Blamblog - Brett Lamb's Blog

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Hot Docs 2006: Recommended!

Beyond Beats - Sat Apr 29, Sat May 6
Shadow Company - Mon May 1, Fri May 5

There's a very strong selection of films at theis year's Hot Docs and here are two worth checking out, Beyond Beats: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in Hip-Hop Culture and Shadow Company. Both docs offer a complete examination of their subjects and you'll leave the theatre feeling like you've had the full course.

Beyond Beats
Not only does Byron Hurt's doc critically consider every -- EVERY -- aspect of hip-hop culture, it's full of revealing moments when the people on camera unwittingly expose themselves or help Hurt make his case. In one scene, when asked why he doesn't rap about positive things, a young rapper immediately unleashes some uplifting, positive poetry and then gives the camera a withering look and asks 'who the hell is going to buy that'. Hurt manages to take all the loose threads and make the connections between the negative stereotypes and the money and power.

Beyond Beats also screens with Heavy Metal Jr., which is just like Metallica: Some Kind of Monster except with pre-teens. A group of rocker kids prepare for the big concert and it doesn't seem like they're going to make it. Features my favourite pain-inducing scene of any of the docs I've screened so far this year.

Shadow Company
Mixes humour and horror as it examines the role of the mercenary in contemporary armed conflicts. Even though the screening note refers to Iraq, this is not another 'Iraq film'; it looks at several conflicts where mercenaries or private security firms played different roles with different results. Again, you'll leave the theatre feeling like you got the whole story.

Speaking of Iraq docs, there is one in the fest, White Platoon Baghdad 2004, and it's quite good but it seems like once you've seen one embedded-with-soldiers-in-Iraq doc, you've seen them all. The subtle shift in this one compared to earlier Iraq conflict docs is the obvious growing frustration and boredom of the soldiers who just wish that someone would shoot at them to relieve the monotony.

More reviews and recommendations to come!

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