Sophia and I watched a documentary this weekend. I have always said that I can watch a documentary on pretty much anything. I love to see people at work, to see how they work, to learn about lifestyles I have never contemplated (King of Kong). This movie, Helvetica, is about the popularity and widespread use of the typeface Helvetica. I found it surprisingly dull. It is not for the layperson. I think one would have to be in design (which Sophia is) to understand and appreciate it. Now a documentary on spining-out books versus facing them out on a bookstore shelf. . .
Jim and I also watched a documentary together this weekend, My Kid Could Paint That. Here's the blurb from Netflix:
Amir Bar-Lev directs this thought-provoking documentary about a precocious 4-year-old artist whose abstract works have drawn critical comparisons with modernist greats such as Kandinsky, Picasso and Pollack -- and whose talents have already profited her more than $300,000. Is her gift with a paintbrush just an illusion, or is she truly an artistic visionary trapped in the body of a child?
The movie is very interesting, and just when I thought it was going to drive to conclusion of some kind, either proving or disproving her talent (the documentarian is trying throughout the film to capture footage of little Marla creating a painting start to finish to put an end to the controversy) it ended and left me hanging. What? That's it?
Jim and I had different takes on it. I thought that something was fishy about the whole thing and that the dad who has painted in the past and has an interest in art seemed guilty. Jim reminded me that a person can't be accused just for "looking guilty." The negative comments that have been spoken about and written to their family are unfortunate. At best, the child is truly creating the art by herself. At worst, someone is using her to make money. If it is the second, they all will suffer and struggle enough.
Watch the film and see what you think.
One reader's thoughts as she steps from book to book.
Books I've Finished
- "A Christmas Memory"
- by Truman Capote 12/8/12
- "Child's Christmas in Wales"
- by Dylan Thomas 12/7/12
- "One Christmas"
- by Truman Capote 11/29/12
- "The Thanksgiving Visitor"
- by Truman Capote 11/29/12
- Inside Mrs. B's Classroom
- by Leslie Baldacci 11/28/12
- The Bee Eater
- by Richard Whitmire 11/15/12
- There Are No Shortcuts
- by Rafe Esquith 10/28/12
- I'd Like to Apologize to
- Every Teacher I Ever Had
- by Tony Danza 10/21/12
- Corked
- by Kathryn Borel 10/15/12
- Year of Learning Dangerously
- by Quinn Cummings 9/30/12
- A Hologram for the King
- by Dave Eggers 8/23/12
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- by Harper Lee 7/18/12
About Me
- Christine
- I often have a few books with bookmarks in them at once. I enjoy classics more than contemporary works of fiction, often read historical fiction, and love to get glimpses into other people's lives by reading memoirs and biographies.
8 comments:
We had a huge dose of computer graphics and watched Beowulf. In some scenes it was almost impossible to tell the difference between reality and pixels. However, the story left me feeling hollow. I didn't feel anything for any of the characters and I'm not sure whether it was poor story-telling or the fact that it was animated. I'm tending toward the former explanation since there are cartoons that bring a lump to my throat (Spirit gets me every time).
As for the controversy about nudity: Angelina Jolie's animated naked body looked like a muddy naked Barbie doll...
Uh...
Angelina's REAL naked body looks like a muddy naked Barbie doll.
I'll leave it to the group if that's a positive or a negative.
Mmmm, mud.
That doc about the child prodigy/artist (or not, depending on your view) sounds really interesting. I'll have to check it out sometime!
In the meantime, "Celine Dion is amazing" will have to suffice. lol
~Lisa
Muddy, naked Angelina positive or negative?
Well from the point of view of whether to allow my 13 year old son watch the movie: he has a younger sister, and so as been exposed to dozens of naked Barbies and some of them may even have been muddy.
So, I think I'll let him watch the movie.
I'll also thank the stars that the Barbie phase has been usurped for horses or animals in general. Muddy cats, dogs and horses are so much more wholesome!
I like how the post went from "talking about documentaries about art and typeface" to muddy Angelina.
Bless you, Don. I knew there was a reason I feel such kinship :D
P.S. Now I feel a strange urge to watch Gia again...
Gia??
Hackers, maybe.
Mmmm, geekgirl.
*glares at Don*
GIA!
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