Geek of Oz

Guillaume Vincent's directorial debut Land of the Bears is an impressive documentary set in the pristine wilderness of the Kamchatka, Russia. An almost magical land; unaltered by mankind and ruled by 20,000 brown bears. The region endures winters which last up to eight months, which the bears hibernate through. But once summer rolls around, man these bears spring to life and descend upon a nearby network of rivers to gorge on thousands of salmon which swarm to the region to lay their eggs and ultimately perish. Perhaps a touch circle-of-life esque, but easily forgiven since the visuals are so jaw dropping gorgeous. The film follows the escapades of five brown bears of various ages as they emerge from their slumber and seek out their salmon buffet. We meet a three year male who's experiencing his first summer without his mother, a 600kg twelve year old male and a mother with her two adorable cubs. Through a series of montages we observe the different approaches to maki...

The God of Ramen is a touching, heart-felt documentary about one mans' desire to serve people his deceptively simple ramen. Whist glaringly unpolished, the human story in the piece is so enveloping that the result is a compelling, if bittersweet, film that should definitely be seen. For over forty years, Kazuo Yamagishi has served thousands of queuing fans his signature ramen dish. This isn't the upmarket end of Japanese cuisine; it's basic but superbly executed rustic-style fare that captures his diners’ adoration and devotion. The film focuses upon the twilight of Yamagishi’s career as he is struggling with health issues and coming to terms with the modern world starting to leave him behind.

Red Obsession, the latest documentary from Australian duo David Roach and Warwick Ross looks at the effect China’s economic growth is having on Bordeaux, one of the most iconic French wine regions. Whilst full of some beautiful photography of the French countryside and plenty of wine porn for those lovers of the plonk, sadly for me the film revealed more about the filmmakers' opinions of China than it did the plight of the French Wine industry. Ultimately I came away feeling the film missed it mark completely and ended up being a naive bordering on racist look at global economics.

With the advent of the 24-hour news cycle putting increased pressure on media organisations to focus on quick-turnaround content, the importance of documentary filmmakers has never been greater. With his latest film, We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, Alex Gibney presents a master class in investigative storytelling, as he tracks the rise and fall (well, stall at least) of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. 

Marwencol, what the hell is Marwencol. Well in all honesty, I had no idea until I received an email in my inbox explaining what it is all about. In short, it is all about an American man who rebuilds his life after a horrific, life-changing incident. This story is all to familiar to me. One of my good friends had his life changed through a motorcycle accident which left him in a coma and subsequent brain damage. He too has rebuilt his life through unconventional means. Though personal experience may be somewhat of an influence, the premise itself has me incredibly intrigued.  The multiple award winning Marwencol is due to be released locally by Bonsai Films through iTunes, Bigpond Movies, Google Play and Foxtel On Demand on September 15th. Check out the full synopsis after the jump!

Last week old mate Emmet and I had a wee chat about "Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods", an all new documentary about the past, present and future of one of the most controversial comic book creators of all time. Disregard my somewhat incoherent ramblings, it was late and a bottle of pinot had just roughed me up. Emmet's much more coherent ramblings are both insightful and impassioned.