:16:21 - The Last Station
1:20:51 - Which Way is the Front Line From Here?
1:25:05 - Bending Steel
1:27:57 - The Crash Reel
1:31:56 - Caucus
1:33:42 - Blackfish
1:38:17 - The Circle
1:39:14 - 15 Reasons to Live
1:40:42 - Who Is Dayani Cristal?
1:42:57 - Searching For Bill
1:45:04 - Maidentrip
1:48:16 - Our Nixon
1:49:58 - Just the Right Amount of Violence
1:54:47 - Downloaded
1:58:30 - Outro

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Congratulations to Nathan of Little Rock, AR, Hillary of Astoria, NY and Brian of Los Angeles, CA! They’re the lucky winners of a DVD copy of Oscilloscope Laboratories’ Only the Young/Tchoupitoulas double feature DVD!

Also, a big thanks goes out to all of those who entered. This was one of biggest turn outs yet! Look forward to more giveaways here at The Documentary Blog and be sure to pick up your own copy of Only the Young/Tchoupitoulas on DVD today.

Thanks to Oscilloscope Laboratories for providing the prizes!

It’s probably fair to characterize director Morgan Matthews ‘Shooting Bigfoot’ as a bit of a freak show. Some of the people in this film come across as genuinely delusional. This is the dilemma I faced when I found myself laughing out loud at some of the truly hilarious moments throughout this doc that plays out like a real life Christopher Guest film.

I would lump Shooting Bigfoot in with such minor fare as My Date With Drew or Mansome, but at least this film is actually funny. Moments of genuine humour had me marvelling — sometimes suspiciously — at the comedic timing of some of these folks. The degree of self awareness amongst the subjects seemed to vary, but what began as a seemingly toxic director/subject relationship eventually transforms into a harmless, fun night out in the woods with a bunch of guys indulging in their strange hobby. It’s essentially one step away from live action role playing or fantasy football, seemingly focused more on the journey and less on the destination. It’s just an excuse to hang out with friends, crack open a few beers and scan the woods with military grade night vision goggles in search of 8 foot humanoid creatures. All in good fun!

I suppose the closest analog to ‘Shooting Bigfoot’ would be the number of A&E and History Channel shows focusing on swamp people and duck hunters. In this case, Duck Dynasty might be most comparable as I think the characters in that show share the same natural sense of humour and comedic timing that’s on display here. For example, in regards to a failed meat trap set to draw in a sasquatch, the following dialogue ensues:

“It just couldn’t be knocked off, it had to be jerked off.”
“So you think bigfoot has jerked off a piece of meat?”
“Yes I do.”

Some people are just naturally funny, regardless of how ridiculous they look or how insane their hobby may be. However, I do think an element of scripting is at play, particularly with one specific character.

This leads to the controversial ending of the film, and all I’ll say is that I think it’s perfectly in line with the spirit of the subject matter and more specifically, the history of the main character involved in the Blair Witch inspired set piece. ‘Shooting Bigfoot’ isn’t brilliant, but it’s a fun little comedy that made me wish I could spend a night hanging out with some of the folks in this film. — Jay C.

3.5/5

Only a day into my Hot Docs experience I already knew that The Expedition to the End of the World was going to be tough to top. Director Daniel Dencik provides further evidence that the Danes seem to have a real grasp on documentary cinema.

The film follows a crew of artists and scientists as they make their way through the melted massifs of North-East Greenland. Their mode of transportation is a three-mast schooner straight out of your favourite pirate film (mine would be Cabin Boy). As the men slowly traverse the winding, half-frozen rivers of the undiscovered country, they philosophize about the meaning of life and offer some unique commentary on the issue of climate change. One of them shrugs off the threat, suggesting that humans will adapt and simply move to areas of the world that aren’t flooded. A truly Scandinavian proclivity.

Moments of comedy are scattered throughout as the explorers beat their boredom by shooting off guns — sometimes accidentally — and flying around in their unique hybrid dinghy/power paraglider. At times, their mission is truly threatened by stubborn ice formations, resulting in some harrowing seamanship that, in combination with the Mozart on the soundtrack, reminded me of Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski uncontrollably floating down river in a steamboat in Les Blank’s ‘Burden of Dreams’. In fact, much of this film could be classified as Herzogian and it would make for a great double bill with Herzog’s own ‘Encounters at the End of the World’.

One of the strongest aspects of Expedition is the inspired combination of imagery and music. The film is beautifully shot and the contrasting use of Metallica and Mozart is a lot of fun. There film is exciting, kinetic, and fresh and provides a completely unique take on the environmental doc that ignores numbers and graphs in favour of focusing on the personalities and philosophies of its unique cast of characters to illuminate and inspire. However, this is an adventure film first and foremost. The Expedition to the End of the World was undoubtedly my favourite film at Hot Docs and will remain one of the best films of the year. — Jay C.

5/5

Dave Carrol’s ‘Bending Steel’ exists in the same inspirational cinematic sandbox as Rocky and Rudy. Sure, strongman feats like horseshoe twisting and telephone book tearing might fall into the fringe category of what we traditionally define as ‘sport’, but strongmen are most definitely athletes. Their success depends upon their physical prowess, a strong mental constitution, and a natural ability to entertain a crowd.

Chris Shoeck has what it takes to be a professional strongman but he still struggles to prove himself to his peers and his parents, who are seemingly indifferent to his unusual ability. He and his mentor Chris Rider work towards bringing a traditional strongman show back to Coney Island, giving Shoeck a defined goal. Throughout the film we watch him bend various metals with ease, but it’s his struggle to bend a two inch bar — a metaphorical stand-in for his self-doubt and fears — which symbolizes his journey. Shoeck also attempts to conquer his fear of crowds by workshopping his act at open mic nights, resulting in a particularly awkward first performance. I loved watching his peers evaluate the particulars of his stage act, pointing out the various details that only a professional strongman would identify as problematic (the angle at which he stands, holding the successfully bent item up to the crowd, etc.) When the film finally reaches its Coney Island climax, you can’t help but root for Shoeck in the tradition of cinemas great underdog sports dramas.

Carrol and cinematographer Ryan Scafuro handle Shoeck’s story with a respect for cinematic craft, telling a beautifully shot, emotionally rich character piece that avoids the grandiose mythologizing that other filmmakers might give in to. ‘Bending Steel’ is a sincere and poignant look at a unique sub-culture who’s success is measured in pounds per square inch. — Jay C.

4.5/5