Sore & Miserable? True or False?

I never thought that one could be so sore from watching films, but I certainly am. Again, I don't have time for a detailed blog, but I will give a quick rundown of yesterday's five films.

Off the Grid: Life in the Mesa has been the highlight so far for me. Breathtaking vistas and old west justice are in this film about old hippies, crack-head teenage mothers, Persian Gulf vets, and a couple of former nurses. The was an excellent film about people trying to be free in a supposedly free country.

The second film at Ragtag was Kamp Katrina. A trio of documentarians (sp?) return to the sight of their previous film Mardi Gras Was Made in China (or something like that) to tell the story of Ms. Pearl and her husband as they put up Katrina survivors in their backyard, AKA Kamp Katrina. At this point, we were two-for-two.

Welcome Europa and Manufactured Landscapes followed at the Ragtag. WE followed the lives of Arab and Kurdish men as they tried to make money doing whatever they could as undocumented immigrants in western Europe. It went long, but I don't know what I would've cut. ML was breathtaking as it showed these photos (and filmed version) of man-made landscapes all over China. The environmental impact is so evident in this film. The moon movie didn't make me feel as insignificant as this documentary. That's four-for-four, if you're keeping count.

After some soup and noodles, we headed back to the MO Theater for Manda Bala. This was the film that could "not be shown in Brazil". It was this highly stylized doc about the corruption that has led to Brazil becoming one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Kidnappings, embezzlement of over 2 billion, and ear reconstruction surgery fit together to paint a picture that is not very pro-Brazil. I wished I wasn't fighting sleep at this point, but we had to go before the Q&A session.

Well, there's one more day. I have three more films to check out today (with a break for school work in between the first two and the last). I'll try to summarize the entire weekend today or tomorrow.

Below, Black Power punk rock from Pensacola, Florida in the MO Theater...