Movie Scum

Written by: PBF Title that makes no sense? Subject I had not heard about? Documentary? Surely Cropsey is not for me. Quite the contrary. Cropsey is a documentary by Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman, who grew up on Staten Island. As kids (though they did not know each other at the time) each were familiar the urban legend of Cropsey, an escaped mental patient who kidnapped and murdered children. He varies from story to story, sometimes having a hook and other times wielding an axe. On July 9, 1987 a young girl named Jennifer Schweiger is kidnapped. After Andre Rand is arrested as a suspect, it seems like Cropsey may not just be an urban legend. Rand was on orderly at Willowbrook, a mental institution for children who were mentally ill, or handicapped. In 1972, Geraldo Rivera did an investigative report on the facility, exposing the horrible treatment of the patients (and employees) and their living conditions. Ultimately, the facility is shut down and the building left abandone...

Written by: PBF Catfish caught a lot of flack for being a fake documentary, an allegation the filmmakers deny. Whether or not it is real, is irrelevant. If it is, great. If not, then it was an excellent choice by the filmmakers to shoot it in the style of a documentary. Brothers Nev and Ariel Schulman, as well as Henry Joost share an office in New York. They are photographers and filmmakers (Henry and Ariel directed this film). One of Nev’s photographs is published and he then receives a painting of it from Abby, an 8 year old girl from Michigan. This leads to a “friendship” via Facebook. Eventually, Rev also becomes Facebook friends with her mother Angela and father Vince, as well as her sister Megan and brother Alex. Soon he speaks to Angela and Megan on the phone and begins a sort of romantic relationship with Megan. She sends him songs, they exchange messages and phone calls. An out of town assignment (and some chicanery) lead the 3 to travel to Michigan to pay visit Megan a...

Written by: PBF If you think Inception is a film likely to start many a discussion after viewing, you should check out Zeitgeist . Then share your opinion of it with someone. Especially if you are of the opinion that the film is accurate, and that Jesus may have never existed. That discussion is sure to go beyond a mere critique of the film and perhaps even incite violence. Zeitgeist is a documentary conspiracy theory film. That being said, it does not ask your opinion, it tells you what’s what, as perceived by the filmmaker Peter Joseph . It is sectioned in 3 parts: The Greatest Story Ever Told, All the World’s a Stage, and Don’t Mind the Men Behind the Curtain. Part I deals with Christianity and claims that it is ultimately not “real,” but rather comprised of things that come from other religions, astrology, astronomy. It demonstrates this by comparing certain events (Jesus’s resurrection, the fact that he was born of a virgin, etc) to events in other theologies that have sim...