2012: Science or Superstition

Directed by Nimrod Erez. Written By Garry Baddeley.

Disinformation Company - 2009

One Star of Review!

For a documentary titled “Science or Superstition” there's a curious lack of science. The only two people with actual doctorates are a psychologist (who turns out to be an anti-humanist, new age crank), and an astronomer who is the only skeptic in the entire film ( Go figure. The only actual scientist is the skeptic). Every one else is an obscure author, and what little “evidence” that gets presented in favor of the 2012 phenomenon can be obliterated by a quick Google search. The only thing this documentary does is indirectly prove that scientists can be just as full of shit as anybody else.

No Impact Man: The Documentary

Directed by Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein.

Eden Wurmfeld Films - 2009

Two Stars of Review!

Let's set aside the fact that the Beavan/Conlins' (Yes, the husband and wife have separate last names) are shallow, tedious, and self obsessed. Let's also set aside the fact that Collin Beavan basically admits on more than three occasions that he's in it for the fame, or that having 24 hour, year long media attention, constant TV appearances, and a documentary film crew following you around would cause your carbon foot print to be a thousand times that of the average person no matter what you did to off set it. Let's even ignore the constant contradictions, shallow thinking, and the fact that the entire “experiment” is an anti-intellectual exercise that ignores everything from history to basic logic. What are you left with? A documentary about the shear pleasure of watching two people who are so passive aggressive that even the most simple conversations are indirect and riddled with manipulation. One star off for the film makers constantly throwing manipulative imagery in your face.

Scott Walker: 30 Century Man

Directed by Stephan Kijak.

BBC - 2006

Two and A Half Stars of Review! **1/2

I had no idea who Scott Walker was when I began watching, but I walked away with some admiration for the man despite the fact that I don't want to listen to his music. The real problem here is that the film's makers assume that you know something about a man that no one seems to know anything about. Any details about the man's life come mostly out of his own mouth, and he washes over a lot of it. A lot of questions are left hanging not the least of which being why he is considered one of the most influential musicians of all time despite almost exclusively being popular in the UK? As far as documentaries about modestly talented men creeping towards the avant-garde go this one is a little flat; especially if you find that you're not all that fond of the music.

Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie

Directed and produced by Jay Delaney. Starring Dallas Gilbert and Wayne Burton.

Common People Productions - 2008

Three and a Half Stars of Review! *** 1/2

Portsmouth, Ohio, like many rural towns, is dissected by empty stretches of road that seem to run endlessly in either direction. A place made up of browns and grays, thick clumps of dead earth, and abandoned factories that once were a life blood, but now sit empty, monuments to a certain futility that comes with progress. It feels more like a miasma than a place to call home, but here lives Dallas and Wayne; the subjects of “Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie,” and here is where they have lived their entire lives.

Dallas, the more congenial of the two, likes to sing though he battles emphysema, and his wife of 21 years collects Elvis memorabilia. Wayne also collects: 8 track players, knives, religious art, but unlike Dallas he is far more morose. He is a man with deeply ingrained feelings of inadequacy. Much of the time we spend alone with Wayne is in pity and self abuse. “Don't be like me”, he tells us on more than one occasion.

Despite their disparate personalities the two men are best friends and colleagues. They have been on a quest for many years to prove the existence of Bigfoot, and much of their free time is spent in that pursuit. What drives them is obvious from the start. For Wayne it's more tangible things like fame and fortune. At one point he informs us that he has spent the last three years hauling jugs of water to and from his relatives houses just so he and his wife can shower and wash dishes. He has been unable to afford the sixteen-hundred dollars it would cost to fix his plumbing.

For Dallas it is something more than that. He believes that he is special. Connected in a way that most can never relate to. Dallas understands the Bigfoot on a spiritual level or at least that's what he says. He makes a lot of audacious claims (his skull is partly made of animal bones or that his DNA is supposedly part sheep are just two), and some of them taxed the better parts of my nature. It's not that I believe in what Dallas says; it's that I want to believe that he believes.

Of course Dallas isn't the only one that feels the same. Most of the people that he's close to do as well. Especially those in their Bigfoot research group. What little time we have among the mostly blurred out faces is spent in praise of Dallas and his ethereal talents. Though the camera does capture a lecture given by one member who claims that the reason we never find Bigfoot tracks in the snow is that not only are they telepathic (an accepted fact), but they may also be able to fly.

Thankfully these men and women are portrayed with a certain gentle honesty. Perhaps they are not all that well educated, and they don't exactly seem to be people of means, but so what? At its core this really isn't a club for Bigfoot enthusiasts. It's a support group.

Later a little drama does crop up in the form of a foul mouthed radio host. One of those late night conspiracy theorists whose primary audience probably tunes in more for the amusement factor. He claims to be there in support of Dallas, but after the first night when he senses a meal ticket he dumps him in hopes of capturing a Bigfoot of his own.

What can be learned from all this? Not much I suppose. It's a character study, and why not? Are Dallas and Wayne not worthy of our sympathies, our affection, and our interest? They are people after all, and God did my heart bleed for them. You might be tempted to look down on Dallas, Wayne, and the people that surround them, but consider when Dallas claims that Bigfoot has the ability to look into our hearts and know our intentions. What would he find in your heart?

This film is available to watch instantly for Netflix subscribers.