COVID-19: THE SYSTEM, Part 2
In Part 1 we ended with the documentary’s discussion of the type of business model that has been created around COVID-19, or to match the title of the…
Tag: DOCUMENTARY REVIEWS
COVID-19: THE SYSTEM, Part 1
On March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization announced that COVID-19’s spread was now a pandemic, and on March 13, 2020, when here in Quebec a total…
The World Health Organization (WHO): A Problem of Trust
Over the past twenty years or so, what has been the record of the World Health Organization when it comes to major public health crises? Has the WHO…
From Hollywood to Hitler: Rethinking the Cultural Politics of Propaganda
What is propaganda? What does cinema reveal about the Third Reich and its people? What are German films about during the Third Reich? What do they reveal? And…
Google’s Empire: The Science Fiction of Power
“For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to make a film about libraries,” explains Ben Lewis, the director of Google and the World Brain (2013).…
Cyber-Terrorism: How the US and Israel Attacked Iran—and Failed
Sabotaging another nation’s power grids, or blowing up industrial plants, are actual acts of war under international law. The term “cyber-terrorism” as used in the title, almost softens…
Brexitannia: The Faces and Voices of Brexit
First shown at London’s East End Festival in June of 2017, Brexitannia was the very first documentary about Brexit. It is a striking and deeply pensive film, in…
America: Imagine an America without Her
What might world history have looked like if there had never been a United States, or if it ceased to exist before the 20th-century? Is “America” an “exceptional”…
On Duty for the CIA: German Nazis and Italian Fascists
Apart from employing German Nazi scientists, and adopting the methods, principles, and science of the Nazis in developing modern warfare, for what other purposes were Nazis sought after…
What are the Prospects for a US War with China?
Was Barack Obama’s “pivot to Asia” the signal for a coming US war on China? Is the current clash between the US and China a confrontation between an…
Ghost Exchange: Complexity, Velocity, and Risk
Increased complexity leads to increased risk. Stock markets run by algorithms, creating virtual markets that even the experts have difficulty explaining. The “flash crash,” “dark pools,” and “high-fre…
The War of the Public Intellectuals: A Review of “Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal” (2015)
When and how did the polarization of political opinion become so mainstream in the US? When was acrimony institutionalized? When did it become acceptable to deny a political…
“Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded” (2014): Reversing Empire and the 1980s’ Drug War
Miami, and what became a Miami aesthetic, was probably one of the most distinctive and memorable features of the 1980s in North America. Hit shows like Miami Vice…
Robert Reich’s “Inequality for All”: A Documentary Review
Why is there growing inequality in wealth distribution in the US? Is inequality inevitable? If inequality is inevitable, can it be useful? Can inequality become a problem? If…
“One Day This Door is Going to Open”: A Review of “Dennis Rodman’s Big Bang in Pyongyang” (Documentary)
Dennis Rodman’s Big Bang in Pyongyang (2015) is probably the documentary to be seeing right now, made timely once again not just by the fact that it gives…
Documentary Review: “The China Hustle” is a Problematic Cautionary Tale
What if the Chinese “economic miracle” were proven to be, like so many other alleged miracles, a mass of illusions? What if savvy American investors were actually shown…