“Dark Days” (2000)

Rated: N/A

Directed By: Marc Singer

“Dark Days” is the true life documentary that gets a peak into the lives of 5 or 6 homeless individuals living below the streets of New York City; specifically the “freedom tunnel” that runs between the Penn Station in midtown to Harlem. Filmmaker Marc Singer takes us into a part of the world that is shut off from the every day lives of the rest of the population and what a ride it is.

From the start of this film we follow Greg into a hole which leads under Penn Station along the tunnel into the area in which these people live…survive. It is the true exposure of the grime of the city, where they have found refuge from society in which they are not longer accepted. A good majority have found themselves down here due to excessive drug use, specifically crack. They know and understand that they are victims of the drug and they are a slave to it and they don’t have the support they need in order for them to drop the habit and work at turning their life around.  Most have had led regular lives as explained by Ralph, he was at one time married, she gave him the ultimatum of either her or crack and he choice the latter. He came home one evening and found his stuff packed up and he was out. Many share their sad stories, many have been living down in the tunnel for upwards of 25 years. Young Tommy, who’s age is alluded to at 26 years old says he’s been living on his own since he was 16 years old, his father beat him and his mother and he never got any love or support from either.

Mark Singers’ documentary shows us the homeless are people too, with real feelings that have just made bad life altering choices and don’t have the means to change their lives around on their own. They need help.  Thankfully, that helps comes in the form of the Coalition for the Homeless in NY which led to secured housing vouchers provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for each of the homeless in this film.  This somewhat depressing story turned to the light in the tunnel with post-mole interviews of each one showing them in their new apartments and the aspirations they now have and what they are going to do with their lives. Some are hopeful in finding work, others are grateful for having the opportunity to change their lives while others may fall back into vicious cycle which made them homeless in the first place.

According to some sources we were able to find online, Singer moved to NYC and had become fascinated and interested with the large number of homeless around the city. He decided to befriend a few of them and that lead him beneath the city to the freedom tunnel. While living with them for several months he decided to document their lives on film in order to possibly help them financially. Singer rented the 16mm camera, had some film donated by Kodak and managed to teach some of the on-camera subjects how to hold the camera, operate some lights and even some camera rigs. The cinematography is great, it gives the viewers a great in depth look at what it was really like living down there and told the story bit by bit and enhanced the shock and awe value of the story.  This is told entirely in the subjective point of view of the homeless. It puts us on their side, shows us what they go through on a day to day basis and sheds some light upon their personalities which makes the ending all that great.

This is a documentary that needs to be seen. Living homeless is a whole other culture, a society of people that we normally don’t have any interaction with on a day to day basis. Live this 80 minute ride and see a part of NY that you might not ever see.

3.5 Knocks out of 5

2011 Academy Awards Are In…Our Predictions

So the highly anticipated, most coveted award show for the motion picture industry released their nominations for this years Academy Awards this morning. This seems to be an exciting time of year for all the filmmakers and most of the majors that are pining for their pictures to get some free publicity. We at KNOCKERS love to see what the industry turns out to consider some of the best work put out that year.

Here is the list of nominations and our own predictions on the top categories.

BEST PICTURE

Black Swan – Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin – PRODUCERS

The Fighter – David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg – PRODUCERS

Inception – Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan – PRODUCERS

The Kids Are Alright – Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray – PRODUCERS

The King’s Speech – Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin – PRODUCERS

127 Hours – Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson – PRODUCERS

The Social Network – Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin – PRODUCERS

Toy Story 3 – Darla K. Anderson – PRODUCER

True Grit – Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen – PRODUCERS

Winter’s Bone – Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin – PRODUCERS

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

James Franco – 127 Hours

Jeff Bridges – True Grit

Javier Bardem – Biutiful

Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network

Colin Firth – The King’s Speech

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christian Bale – The Fighter

Jeremy Renner – The Town

John Hawkes –  Winter’s Bone

Mark Ruffalo –  The Kids Are Alright

Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Annette Bening – The Kids Are Alright

Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone

Natalie Portman – Black Swan

Michelle Williams  – Blue Valentine

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Amy Adams  – The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech

Melissa Leo – The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld –  True Grit

Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom

DIRECTION

Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan

David O. Russell – The Fighter

Tom Hopper – The King’s Speech

David Fincher – The Social Network

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – True Grit

To see the complete list of nominations: 2011 Academy Award Nominations

Earthlings (2005)

Rated: NR

Genre: Documentary

Info: Official Website

Directed By: Shaun Monson

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Persia White

I would like to clarify before writing this that I am a fully grown, American male. I’m not by any definition of the word squeamish, and I hardly ever tear up. I am not a member of PETA, an environmentalist, a vegan, or even a vegetarian. Nor am I a hunter. I have no real bias either way…

…until seeing this movie.

“Earthlings” is a very disturbing documentary, including never before seen footage captured by hidden cameras. The film is separated into five categories of animal cruelty: pets; food; clothes; entertainment; and science. The message is one of empathy, not just for other human beings, but for all things living. It is stressed that the definition for the term “Earthling” is “an inhabitant of Earth”, not just humans. All living beings.

There were multiple aspects of this movie that I found deeply disturbing. I could not decide which was more upsetting: The lack of respect and attraction to torture and carelessness towards the needs and desires of animals; or the graphic images and sounds seen and heard in this documentary. Many times was I fighting back tears while watching the harsh, soulless torture of these innocent animals. I found myself just as often trying to keep my dinner down. This movie succeeds in its message because it does not tip-toe around the evidence, and nothing is sugar coated. It is in your face facts and reality.

I have seen many videos portraying the cruel abuse of animals. I have also seen footage of slaughterhouses and unclean farms. But I have seen nothing that holds a candle to what I witnessed in “Earthlings”. Cows being burned, starved, beaten, tortured, ridiculed (yes, even ridiculed). Pigs being boiled alive. Both animals having their throats cut open, and bleeding while still alive, and emitting a God-awful, heart-shattering screech. “Earthlings” also includes footage of poultry, seafood, whales and dolphins… all being beaten, spit on, tortured, and slaughtered mercilessly. Even Kosher slaughterhouses are shown, and believe me, they are anything but Kosher. As it turns out, the largest Kosher farm in the United States violates dozens of Kosher slaughtering rules, and they are anything but clean and merciful. They are sickening.

“Earthlings” is eye-opening. My jaw was on the floor for the entire first half of this movie. I was exposed to puppy mills, euthanasia, cramped and cruel gas chambers, dogs being shot. Topics such as overpopulation of stray animals, due to human selfishness and desire. Breeders are in high demand, leading to 25,000,000 homeless animals per year, 9,000,000 of which die on the streets due to disease/starvation/exposure/and injury. It is apparent that human beings view animals as a lesser form, and therefor they are slaughtered for personal delight and even entertainment. One grim scene depicts actual footage of a dog being thrown into a trash compactor, whilst still alive.

These are humans committing these crimes against morality. If they were committed against humans, they would be considered crimes against humanity. How ironic. The murder of a human being is not even considered to be comparable to the murder of hundreds of millions of animals per year.

Some may argue that humans commit these acts out of necessity; that we need to eat. However, this is not the case. This is exactly what the makers of this film are attempting to reveal as ignorance on our part. Not one act committed in this movie is a necessity. Not one. If it is a necessity to transport cows who are frightened and confused, cramped and starved, then why is it also necessary to rub chili pepper in their eyes?

Hunting is discussed as being a “blood sport”. It is said that humans are the only beings that inflict pain upon other beings, knowing well what pain is, for sheer amusement. Fishing is compared to hunting as equally cruel. Many people falsely believe that sea creatures die painlessly, especially in comparison to mammals. This is untrue, as they do not take into consideration that most sea creatures have more highly developed senses than mammals. Upsetting footage of animal testing is the latter part of this film, and just as hard to watch as the rest. Animals are tested for medical purposes, yet these tests must be repeated on humans, since humans and animals react differently. So what is the point?

There is none. It is a matter of ignorance and lack of empathy on our part. We travel to zoos and circuses to view animals in an unnatural and cruel habitat. Upon watching this movie, we are forced to ask ourselves many questions, such as: How can zoos be considered educational when the animals within them are in an unnatural environment? Do animals in circuses perform the way that they do because of reward, or is it because they are beaten and in fear of punishment? Is it ethical to treat animals as if they don’t have any emotion whatsoever, and don’t feel pain? When an animal attacks a human being after being tortured it’s entire life, why is it the animal’s fault?

As a species, we are the most selfish on Earth. We survive on the pain of other species, and show them little to no respect. We don’t see animals as our peers, rather, we see them as “things”. Not only are we hurting other species, but we are hurting ourselves. These farms and slaughterhouses create disgusting waste, which pollutes the oceans and help to breed serious and deadly bacteria. We are ruining our environment, and we don’t want to hear about it.

“Earthlings” is a film that everyone should see. It is not easy to watch, because of the simple fact that it’s all 100% true.

5 Knocks out of 5

View the movie for free here