Higher Ground by Warren Miller

Warren Miller has been the name in big mountain skiing documentaries, well in any skiing documentaries for that matter.  Follow his camera crews as they record some of the most insane skiers and boarders the world over.  Starting in Alaska and touring some of the most famous and less known peaks, Miller’s skiers hit the slopes with style and a sort of free fall that can only be described as  controlled chaos.

The film would be successful if it just showcased the skiing but Warren Miller takes it far beyond that.  This year’s documentary follows Jeremy Bloom the Olympic skier and Philadelphia Eagle’s star as well as portraying the mountains as alive as the person’s skiing them.  There is also a heartwarming juxtaposition between an 85-year-old ski bum and 5-year-old ski whiz.

For ski enthusiasts, scenery watchers, and sports film fans this documentary will not disappoint.

Devil’s Playground by Lucy Walker

Ain’t no party like an Amish party cuz an Amish party don’t stop…really, no joke.  Rumspringa (literally meaning “running around”) is an Amish rite of passage that “refers to a period of adolescence for some members of the Amish that begins around the age of sixteen and ends when a youth chooses baptism within the Amish church or instead leaves the community”.  The Amish do not baptize their children instead the child makes the choice.  During this time of Rumspringa Amish teens can do whatever they want including driving, drinking/drugs, and not attending prayer services, however, they still believe anything done during this time will be judged by God.

The documentary follows several young Amish as they enter Rumspringa.  We see the teens driving, taking drugs, owning cell phones, drinking, and attending HUGE parties.  One teen claims that there is a party every night.  The choice is easier for some than it is for others.  In particular one subject has become a drug addict and dealer.  Another has chosen not to get baptized and life is especially hard for her since she is essentially ostracized from the community.

This film is very interesting since most people think of the Amish as living squeaky clean lives.  The contradiction is shocking so I recommend watching this with friends.  Great documentary!

King of Kong by Seth Gordon & Ed Cunningham

King of Kong is just about the dorkiest movie you’ll ever admit to absolutely loving. You couldn’t find more nerds at an ALA (American Library Association) conference, well, maybe. King of Kong documents underdog Steve Wiebe’s attempt at breaking the world record hi-score in the classic arcade version of Donkey Kong. I told you, huge dorks.

Wiebe Family

Steve Wiebe is a high school teacher, father, husband, hard-working, and all around nice guy with just about the worst luck a guy could have. The current world record holder, Billy Mitchell, has been handed control of a restaurant chain from his parents, is shady, manipulative, and in desperate need of shaving that stupid beard and cutting the 80’s hair. Steve has video-recorded himself (which is standard in the video gaming world) shattering the world record. Normally, that would be good enough, however, Steve was taking on a monolith in the gaming community, Billy. So some of Billy lackeys come to Steve’s house and dismantle his game because they thought he had to be cheating (clearly no one is better than Billy). Steve then tries to face Billy on 3 different occasions, to which Billy makes excuses every time. In one instance they are in the same arcade but Billy won’t sit down and play or even acknowledge Steve’s presence.

Evil in Gaming: Billy Mitchell

King of Kong takes viewers into world they probably knew very little about. You don’t even have to like video games to love this movie, it has the likeable underdog and the evil champion plus a slew of very exotic characters. My personal favorite is Mr. Awesome, you have to see him to believe it. Add this movie to your short list of must see films!

Dogtown and Z-boys by Stacy Perelta

You have to see this movie! Even if you hate skateboarding, hate documentaries, or hate the seventies; you WILL love this movie. Dogtown and Z-boys is the story of a bunch of punk kids from California that lived to surf, however, you can only surf in the morning when the tide is right so this left them with rest of the day to mess around. Soon they began skateboarding as a way to practice surfing. These guys (Z-boys) began a revolution with out knowing it. By mimicking the moves from surfing and applying it to skateboarding the Z-boys created a unique style which ultimately gave birth to skateboarding as we know it. You must check this movie out!

Stacy Perelta, the maker of this documentary, is a Z-boy. He has been surfing and skateboarding for most of his life. He once toured the world displaying his skateboarding talents. Now he is a filmmaker and has also made a documentary, Riding Giants, about surfing.