SuperSizeMe Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Snag This: Super Size Me
Filed under: Documentary », Home Entertainment », Cinematical Indie », Trailers and Clips »
I've been known to frequent certain fast food establishments far more than I should, to the extent that the employees recognize me and greet me warmly upon my return. So my guilty conscience prodded me to revisit Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me, which is available for free online viewing via our friends at SnagFilms. We've embedded it after the jump so you can view it right here at Cinematical.
SnagFilms is celebrating their one-year anniversary, and Super Size Me is currently the most popular title. Clearly it's not just guilty consciences that make the doc essential, and surprisingly enjoyable, viewing. Spurlock sets out to test the boundaries between personal and corporate responsibility, to see if eating every meal at McDonalds every day for 30 days would be dangerous to his health -- as one judge indicated would need to be proved if a lawsuit against the fast food giant could proceed. Spurlock establishes his baseline medical condition with three physicians, who anticipate that the diet may only affect him to a limited extent.
What starts off as "wish fulfillment of an eight-year-old child quickly turns to drudgery. A healthy man and a healthy eater, Spurlock finds no joy in his self-imposed diet, and has a tendency to be strident. Yet the medical risks are real, as is his concern about waking people up about the dangers of a fast food nation. Coincidentally (?!), McDonalds started to phase out super-sizing -- right about the time of the film's release. Super Size Me remains a vital document and a plea for the healthy, responsible consumption of food. It's funny, too!
Watch Super Size Me after the jump!
Who Wants to Meet Morgan Spurlock?
Filed under: Documentary », Fandom », Movie Marketing »
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Outside the festival circuit, you don't get much of a chance to watch a movie followed by a Q&A with the director, so here's a nice opportunity for you fans of Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, 30 Days) to see his new film and meet the guy afterwards. (On a personal note, I've met him twice and he's a very chilled out dude.) Unfortunately, this is only available to those who live in and around the New York City area -- so if that's you, and you're interested, pay attention. Morgan Spurlock will be holding a Q&A after the following NYC performances of Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?Thursday, April 17th @ 7:10PM
AMC 19th Street
890 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
Friday, April 18th @ 7PM
Bam Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Saturday, April 19th @ 5PM
Landmark Sunshine
143 East Houston St.
New York, NY 10002
Saturday, April 19th @ 7:45PM
AMC Kips Bay
570 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10016
If you meet Morgan, tell him Cinematical said hi.
EXCLUSIVE: Final Poster for 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?'
Filed under: Documentary », Fandom », The Weinstein Co. », Images », Posters »
Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster (click on the image to enlarge) for Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, director Morgan Spurlock's follow-up to the ultra-popular documentary Super Size Me. The first poster for the film (which we debuted here) spoofed Indiana Jones. This new one seems to have a Lawrence of Arabia vibe to it, which I totally dig. The film, which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, follows Spurlock to the Middle East on a journey to track down the world's most elusive criminal: Osama Bin Laden. But what awaits our heroic documentarian upon arrival? And will he find a way to make it out alive ... with Osama in his backpack? You'll have to see the movie yourself for the answers to those questions, but in the meantime feel free to check out James' review from Sundance and his interview with Morgan Spurlock.
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? arrives in theaters on April 18.
Sundance Interview: 'Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?' Director Morgan Spurlock
Filed under: Documentary », Sundance », Festival Reports », Podcasts », Celebrities and Controversy », The Weinstein Co. », Politics », Interviews », Cinematical Indie »
Morgan Spurlock's new documentary Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? sees the abominable showman, who lived on fast food for a month in Super Size Me, tackle an even more indigestible subject -- the complex and challenged relationship between America and the Middle East. Spurlock spoke with Cinematical about his globe-spanning adventure, the possible personal payback from living his life on-camera, how his life's changed since he first came to Park City, and how it felt to be in real danger on his surreal journey: "When we were embedded with the military ... they target the military. Being with people who are automatic targets is really hard; those (soldiers) are heroes for what they do."
This interview, like all of Cinematical's podcast offerings, is now available through iTunes; if you'd like, you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:
Spurlock Hopes to Finish Bin Laden Doc In Time for Toronto Fest
Filed under: Documentary », Distribution », The Weinstein Co. », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »
Morgan Spurlock is at it again with another spellbinding documentary. This time it has nothing to do with feeding on heart-stopping foods like in Super Size Me, but with the continued search for one of the most famous men in the world, Osama bin Laden. The doc apparently details the hunt for Bin Laden, and Spurlock is currently rushing back and forth from the Middle East to capture completion footage in time for the Toronto Film Festival.The film is already greatly anticipated and its rights were purchased (by The Weinstein Co.) during the Berlin fest -- few details have been released to date, however. Spurlock's lips, along with anyone working on the project, are tightly sealed. Here's one detail -- the director of photography, Daniel Marracino, told Variety, "Visually, this film is going to be gorgeous."
Spurlock's body of work often puts him right in the middle of the danger zone. In Super Size Me his doctor pleaded for him to quit the diet for fear of severe liver damage, and in his FX series 30 Days he put himself in jail for a number of weeks in an attempt to document the experience. The passion and ferocity in his filmmaking may help us gain some new understanding in the seemingly anti-climactic search for the world's leading terrorist. So when can we expect to see the film? As of June 5, Spurlock stated he was 95% finished, and the opening date for the Toronto Film Festival is September 6. Good luck Spurlock, see you in September!
Hart Sharp Combo Meal Off the Menu
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », Newsstand », Cinematical Indie »
John Hart and Jeffrey Sharp have said goodbye to partnership and are moving on to their own film production companies. Hart Sharp Entertainment has been responsible for films such as the Academy Award nominated You Can Count on Me and documentary Super Size Me. They also have numerous films and Broadway plays in production that each partner has decidedly left with.Variety stated that the 10-year-old company's split was eminent and even predicted but the full reason for the split is unknown. Irreconcilable differences? The company has produced numerous successful independent features that have walked away with great honors. Boys Don't Cry for one provided Hilary Swank with her first Best Actress Oscar win.
Who is taking what with the divorce? It's reported that John Hart has created a company named Evamere that will produce Life During Wartime by filmmaker Todd Solondz -- director of Palindromes -- and Revolutionary Road by Justin Haythe. Nothing yet has been announced on what Sharp will depart with.
Thus I say ado to the partnership that has created so many films I love to watch. It's sad to see them go as they were so great at fulfilling their company's mission statement which was "to produce socially relevant works that entertain, engage, and ultimately tell a good story."
An Inconvenient Truth Gets the Rebuttal Doc Treatment
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », Politics », Michael Moore », Harry Potter », Remakes and Sequels », Cinematical Indie »
What if you could make your own film presenting your take on the Harry Potter character (someone in Georgia might be interested) or your opinion of what should have happened in X-Men: The Last Stand (comic book geeks everywhere wish they could)? Unfortunately, most fictional films involve intellectual properties and copyrights and other things that (legally) cannot be messed with by just anyone. The same isn't true for documentaries, which tend to present facts or deal with truth, concepts that people don't regularly own or control. These facts and truths are often debatable, though, and can be argued or debunked via other documentary films. Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 was answered with Alan Peterson's Fahrenhype 9/11. Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me led to both Bowling for Morgan and Me and Mickey D. Robert Greenwald's Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price was responded to with Ron Galloway's Why Wal-Mart Works: And Why that Drives Some People C-r-a-z-y.
The latest rebuttal doc is aimed at Al Gore's claims in An Inconvenient Truth. Steven Hayward has begun work on An Inconvenient Truth ... Or Convenient Fiction?, a documentary that will be formatted in the same way as Davis Guggenheim's award-winning doc on global warming. Hayward, like Gore, will present his own thoughts on the issue through a similar lecture and slide show. But he isn't going to disagree with global warming altogether, just specific points that Gore supposedly got wrong.
Cinematical Seven: Docs to Avoid Following the Feast
Filed under: Documentary », Cinematical Seven », Lists »
If you're like me, you eat way too much on Thanksgiving. And the last thing you want to do after eating so much is to watch a film about food or eating. Kevin made up a great list of food movies in honor of the holiday, and Kim wrote about "eating" films with a twist, but following your feast, you might get stomach pains just thinking about most of them. None of them could do too much harm, however, because they are all enjoyable fictional films. As a companion piece, I have come up with seven documentaries that you would definitely want to avoid in the wake of turkey day; A few of them you will want to avoid even after your digestive system has settled.
Magnolia is Maxed Out with New Documentary
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », Deals », SXSW », Magnolia », Distribution », Cinematical Indie »
As the saying goes, "Nothing is certain except death and taxes," but a new documentary from James D. Scurlock is thinking we should add debt to the list. Magnolia has picked up the documentary Maxed Out, the film centers on the culture of debt and credit cards in America and the banks and companies that make a profit from it. Scurlock's film focuses on the people who have buried themselves in mortgages, loans, and credit card bills. The film also looks at the "debt industry" of bank collections and credit card companies. Scurlock has also written the book, Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders, that will hit bookstores in a timed release with the film. The book will stand alone and cover some different ground than the documentary. The film was screened at SXSW and generated interest as possibly the next big documentary hit.Since Roger & Me, filmmakers haven't run out of subjects yet about the "plight of ordinary Americans." The film has been compared to Super Size Me and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, and since they made a big splash in the press, Maxed Out will probably get a sizable theatrical release. Magnolia is planning on releasing the film this winter -- just remember to pay cash for those tickets.
[via Movie Web]
Disney Gets Sick of Happy Meals
Filed under: Disney », Family Films », Dreamworks », Movie Marketing »
A 10-year contract between Disney and McDonald's is about to expire ... and The Mouse House has no real interest in continuing the relationship. Yes, synergy-fans, sad but true: Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald are getting a divorce -- and you can thank all the fat little children they created together.A recent (and rather excellent) article in the L.A. Times indicates that the New Disney (now with added Pixar!) wants nothing more to do with the deep-fried fat-making that's made McDonald's a corporation wealthy enough to purchase the sun. Thanks to people like Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), the population of Earth seems to have (just now) realized that, hey, fast food is pretty rotten for your insides ... especially if you're a three-year-old kid who couldn't care less about nutrition but realllllly wants that stupid little plastic Narnia keychain.
Plus it looks like DreamWorks has signed a deal to hawk Shrek 3 under the Golden Arches, and one would assume Mickey doesn't exactly dig that relationship. DisneyCo will undoubtedly lose a very healthy revenue stream with this divorce, but it looks like Steve Jobs & Co. are looking to improve Disney's image just a bit ... and it's about time.
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