One of my favorite genre’s of film is the Documentary. It’s hard to review them, because so much happens in the film, that it’s hard to make an outline and review. So instead of hitting myself over the head to come up with interesting ways of reviewing these things, I present to you five, that’s right, five documentaries that you might have missed, and probably aren’t stoked on, because you haven’t heard of them! If you have seen or heard of them, then you might agree with my sentiments. So here it is, 5 documentaries, well worth a rental, or purchase. I’ve also included the trailers so that you can check out what these are all about, because I’m sure my explanations fall short of the real stories told here.

Wake Up Screaming: The Vans Warped Tour Dvd

I remember the first time I went to the Warped Tour. It was before the corporations were sponsoring it, it was raw and it featured BMX and Skateboarding alongside a lot of indie record labels, including some of my own bands, and it was awesome.

It’s a completely different thing now. Seriously, it’s a different machine now. It’s about money, fame, fortune and a whole lot of other things that make me upset.

This documentary was about a warped tour, I didn’t go to, and a warped tour that has a lot of cool stuff behind the scenes, but up front, it’s so structured and corporate that it makes me mad.

But instead of highlighting the bad, the documentary showcases PEta2’s campaign and how they are involved with the bands on the tour.

PETA2 is a branch of peta that focuses on musical promotion, teenagers, and counter culture in regards to promoting anti-animal cruelty.

The funny thing here is not the language used to get kids to join Peta’s fight against animal cruelty, it’s the fact that a lot of bands are already vegans and vegetarians! Peta doesn’t have to fight to get these guys on board, because they already are doing things against the grain.

This documentary is interesting to diehard fans of the warped tour. But to people that have already been vegans, vegetarians and punk rockers, this documentary is just boring.

Behind the slick production value, behind the cool way of getting their message out, this documentary is just a skeleton of punk rock ethics, suited up with corporate blood and money, so it really negates anything that it wants to promote, and I can’t really recommend it.

Super Size Me Dvd

Super Size Me is either loved or hated by those that see it. I am one of those people that loved it. Not for the obvious reasons, but for the way the information is presented to prove the original point. The point of the film is not that McDonalds makes you fat, at least not to me.

The point, which was illustrated by Morgan Spurlock (writer/director), is that it is unhealthy to eat McDonalds food on a daily basis, for all your meals.

Why would anyone do this?

Because two people sued McDonalds and lost, on the premise that they couldn’t prove that McDonald’s made them fat. The judge in that case stated that if the girls could prove that eating McDonalds for every meal of the day, everyday made them fat, they could stake a claim.

Morgan did.

Driving a nail in the coffin of public perception of McDonalds, but not killing the goliath, which is now branching out into the coffee world to compete with Starbucks.

This film is a cool, easy film to watch. It keeps you entertained with a lot of information that smarter consumers already know, and that dumb people haven’t even thought of. This is definitely a great documentary in many ways, and it should have won all the awards it was nominated for. This film is a prime example that humor, education, and substance can be found in a documentary, but overall, entertainment is found in this glorious documentary.

Infotainment has never been so well displayed.

You either love this documentary, or you hate this documentary, there’s not a whole lot of in between.

Super Size Me is on Dvd, and available now.

D.I.Y Or Die Dvd

This film is awesome. The director talks to many independant artists, musicians and zine kids about why they are d.i.y and how they are surviving in a world without a day job.

This film resonated with me greatly because of my past.

Once again: When I was 16 years old I started a record label out of the living room of my mom’s house. I slept on the floor, and used the internet and clever marketing schemes to promote tours, book bands, and sell records. I took it to a place where the west coast was won by a mexican kid with a dream. After years of running the label, I could no longer support the label, my high school career, and my mom (a single parent).

This film basically showcases that art and finances are opposite poles of the world of d.i.y. It is a great indie documentary and it makes me want to continue making 1″ buttons, patches, and all sorts of cool things. As an artist, I’ve been muted in great ways, especially post graduation from an Art College.

I’m fortunate enough to have a job that allows me to use an ounce of creativity to sell products to people.

I wish it wasn’t that way, but it pays the bills.

D.I.Y or die is a nice portrait of those that live by their art…although a grand majority are NOT getting by on art alone.

Like me. I’m barely scraping by sometimes.

Pick up D.I.Y or Die on Dvd, and enjoy the counter culture.

Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator Dvd

This film is one of my favorite documentaries of all time. This film documents what the title states: The Rise and Fall of Gator. Gator was a huge skateboarders in the 1980’s. He was the Tony Hawk of the 80’s in many ways, leading the skateboarding world into the popularity that was not scene before the era.

However, with fame, fortune, and good looks comes problems, even in the skateboarding world. His world began to tumble big time when he started abusing drugs, and the world of skateboarding shifted from Vert (big ramps) to street skateboarding.

Gator, with no money, no skateboarding glory, and no way to curb his lifestyle obsession that brought him to riches, murdered a young woman after brutally, sexually assaulting her.

He’s serving 25 to life.

This film does a great job focusing on two major things:

• 1) Skateboarding as a main stream sport.
• 2) Skateboarding industries shift from superstardom, six figure incomes, to street skateboarding and the rise of “extreme” culture for money.

The transitional stages of skateboarding is explored very well in this documentary, with the tragic ending that took the life of a young woman.

Part skateboarding film, part instructional video for how not to ruin your life, part scared straight, and full dosage of True Crime, this is an amazing film. Showing the gruesome details, crime scene photos, and daring story of the one…Mark “Gator” Ragowski; an incredible film that is not to be missed.

Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator is a must see, pick it up, you won’t regret it.

3000 Miles Dvd

In Europe, a race that gets a lot of coverage for it’s d.i.y ethic is none other than the Gumball 3000.It is famous for being a race using only regular highways and roads, no closed courses or anything. It’s a gruesome race of endurance.

The dvd documents the rally where Ryan Dunn, Bam Margera, Tony Hawk and Mike Vallely joined the race.

The movie is filmed on high grade film, and the soundtrack is ambient, but the documentary is very slim on story, very slim on entertainment, and is only best viewed by diehard Bam Margera fans. There are few moments that are funny, and overall it’s just a boredom killer, somehow. The guys basically speed their way through the race, no one really wins, and you get to go along Europe’s highways and byways, and that’s about it.

Sometimes you’ll feel like you’re watching an episode of Viva La Bam or Jackass, but it’s really not as funny.

It’s interesting to see the race, and there are a lot of shots that are just amazing to look at. Some of the music is even cool to listen to, but overall this is just a boring documentary.

Fans of Jackass, Viva La Bam, and Cky are going to enjoy the antics, and car enthusiasts are going to love the cinematography of the racing. 3000 Miles is an interesting look at the Bubblegum race.

P.S. I know most of you heard of Super Size Me, but take another look at that film, you may have missed some things, that’s for sure.