Girls State (2024) Film Review

A look at what American democracy would look like in the hands of teenage girls. Young female leaders from wildly different backgrounds navigate an immersive experiment to build a government from the ground up.

Girls State is directed by Jess Moss and Amanda McBlaine directors of Boys State (2020) and The Mission (2023). Jess Moss has also directed Mayor Pete (2021), The Overnighters (2014) and a few others.

Girls State follows the exact same sort of idea as Boys State did. A bunch of teenage girls go through a week long mock government experiment, which helps them learn how to build a government from the ground up.

Much like in Boys State, seeing the girls interact with each other and sharing ideas between one another is truly fascinating, it’s worth noting that right as this week began the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade was leaked. Which in turns brings a lot of interesting discussion to the documentary, seeing the reactions to the news felt incredibly powerful as well.

The girls of course give speeches which are genuinely fantastic, truly touching moments that are some of the documentary’s best moments. Jess Moss and Amanda McBlaine do such a fantastic job once again, they let everything play out without interfering which leads to every reaction and speech feeling much more powerful and raw.

Girls State and Boys State are two very interesting films that work incredibly well together, they definitely have their differences. But what they both show is young people having a genuine interest in politics and wanting to change the future.

I may slightly prefer Boys State mainly due to the idea of it being more fresh, having that said Girls State is still a really great documentary that I do recommend watching!

Girls State is available on Apple TV+

8/10 B+

The YouTube Effect is a surface level documentary about the popular platform.

In this eye-opening documentary, Alex Winter presents a thoughtful, troubling look at YouTube, a site with humble origins that has gone on to change how we experience the world.

Anyone who has at least heard of YouTube’s history is going to know everything that’s in this documentary. The YouTube Effect basically covers the brief history of the platform, it’s influence and impact, plus it briefly talks about the alt-right pipeline that was especially kicking around during Gamergate and 2016.

The first bit is definitely the strongest you have some popular Youtubers such as Anthony Padilla (one of the faces of Smosh), the parents of Ryan from Ryan’s Toy Reviews, Natalie Wynn (Contrapoints) and a few others. It’s nice to see their perspective of how the site has changed since then and their reactions to their careers being as big as they are now.

The first chunk of The Youtube Effect is the basic history of the site, a few of the controversies such as the whole Google+ YouTube comment situation and a few others. But then the documentary switches to talking about GamerGate, 2016, the alt-right and BLM, which there is nothing wrong discussing these topics it’s that the documentary feels like it doesn’t really care for these topics.

They are brought up, talked about for a few minutes and then quickly discarded. Plus the information the documentary leaves the viewer about these subjects is very surface level and something that the average person will already know, there’s tons of videos on YouTube already about these topics that go in great detail about their origins, goals and what they are/were about.

As far as filmmaking goes this is fine enough, there isn’t anything too crazy or to write home about but it’s competently made and decent enough to look at, overall if you at least know what YouTube is you are not going to get much out of this one. It’s not a bad documentary just a very forgettable one that really doesn’t have a whole lot to it.

The YouTube Effect is available on all VOD platforms.

5/10 C

Sharksplotation explores the Shark subgenre

In the wake of blockbuster classic Jaws, a new subgenre was born. This new documentary explores the weird, wild cinematic legacy of sharks on film and the world’s undying fascination.

Sharksplotation is about the Shark movie subgenre and how it blew up in popularity after Jaws was released. It also does go over some of the earliest examples from the 1930s as well as the movies that came out after Jaws released.

The documentary has a lot of directors, actors and more who worked on these films and share their thoughts about the genre and their own movies as well. Which actually leads to some genuinely funny bits that got a few laughs out of me, the even get the guys behind SyFy and The Asylum’s slate of many shark movies and some oceanographers as well. So when it comes to interviews this documentary absolutely nails it and gets many conversations going.

As expected the documentary spends quite a huge amount of time on Jaws and rightfully so, Jaws is the movie that made this subgenre popular in the first place. So it’s only natural to spend a huge amount of time on this important film that inspired many directors, writers and so on, even if the movies that came after it ranged in quality often times being on the terrible end.

There really isn’t anything new to be learned here maybe outside of learning some weird shark movies exist, but a lot of what is being said here is very well know especially when they talk about Jaws. However the documentary is a well put together piece that celebrates the subgenre and it’s always nice to see a bunch of filmmakers, actors and many others come together to talk about their thoughts and experiences.

Sharksplotation is available on Shudder.

7/10 B

Quick Review: Stephen Curry: Underrated (2023)

The remarkable coming-of-age story of Stephen Curry, one of the most influential, dynamic, and unexpected players in basketball history and his rise from an undersized college player to a four-time NBA champion.

Stephen Curry: Underrated is a documentary about the basketball player Stephen Curry, the movie is directed by Peter Nicks the same director of Homeroom (2021). The documentary follows Curry’s career from his 2008 NCAA Tournament run with Davidson College through the 2021-22 Golden State Warriors run at another NBA Championship where he also received the NBAs Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

As far as documentaries go this one is a very standard one, it’s nice that we get to see Stephen Curry’s many interactions with many people and get some insight into his career, we see his highs and lows which gave the rise to his career in the NBA. It’s a well filmed documentary that makes the viewer easily connect with Curry and his story.

The documentary does skim through the present which I guess this is understandable since it was focusing on how Curry’s career began, but it still would have been interesting to see. But honestly it’s a well made documentary that really makes you connect with Curry easily. You constantly route for him and by the end you are quite satisfied with how far he’s come.

Stephen Curry: Underrated might not be the most in depth documentary but it’s certainly an interesting one worth checking out.

Stephen Curry: Underrated is available on Apple TV+

6/10 C+

Stan Lee is a respectful tribute to a comic book legend.

The story of Stan Lee’s life, career, and legacy in his own words through personal archive material.

Stan Lee is a documentary about the life and career of Stan Lee the Marvel comics legend, while I do think this documentary doesn’t quite reach the heights it could have it’s still a very solid documentary.

If you are going into the documentary hoping for new information you are really not going to get here, a majority of what’s said here is very common knowledge especially if you are a fan of Marvel, heck even if you are a casual fan you may know a bunch of what’s said here.

Having that said there is absolutely no denying the way the documentary is done is very respectful and a nice little tribute to Stan Lee, it has a ton of archival footage that’s quite engaging and even talks a little about the whole credit situation between Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Diko, I’m not going to go over the whole situation itself but I will say the documentary does pose an interesting question on wether creation means to think of the idea or does it mean when you make the art and realize the idea?

It also questions a bit about credit when you have a huge company such as Marvel who gets the credit? It’s definitely some interesting stuff that I am actually a bit surprised the documentary included, so I will give credit where credit is due. Outside of that we get the origin stories of some classic Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men (the idea of The X-Men not really each of the characters), Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and a few others. All of which are pretty interesting stories especially if you haven’t heard about their origins.

As far as filmmaking goes Stan Lee is very straightforward and that’s what it should be, it doesn’t need to do anything special at all. It’s very accessible and at a level where the casual fan of Marvel or even people who aren’t fans of Marvel can jump right in, plus as I said before the documentary is done in a very respectful way to Stan Lee and really highlights what made him so special.

Stan Lee is available on Disney+

7/10 B

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is a touching documentary.

Follows the life of beloved actor and advocate Michael J. Fox, exploring his personal and professional triumphs and travails, and what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease.

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is a documentary about the career of Michael J. Fox and his struggles with Parkinson’s disease.

The documentary starts out with Fox’s career and his rise to stardom, it’s a very quick and easy to digest way to understand his story, the rest of the documentary focuses on his struggle with Parkinson’s disease and how it affected his career.

The best word to describe this documentary is inspiring! Despite the disease, Fox’s spirit and energy are incredibly inspiring the humor he adds during the interviews are warm touches that bring the viewer in. It’s always a delight and really connects the viewer with Fox, it has this family member or a friend sharing important details about their life with you type of feel. It’s a very personal approach that really makes the documentary much more powerful.

As far as filmmaking goes the use of archival footage is quite strong, one use In particular was when Michael was diagnosed with Parkinson’s but before he announced it to the public, knowing what we know now it’s absolutely soul crushing to watch especially when it’s also shown that he tried to hide his symptoms.

While Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie might have a lot of common knowledge, I do think what makes the documentary standout is Michael’s interviews and the personal approach to the documentary. It doesn’t feel like yet another celebrity documentary that’s manufactured and made for a quick buck. This one is very genuine in it’s approach, plus it helps that Michael J. Fox’s story is a very fascinating one.

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is available on Apple TV+

8/10 B+

Victim/Suspect a documentary that will make you angry.

Investigative journalist Rae de Leon uncovers and examines the pattern of young women being ignored by authorities after reporting sexual assaults.

“This is why victims don’t come forward” is a phrase that is used when people victim blame victims of rape, sexual abuse, sexual assault and other sex crimes. Normally it’s used by a lot of internet users who are either just downright awful people or are trying to troll, but what happens when the police join in the victim blaming and declare the victim as the suspect and accuses them of making up a false report without any evidence or even attempting to investigate? In the cases of Emma Mannion, Nikki Yovino, Dyanie Bermeo and Megan Rondini (who sadly took her own life) that’s exactly what happened.

Victim/Suspect highlights a few cases where the police didn’t even bother to look at the case whether they were incompetent, biased due to the suspect’s connections or just flat out didn’t want to investigate, it’s a documentary that will absolutely raise your blood level. Especially since the women were all proven to be telling the truth, the evidence was there the police just could not care less at all.

As far as filmmaking goes the documentary does suffer a bit from being way too overproduced, a documentary like this doesn’t need to be huge in scale. Some of the best documentaries are often very simple nothing flashy or anything along those lines needed at all.

Then there’s the large focus on the journalism rather than the victims of police corruption, while Rachel De Leo’s reporting is undeniably really great and she should be given her flowers. Focusing on the journalism and true crime rather than letting the victims tell more of their story really does not make too much sense when your documentary is called Victim/Suspect.

I still however do recommend giving Victim/Suspect a look, it might not be as powerful as it could have been. But I still think it’s an very important viewing.

Victim/Suspect is available on Netflix.

6/10 C+

Dead Hot is laughably fake.

Vanessa Hudgens and GG Magree embark on a journey to Salem, where they learn about witchcraft, ghost hunting and connecting with the spirit world.

If I had a nickel for every former Disney star that was in some weird supernatural/conspiracy type of movie or show I would have two nickels, that might not be much but it’s very weird that it happened twice. (First being that Demi Lovato UFO show)

Jokes aside I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to say here, Dead Hot is basically one of those ghost hunter shows you would have watched back in the early 2000s when they were popular. Only somehow this is even less believable, Vanessa Hudgens and GG Magree learning about ghost hunting and witchcraft could be a fun idea. But a lot of this is so bare bones and really doesn’t tell the viewer anything at all, if you know anything about ghost hunting you won’t be learning anything new here. If you want to learn about ghost hunting you are better off watching any other program about it.

As far as filmmaking goes there really isn’t a lot to talk about here, the filming is fine enough but a lot of it is just not natural which is a bit strange given that it’s a documentary. It doesn’t have that organic type feel instead it has a very manufactured feel which takes away any of the believability (not that it had any to begin with) it might of had.

Dead Hot is available on Tubi.

2/10 F

Living With Chucky is a straightforward documentary about The Child’s Play series.

Filmmaker Kyra Elise Gardner explores the enduring appeal of the `Child’s Play’ franchise and its iconic killer doll Chucky.

Living With Chucky is a documentary discussing the Child’s Play franchise while also discussing horror in general.

The documentary talks about each of the films in order of release (although it discusses Child’s Play III for about 3 minutes), a lot of what is talked about however is very surface level and a lot of common knowledge so if you are a huge fan and aware of the history of the series you aren’t going to get a whole lot out of this.

What makes the documentary great however is who’s interviewed from Brad Dourif and his daughter Fiona Dourif, to Jennifer Tilly, Marlon Waynes, Lin Shaye, Alex Vincent, John Waters, James A. Janisse (creator of the Dead Meat YouTube channel), Don Mancini himself and many others. Each of them really have something to contribute and it’s really interesting to hear their perspectives of the franchise over the years.

Especially with the cast and crew of the Chucky series, hearing Don Mancini talk very passionately about the series he created and has been involved with the series since the beginning is truly inspiring. The father and daughter bond Brad and Fiona have is truly charming and really shows how much fun they have working together.

That could honestly be said about the rest of the cast as well, even when Child’s Play as a series had it’s low points the films always seemed like the cast and crew were having a blast and that really shows here. They see each other as family at this point and are there for one another, it’s quite touching and genuinely beautiful to listen to how much they connect with one another.

Living With Chucky might have a lot of common knowledge but I will say if you are just now getting into the series this is a very decent way to start. Even if you are a huge fan there’s still the charm of the documentary that is definitely worth checking out!

Living With Chucky is available on Screambox.

7/10 B

Wildcat is a powerful documentary about second chance.

Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, a former soldier develops a bond with a baby ocelot in the jungles of Peru.

I went into Wildcat expecting a very straightforward documentary about wild cats but instead it ended up being something quite fascinating. The documentary follows Harry a young British veteran who got back from Afghanistan who is struggling with PTSD he meets Samantha an American scientist where they both foster baby Ocelots. The first bit of the documentary is about an Ocelot named Khan who sadly suffers from a tragic fate which completely destroys Harry emotionally, then the rest of the documentary follows another Ocelot named Keanu. The way Harry’s PTSD is connected to his love for these animals is truly gut wrenching at times, there’s moments where he completely breaks down and describes what he saw in Afghanistan that completely destroyed him. He also deals with self-harm saying he wants to be happy and that Samantha (the founder of the non-profit organization that helps these animals) plus Keanu makes him happy. It’s truly heartbreaking seeing Harry in pain, luckily he really helps Keanu get released back into the wild. Wildcat is a such a beautiful documentary that’s also really heartbreaking as well, Harry really pours his heart into Keanu even when he’s at his lowest point mentally, being alone in the jungle for a long period of time could most definitely affect someone’s mental health especially given Harry’s PTSD and suicidal thoughts. As far as filmmaking goes the documentary is beautiful, the jungle is truly wonderful to look at, the many close up shots are personal and add so much power to the documentary. Despite some of the heavy topics discussed in the documentary, it leaves as a very hopeful one, the documentary leaves the viewer with this inspiring and pretty satisfying energy that really matches the film. At it’s core the documentary is very heartwarming, it gave both Harry and Keanu a second chance to adapt and come out on top.

Wildcat is available on Amazon Prime Video.

9/10 A