Enron.

Most entertaining documentary i have seen in this class so far. Not only was this film informative but the way in which it was put together and directed really held your attention. This movie has helped me in other classes because Enron has been a topic of discussion so many times. In my public relations classes we talk about ethics and what goes on in the workplace. Watching this film helped me participate in expressing my views towards the whole situation and helped show me what working in a business like that would really be like. It’s a tough call with all this Enron stuff. I really don’t understand all the trails that are going on now (Kenneth Lay etc.)….i guess for me its just like, watch the documentary and look at the evidence because its all there and these guys should be in jail. Too bad life’s not that simple. I brought up this topic in class and I think you liked it….I didn’t understand when the company started getting crazy and firing many of its loyal employees, why none of these employees spoke up or went to other companies and told them the truth. We asked the question “can there truly be morality in the work place”. Truth is there should be but isn’t. People are looking out for themselves and only themselves these days. You have to play hardball to get what you want, but that doesn’t mean that you should forget what you really believe in. I think that the employees of Enron could have made a difference if they got together and tried to do something. Its very sad what happened to everyone that worked there but I cant help but believe that some of it could have been prevented.

I recommend this movie to everyone. I think it was very informative and educational. It teaches you some of the realities of the real world and really makes you think.

March of the Penguins.

.Disappointed.

Aside from the fact that this film didn’t show half of the realities in “the march”, I just didn’t find it to be as satisfying as people said it would be. This movie won an Academy Award? That’s kind of annoying considering Joaquin Phoenix of “Walk the Line” worked his ass off to really get into his role - Johnny Cash, and literally became him off screen while direction was still in process and walked away with nothing. Anyways, my best friend at UMASS said that she loved this movie and it made her cry and it was in her top favorite movies picks, so I was pretty excited to watch it in class but it was different from what I though. I guess not every movie can satisfy everyone! I think the documentary would have been more interesting if it showed some of the people filming, and what they went through with the smell, and the thousands of more dead baby penguins. I would like to see the documentary on the documentary. One more thing- even though documentaries show realities, it was so sad that the people who were filming watched baby penguins being eaten by larger birds and didn’t help =(. I give this movie 2 stars.

Spinal Tap.

2nd time seeing this-and just as enjoyable as the first. It was nice to see a movie that was funny because there havent been too many of those this semester. The approach the director took on this film was different from most that we have seen- it seems like this documentary was more narrative and obviously staged (which you told us). I think you said most of the documentaries are staged but because they are such realistic and serious issues it doesnt seem like it. I heard most of this "mockumentary" was ad-libbed which made it more funny. One of the best scenes was when they were on stage performing and the stonehenge dropped down and it was tiny. Great stuff haha. All in all Spinal Tap was a very entertaining and funny. I would recommend it to everyone that likes comedies and music.

Sister Rose's Passions

Sister Rose's passions was an an interesting documentary. Before this film i was some what unaware of the racism that existed within the religious world. I am of the Catholic religion (although i would classify myself more as a true Christian) and it was interesting to see what many catholics were originally taught to believe and praise.

Not only did this documentary differ from others because it took a different approach to its meaning, but also because the main character was a woman. It was nice to see that a woman was taken seriously enough to actually make a difference in what was going on. Sister Rose didnt give up in what she believed in and without her stand who knows if many religious thoughts would have changed.

Holy Watergate

Speechless, not really but this documentary was beyond intense. Films like this are difficult for me to watch. I cant believe how descriptive and graphic some of the contents in this documentary are. I am suprised that the creator was able to find a resigned priest that would speak about his actions. The thing that bothered me most about him was that he did not even act like he did anything wrong, he seems like he is totally content with his life and the decisions that he chose to make. How he can even look at himself in the mirror shocks me.

The documentary hit target and realistic areas that many did not know about. The film gives a lot of information on the whole case, from the first man that admitted the truth to the mysteries that continue to occur.

Watching this movie really hit home..realistically. When i was in what i believe was my first year in high school the biggest child molestation case in Mass. occured right in my town. The mans name was Christopher Reardon and yes, he was a friend of the family. This man literally knew everyone. The school i went to educated kids from the three towns Topsfield (where i am from), Middleton, and Boxford. Chris Reardon worked at the church in Middleton and also worked with some of the challenged students at the Topsfield elementary school. Reardon was a boy scout leader, and worked at the local YMCA. I knew him because once a week he would come to MY house and tutor my younger twin sisters.

29 boys accused Reardon of molesting them. There were videos found and outraged started. Everyone in the tri-town felt betrayed and was angry. The fact that Reardon only molested boys made me so upset while at the same time (even though this sounds bitchy) relieved that nothing happened or would have happened to my sisters. He is in jail now thank god.

Anyways, i had to mention that because throughout the entire film all i was thinking about were the boys at my school that came foward and took action. Although their names were not released people knew (or made assumptions) about who the boys were and it killed me to see their social lives get destroyed. Some of the boys had problems and others went from being popular with lots of friends to walking alone, maybe talking to one other person. The whole story is so sad and i can go on forever. The film brought tears to my eyes because it was honest and real.

What is happening to this world.

Triumph of the Will

This movie is interesting, and scary if you really think about it. The fact that the creator humanized Hitler and made him seem like a god was different from what I would have expected. It was strange to see that everyone in Germany obsessed over Hitler and not one person disagreed with his morality or values. When the statement was brought up in class "what do you think would happen if we had no information regarding that past and then randomly found this video" wow, would things be different. I bet people would still follow Hitlers beliefs and there would most definatly be more discrimination towards others.

It would be really interesting to see a documentary, a film or really anything that shows a citizen of Germany that did not believe or follow Hitler and his values. Im not too sure if some one like that even existed, but i would like to see how that person behaved during the time of Hitlers succes.

All in all the movie was entertaining but left you disturbed with a lot to think about.