Category Archives: Documentary

Mister Rogers and Grace in The Neighborhood

Just after he eloquently summed up God’s perfect law with the words, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) This expert on the Jewish law challenged Jesus by asking, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) Jesus responded, as he often did, by telling a story.

The story he told was surprising to everyone who heard it. It was the tale of a man who had fallen on some particularly hard times and had been beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road. Who would be a neighbor to this poor helpless man? Perhaps a teacher of the law? No, he was far too busy and continued on his way. Maybe a Priest? No, he was worried that the man might make him unclean. But then along came a Samaritan.

Now, the Jews considered Samaritans to be half-breeds, products of the immoral intermarrying and religious blending that took place hundreds of years before during the Babylonian exile. For a Samaritan to even be mentioned in the same story as these well-respected religious professionals was shocking, but that he would be the hero was almost intolerable.

But that was Jesus’ point as he described the compassion which the Samaritan traveler had on the victim of this crime. He went out of his way to help him and bandage his wounds, he sat him on his animal and walked alongside until they came to a hospital, and even beyond that he took care of his bills and made a plan to return to ensure that he was well treated. At this point, the lawyer must have been seething at Jesus’ words, but he was trapped as Jesus asked, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

As the camera pans over the familiar model town, the yellow caution light flashes, and the piano notes sound, an inviting face opens the door to ask us, “Please, won’t you be my neighbor?” By performing this liturgy at the beginning of each of his 912 episodes, Mister Rogers was submitting to Jesus’ command to go and do likewise as he sought to be a neighbor to anyone who was hurting and confused. However, the invitation was also a confession that he needed a neighbor as well.

Fred Rogers did not see himself as a saint or a hero. He simply stood on his doorstep and offered the same unconditional love and grace to others that he knew he needed every day to survive. Mister Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister and he knew better than most that each breath that we take is evidence of God’s amazing grace.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor was easily the best documentary film of 2018 because Morgan Neville captured the essence of Fred Rogers’ mission to speak directly to the children of an entire generation and to help them cope with the fact that the world is a dark and scary place. He didn’t try to fool kids or entertain them. He leaned in to teach them, in a way that we are sorely lacking today, that things like death, divorce, and disaster happen and we can’t control them. But we can manage our feelings in healthy ways and talk about them.

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I think we are experiencing this Rogers renaissance because we are lacking a voice that will speak to our children, and us as adults, to provide guidance through difficult and confusing times. And Fred Rogers would not want us to idolize him in this manner. Rather, he would challenge us to take up Jesus’ command to be neighbors to one another. After all, it’s hard to hate someone you just begged in song to be your neighbor.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The new film, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, directed by Marielle Heller, features Tom Hanks playing the iconic role of Mister Rogers. However, this is not another documentary. Instead, it places Hanks across from Matthew Rhys in the role of investigative reporter Lloyd Vogel. This character is a mixture of fiction and fact as the whole film is based on an Esquire article by journalist Tom Junod entitled, “Can You Say… Hero?” (beware of some adult language). However, it takes a good bit of liberty with the establishing storyline, creating a strained relationship between a father (Chris Cooper) and son, to build the stakes.

In the end, the film is really about this fictional Vogel family and Fred Rogers is a high profile side character who steps in and provides an open ear and an open heart. It is a very good story overall and I was moved several times through Hanks’ performance, but my major difficulty with A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is that it removes any mention of Jesus or really any religious teaching. This is somewhat understandable because it is told much like one of Mister Rogers’ episodes and he avoided spiritual talk on the air.

Unfortunately, if you remove Mister Rogers’ foundation of faith, it turns his desire to care for people and heal relationships into secular humanism at its best and it gives no foundation for the beautiful mission of his life. A lack of a foundation leads people to all kinds of wild and fanciful speculations about what skeletons he hid in his closet. Whether it be the oft mentioned Navy SEAL service or sleeves of tattoos hidden under those zippered cardigan sweaters.

What Would Mister Rogers Say Today?

In the midst of a presidential inquisition and constant bickering on Capitol Hill, I wonder what sage advice Fred Rogers would have. Providentially, Tom Junod shared an email that came from his lifelong correspondence in a recent article for the Atlantic explaining his involvement with the film and his relationship with Rogers. The subject of the email was what Rogers would say to the then-current impeachment hearings of Bill Clinton.

Last week I woke up thinking how I would like to go on the air and say something like “Whoever is without sin cast the first stone” or “The Lord’s property is always to have mercy” or some other outlandish thing, and then ask for a minute of silence to think about forgiveness for those who want it. In fact if our country could dwell on forgiveness for a while I think that would be the one real positive outcome of the pain which must be pervasive in the White House and beyond. I’ve already written letters to both the Clintons and the Gores saying that often “enormous growth comes out of enormous pain.” I trust that will be so for all of us. The attitude which makes me (sometimes physically) sick is the “holier than thou” one.

As always, Mister Rogers’ words are timeless because they don’t speak to the issues but to the underlying emotions and situation deep within the human heart. His answers are profound because they sound hauntingly like the words of Jesus who would remind us that to seek God’s kingdom means to love God first and to love our neighbor (even the one we don’t really like) from the overflow and to work for their good.

2018 Best Movie Bracket

From my best count, there were about 266 major films released in 2018. That includes all the tentpole blockbusters and the independent festival darlings. It also includes the most prominent foreign films which received a US release and major original releases from streaming platforms. Of those 266, I have seen 111. I’ve still got about 50 for 2018 on my watchlist, but I will probably never see the vast majority of those unless I get a government grant that allows me to stop working and do nothing but watch movies all day every day.

I track and rate all of the movies I watch at Letterboxd.com. Since I usually do this list as a top 3, it is convenient that I have exactly 3 movies from 2018 that I would classify as five-star films. That number may increase because I have a rule that no film can be rated as 5 stars based upon a single viewing. The highest I can go on one viewing is 4 1/2 stars.

Honorable Mentions

It was a very good year for film. I could just list off 20 films that were easily in the running for my top film of the year, but in addition to my top three, I want to highlight a few special films that were unique or extraordinary in some way.

A Quiet Place surprised me because I didn’t expect such an immersive story from Jim from the Office. Upgrade was the best Science-Fiction action film with its locked camera Logan Marshall-Green’s face/body acting split. Mission-Impossible: Fallout was easily the most entertaining film I saw all year, I could watch it a dozen times and still be ready for another go around. 

Leave No Trace is Debra Granik’s long-awaited follow-up to Winter’s Bone (2019) and it was heartbreaking and uplifting and hopeful and brutally honest. BlackkKlansman is Spike Lee’s best since Malcolm X. It caught you laughing about systemic racism and how dumb those Klan members could be then flipped the script and left me with my mouth hanging open and tears in my eyes. Shoplifters left me wanting to be kidnapped and loved so purely whether it is technically a family or not. Finally, I’m so sad to leave First Reformed out of my top three, Paul Schrader had my rapt attention with an arresting meditation on faith’s place in the modern world.

Top Three

3. Blindspotting

The year was filled with amazing films focused on the theme of race relations. We’ve already mentioned BlackkKlansman, but there was also If Beale Street Could Talk, The Hate U Give, and Sorry to Bother You. However, the best, in my opinion, was the one that was criminally overlooked, Blindspotting.

The story is pretty simple. Collin, played masterfully by Daveed Diggs (whom you might know as Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton), must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. Despite his childhood best friend Miles (a solid introduction from newcomer and co-writer Raphael Casal) not being the best influence, Collin is loyal. That countdown clock comes under pressure when Collin witnesses a police shooting and the two men’s friendship is tested as they wrestle with their identity in their rapidly-gentrifying Oakland neighborhood.

I don’t understand why Lionsgate released this unbelievably prescient masterpiece in mid-July rather than holding it a little later for Awards season. It was electrifying while also remaining accessible. However, Blindspotting was released in the same summer as Childish Gambino’s firebrand This is America and it is a perfect companion piece. 

2. Won’t You Be My Neighbor

I wouldn’t usually even think of putting a documentary on my best films of the year, but I was so incredibly floored by Morgan Neville’s documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor. I grew up watching Mister Rogers every afternoon as a little kid and I even remember watching often into my teenage years. At some point, I probably kind of outgrew it and thought that he was uncool. But now looking back as an adult I see that Fred Rogers was the coolest guy in the neighborhood.

If there were one film in 2018 that I would force every person to watch it would be this. The faith, hope, and love that Fred Rogers exhibited in every show is a salve that I believe our culture needs now more than ever. Fred Rogers wasn’t seeking to entertain kids with his show and he wasn’t trying to rush them through growing up like so many try to. Instead, the yellow caution light flashes outside the building even before the familiar song begins as if to signal that it is time to slow down and learn what it means to be a human and how to live as a human with other humans. 

It didn’t fall into the trap of fawning over Mister Rogers. That’s good, because he would push back on being idolized in any way. Instead, he would call us to action, encouraging us to be better neighbors to all in hopes that this love and kindness might spread. Morgan Neville struck gold with this film and I only hope that it stays on constant rotation and that Fred Rogers is allowed to touch the hearts and minds of another generation and that my generation might be reminded of his gentle example.

1. Spider-Man Into The Spider-verse

I was not on the early bandwagon for Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse. I felt like it was too soon to do anything with Spider-Man much less introduce eight new ones. It wasn’t until I saw the sneak preview after Venom that I was even interested. I thought the animation looked great and I was intrigued by the concept and thought that it would be a good movie to take my kids to. However, about 15 minutes into the film, I knew I was watching something special. 

Let’s count the Spider-Men. First, we have Chris Pine’s stellar Peter Parker prime. He’s better than our Peter Parker and Spider-Man in every way except for the turn of events of this film. Second, we have Miles Morales, also from the home dimension of this film. Miles is played by Shameik Moore with bright-eyed energy. Then things get crazy with a whole slew of Spider-people.

Third, the road-weary veteran Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), complete with sweatpants, who is a sadder more tired version of the uber Spider-man. Fourth, Spider-Gwen, which I can easily see getting her own stand alone. Hailee Steinfeld brought some youthful confidence to the powerful girl’s role that will be seen over and over at Comic-con. Fifth, Spider-Man Noir, voiced in an amazing casting choice by Nicholas Cage. It’s seriously the best thing he’s done in years except destroying that pool table while singing the hokey pokey in Mom and Dad.

Sixth, Peni Parker, who shares a psychic connection to a radioactive spider that lives in her deceased father’s robot. I’m not making this up and she’s not even the weirdest. That award easily goes to seventh, Peter Porker (a.k.a Spider-Ham) a Looney Tunes type animated pig who actually started out as a spider but was bitten by a radioactive pig. In case you think I’m making this up, this is a comic you can actually read. Finally, eighth, featured just briefly in the post-credit scene is Oscar Isaac playing Miguel O’Hara as Spider-Man 2099. 

Somehow, all of this works and is magically told with no confusion and incredible balance and confidence. I haven’t even mentioned the supporting cast in Lily Tomlin, Katherine O’Hara, Mahershala Ali, and Liev Schriber among others. It is a truly star-studded cast and with all the right stuff.

So what do you think? Agree or disagree? Did I miss one of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below or on social media.

Where to Invade Next (2015)

What’s a conservative Christian like me doing watching a documentary from progressive activist and documentarian Michael Moore? I have actually watched all of his documentaries, most of which focus on a mean-spirited critique of America’s economic and social structure. Most of them make some good points about how Americans have allowed corporate greed and political bureaucracy to get us away from being the nation that our founding fathers established.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu5B3M2Ogjo&w=560&h=315]

His most recent film is all about this theme, however he changes up his theme in a big way. It is not a critique, but a graceful and witty film that offers possible solutions to the problems that Moore believes plague the United States. He identifies these solutions by “invading” countries in Europe and North Africa with the hopes to take some of their best ideas back to the US.

Moore admits that he looks only at each country’s positive achievements and ignores its problems. He uses each country to illustrate one way government can help citizens navigate through the various stages of their lives – education, employment, parenthood, and retirement. Moore celebrates the ways these countries have found to temper Capitalism with strict regulations and a solid set of social-welfare programs.

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In Italy, he chats with a couple about a law that compels employers to provide up to 22 weeks of paid maternity leave. As Moore reminds viewers, America is the only country in the world besides Papua New Guinea that doesn’t provide its citizens with paid maternity leave. In France, he hangs out at a public school that treats the lunch hour as part of the curriculum. The school chef cooks fresh meals daily using local ingredients. It’s far cheaper per head, Moore argues, than the gross frozen food that American schools buy in bulk.

He visits a factory in Germany where he learns that, by law, rank-and-file employees must make up 50 percent of each company’s governing board. Another law forbids bosses from contacting employees who are on vacation. These examples show that Europeans – at least those Moore profiles – value quality of life far more than wealth.

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Where to Invade Next is Moore’s most radical film because it shows there are countries that refuse to shape policy according to the logic of profit and wealth alone, but also factor in the notion of the public good. The higher taxes their citizens pay goes to establish free health care, cheap day care, well-funded public schools. If those needs are met, Moore argues, people are less likely to be obsessed with wealth and more concerned about forming social bonds. It would take a massive revolution to make these things happen in America, but our nation was formed through a massive revolution, perhaps it is time for another one that brings us back to where we should be.

The Big Short (2015)

When I think of the collapse of the housing market and the beginning of the Great Recession, I don’t immediately think of a comedy. Millions of hard working Americans losing their homes and pensions and having to bear the burden of a government sponsored bailout makes me think of a hard-hitting and moving drama. Well, The Big Short is both of those. It is more than a comedy, but it is also tremendously entertaining even while it made me really mad and sad.

Adam McKay took the directorial chair in this adaptation of Michael Lewis’ book. McKay has previously been known for a number of Will Ferrell comedies like Anchorman, The Other Guys and Step Brothers which kind of explains the tone of the film. Lewis has been responsible for writing a number of books that have made it to the big screen despite their traditionally dry subject matter, think Moneyball (another Brad Pitt Project) and to a lesser extent The Blind Side.  
The Big Short 2The Big Short
 is set in the years leading up to the financial meltdown of 2008 and tells the story of a handful of investors who saw it coming. Bitter humor (primarily delivered by an excellent narrator in Ryan Gosling) guides us through an educational journey that ultimately ends in tragedy (for everyone but our protagonists). The housing market is usually a rock-solid investment. But these guys read the signs and started suspecting that it was a skyscraper built on sand and it was getting ready to collapse. The “experts” of the day told them that it was impossible, That it couldn’t happen.

What was their argument? Because it never has. But they had no clue how blinded they had become by their own greed and self-interest. They continued giving loans to people, no matter if they’re qualified. And not just any loans but sub-prime adjustable rate mortgage loans. In some ways, it’s a horror story: We were all affected by the illegal and fraudulent activity that led to this downfall, and most of the culprits received no punishment (in fact many used the bailout money to give themselves substantial bonuses).

The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him. – Leo Tolstoy, 1897

Despite its ominous and (let’s be honest) boring subject matter. The film is so entertaining, I had to go back and see it a second time. It sports a star-studded cast (Brad Pitt, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Christian Bale) effortlessly operating at the top of their game. McKay uses a multitude of techniques to tell the story. There are plenty of fourth-wall breaking moments and monologues, my favorite being Anthony Bourdain using a cooking metaphor to explain the disgusting product that is a Collateralized Debt Obligation. The Big Short 1There are jump cuts, slow motion, foreshadowing and flash backs. The filmmakers use any and all tricks to explain a complicated mess of financial underhandedness in order to help the audience understand, because as our narrator tells us, “Mortgage backed securities, subprime loans, tranches… Pretty confusing right? Does it make you feel bored? Or stupid? Well, it’s supposed to. Wall Street loves to use confusing terms to make you think only they can do what they do. Or even better, for you to leave them the f*** alone.” The banks, mortgage brokers, the credit ratings agencies and the government manipulated people in the nation and world into investing in worthless packages of bonds, and it behooves the director and writer, Adam McKay, to use all cinematic tricks to explain and untangle the financial corruption. The miracle is that the film deciphers the economic melt-down well while entertaining its audience.

The Big Short 3It would probably be a good time to compare this film to two other recent films which addressed similar issues but in very different ways. First you have the over the top Martin Scorsese film, Wolf of Wall Street. That film became known for the number of F-bombs it dropped while attempting to make the world of investing look cool. Then there was the Oscar winning documentary by Charles Ferguson, Inside Job. It had a cool narrator in Matt Damon, but you almost needed a degree in Finance to follow along as they explained the crisis and spoke to experts. I feel like Adam McKay sought to walk a like between these too films, it is not over the top in an attempt to be cool, nor is it preachy and heavy handed. It reminds me of a heist movie in the vein of Ocean’s Eleven, the casino gets taken for all it’s worth, but in the end the house still wins.

The Big Short 4I’ll let you watch the movie for yourself to get to know the awesome characters that McKay develops for us. As a middle-class worker, I could not have less in common with these guys, but dang it if I didn’t feel myself rooting for and empathizing with them. We’ve got a socially backward fund manager who blasts death metal in his office. The two young guys who started on their own fund while they were still in college. Knowing that they are out of their league, they call in the investing giant turned reclusive doomsday-prepper. Then there’s the hedge-fund manager (and his team) with a bad attitude toward banks.

I already mentioned that our tour guide is played by Ryan Gosling, he is a subprime specialist at Deutsche Bank who is certain things will crash. He’s slicker than a used car salesman, but convincing and hilarious. It’s difficult to root for them when that means rooting against the economy and your own wallet. But McKay uses their formidable talents and personalities in such a way that makes it nearly impossible not to.

 

Day 22 – 30 Day Movie Challenge

Your Favorite Documentary

It’s the mark of a great documentary that it can make you care about something you had no interest in otherwise. That is the reason I loved this documentary, because the fight between Billy Mitchell the jerk and underdog Steve Wiebe is something utterly captivating, and a story that’s continued even though the movie came out in 2007. That’s right, the two are still competing, and the saga continues. Sure, it might not seem like a big deal to us, but to these guys, it’s everything.

The King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters begins by tracing the history of competitive video gaming, which the film argues began in 1982 when Mitchell racked up the world record score on Donkey Kong (over 800,000 points). Mitchell’s record stood, undisturbed, until 2005. That’s when Steve Wiebe, who had recently been laid off, decided to accept the challenge to compete with Mitchell’s high score. The most amazing part of the film is the fact that Wiebe’s wife and kids let him engage in what is a very trivial competition.

You couldn’t find two more diametrically opposed rivals if he tried. Mitchell, currently a restauranteur who still wears his hair and dresses like it’s the 1980s, is a major jerk of a human being. The fact that he has such a huge ego about being the biggest fish in the puddle of competitive classic videogaming is laughable. But he is one of the best villains I have seen on the screen in a long time. Wiebe, on the other hand, is a guy you can’t help but pull for. We cheer when he bests Mitchell’s score by over 200,000. Then we feel his setbacks when the score is invalidated.

It is a real improbable success. It’s a documentary, about Donkey Kong of all things, that is as compelling and involving as any summer blockbuster. I can’t recommend it highly enough. A documentary that moves you is rare enough, but one that makes you stand up and cheer is truly unique. It is one of the best documentaries movies I’ve ever seen. Don’t take my word for it, check it out.

There were several others in the running especially Man On Wire and The Thin Blue Line, but as far as entertainment value, I couldn’t ask for a better film. What about you? Do you have a favorite documentary? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or on Twitter or Facebook.

Day 11 – 30 Day Movie Challenge

A Movie That Changed Your Opinion About Something

I have two films that have changed my ideas about the food industry. It has made me question everything I put in my mouth. These are the Morgan Spurlock McDonald’s experiment, Super Size Me, and Food, Inc. that asks how much we really know about the food we buy in the supermarket. After watching both of these movies, I wanted to move to a big 40 acre farm in Montana where my family and I could grow crops and raise cattle and we could seclude ourselves. Of course, then I got hungry and couldn’t afford to be a vegan, so I settled for a double cheeseburger.

Super Size Me​ had great concept that I wish I was clever enough to think of: Eat nothing but McDonald’s food for 30 days straight… breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He will follow three basic rules: (1) If McDonald’s doesn’t serve it, he can’t eat or drink it. (2) He must Super-Size his meal if asked. (3) He has to eat every item on the menu at least once during his 30 days. He claims to have gotten the idea when he saw a news item about two teenaged girls whose parents were suing McDonald’s for making them obese.
This is an eye-opening and shocking look at the effects of fast food on the body, and it’s more important that ever with 60% of the United States being obese. We are literally eating ourselves to death.
Before he starts his experiment, he visits three doctors and has each of them conduct tests to get a baseline measurement of his health. He actually starts out healthier than average. He weighs about 185 lbs and stands at 6′ 2″. His cholesterol is well under 200 and his body fat is below 10%. The biggest surprise to me was the doctor’s nonchalance about his upcoming experiment. They predict minor effects: triglyceride levels will increase along with cholesterol. This suggests that even in the medical community, people didn’t know that too much easy cheap food is bad for you. Oh, and he won’t be exercising any of that fast food off, during the 30 days he will remain sedentary like most Americans.

During his first lunch, he sat in his vehicle with a Super-Sized Double Quarter Pounder meal. He is shown at 5 minute intervals attempting to complete his meal, which includes a 44 ounce Coke. He’s having a hard time, and at minute 22, loses it and vomits through the window and onto the parking lot. Gladly not every day was like this. By three days in, his mood is much better after his body adjusted to the high fat / high sugar food. Over the 30 days, he stops in for check-ups along the way. Nutritionists are surprised when he puts on about 10 lbs in one week. There are times in the 30 days that he feels palpitations, has trouble breathing, and feels constriction in his chest.
A little over halfway through the month, the doctors finally catch on to the danger and indicate that the side effects are going far beyond what they predicted. His triglycerides and cholesterol are up, but his liver also looks like he has been a heavy drinker all his life. By the end of the 30 days, he’s put on almost 25 lbs, and his body fat has increased from 10% to 18%. In the closing credits, we’re told that it took him 8 weeks to get his liver back to normal and over one year to get down to his previous weight.
Shortly after Super Size Me was released, McDonald’s announced it was going to discontinue its Super Size menu. They of course denied it had anything to do with the film. I would suggest you to buy this one so you can pop it in whenever you get that fast food craving and remind yourself that it is terrible, or you can watch the whole film online or from Hulu.

I consider myself pretty well educated when it comes to nutrition. I mean, I actually read and understand most of the stuff that is put on the nutrition labels. But I was shocked when I watched Food, Inc. and found out that some of those items that I thought were healthy could have been doctored to the point that they harbor franken-bacteria. And if I was this taken aback, I can imagine how many people who don’t take the time to educate themselves would really be stunned if they realized where their food comes from and what the food they are consuming could be doing to their bodies. Most Americans biggest concern about their food is that it is fast, cheap, and tasty. Food, Inc. examines the costs of valuing cost and convenience over nutrition and environmental impact.

Director Robert Kenner explores the profitization of food from all angles. He talks to authors like Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), who happened to co-produce the film, and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma). And he follows the story of farmers like Gary Hirschberg (Stonyfield Farms) and food standards advocates like Barbara Kowalcyk, who has been lobbying for more rigorous procedures since her two-year-old son died from E.Coli found in meat that was recalled 16 days after he had already passed. He takes his camera, much like Upton Sinclair, into slaughterhouses and factory farms where chickens grow too fast to walk properly, cows eat feed pumped with toxic chemicals, and illegal immigrants risk life and limb to bring these products to market at an affordable cost. Kenner presents this expose in such an engaging way that Food, Inc. it is relateable and accessible to the over-scheduled American who doesn’t have the time or income to read every book or to make sure that they aren’t eating eat non-genetically modified produce every day.

Food, Inc. isn’t quite as entertaining as Super Size Me, but I believe it made a bigger impact on me and although I am not as paranoid as the film probably wants me to be, I still think of these films every time I bring the fork to my lips. So how about you? Are there any movies that have changed your mind about something? Perhaps you hated blue people until Avatar showed you that they have a softer side? Let me kno in the comments below or on Twitter or Facebook.