DOTW Review: Vanishing of the Bees

Remember that time you went to the grocery store, walked through the produce section and picked out the fruits and vegetables that you've had since you were a child? Now, imagine apples, blueberries, avocados, leafy greens and pumpkins disappearing. (go in depth with this article by Business Insider.) Watching the big game without a side of guacamole dip doesn't sound as much fun, does it? Vanishing of the Bees (2009, UK) takes us inside the honey bee farmers that see the effect of CCD first hand. CCD or Colony Collapse Disorder affects farmers across the world but to this day scientists can't prove the cause of it. Two American honey bee farmers are highlighted throughout the film as we learn about their lives before and after CCD became widespread. The documentary takes a while to get going but towards the end, the NCIS investigating keeps you interested.

Here it goes: Farmers started using chemicals developed from war. Chemicals were thought to be great because they made sure the vegetation stayed "healthy" from disease or insects. New technologies allowed for the pesticides to be grown with the plant versus sprayed. Bees cannot survive with the pesticides so they disappear. Farmers  need the bees since their monoculture style of farming can't exist without the pollination. Something like that. You can still find diverse farms that maintain a healthy balance of pollination without harmful pesticides. These farms will have multiple kinds of fruits and vegetables spread throughout followed with flowers. Bees can survive in this environment and so can the crop because diverse farms eliminate the risk of plant disease and insect invasion. See links below to help save the bees. WATCH THIS DOC AND BE MIND BLOWN.

I'll take it one step further. The US Government supported the monoculture to create the cheapest food possible. Support your local farmers with Local Harvest.
Grocery Store Without Bees!!!
5 Steps to Help Our Disappearing Bees

Bonus: if you like Ellen Page then surprise because she's the narrator

Cheers
- @chaseappich

PS
Honey Bees are not to be confused with the Honey Badger or Honey Booboo

DOTW Review: Park Avenue

I have to say that I'm pretty excited to write this doc of the week review. Park Avenue is hands down one of my favorite documentaries of all time...I'm probably being a little dramatic but it's definitely in my top 5. To give you a summary- It's about the growing gap between the rich and the poor in America. On one end of Park Avenue live some of the richest people in this country located in the famous Upper Eastside apartment, 740 Park Ave. On the same street just across the river less than five miles away in the South Bronx, live some of the poorest people in America. It explains how the "game of life" seems to be rigged in favor of the rich and exposes the infamous Koch brothers (who live in 740 Park Ave). Their influence on the political world has controlled some law making decisions that helped the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. 

“Nobody’s money talks louder than David Koch’s," says the narrator, Alex Gibney.

In my opinion, the rich have become a lot more powerful recently than in years past. It has a lot to do with campaign funding and our reliance on large corporations (and their money). We aren't really a "true democracy" anymore when we're controlled and filtered by corruption. Both the democratic party and extreme tea party members in the government act hypocritically. OK that's the end of my political rant because I could keep going for hours.

Back to the doc- an interesting part of the documentary was how the doorman of the apartment building said these billionaires who lived there were also extremely cheap. He would help them load up their cars for their weekend trips to their vacation homes and not get a dime...rude. I also liked the example/experiment they gave of playing the rigged monopoly game and how personalities changed as the game went on. The person who started off with more money and ended up winning the game by a landslide also felt entitled to their winnings. It really made me reflect on how I could relate to this and I think most of us have probably had one of those monopoly moments. I do this from time to time, take for granted what I've been given in life and make justifications for why we all think we worked equally as hard to get where we are today in comparison to others. Some people have it a lot harder and don't get the same opportunities as us solely because of what they were born into. I think this documentary gives you a different point of view of how decisions are made in this country and why it seems to be harder for the less fortunate to "make it" in America now. I DEFINITELY recommend everyone to watch this documentary.

Feel free to comment and share your opinions on it as well! I love hearing what other people have to say (the whole reason I started this blog) :)

Doc on friends,

- @kellclagg

DOTW Review: Talhotblond

So I'm gonna be honest because I like you guys, I slipped a little on this week's doc review. I didn't do my research (rookie mistake) and the documentary was taken off the Instant Netflix section so that sucked. Also, what I didn't realize is there are two different "Talhotblond" movies and I failed to specify which one we were supposed to watch. I ended up googling a way to watch it free online and was lead to the lifetime version of the movie (not knowing there were two different movies). If you watched the original documentary version then I apologize and invite you to comment with your review of that one!

Now for the review- Directed by Courteney Cox this Lifetime Original Movie is based on a true story. Thomas Montgomery is an average middle-aged working man who lives a pretty boring life. He's a family man and has two daughters with his wife, Carol Montgomery. His life gets a little more exciting when he decides to start playing online poker and meets a girl named Katie. He introduces himself as "Tommy," a younger U.S. Marine. As you can guess, they start an online relationship that escalates pretty quickly. A three way love triangle emerges involving Thomas' co-worker/family friend, Brian. Lies are revealed, someone dies, someone goes to jail and there's a twist at the end.

This is a classic Lifetime Original Movie. Not really a documentary but it was entertaining to watch. I would be interested in watching the real documentary which would shed some light into the real story that it was based on. "Catfish" stories are always going to be intriguing though, especially when it results in a murder. I don't know if I'd say that I recommend this movie to anyone but I didn't hate it. PS the scene where Thomas smells the package of underwear from Katie was probably the creepiest scene in the movie. So there's that.... The End. 

Keep it real doc fans. I'll do better next week.

- @kellclagg