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The Burning Man Festival (1997)
Best early-era Burning Man documentary
This 1995 video tableau is the less narrative-y predecessor to Winston's "Just Add Couches" which was shot at the 1996 burn.
Devoid of editorial commentary, our interviewer has a good curiosity compass and gets people talking about history aliens, pagan festivals, femininity, and above all, why they want to come to an empty spot in the desert just to experiment with radical self-expression.
And attendees didn't take the burn seriously yet. ("What do you think this whole experience means?" "Absolutely nothing.") Plus the number of people interviewed who didn't even know there would be other groups of weirdos in the desert that weekend is hilarious.
Also there was also a double rainbow in 1995 (keep your '07 double rainbow pics in your pants, please).
Foxfire (1996)
A fantasy about growing up too fast
One of the realest pre-social-media tales of young women banding against sexual assault, bonding over their own sexual identity, stepping into personal power. The only reason this film as a low rating on IMDB is from men who watched it hoping to find an exhilarating lezzy flick but instead found something that successfully challenges male power.
The most important moments feel real enough to touch, getting lost in these young incredible actors.
Please don't call this movie a "coming of age" tale; its content is stuff that most people don't experience in their whole lifetimes. It's closer to stories that many women have in their 20's, superimposed here on teens for a bigger emotional punch.
Plus, for those of us who were too young to relate to its content when it was released, but old enough to remember what living in 1996 was like, it's a perfect nostalgic rewind and rethink.
Battlestar Galactica (2004)
Inventive story arcs, outstanding performances, and a solid moral compass.
Content notwithstanding, one of the most well-produced sci-fi TV series ever. It's more of a military show in a sci-fi setting rather than a sci-fi with a military twist. It has rich mythology and inventive religious structure that make it stand out against the rest of the action sci-fi world. For what looks and feels like a straight up army drama, it is a WEIRD show with surprisingly stark realism.
I'm categorizing it as a utopia because its strong and admirable characters have widespread traction when they voice real ethics and morals. Rather than being a futuristic dystopia, BSG is asking "what if our valiant military prowess was up against a massive robotic threat". Major downsides are that it's a very caucasian show, in fact a very Anglo show (ie. not even much representation from non-northwestern europeans like Russians, Jews, Italians, Greeks) with a few hopeful exceptions, like leading Latino film hero Edward James Olmos (although they gave him blue contact lenses). Fortunately we see outstanding female leadership representation, notably with a woman president and a woman leading lieutenant. Tempo, tone, and timbre are reminiscent of other high-production 90's TV dramas like E.R. and West Wing, only with significantly higher adrenaline for the audience. (The excessive suspense is the only thing I'm removing marks for, along with a few minor plot inconsistencies which don't effect character development.)
Above all, BSG has some of the best acting in TV: deeply emotional, rife with strange and powerful interpersonal moments, with mature and intelligent relationships.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Hard Time (1996)
typical 90s "mental health" episode
Rich with a creative sci-fi plot element, but showcases the worst in traditionalist mental health models. No one on the ship (not even the "counselor") is able to help a traumatized person recover from torture. Maybe it was meant to be a cautionary tale, but we see the victim's allies fail to offer real support, and instead just offer varying flavors of tough love and mounting levels of even more punishment. Lots of missed opportunities to address punitive vs restorative justice systems and post-traumatic stress disorder recovery tools.
Free Fire (2016)
flat-lining, sparse action flop with no scene changes
Nine people with terrible aim shoot at concrete without expressing emotion for 90 minutes. You might call this an arthaus gore shootout but with too much john Denver. Mind-numbingly boring cinematography and editing, and as far as I can tell the only lens they used was mid-century misogyny. Great cast, but bad enough to be a cult classic in 10 years maybe?
Agora (2009)
Just eye candy for sapiophiles?
Great movie but it's not really *about* Hypatia. As in, the protagonist is not Hypatia. We switch between experiencing the three lead male characters' reactions to her and feelings about her. Rarely are the scenes and interactions about understanding Hypatia's mind or views or feelings; just understanding how her personality and actions effect the mind and feelings of the men around her. Her character is actually sort of just a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
It's a shame that the best movie about the first well-known female scientist can still fail the Bechdel Test. I'm not sure if there was even a single other female character in this film (other than extras).
And while this movie is a remarkably accurate depiction of the historic events of Byzantine Alexandria, of the Christian population gaining influence and forcing women out of the aristocracy, this film's protagonists and target audience are men, and female viewers have little to relate to in the interactions of the characters.
Star Trek: Voyager: State of Flux (1995)
The Seska episode
Another murder-mystery-style episode with Tuvok as a featured sleuth.
The most awkward fight scene in the history of Voyager, involving two Kazon guys, and a Tuvok and a Janeway.
But this is made up for by some quality, intense Janeway-decision-making scenes, and Chakotay's first remotely romantic scene in the series.
And in spite of whatever we might thing of Seska, she makes a kind of actually really compelling argument to Janeway in one of the final scenes.
As usual, best embodiment and delivery come from Janeway and Torres, with Seska's and Carey's deliveries being sometimes painful.
Star Trek: Voyager: The Gift (1997)
One of the most genuinely emotional episodes
This is an awesome episode that adds an extra layer of humanity to Voyager's characters, for three reasons:
The sarcastic humorous tension between the doctor and Tuvak hits it right on the nail in this episode. Check out minutes 6-10 to see what I mean.
And Seven O'Nine performs several of Voyager's most intense emotional scenes as she realizes that she's been severed from her Borg family. (And the audience questions the fairness of Janeway's decision to forbid Seven from trying to return.)
And then we see what's probably Kate Mulgrew's and Jennifer Lien's real-life emotions transfered into the intense conversation Janeway and Kes have at the end of episode. No spoilers; you should watch it yourself.
Duplicity (2009)
a quick review of Duplicity
I don't watch many crime thrillers, because they usually turn out to be not remotely believable or personal, but Duplicity was a pleasant departure from the stereotype. It was really more of a romantic comedy (-ish dramedy, even) within the structure of a crime thriller. The two lead characters were actually pretty believable, aside from their supernatural cockiness that you kind of have to expect from spies in a spy movie (although I was sad that we got so little background or history on either character). Their troubles definitely weren't common, but they were easy to sympathize with, somehow. On top of that, it was delightful and kind of thrilling to see how their relationship was built. (The movie put together their history piece by piece, rather than giving it to us chronologically, which I generally think is a more fun way of witnessing a story.) The other big part of what made this movie so fun was that the objects of our spies' investigation was a couple of skincare corporations! Finally, we get to see tactical drama surrounding something other than a casino, a bank, or a government. Something like a cosmetics company is mundane enough that it becomes fun to play with in the context of large-scale crime drama. Even our favorite CEO's nerdy remarks ("Well, it's a common misconception that "lotion" and "cream" are the same thing") are kind of endearing and bring you back to the fact that this could be an actual corporation run by actual business nerds. So yes, safe to say that this movie was worth watching, and had me walking out of the theater wishing I was a spy. Go watch it.