Meet the Patels

What a delight! It's a documentary story of an Indian - American guy who agrees to try arranging a marriage through his parents. The film is aimed at an American audience who may not be familiar with the culture and customs of the subject. The cinematography is shit, but they make a virtue of the home-movie feel by pairing it with animation and relevant clips from Indian and American media. The director is the guy's sister and roommate, so the level of access is exceptional. The family relationships and struggles are universal: I think my parents would enjoy this as much as I did. Did I mention it's funny in a laughing - with way? Yeah.

Kurmanjan Datka, Queen of the Mountains

Kyrgyz historical epic! it's a little slow, and a little homemade. But who cares, because I knew next-to-nothing about their history and culture, so I was fascinated by their material culture and the landscape and had no idea what would happen next. THEY ARE IN CENTRAL ASIA AND THEY WRITE WITH RUNES. They're Muslims but there are sacred carved stone figures?!? Kurmanjan is badass because she's a survivor and a politician, not a warrior. I would recommend this for the textiles and the mountains alone; the story is okay and the acting is passable, but it's just so anthropologically interesting.

Primary Instinct

Concert film of Steven Tobolowsky telling stories. I was captivated. This weekend is the premiere, and he was here for the q&a. I also got a lovely visit with scarlettina. Great start to the day. Highly recommended.

Racing Extinction

Call to action doc about mass extinction. It will be on Discovery soon. I was not as enthusiastic as the rest of the audience...no, I don't consider tourism a viable economic replacement for fishing, especially considering the carbon cost of getting rich people to a coastal village in Indonesia. Lots to think about around China; in this as in many things they are becoming who we were to the world 40 years ago. Not the tear-jerker I expected. I didn't learn anything new. But I don't think I'm their audience. It's slick, well-made, and full of info.