When Houston Had The Blues, Nobody Can Bring Me Down!

The who’s who of everyone who was influenced by the Houton music scene can be found in this excellent documentary by Alan Swyer.

When Houston Had The BluesComing to Digital on Sept 24

Every city that’s been considered the birthplace of the Blues has a distinct sound, and When Houston Had The Blues, what’s unique to this locale is the sax. As for why that is so, everything a student of this genre would want to know is excellently answered here. This documentary curated by Alan Swyer, who also serves as director, dives deep into looking at the legends who shaped the sound.

Not only does Lightning Sam (Hopkins) get the spotlight, but also we see why a lot of prominent female artists rose to fame here. Back in the early part of the 20th century, not everyone got treated fairly–the music was often restricted to juke joints, and it wasn’t until Elvis that helped introduce the music from African-Americans and later transform it to something known as rock and roll.

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Is Neil a Man or Cyborg? A Documentary That Questions Humanity’s Relationship With Tech

The question posed in Cyborg: A Documentary concerns how far people are willing to alter their five senses for the sake of improving their condition.

Cyborg A Documentary Movie Poster
Playing at select cinemas in the UK Beginning Sept 20.

The augmentation of the human body is controversial. And the question whether one will lose their humanity is in question. In R. Talsorians’s Cyberpunk, the role playing game, this idea is perfectly translated into a statistic. The score tracks when a player character becomes more machine than man. However, there are also valid reasons to allow for some people to become enhanced to improve their quality of life. In Cyborg: A Documentary, first-time director Carey Born dives into the possibilities. Thankfully, there’s people who know when to stop rather than to keep on augmenting.

Although this filmmaker is quite focused on this individual, the discourse concerning who else can benefit really depends. For the most part, Neil Harbisson‘s life is front and centre. Although born without the ability to perceive colour, he’s become an artist who uses sound to help him paint. That’s because of the computer software he helped develop to let him hear how paint works. Although he’s not the world’s first person to receive an implant, to show how he functions as a spokesperson for this movement is rather fascinating. While the idea of inserting a chip into an organic body is nothing new because pets often get an RFID chip, to put that in a human is troublesome.

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How to Survive The Death Tour in Real Life Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Wrestling with Demons

The dangers wrestlers and isolated communities face in The Death Tour is deftly examined in this documentary about survival against all odds.

The Death Tour Movie Poster
For other showtimes, please visit the official website

Screening at The Rio Theatre
Aug 21st 6:30pm

Vancouver, BC

Unlike those movies and short films I’ve recently reviewed about the “behind the scenes” of the wrestling world (namely Little Lucha and the Big Deal & Dark Match), they present the events as fiction. To understand what goes on, I recommend checking out The Death Tour. Despite its ominous name, this documentary directed by Stephan Peterson and Sonya Ballantyne takes a deep and insightful look at what motivated these talents to keep on going. It’s less about their own issues since not all of them got to fulfil their dreams, but in helping those whose lost all hope to not fall into despair.

Every winter, a small team of these hopefuls are recruited to embark on a unique pilgramage to not only learn more about themselves, but also show to others, namely local indgeninous commnuties strewn in Northern Manitoba, how to survive this rat race known as Life. This program started in the early 70s and has been going strong for 50 years!

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When There’s Nothing Too New in Entertainment for Hungry Ghost Festival 2024, What Else Is There to Watch?

Although there was never a huge demand for entertainment to enjoy during Hungry Ghost Festival, perhaps that’s best since the time should be spent honouring those whose have passed on by visiting their grave and giving their spirit a chance to smile.

Hungry Ghost Festival in Hong Kong
Hungry Ghost Festival Starts on Aug 18 and runs until Sept 2, 2024

The Hungry Ghost Festival is looking worse for wear in recent years, because sometimes I just want to see new content over repeating what I’ve said in the past. While some new material exists, I don’t recommend one of them.

The documentary, Island of Hungry Ghosts, is depressing because it’s about one particular refugee camp built on Christmas Island. Rumours say that many Chinese spirits roam the land in search of a place called home in this very remote community. When they weren’t given last sites, this work is a moving piece to follow. I understand the symbology concerning the crab migration that also happens, but this work won’t be for everyone.

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When These Cursed Waters Aren’t As Scary. Why Do We Love The Creature of Lake Okanagan?

Cursed Waters- Creature of Lake OkanaganNow available to view on Prime Video (USA) and purchase on the official website.

Small Town Monsters is taking a break by doing something different. Instead of searching for Bigfoot in Cursed Waters: Creature of Lake Okanagan, they are investigating the legends and recent sightings of Ogopogo! This creature that’s the mascot of Kelowna, British Columbia has been sighted several times in recent years, and it seems that’s holding steady.

Ever since it was “discovered” as early as 1872 (by settlers), and perhaps longer by indigenous tribes, what makes this documentary compelling is with what locals believe it represents. This work is better because what’s presented here differs from what Josh Gates offered when he visited back in 2009 (with the episode airing in 2010), and also the TV series Monster Quest.

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Don’t Be Lost in the Shuffle! Theatrical Screening Information and VOD Date Announcement.

Good news magic fans! No, we’re not talking about the card game. Instead Lost in the Shuffle is about the deck stage magician use to wow audiences, and we got dates for when it’s back on the big and small screen.

Lost in the ShuffleInstead of “go fishing” around for where to watch the documentary Lost in the Shuffle after its Hot Docs premiere, there’s good news! This work is getting a few special nation-wide screenings this month (please see below for dates) with director Jon Ornoy and two-time world champion magician Shawn Farquhar in attendance! And on September 10th, it’ll be online to view on VOD.

This documentary wonderfully looks at how the 52 card deck of playing cards came about; from having its story literally impressed upon every card made since its invention, there’s a lot more mystique that gets revealed. You can read my review here, and if you get a chance, I highly recommend supporting your local independent cinema house! And I suspect this maestro of the legerdemain will offer up something new to entertain those in attendance.

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