28 Docs Later You’ll Be A Better Person, Just Watch
We love documentaries. ALL OF THE DOCUMENTARIES! We didn’t realize just how much we all love documentaries until our staff email chain about this post.
We love the self-righteous enlightenment and intellectual superiority that briefly engorges your soul after something like Jesus Camp, Bowling For Columbine, Food Inc or Inconvenient Truth! We love the fascinating children of Spellbound and Mad Hot Ballroom and the geektacular splendor of Trekkies or Cinemania and the life-scarring/disturbing/enthralling horror of Paradise Lost or Capturing the Friedmans and we love EVERY SINGLE LGBTQ DOCUMENTARY EVER from For the Bible Tells Me So to The Celluloid Closet to The Aggressives and back again. We’ve talked about some of those, in fact: here’s our review of 8: The Mormon Proposition, our interview with the creators of Fish Out of Water and our list of documentaries about religion and homosexuality.
But this particular list isn’t limited to queer films; this list is our answer to “what documentaries do you think everyone else needs to see RIGHT NOW especially if they ever want to understand a very crucial aspect of the world we live in?” As a result of our enthusiasm, this is much, much more than a top 10.
Consider it Autostraddle’s definitive list of the documentaries you need to see before you die.
Laneia // Executive Editor:
Beautiful Losers
Beautiful Losers looks at the most influential artists of the early nineties – most of whom were unknown at the time – and how their work affected fashion, music, and essentially all of pop culture.
The interview subjects (Harmony Korine, Shepard Fairy and Margaret Kilgallen, to name a few) were just punk freaks who wanted to do something real, so they did. They spray-painted shit and regular-painted other shit and built things and figured out how to get their points across to people who cared. I mean, if you’re not even more inspired than usual to embrace your weirdo artistic side after watching Beautiful Losers, I don’t know if you should be here. WAS THAT HARSH I’M SORRY THIS FILM IS JUST REALLY F*CKING GOOD AND I THINK YOU’LL LOVE IT.
- Watch Beautiful Losers now.
The Business of Being Born
The Business of Being Born examines what it’s like to give birth in America, specifically the stark differences between hospital and home deliveries. The overall point of the film is that women need more information about all of their options, as well as a greater understanding of what their bodies are naturally capable of, before choosing a method of birth.
It was produced by Ricki Lake after her own unsatisfying experience with a hospital birth (something I instantly related to). The film really gets into the monetary side of the medical industry, revealing information that shocked even me, a strong supporter of midwifery.
What I especially liked was how even-handedly the facts were presented. Every woman makes this decision for herself — there’s no right or wrong choice and things don’t always go as planned — and I think The Business of Being Born was very empowering in that sense. More empowering, in fact, than either of the OB/GYNs who delivered my children.
Helvetica
After watching Helvetica last fall, I read like, six books on graphic design and made a list of all of the most influential designers of the last 100 years and then I read a few books about them and I STILL wasn’t satisfied. I think the only way to get it out of my system is to either a) take classes or b) hang out with Alex a lot. I have chosen option b) because a) costs too much money and Alex cooks.
I’d never stopped to consider how much control graphic artists have over OUR ENTIRE LIVES. It’s so weird, right? I mean, the way I feel about The Gap is due, in part, TO FONT. That is f*cking crazy!
+Watch Helvetica now.
Official Favorites of “Julie & Brandy in Your Box Office“
The September Issue
An interesting window into one of Fashion’s most creative and dynamic teams. Julie is the Grace Coddington to Brandy’s Anna Wintour. For anyone who doesn’t already know, Anna Wintour is the bitchy one.
- Watch The September Issue.
Paris is Burning
If you’re gay, you should definitely watch this movie! It’s a crucial part of the history of gay culture in this country. So much of the imagery we see today is culled from this time period and lifestyle (including In Your Box Office). This documentary is Gay and Fashion. Period. It endlessly inspires us.
- Get Paris Is Burning.
Deliver Us From Evil
To call this a favorite feels a bit strange. But nothing before or since has been quite so horrifying and moving. It’s one of the better documentaries as far as being unbiased. The filmmakers never judge their subjects. They just simply tell their stories.
+Watch Deliver Us From Evil.
Anvil
This is a must-see for anyone out there following an impossible dream.
+Watch Anvil! The Story of Anvil.
Riese // Editor-in-Chief:
Grey Gardens
I was on a date with someone who called Grey Gardens “the worst” and “overrated” and that was our last date. You need to know about the costume of the day, the Marble Faun, the flag dance (which I can do) and about being a S-T-A-U-N-C-H character. It’s considerably more important that you familiarize yourself with Grey Gardens if you spend time around gay men or theater people. Prioritize appropriately.
Oh also it’s hilarious and heartbreaking all at once. The documentary by the Maysles brothers (Gimme Shelter) has since been turned into a Broadway musical and an HBO movie starring Drew Barrymore & Jessica Lange.
- Watch Grey Gardens or buy the Criterion Collection DVD. There’s also The Beales of Grey Gardens, which features more of the Maysles brothers’ footage.
Killing Us Softly
“Advertising does sell products but it also sell it sells values, it sells images, it sells concepts of love and sexuality, of romance, of success and perhaps most important of normalcy. To a great extent, advertising tells us who we are and who we should be. What does advertising tell us today about women? It tells us just as it did 10 and 20 and 30 years ago that’s what most important about women is how we look.”
If you haven’t already seen it in a Women’s Studies class, you can watch the whole version of Killing Us Softly 4 RIGHT NOW. Yup. Or if the “for preview only” thing annoys you, and it probably does, Killing Us Softly 3 is the one I actually saw, and you can see all of it here, right now.
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Hey did you know that But I’m a Cheerleader originally got an NC-17? The ratings board told Jamie Babbit that she had to cut a scene of Natasha Lyonne masturbating over her underwear while fully clothed. Meanwhile, Jason Biggs was masturbating into an apple pie in American Pie, nationwide.
There’s a million reasons to watch This Film is Not Yet Rated, but as a woman or a queer you should know how female pleasure and gay sex have been censored and are still being censored while dudes hammer away. Clearly there’s a group of rich white republicans behind the MPAA, as there is behind all evil things or secret things. Also, the private detectives Kirby Dick hires to track down the MPAA’s members are, incidentally, lesbians!
Roger & Me
+
This is one of my favorite movies ever. I rented it ’cause it’d won an Academy Award and I watched it four times in one weekend and decided I wanted to be a documentary filmmaker. Michael Moore has gotten some shit lately for the obvious agenda his newer films mercilessly peddle — which is devastating, because it enables fence-sitters to write off movies like Fahrenheit 911 and Sicko which contain about five good points/revelatory moments for every one ridiculous one-sided stretch.
But before all that, it was 1989 and we had Roger & Me. Growing up in Southeastern Michigan and having visited Flint many times (including a trip to the ludicrous “Autoworld” featured in the film), I’d seen firsthand how the General Motors’ downsizing/outsourcing had devastated Detroit, Flint, and really most of Southern Michigan altogether. The title refers to General Motors Chairman Roger B. Smith, the man Moore tries to track down for an interview. Nobody knew who Michael Moore was back then.
+Get Roger & Me.
Brandy Howard
Actress, Model, Comedian, Writer and
co-star of In Your Box Office on Autostraddle.com:
Spellbound
Super cute and funny. Very entertaining.
+Get Spellbound.
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
This was about as horrifying as Deliver us From Evil. Only it’s not the Catholic Church, it’s corporate America. And they’re not molesting children – they’re raping our parents.
My Kid Could Paint That
This documentary is fascinating because it begins as one thing and ends as another. In a truly unique structure, the filmmaker changes the subject of his documentary half-way through after being drawn in and almost becoming the subject himself.
More Than a Game
One of the best sports documentaries ever made in my opinion. Equal
parts touching and inspiring. I cried so many times.
- Get More Than a Game
(I’m probably gonna like that new one called Babies too. I’m a sucker for cute).
NEXT PAGE:
Julie Goldman’s picks, Lil’ Wayne, Freeheld, the Dixie Chicks
and more good stuff you need to watch…
2009 Autostraddle Televisionary Awards: Lesbians’ Choice
Carlytron’s Very First Televisionary Graphic!
Sometimes I can’t tell if TV is amazing or terrible right now. On the one hand, I feel like scripted TV is having somewhat of a Golden Age: we definitely didn’t have so many brilliant high-calibre shows all actively dominating the grid until the last couple of years. We’ve got Mad Men, True Blood, Lost, and 30 Rock just to name a few.
Cable nets are finally able to compete with the major networks and often deliver higher-quality programming.
TV is the most accessible it’s ever been with the advancement of mobile, on demand, and web platforms.
However, on the other hand, there is more trash on TV now than I’ve ever seen before in my life: shows like Farmer Wants a Wife, Dating In The Dark, Hitched or Ditched, and Jon and Kate Plus 8 have taken “reality programming” to all-time lows (and I really love reality TV, I just think we need to draw a line someplace).
But I am an optimist; I think TV is in a really amazing place now! I used to love films but now I only see a few a year (this is due in part to how obnoxiously expensive it is to see a movie, but also I have been less excited about the film options that I’ve seen lately). I think TV is where it’s at, which is why I love it so much. I work in TV, I watch a ton of TV, I read about TV… and while some of my all-time faves have already come and gone (Newsradio, Buffy, and Arrested Development to name a few), I think our television options are great and diverse.
So now it’s time to give out some awards! These are just my opinions, I’m no expert, so sound off in the comments if you agree/disagree/want to punch me in the face.
The Dearly Departed Award
The show we’ll miss the most this year is The L Word. Despite five years of inconsistencies (and that fact that it was not the way that anyone lived) it was the first show about lesbians, and we will miss having that visibility on teevee three months out of every year (also missed: Carmen’s ass). Hm. Maybe we’ll recap the first few seasons for y’all since we didn’t start up our Recap Factory ’til Season Four…and didn’t really get gooood ’til Season Five…
The Gayest Moment of the Year Award
I had to disqualify all of the awards shows from this (Tonys, AMAs, VMAs) because there were too many uber-gay moments to sift through. So I guess the gayest moment of the year would be the moment Vogue Evolution burst onto our screens on America’s Best Dance Crew this summer. On a show that boasts such bravado, seeing our favorite dancing queens take the stage each week was fun, fabulous and revolutionary.
Best New Show of the Year Award
This was so difficult for me to decide that I decided there would be a tie: both Modern Family and Nurse Jackie are the best new shows of the year.
Worst New Show of the Year Award
Three Rivers. Sorry Shane. Perhaps they figured any ol’ medical drama would succeed, but the organ donation hospital niche was about as special/exciting as Law & Order: Parking Violations Unit. Hopefully next year they’ll set a drama in my dentist’s office and I can throw a table at someone if forced to wait for over three hours.
The Least Surprising Thing That Happened This Year Award
Also not surprising? Ilene Chaiken’s L Word spin-off The Farm wasn’t picked up by Showtime.
Most Improved Show of the Year Award
Obviously I think we can all agree that Parks and Recreation is the most improved show on tv right now. I almost stopped watching it after its lackluster first season, but I’m glad I stuck with it — it’s become one of my favorite shows over the course of the year. I guess we should’ve all known better than to doubt Amy Poehler… sorry girl!
Honorable Mention: Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty (though I’m sure no one will agree with me, both have improved greatly over the course of their current seasons)
The Really, Papi, Really!? Award for
the Worst Storyline of the Year
WHO KILLED JENNY SCHECTER?! And basically all of L Word season 6. What the hell happened there? This was somehow worse than all of the crap we had to endure on Grey’s Anatomy, a feat I considered impossible until I saw the final season of the L Word.
The Guiltiest Pleasure Award
There are so many guilty pleasures on tv these days, what with Jersey Shore and The Hills and everything on the E! network. But I’m still a sucker for The Real Housewives franchise. I love all of them — Jersey, NYC, Atlanta, and the original crew in the OC. They provide us with hours and hours of mindless entertainment year-round, and for that I thank them (and Bravo).
The Too Much of a Good Thing Award
You guys, I srsly love So You Think You Can Dance, but Fox’s decision to air an extra season this fall was a total disaster. The contestants weren’t as strong as previous seasons, no Mia Michaels, and there is already way too much on during the fall to be able to make time for several hours of this show per week.
The Award For the Most Bizarre Ending to an Amazing Series
Battlestar Galactica (bet you thought I was going to say The L Word, eh? The L Word isn’t really “amazing”) definitely wins this award. Half letdown, half confusing as hell… totally bizarro ending to a really fantastic show.
Best Social Commentary on Television Award
This award signals somewhat of a passing of the guard; although Battlestar Galactica has ended, Mad Men continues to thrive. Both of these shows continually delivered stellar writing and acting layered with spot-on social commentary, making them not only enjoyable to watch but some of the best television programming of the decade.
The Award For the Most Gays in a Kitchen
With all of the reality competition shows — specifically the cooking-related reality competition shows — it’s not hard to decide which features the best and most numerous gay castmembers: Top Chef on Bravo. This year we got to meet gaylady chef Ashley Merriman, who managed to charm the aprons off of everyone I know (male, female, gay, straight, otherwise).
The Syndication Awards
The syndication of television shows is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, you can see your favorite shows all the time on random channels; on the other hand, you are subject to seeing shows you hate all the time on random channels. The worst show that is on every channel at every hour is King of Queens (close runner-up: Everybody Loves Raymond); the best show that is on every channel at every hour is the Law and Order franchise.
The Best TV Event or Made-For-TV Movie Award
We should just call this the Revolutionary Costume For Today award, because even though made for tv movies can be sorta crappy, HBO’s Grey Gardens proved itself to not only be a critical success but a fan favorite worthy of Edie waving an American flag around excitedly.
The Liz Lemon Award For the Best New TV Catchphrase We Learned This Year
Generally I speak in 30 Rock-isms, but I’m actually giving this award to “tardy for the party,” a phrase that I’ve picked up from The Real Housewives of Atlanta and the name of Kim Zolciak’s ridiculous song. Hey remember that time she performed it live?
Honorable Mention: “Prostitution whore!” (Real Housewives of NJ), “That’s a dealbreaker ladies!” (30 Rock)
The Best Award Show of the Year
There were so many award shows this year, right? The Grammys, the Oscars, the Golden Globes, the Emmys, the AMAs, the VMAs, the Logo NewNowNext Awards, Bravo’s A List Awards… it’s a lot to follow. But I’d have to say that my favorite award show this year was actually the MTV Video Music Awards, due to the amount of YouTube-able moments (Kanye making Taylor Swift relevant, Gaga thanking God and the gays, all of those amazing performances!).
Next:
The funniest lady on TV, Maddow, Our favorite talk show, Shark Week, Award Shows that were worth it, the OMFG Award and more…
Daily Link Fix : Crazy, Sexy, Gender Bendy, Sad, Gleeful and Cool
Today on Autostraddle: remember The L Word WTF?? Video Part One? Yeah you do! Get ready to LOL ’cause “The L Word WTF!!??” Part Two — a second compilation of TLW’s most redic moments — is LIVE. Also our photoblogger Robin is bringing sexy back boudoir-style with a little peek into what turns her on.
Also! In Natalie’s first column she solicited your first-hand experiences with the G-to-the-YNO. She needs more of your stories! sooooo drop her a line! (you can do so anonymously)
At least one Iowa magistrate has decided that he will no longer perform marriages, a response due in part to the Iowa Supreme Court ruling that allows same-sex couples to marry. The other part is his fear of the Gathering Storm. (@des moines register) (more…)
Tuesday Televisionary: Hottest Girl Hands Down Cobie Smulders
.My goodness! Last week was so busy for me that I had to scramble to get this in on time by watching as much television as possible in one day. The lengths I go to for Autostraddle!
As always, a few announcements before we get to the awards. Last week I got to hear Rachel Maddow speak at the F5 Conference, which is a series of speeches and presentations by some of the most innovative and creative minds in design. Rachel spoke about the United States’ bizarre and terrifying history of nuclear weaponry-related mishaps (accidentally detonating bombs, losing warheads, etc.) and managed to relate that to design with Murphy’s Law (whatever can go wrong will go wrong, so do it right but plan for the worst). I also got to see Charlie White speak, who was incredible. Some of you might recognize his photos of Joshua, or his work in Interpol’s video for “Evil”. He spoke about subversion, consumerism and the uncanny valley (one of my favorite topics but I won’t go into it here). What I was most excited about were his more recent forays into studying girl culture, and the subsequent video series “OMG BFF LOL.” Watch them here.
(more…)
S.T.A.U.N.C.H Characters Include Alan, Susan, Jane, Stephen, Wendy & Lisa, Meghan and Christine.
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Later today on Autostraddle: It’ll be a surprise! Who doesn’t love a surprise?
Tonight. April 18th. HBO. Grey Gardens. Premiere. Be there or be really confused when everyone else is talking about it and you’re like what the hell is going on. In Newsweek, Alan Cummings explains how The Beales became gay icons.
The Family Research Council could manipulate your mind with weather-related advertising, but instead they’ll just manipulate the statistics on how New Yorkers feel about gay marriage. (@goodasyou)
I want this show GLEE to get picked up so bad! Jane Lynch! And they use the word gay many times! And SINGING AND DANCING! Countdown to May 19th starts now! It’s so GAY! (@smoking cocktail) (more…)
Daily Fix: The Revolutionary Costume & Haviland on “Cat on the Prowl”
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Latest from Autostraddle: Robin Shoots The Cliks (and Special Guest Cyndi Lauper!) with her trademark amazingness and after a giant mishap yesterday that rendered part of Carlytron’s weekly Televisionary Tuesday um — invisible! — it’s totes fixed! ANNNND if you haven’t already, check out Riese’s interview with Rising Star Haviland Stillwell about her April 23rd show in Los Angeles. And then! Watch this! It’s Haviland on AfterEllen’s Cat on the Prowl:
This is the Costume of Alex’s Birthday, You Understand
1. Guess what, it’s Designer A;ex’s birthday! Tell her happy birthday! She’s like 17 or 24 or something, which means she’s still a babypop. Alex’s number one feeling is RuPaul. Alex wants to live in a treehouse on a deserted island and bang on the drums all day. When things just ain’t right, Alex will shriek and then dive to the ground or bed and contract her body into a suitcase-sized package, like a small defense-savvy forest animal. When Alex first met me (Riese) and Haviland, she asked us where we like to go out dancing [Haviland: “We’re not joking when we say we never go out.”]. There is a video on youtube of some girls in their basement practicing Alex’s signature dance move, the semicolon side-punch. In that photo right there she is getting some serious air while hopping through the Magic Kingdom. Last year we printed that photo on sugar cookies. They didn’t taste very good, but they were the most amazing things probably ever made and we were very proud of ourselves. Tell her Happy Birthday! She’s 24! I know! BABY, I tell you. (@autostraddle)
2. A former drag king and a blogger, 27 and 25, “have a politically subtle mission: to integrate the region’s gay scene, which they say caters to crowds that are typically older, white, wealthier and male. Kids discuss what “New Gay” means, with great quotes like; “The meaning of the word ‘queer’ has been reclaimed. The way we now look at gender is a lot different from a generation ago.” Holler. Check out B.O.I Productions and New Gay, both discussed in the article. (@washington post) (more…)