Friday, July 10, 2009

Typical Blog Babble.


As I found myself alone in a house for over a week , I turned to films to pass the time. The first of two must see documentaries that I saw was Cocaine Cowboys, a 2006 documentary on the rise of Miami in the 1970's due entirely in part to the cocaine trade from Columbia. The documentary is extraordinary in the way that it chronicles the rise and fall of the Miami drug tradeeconomy, and culture in general. All the Vice City shit was just as real if not more fucked up than it is portrayed in Scarface and Grand Theft Auto. The cocaine culture inflated the Miami area during the times of a recession in America due to the fact that everyone had a hand in the drug trade and was buying 10 cars a year( the biggest drug dealers more) , investing in property everywhere, and the people needed banks to put their money in. The question the film leaves the viewer asking is whether all of the lives that were taken and all of the corruption that took place were worth the sky rises and the industrial boom that made the city what it is today.
The other film I watched was Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. I don't have much to say about it other than it was truly an educational experience and that it made me feel dumb for being so clueless about all of the shit that happened in corporate America at the beginning of the new Millennium. It goes right along with what Goldman Sachs is doing to the economy right now. Although it takes a pretty extreme stance on the issue, everyone should read the article Matt Taibbi just did for Rolling Stone on the economy. Really fascinating stuff. Here it is.
The last documentary I watched was Ashes of American Flags. Its a new film on Wilco. It really doesn't compare to I am Trying to Break Your Heart in terms of content. The performances are mesmerizing, as one would expect from Wilco but there really aren't enough interviews. It just barely touches on a ton of interesting topics like the background of bassist John Stirratt and how his entire family background is grounded in music in the New Orleans area, or how the band has really seen the Midwest changing in terms of small town life revolving around Walmart, or how talented Glenn Kotche and Nels Cline really are at their crafts. However it fails to go in depth on any of the topics raised. I would save the money or time you would take to watch this and direct it towards going to see Wilco live in concert.

1 comment:

Daniel Plainview said...

cocaine cowboys, more like booga suga brothers.- still- a must see