Comments by Kerry Mack Most recent public comments by Kerry Mack https://nowcomment.com/users/12960 I noticed that Horiuchi failed to do that as well, which was disappointing. Although the importance of the film's message is certainly allowed to be a focal point of the review, I also wanted to hear about style, tone, etc. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30609?scroll_to=339874 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30609?scroll_to=339874 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:47:05 -0500 I like the fact that not only does it not simply attack the guilty party, it shows the miraculousness of two opposing parties coming together for a mutual cause. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30609?scroll_to=339873 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30609?scroll_to=339873 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:47:05 -0500 It's also interesting because cars themselves are far, far more safe than they have ever been before. Yet, we as humans continue to introduce distractions for ourselves that end up making driving in a car more dangerous than ever. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30609?scroll_to=339872 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30609?scroll_to=339872 Fri, 15 May 2015 08:20:59 -0400 I thought it was excellent that Spurlock's home and romantic relationship played a large role in the film. His downward spiraling health complicated everything in his life, even his relationship with his girlfriend. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30608?scroll_to=338830 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30608?scroll_to=338830 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:47:02 -0500 I think Ebert is pointing to the fact that U.S. has become one giant statistic in so many ways. We have lost touch with reality and control--so much so that we cannot even control what we eat, and we don't even realize it. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30608?scroll_to=338829 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30608?scroll_to=338829 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:47:02 -0500 I agree, which is why I think this documentary is still entirely relevant 11 or so years later. McDonalds has "cleaned up" its act a bit. But, anyone actually concerned with their health would never (or very, very rarely) eat at Mcdonalds. It's funny https://nowcomment.com/documents/30608?scroll_to=338828 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30608?scroll_to=338828 to see that even a decade later McDonald's reputation is pretty much the same. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:47:02 -0500 I agree. Spurlock had to go all the way to truly uncover and expose how unhealthy mcdonalds really is. Plus, there are some extremely unhealthy parts of the country where nearly everyone in a town or city is either overweight or obese. It's not probable https://nowcomment.com/documents/30608?scroll_to=338827 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30608?scroll_to=338827 that they are eating McDonalds 3 times per day, but they are probably eating fast food multiple times a day on many occasions. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:47:02 -0500 I highly disagree. I think a shocking amount of people would super size their menu option, especially if the price did not significantly increase. Fast food becomes addictive. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30608?scroll_to=338826 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30608?scroll_to=338826 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:47:02 -0500 The pluralization of "Lands" is very important. The land means a different thing to both sides. However, it is sacred and special to both. "Lands" infers there is enough room to share, or the potential to live side-by-side because there is enough to https://nowcomment.com/documents/30606?scroll_to=337085 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30606?scroll_to=337085 go around. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:58 -0500 I don't think she uses a guiding voice because wars are two sided, and there is not always a right and a wrong. The only thing that is certain is that wars are devastating and traumatizing for both side. A guiding voice may have impressed opinions on https://nowcomment.com/documents/30606?scroll_to=337080 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30606?scroll_to=337080 the viewer that Sontag did not necessarily want audiences to be exposed to. She wanted people to see the devastation and form their own opinions about the war as a whole. Not who was right and who was wrong. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:59 -0500 I don't think she wanted to use the term documentary because she didn't want to limit the film or put it in a box for people to have preconceived notions. As a critic herself, perhaps she knew people would be critiquing the film from before they ever https://nowcomment.com/documents/30606?scroll_to=337074 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30606?scroll_to=337074 even saw it. So, calling it a documentary outright might have allowed people to make assumptions or arguments about the film before they could truly digest the entire thing. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:57 -0500 The first three paragraphs establish how talented Sontag was at not only telling a story, but being able to analyze and critique other people's stories. Her work was well done in whatever type of work she was doing and she established herself as a voice https://nowcomment.com/documents/30606?scroll_to=337072 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30606?scroll_to=337072 people trusted and a voice people wanted to hear. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:57 -0500 The reviewer accepts the documentary's point of view because at the end of the documentary, and after the trail in real life, McCarthy's reputation was further tarnished. Also, whenever McCarthy acted irrationally, people could point to the trail/ https://nowcomment.com/documents/30605?scroll_to=336657 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30605?scroll_to=336657 documentary for evidence of his bizarre character. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:47:06 -0500 Americans inhabiting what we like to consider as "The Land of The Free" do not like it when they are deceived by what they hope is an honest, democratic society with the politicians to match. The reviewer compares the situation to Watergate because https://nowcomment.com/documents/30605?scroll_to=336656 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30605?scroll_to=336656 american politics are scandalous--especially when politicians are essentially caught red-handed being politicians (sneaky, deceptive, etc.). Both cases revealed what was really going on behind the scenes in American politics. Americans do like to feel like they do not have all of the information or say about their government and trust was lost. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:47:06 -0500 Law and Court Room drama is often connected to actual theater performances. Lawyers are even compared to actors. The reviewer is touching on the fact that this scenario was a perfect storm in terms of good t.v., and the best part was that it was real! https://nowcomment.com/documents/30605?scroll_to=336655 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30605?scroll_to=336655 There was already a well known political figure acting "madly" and a sticky plot including the controversial topic of communism. The reviewer is alluding that it was essentially meant to be packaged for entertainment purposes. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:47:06 -0500 Perhaps it would be considered insufficiently commercial because the audience may have only seen it as relevant for the people of plymouth. Also, it didn't necessarily have a story line or plot in the traditional sense, which may have deterred viewers. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30604?scroll_to=330954 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30604?scroll_to=330954 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:51 -0500 Like many of my classmates stated, they did not find it entertaining and they were not used to a film like that. Perhaps they also were not used to the feminist views and many of the female-centered arguments. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30604?scroll_to=330953 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30604?scroll_to=330953 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:52 -0500 The marching in Triumph of the Will felt restrictive, or forced because there was fear behind it. People clung to the Nazi party of of fear and hope for a better future. The marching at the end of The Way We Live seems genuine, optimistic and uplifting. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30604?scroll_to=330952 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30604?scroll_to=330952 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:51 -0500 Similar to what many of the other students have mentioned, Jennings is pointing out how music can be a source of light for people during times of war. But, I also think he is saying that during times of war, people must come together. In that coming https://nowcomment.com/documents/30603?scroll_to=323423 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30603?scroll_to=323423 together, normal sounds of life become a sort of metaphorical symphony because people are coming together during an extremely desperate time. They are looking to anything for light. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:42 -0500 I think this is a really great point. I'd like to add that the quieter scenes remind us that war can be quiet; it can be a waiting game a great deal of the time. But, it can also be quiet due to the immense sadness and fear also present. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30603?scroll_to=323422 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30603?scroll_to=323422 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:43 -0500 Women are a common subject among war-time topics and studies because their traditional and non-traditional roles in the social sphere often seem to either flip, or become one. Individual women are added to the film because their positions in society https://nowcomment.com/documents/30603?scroll_to=323421 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30603?scroll_to=323421 clearly mark the changes that occur during war--socially, economically, psychologically, etc. Showing women also gives a more well-rounded picture of war, considering it affects a society so deeply and on so many different levels. If women's roles are changing, that means men's roles are also changing, which means society is not in its "normal" state. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:42 -0500 The power of the media is, to put it into one reactionary word, terrifying. I think Hitler's propaganda revolutionized the power of the media. We can clearly see that today. Furthermore, the power of the media is one of the major ways, if not the major https://nowcomment.com/documents/30601?scroll_to=319943 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30601?scroll_to=319943 way Hitler was able to captivate and win-over so many people. His use of the media was brilliant in the sense that he was able to completely spin the actual occurrences into a seemingly positive, nationalistic effort. I think Hitler's propaganda was the first time we were able to think in a modern way about how powerful the media is and how it can be used to extreme good and extreme bad. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:31 -0500 It's difficult to say anyone really has a "perfect" view of anything. However, I must say I felt very conflicted watching the scenes of Hitler's speeches. They actually made me feel uneasy. His voice and his presence were so powerful, I can understand https://nowcomment.com/documents/30601?scroll_to=319942 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30601?scroll_to=319942 how people could follow such a confident, charismatic person at a time when Germans didn't have much else. There were moments where I had to snap out of his allure and realize all of the atrocities that occurred during and were related to his time in power. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:31 -0500 Vertov wants his editing to show the pace, tradition, complexity and humanity of Russia. It is as if there is so much going on, he cannot just focus on one aspect of life in Russia at that time. He values the Russia and Russians in many different ways https://nowcomment.com/documents/30600?scroll_to=315769 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30600?scroll_to=315769 and for many different reasons. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:23 -0500 The camera man is not a character because he is the one telling or responsible for the "story." For example, if a director gave commentary for a documentary, one wouldn't consider them a character. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30600?scroll_to=315768 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30600?scroll_to=315768 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:23 -0500 A scene implies something is occurring in a particular sequential order to tell a story or follow a plot. Man With a Movie Camera does not have a plot or scenes. It has "shots" because it is comprised of many short clips that do not have a necessary order https://nowcomment.com/documents/30600?scroll_to=315766 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30600?scroll_to=315766 Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:23 -0500 Films were locked into the traditions of stage play because they all followed the same rules. They all had similar plots, characters, time frames, clear locations, lessons to be taught, etc. All previous films fulfilled the same basic needs to tell https://nowcomment.com/documents/30600?scroll_to=315764 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30600?scroll_to=315764 a story. What those filmmakers didn't realize is that a story could be told without a script, a plot, lighting, and dialogue. Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:23 -0500 It is the ultimate metaphor for Nanook's life and the documentary as a whole: man vs nature. The sequence is the climax of the film, eliciting a great deal of nerves, tension and emotion from the audience. https://nowcomment.com/documents/30240?scroll_to=314067 https://nowcomment.com/documents/30240?scroll_to=314067 Nanook proves that he can perfectly complete more menial tasks like fishing and installing an ice window in his igloo. But, catching the walrus shows just how difficult it is to live in a world where nature can be your greatest aid or biggest detriment. He also begins with this one, astonishing sequence because it is the most controversial. It may not have happened. This one scene encompasses everything that is positive and negative about the film, including that it ultimately is just a reenactment. Does that take away from the reality of Nanook's life? Sat, 20 Feb 2016 08:46:16 -0500