Earthlings is a 2005 movie about humanity’s use of animals as pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and for scientific research. The film is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, features music by Moby and is directed by Shaun Monson and co-produced by Maggie Q. Watch this regardless of your opinions on meat eating. It will open your eyes to what is really on your plate.

The post Earthlings: documentary about humanity’s use of animals appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.

Catfish director Ariel Schulman discusses the making of this documentary, and the allegations that it’s all as fake as the Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary, I’m Still Here. Based around a relationship that his brother Nev starts on Facebook, Catfish features an array of intense twists and turns.

From start to finish, how long did it take to make?
‘For the first eight and a half months of the story, Catfish was just a side project for us. We’d film a few hours a week while working on other short films and commercials (like this ballet film). Then suddenly the story changed 180 degrees and we didn’t put our cameras down for the next week, and hardly ever turned them off. It took another year and a half to edit the darn thing into a compelling film that conveyed the way the experience itself felt’.

Why make this film?
‘The story found us. We didn’t intend to make a feature film about my brother, and Facebook, and modern identity and all these issues the film takes on. It was all sort of a serendipitous accident’.

Anything you want people to take from it?
‘I suppose that anyone can make a movie: you don’t need much money, and compassion. Nobody’s perfect but everybody’s got a story’.

What documentaries or films would you consider your biggest influences?
‘Sherman’s March, Grey Gardens, The Cruise and Jurassic Park’.

How do you respond to all the allegations that it’s all just too good to be true? Getting sick of them?
‘I am getting sick of these allegations. They are boring to me because I was there, and it’s all completely true. There’s no other secret to uncover. I usually just say, “well, the truth is I’m not smart enough to make any of this up. Truth is stranger than fiction.”

What’s next?
‘Henry (co-director Henry Joost) and I are writing a feature mystery, and the three of us (Henry, Ariel and Nev) are making a TV show for MTV about other people’s catfish stories’.

The post Interview with Catfish director Ariel Schulman appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.

I’m Still Here is the documentary about Joaquin Phoenix and his retirement from film and his transition to hip hop music. Sporting a new Matisyahu look, Joaquin Phoenix is captured at his best and worst by director by Casey Affleck, who follows Phoenix as he travels around performing.

The post I’m Still Here: Joaquin Phoenix hip hop hooray appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.

Films involving characters faced with an impossible choice never make easy viewing, an example being the Nick Cave Australian gem, The Proposition. A nightclub manager, played with understated power by Joaquin Phoenix, is the victim here, and you actually feel truly uncomfortable as his predicament unfolds. Set in the 1980s, We Own The Night shows a real nostalgia for that period — particularly in the costumes. The interior of the nightclub is then an interesting baroque cool – a place you’d want to party at. A car chase using torrential rain is dissociating, the blurred shots showing the terror of the characters involved. Too often the audience is shown too much; by being only given snippets from a removed position it is all the more powerful. Trekking through tall grass at the end creates similar feelings of confusion and tension. The lack of action also works to this intelligent film’s advantage, as the focus is instead on the plot. We Own The Night is a standout among an otherwise mediocre mainstream.

The post We Own The Night appeared first on Lost At E Minor: For creative people.