Netflix Documentary Reviews 2: On the Way to School, Dear Zachary, The Propaganda Game, The Tiger and the Munk, Jesus Camp, Kevin Hart Stand-up, How to Die in Oregon

1. On the Way to School

Kids from far-off countries walk 10-20 miles to school. They avoid elephants and tigers. A brave video camera man visits and follows along. Epic. 10/10


2. Dear Zachary

A guy started making a documentary for his murdered friend's son. The documentary ended up becoming a mission to change the Canadian legal system which had a law that allowed convicted murderers to post bail and live freely until their court date, whilst postponing that court date several times. 6/10


3. The Propaganda Game

North Korea is a wonderful place to live, according the people interviewed in this film.  They believe the government takes good care of them, despite lacking some Western endorsed common amenities.

They've been brainwashed. As we all have, to some degree, with government-pushed propaganda. But North Korea's government takes it a step further.

They call themselves a democracy. Yet their past 3 leaders have a direct paternal lineage, more like a monarchy. Kind of like the Bushes maybe, if the Bushes were as smart as the Kims.

The biggest difference I saw between North Koreans and Americans in this film, was people's attitude toward government. In the U.S. we are very split. We're becoming the dis-United States.

But the dedication represented in this film of North Koreans to their leader was analogous. Children are taught in school from an early age to salute and chant about the greatness of their present and past leaders everyday.

Sidenote: First came Kim Il-sung (placed in charge by the Soviet Union after WWII) and then Kim Jong-il (sung's son), and now Kim Jong-un (sung's grandson). Kind of gives you a double chin to say Jong over and over again. Maybe if those people talked differently they wouldn't have such long faces.

North Koreans are shown throughout the documentary screaming and crying when in the presence of their leader. It reminded me of how girls screamed and cried when they saw the Beatles.

I'm reluctant to elaborate any further on my opinions of North Korea. 10/10


4. The Tiger and the Monk

I got bored of this after 11 minutes. It was disappointing to me that I couldn't stick it out because it was only 50 minutes long. It was about monks and their pet tigers. 3/10


5. Jesus Camp

Religious extremists in this documentary make Christianity look nuts. It disturbed me almost as much as "The True Cost."

I felt bad for the children of these extreme evangelicals. This is not Christianity folks. This is just... wrong. True Christianity and a true understanding of Christianity comes from a church with a prepared pastor. Of all the churches I've been to in RI (probably 20), only one church had a prepared pastor who wasn't afraid to speak the truth. The pastor streams his sermons live and you can check out what real Christianity is all about here: graceCfellowship.org

But extreme evangelicals are different. In "Jesus Camp," children appeared to be demon possessed in some footage. It gave me chills to watch as adults subtly encouraged and praised children for shaking and crying in church.

My understanding of Christianity is that the bible is the inspired, written word of God. It tells the ultimate love story, one of the shared love between a parent and his child, and what extreme natures that kind of love will drive a loving soul to do.

In the end love is all that matters anyways. And God is love. He's not what the extremists in this film worship.

This movie was a disgrace to Christianity. 5/10


6. Kevin Hart Stand-up 1, 2 and 3

This wasn't really a documentary. I only watched the first one, most of it at least, entitled "I'm a Grown Little Man."

I stopped it about 46 minutes in when I realized I wasn't in the mood for comedy. But it was funny, the story of his run-in with an ostrich, and his impersonation of said bird. He really is hilarious.

He also had a good joke about his daughter yelling at him before she had developed a vocabulary. He interprets what she's saying through her toddler talk and body language. That shit is pure funny yo.

Seriously though, it's January and life completely sucks. The only reason I searched Kevin Hart on Netflix (and none of his movies were available to stream) is because one of my middle school special ed students wrote an essay about wanting to spend a day with him. He wrote about funny scenes in his favorite Kevin Hart movies. I thought I'd check me out some Kevin Hart this weekend. And I'm glad I did. 7/10


7. How to Die in Oregon

I was bawling in the first 5 minutes as they showed a home movie of a family sitting with their loved father/grandfather as he drank the "medicine" that would end his pain and suffering. He said good-bye. He wore a diaper and a button-down shirt. After he drank the "medicine" he said it tasted like wood. He laid down and sang a song and closed his eyes. Then the singing stopped, and his mouth opened wide. He let out an inaudible sigh.

The rest of it I didn't really pay attention to. It started to get political. So I ate a sandwich and called an Indian guy I dated. He didn't answer.  9/10