Grey Skies | Silver Linings

Continued from part one ( here ). . . . Photo credits: hbo.com The art of documentary filmmaking is something I've come to admire over the years.  Perhaps my tastes have evolved, or I've acquired the attention span (and the stomach) necessary to absorb all the facts contained in these works, but it must truly be an artform in itself to present such compelling and thought-provoking information in a way that is accessible, tasteful and just generally appealing to the viewing public. For example, would you want to watch what happens when someone consumes only fastfood every day for a month? Or learn about how one filmmaker wanted to figure out how he can cheat like his hero, only to uncover how one country cheated the Olympics?  Probably not at first glance. Then again, the talented minds behind Super Size Me and Icarus figured out that if they can make their case within the first few minutes of their doc, the audience will go along for the whole ...

Wanted to write this since Leaving Neverland came out more than a year ago, but couldn't find the time to finish it properly. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shelter-in-place mandate from the city and state government, however, I suddenly have all the time in the world. Plus, my perspective on this topic has been reinforced because the Season Two premiere of the Dark Side of the Ring docu-series was recently released on YouTube in stunning fashion (i.e. free, unannounced and days before it was actually premiering on television). So, for your reading pleasure, here goes an attempt to connect two seemingly unrelated subjects to frame one central argument: should we still celebrate our heroes when they do unheroic deeds? (Spoiler alert: No, we shouldn't.) Photo credits: deadline.com . . . I never thought I'd say pro wrestling is an entertaining product to watch in this day and age but, well, here we are. I arrived at this conclusion as I left...