Netflix Instant: Cool TV and Movie Picks

Jonesy here. Even though it wasn't intentional, my suggestions ended up all being documentaries. I have a truly unique pick, a warm and fuzzy pick, and one that's quite personal to me.

THE ARBOR 

Yes, THE ARBOR is a documentary, but it's also an experiment. Filmmaker Cilo Barnard takes a look at the dark and sad past of British playwright, Andrea Dunbar. However, instead of just using footage of interviews with the family, Barnard has actors lip-sync to an audio "screenplay" of the interviews. A brilliant idea that makes me less scared to watch experimental films.

BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER'S JOURNEY

This was one of the gems that we were able to catch at last year's Dallas International Film Festival. BEING ELMO shows us the man behind the puppet, and his journey to creating one of the most iconic characters for kids. A sweet film that the entire family can enjoy. A great first documentary to introduce to your kids!

THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND

This is a documentary that is nostalgic for me. It sounds odd because it's about a group of young adults who became violent revolutionaries on US soil during the Vietnam War. After I saw this in college, I was inspired to research the world of protesters further, and thus occupied a year of my life while I wrote my senior thesis. In the post-9/11 world, terrorism is thrown around all the time. However, it slips our mind that American citizens can become a threat. Now, there's more to their story, and this documentary shows how a simple pacifist idea develops into a violent one. 

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Javi's Top Ten Movies of 2011

Javi here. So here are the big movies that I really liked this last year. Much like last year, I have some specific movies that really spoke to me or affected me in a way that a movie should. This year was a little tougher because while there were some expectational movies out there, there were also a lot of movies that were just borderline awesome, but with little things here and there bothered me. The way that I like to do my top tens is I will list all nine movies that were my favorites, but since they're all so vastly different, I cannot rank them. I only have my absolute favorite movie distinguished from the rest.

Are you curious now? Hit the jump to find out all of my favorites in no particular order!

DIFF Review BEING ELMO - He Said

BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER'S JOURNEY

Directed by: Constance Marks

Written by: Phillip Shane, Justin Weinstein

Starring: Kevin Clash, Bill Baretta, Fran Bill and Frank Oz

Do you remember when you were a little kid when you had heroes, whether it was a sports star, an astronaut, a parent, or even a cool rock star.  Most of us don’t get to meet our heroes, or become old enough to realize that they might be a little bit flawed.  Well what if you got to not only meet your hero, but you got to have him be your mentor and work alongside him? Well in a nutshell that is what BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY is about.  The narrative documentary takes a look at Kevin Clash’s life, which apart from having such a cool last name, has been a triumphantly inspirational story about following your dreams, the world and naysayers de damned. 

For those not in the know, Kevin Clash is better know as the puppeteer of the world famous Elmo, the adorable, red, fuzzy character from Sesame Street.  The documentary follows his life story starting off as a young kid that was just utterly mesmerized by the magical world of cartoons, Disneyland and puppets, to his role as an integral part in the modern day Sesame Street program and everything in between. 

To say that this movie moved me in so many ways is an understatement.  The message of Mr. Clash’s story is the type of thing that will make you feel like a little kid again, where the world is full of awesome possibilities and dreams come true.  You get a sense that there was never a time when Mr. Clash doesn’t feel grateful to be where is right now, whether it was his first gig at a local television station, to realizing what Elmo means to a lot of kids around the world.  Hearing Mr. Clash talk about Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and other great puppeteers, you can tell that his enthusiasm for the craft is undying and wants to keep it alive.  His dedication does come with a price as we can see in the film, but the man just takes things in stride. 

The cynic in me wants to say that this is an overly optimistic portrayal of Mr. Clash.  But with all of the ambiguity in the world and more poignantly movies, it is nice to see that there can be simple stories, where a good attitude and perseverance can get you to your dreams. There was a Q&A afterwards, and I will go ahead and repeat what the producers said, "The film does not yet have a distributor." Most of you reading this probably won’t see it, since it is only screening today at the Dallas International Film Festival, but you should so go to twitter and follow them, and head to Facebook and like their page.  The more followers, the better chance they get to landing a distributor. When this gets released, take your kids, take yourself. You'll feel as happy as can be.  

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