Jeremy Chilnick Movies
- 2013
The hit boy-band One Direction get their time in the 3D spotlight in this documentary from director Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me). ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock examines the subject of male grooming in the age of the metrosexual. Conversations with a diverse array of participants including Will Arnett, Jason Bateman (both of whom also serve as executive producers), Paul Rudd, John Waters, Zach Galifianakis, Judd Apatow, members of ZZ Top and Anthrax, and a variety of fashion experts and sociologists offer colorful insight into the various ways men go about making themselves look presentable. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2011
- PG13
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Director Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, 30 Days) examines the increased proliferation of branding in every aspect of our lives while attempting to persuade big-name brands to sponsor his irreverent exposé. Companies love to push their products, and it seems like everywhere we go, someone is trying to sell us something. But have you ever wondered what goes on behind closed doors at some of the biggest advertising agencies in the world? In this eye-opening documentary, viewers follow Spurlock as he convinces a variety of high-profile sponsors to let him pitch their products as "The Greatest," while still maintaining complete control over his creative vision -- an arrangement that's become increasingly rare in the high-stakes entertainment industry. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2011
- PG13
Comic-Con: Episode IV - A Fan's Hope is director Morgan Spurlock's affectionate look at the high point of nerd culture, the annual Comic-Con in San Diego. Spurlock interviews a number of luminaries who attend the event annually (Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon) and spotlights the stories of a handful of people going to the convention -- a comic-book salesman looking to move a book worth $500,000, a young man who plans on surprising his girlfriend with a marriage proposal during a Q&A with Kevin Smith, and a woman who spent a year creating costumes based on her favorite video game. The film played at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
Convention wisdom has it that parents are usually not the hippest people on Earth, and most kids will tell you their dad is not the coolest guy in town. But what if your dad happens to play in a punk rock band? As the firebrand musicians behind some of California's best-known punk bands get older, many have found themselves settling into long-term relationships and becoming parental authority figures while still making music to support themselves. Filmmaker Andrea Blaugrund Nevins explores the lives of a handful of punk rock dads in the documentary The Other F Word (meaning "fatherhood"), in which some guys balance their rebellious nature against the responsibility of looking after their kids, while others leave the fiery side of their nature out on the road and behave like solid citizens at home. Several also speak of the dysfunctional upbringing that fueled their adolescent anger and makes them strive to be better, more caring fathers to their own kids. The Other F Word includes interviews with Jim Lindberg of Pennywise, Lars Fredrickson of Rancid, Fat Mike of NOFX, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Duane Peters of U.S. Bombs, Mark Hoppus of blink-182, Ron Reyes of Black Flag, and many more. The Other F Word received its world premiere at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Inspired by authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner wildly popular best-seller Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, this documentary teams such acclaimed filmmakers as Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), and Seth Gordon (The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters) to look at human behavior from a perspective of incentives and statistics. Conventional wisdom gets caught in the crosshairs when Jesus Camp co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady explore how underachieving kids respond when they're rewarded for hard work with greenbacks; Gibney throws open the curtain on sumo wrestling; Spurlock examines how baby names can affect a child's development; and Why We Fight director Eugene Jarecki offers a troubling hypothesis on why the early-'90s saw some of the lowest crime rates of the latter 20th century. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2009
Malcolm Bricklin is one of the great mavericks of the automobile business. Bricklin was the man who brought the Subaru and Yugo brands to America, and each time he made a fortune doing it; he's also launched several auto forms of his own, most notably creating the Bricklin SV-1, a sports car with many innovative safety features that's become a collector's item. However, a series of ill-advised investments cost him the money he made, though like a veteran gambler, Bricklin is the sort of man who loves the game even when he loses. In the new millennium, Bricklin decided to take another stab at bringing an affordable foreign brand into the United States, and he sought to partner with Chery Automobiles with an eye towards making them the first line of Chinese cars available in the U.S. Bricklin's son, Jonathan Bricklin, is a filmmaker, and with his father's permission he and his camera crew followed Malcolm as he sought to raise the money and close the deals that would bring the Chery to America; The Entrepreneur is a documentary that allows us to see the man and his high-rolling style of doing business in action. The Entrepreneur was an official selection at the 2009 Hot Docs International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2008
- PG13
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After revealing just what a diet of Big Macs can do to a person, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock takes a tongue-in-cheek look at another threat to our collective well-being in this witty documentary from the maker of Super Size Me. When Spurlock learns that he and his wife are expecting a baby, he decides that he wants the child to grow up in a safer world than we know today, so he takes it upon himself to track down the most dangerous man on Earth, Osama bin Laden. Spurlock hops on a plane and flies to the Middle East in search of his quarry, making stops in Egypt, Morocco, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan as he keeps an eye peeled for the head of Al Qaeda. When he isn't playing sleuth, Spurlock interviews people representing all walks of life, ranging from Orthodox Israeli enclaves and a mosque operated by rabidly anti-American Muslims to political moderates and ordinary folks at the supermarket, quizzing them about the nature of post-9/11 conflict and the need for peace. Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? received its world premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake qualifies as one of the most formidable natural disasters in modern history; the death toll far exceeded 275,000 (with many of the casualties documented as simply lost instead of dead) and thousands upon thousands of small towns and villages in the far east were annihilated or damaged to nearly irreperable levels. Alison Thompson's social activist documentary The Third Wave chronicles the experiences of four volunteers who traveled to one such town - Peraliya, Sri Lanka - to assist in any way possible. The film begins by documenting the heartbreak, confusion and devastation in that geographic area, but quickly spirals into a tale of uplift about the community renaissance initiated when a cadre of determined men and women join forces and work toward an improved way of life for the disadvantaged. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
Bill Talen is a New York-based activist and performance artist who since the late '90s has won notoriety for his character Rev. Billy. Rev. Billy is a wildly charismatic street preacher and self-appointed leader of the Church of Stop Shopping, who began his career speaking out against the gentrification of New York City, the forced renovation of 42nd Street, and his favorite symbol of the evils of international marketing, the Disney Store. Since then, Rev. Billy has expanded his targets to include a number of firms (including Starbucks Coffee and several fast food chains) who engage in unfair labor practices and exploit Third World resources for profit; he also performs with a full gospel choir and a four-piece band as they spread the message of overcoming the consumer culture, speaking with your dollars and questioning what advertising and corporate spokespeople have to say. While Talen's routines started out as comic street theater, he's become recognized as an effective (if deliberately eccentric) advocate for economic justice, and filmmaker Rob VanAlkemade offers an in-depth look at the phenomenon of Rev. Billy in his documentary What Would Jesus Buy? Produced in part by Morgan Spurlock, What Would Jesus Buy? received its world premiere at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Reverend Billy
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