{"id":6801,"date":"2010-11-16T07:00:10","date_gmt":"2010-11-16T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/?p=6801"},"modified":"2010-11-16T16:58:07","modified_gmt":"2010-11-16T21:58:07","slug":"seven-films-to-watch-over-the-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/seven-films-to-watch-over-the-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven films to watch over the holiday season"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Oregon-Portland-August<\/a>
Oregon-Portland-August 2009-13 anime theatre sepia | Photo by eprater<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I love me some movies… especially those that tell a great story, make me think, teach me something new or challenge my way of thinking.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that’s why I really appreciate the art of documentary.<\/p>\n

With the holidays coming up, a lot of us will have more downtime than normal. So rather than popping the same ole’ comedy into the DVD player, try some of these thought-provoking documentaries on for size.<\/p>\n

If you have a Netflix account, most of these can be viewed instantly on your computer (Wii, mobile phone or any other Netflix enabled device.)
\n
\nFood, Inc.<\/a> – Probably one of the most thought provoking documentaries I’ve seen recently and one that’s caused me to do the most re-thinking of things on a daily basis. If you’ve read Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, I hear it’s very similar.<\/p>\n

Super Size Me<\/a> – Ever wonder about the food your buying from under the golden arches? For one month, Morgan Spurlock travels the US and eats nothing but McDonald’s, ordering everything on the menu and “super-sizing” his order whenever asked. While it doesn’t get into the specifics of the food culture like Food, Inc. does, Super Size Me gives the viewer an interesting\/if not scary look at the harm our fast food lifestyles can bring. <\/p>\n

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers<\/a> – A candid look at the conversations we’re not having about our faith in the US. Filmmaker, Dan Merchant, takes to the street as “bumper sticker man” and gets some real and honest opinions from folks about US Christianity today.<\/p>\n

Dear America: Letters from Vietnam<\/a> – I watched this documentary in my sophomore history class and it’s always left an impression on me. The documentary features letters from US soldiers sent home during the Vietnam war – set to music from the 1960s and backed up with news footage and photos from the war.<\/p>\n

Babies<\/a> – A very visual look (not much dialog) at how babies are born and raised in four different cultures around the world. I was really amazed at how personal and intimate the filmmakers were able to get with the babies and their families through the lens of their camera.<\/p>\n

Confessions of a Superhero<\/a> – There’s nothing too thought provoking about this film, other than it’s an interesting look at a niche of people who pose as superheroes on Hollywood Blvd. It’s a light-hearted look at four individuals just waiting for their big break in L.A.<\/p>\n

Ken Burns: The National Parks: America’s Best Idea<\/a> – Not as thought-provoking as some of the others – but an absolutely beautiful series of films. The visuals make this documentary amazing. You could play this movie with the sound off and still be moved.<\/p>\n

BONUS: Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexandra Pelosi<\/a> – This film gives an interesting look at Christianity in the US today through the eyes of Nancy Pelosi’s daughter. It was filmed shortly before Ted Haggard’s fall from grace and includes footage from the Christian Wrestling Federation<\/a>. They came out and filmed a workout as well as one of our shows for the documentary.<\/p>\n

A few documentaries I hope to watch over the holiday season…<\/p>\n

Fall From Grace<\/a>
\nFood Matters<\/a>
\nCapitalism: A Love Story<\/a>
\nWal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price<\/a>
\nJesus Camp<\/a>
\nEarth<\/a><\/p>\n

And a few movies I hope Netflix adds soon (especially for instant viewing)…<\/p>\n

Fields of Mudan<\/a>
\nCall + Response<\/a>
\nOrdinary Radicals<\/a>
\nReturn to El Salvador<\/a><\/p>\n

What others would you suggest?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love me some movies… especially those that tell a great story, make me think, teach me something new or challenge my way of thinking. Perhaps that’s why I really appreciate the art of documentary. With the holidays coming up, a lot of us will have more downtime than normal. So rather than popping the … Continue reading Seven films to watch over the holiday season<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2418],"tags":[2204,3906,3907,3905,1725,1081],"class_list":["post-6801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies-news-entertainment-misc","tag-documentary","tag-films","tag-learn","tag-netflix","tag-story","tag-thoughts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pEnSo-1LH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6801\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}