Buck (2011)

I’m personally not a big fan of horses. I have to go to the riding school once a week as the kids wanted lessons and they enjoy it. This means I regularly have to get close to them and saddle them, but it really isn’t for me. One thing you do notice is that they all have their personalities. For example, there is this one horse that always seems to be grumpy and you always have to keep your eye on him or he might shove you. Despite not liking horses much I was very interested in seeing this documentary about Buck Brannaman. Basically he is the horse whisperer (he was the consultant for that movie)

Which Way Home (2009)

The United States and the American Dream have a strong pull on lots of people. The stories of a nobody becoming a somebody is fascinating and it’s one of the reasons why so many people are trying to get into the country illegally, hoping to start a new life. Thousands of South American immigrants try escape their current existence by travelling to the U.S. on top of freight trains of which about 5 percent are children travelling alone. It’s a very dangerous journey with smugglers who will leave people behind, trains that can throw you off, rivers with strong currents or vast deserts. The movie Sin Nombre already showed a fictional story about the subject, but this documentary shows the journey for real, through the eyes of some kids ranging from ages 9 to 17.

Superheroes (2011)

Years ago there were hardly any superhero movies (except for Superman). If they were made almost no one went out to see them, but now it is a very succesful genre with a couple of big movies coming out each year. The genre is so big that the limits are also explored resulting in movies like Super, Kick-Ass and Defendor where characters are shown who think they are real superheroes in a real world. Those were still movies though with characters someone made up. Superheroes is a documentary which looks at “real real-life superheroes”.

God Grew Tired of Us (2006)

During the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005) a lot of Sudanese boys lost their family and their homes. They had to leave everything behind and make long journeys on foot to find safety. Many did not make it, but those who did lived in refugee camps for many years. This group of over 20.000 boys is known as The Lost Boys. In 2001 the United States allowed 3800 of them to resettle. God Grew Tired of Us follows three of them, John Bul Dau, Daniel Pach and Panther Bior as they try to adapt to this whole different world.

Copyright Criminals (2009)

This documentary gives an overview on the subject of sampling in music. In case you don’t know what a sample is, dictionary.com describes it as:

a sound of short duration, as a musical tone or a drumbeat, digitally stored in a synthesizer for playback.

To put it simply: You take a piece of music from another artist, for example drums and use these drums in your own music to build a song with. When hip hop started in the seventies the DJ’s in the parks would use the break in a record (for example a drum solo) and loop it by playing that same bit using two turntables. During the eighties technology started to become available which would allow you to digitally store a piece of music which meant that a music producer would have another tool in his bag of tricks to create music and be more creative. For hip hop it meant the start of its golden years with albums like 3 Feet High & Rising by De La Soul or The Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique, who were filled with samples. Some of the artists that were sampled weren’t really happy with their music being used. De La Soul was brought to court and lost a lot of money because they used music from The Turtles without their permission. It meant the rise of a whole industry out to make money on samples.

Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme (2000)

If someone would hand you a piece of paper and would tell you that you’d have a minute to write down a poem, would you be able to write one that makes sense? What if you didn’t have the piece of paper and had to think of something on the spot. It would need to rhyme, have a rhythm and a flow, would you be able to do that? This is the world of the freestyle, in which rappers show how quickly they can think, say it and at the same time tell a story. It’s something which takes a lot of practice and when you are thinking of the next thing to say your mind is in a different place compared to what your mouth is doing (saying something you already thought up). This documentary focusses on the freestyle and does this the best way possible: By interviewing a lot of artists and show lots of freestyles.

Style Wars (1984)

Movies and documentaries are sometimes excellent time capsules where you are transported to the time it is set. You travel back and see what the streets looked like at the time and what was in fashion. Style Wars is one of these time capsules that shows two subjects: The start of B-Boys and the battle of the city of New York against graffiti and the reaction of the artists.

Infamy (2005)

When you hear the names Claw, Earsnot, Jase, NM, Saber and Toomer you probably won’t have a clue who they are. They could be cartoon or videogame characters. I hadn’t heard these names either, but they are all graffiti artists that talk about their art in this documentary about the culture.

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (2009)

When you read the title of this movie the first thing you probably expect it to be is a monster movie comparable to Godzilla. In actuality it’s a documentary about insects in Japan. Although in most of the world insects are seen as a nuisance that must be eliminated as soon as possible, in Japan people actually love to keep crickets and beetles as pets.

Just for Kicks (2003)

Over the years sneakers have become a normal part of the urban streetscape. Although they were initially meant to be used when playing sport they have become fashion items with which you try to say something about yourself. There is an almost infinite choice of models and color combinations and this has resulted in a group of fanatic collectors who have closets filled with sneakers. Just for kicks is a documentary that takes a closer look at the rise of the sneaker and the subculture of the sneakerheads.