The first of three compelling yet contrasting documentary "films" I am reflecting on today is the insanely ambitious and often explosively insane Wild Wild Country, which was split into a six part mini series by Netflix, but that the creators call a 403 minute cohesive film, intended to stand as one document. It won the … Continue reading True Crime Trio #2
A brief Micro-post review and Decinemal rating of 3 recent Oscar nominated documentary features I watched. 2 of them won the Oscar and the one that didn't should have... Steven Bognar & Julia ReichartNetflix 2019 Intriguing on a political and cultural level... to a degree. I was mostly engaged, but found it cared a lot … Continue reading Documentary Feature Triple Bill
Available on Netflix since 2017, this excellent documentary from Ava DuVernay, the director of the memorable and equally impressive Selma, caught my attention for its Oscar nomination and compelling subject matter. It took me until early 2020 to watch it, based on many recommendations, but the subject matter hadn't lost any relevance or importance in … Continue reading 13th (documentary)
This is the fifth in the series of films I would recommend to an alien to explain humanity. Not, as posted on the Instagram account, #6 - sorry for the confusion, I think I skipped #4 on there when posting for Schindler's List a few weeks ago. Anyway... today's choice is Ari Folman's extraordinary antiwar … Continue reading Alien Rec’s No.5
Way back in January 2020, not very long after rebooting The Wasteland, I wrote a post called True Crime Trio that looked at the growing interest (fuelled almost entirely by Netflix) in the obsession and phenomenon of killers and their often bizarre, sometimes not entirely straightforward, or even solved, case histories and life stories. The … Continue reading 12 of the Best… True Crime Documentaries
The annual event of Charlie Brooker's Yearly Wipe is the one piece of satire I have been sure not to miss over the years. But 2020 has been a bit different, and finding himself in lockdown like everyone else, Brooker re-imagines the format into a full on talking-heads mockumentary that does away with himself as … Continue reading Death to 2020
Look what I found! http://kbswasteland.blogspot.com http://kirkswasteland.blogspot.com These are the archives of The Wasteland when it first began - there are literally hundreds of posts to go back and read if so inclined. If nothing else it gives a fascinating glance at the state of pop culture in those days. Hats off to Blogger that they … Continue reading The Old Wastelands
This extraordinary documentary exploring the build up, launch and landing of the most famous mission in NASA history, and arguably the pinnacle of human space exploration to date, is a mesmeric and unique experience like no other factual film you have ever seen. You can find it tucked away on Netflix, and I urge you … Continue reading Apollo 11
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