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kilesm
Reviews
Unlocking the Mystery of Life (2003)
Dreadful propaganda, an embarrassment and unconstitutional!
As a genuine student of science and a high school teacher, I feel that this video is not only an abomination for even being considered to be listed in the same category as a science text - but it is also the sort of dangerous propaganda that resulted in the Scopes trial and the recent Dover, Pa. case. Nonsense like "Unlocking the Mystery of Life" is intolerable in the face of efforts to educate young people towards historical let alone scientific progress.
The mis-representation of Darwin is laughable; the selection of easily-debunked theories are not only able to be countered by anyone with access to online documents on his work but also the weight of millions of texts in the sciences. Fossils, fossils, fossils!
Probably the only possible use (beyond a coaster for a glass!) this glossy smarm has is to be shown as a teaching tool in legal studies classes as misrepresentation of facts! Behe was quite effectively shown as completely wrong in the documentary "The Root of All Evil" and I'd suggest that as a better text for people studying the claims of intelligent design rather than spend a cent on this product.
Intelligent design is narrow-minded religious indoctrination in new packaging. It was rightfully thrown out by the government of the USA and when Illustra Media insultingly produces inaccurate trash like this "pseudo-documentary" (akin to the hilariously illogical and New Age UFO cult-produced "What the Bleep..."), they are promoting poor standards of critical thinking and potentially making a child's understanding of science a laughing-stock when they attend classes in any state.
Do your sons and daughter's future a favor - encourage accurate and investigative attitudes towards the real world by showing them ACTUAL science documentaries like Sagan's "Cosmos", "Walking with Dinosaurs", "The Living Planet" and other series by David Attenborough - leave religious belief for the religious education forums, whatever you may choose that to involve.
Certainly adults have NO right to mis-educate the next generation by touting this absurd farce of pseudo-science in the science classroom, as aptly demonstrated by the Snopes and Dover trials. A voice of opposition was _indeed_ heard in those cases and rightfully shot down as unconstitutional. Let this stance for justice be maintained by refusing "Unlocking the Mystery of Life" any of your precious viewing time.
My only regret is that I cannot give this polished piece of excretion zero stars, as I would if I could.
The Good Woman of Bangkok (1991)
Gritty documentary - not fictional, based on O'Rourke's travels.
I worry that this documentary is seen to be fictional - it certainly isn't. O'Rourke traveled to Bangkok and built up a relationship with "Aoi", which started as merely client-prostitute and ended with O'Rourke (as you can hear in the documentary) offering to get her out of the situation Aoi seems to feel is her destiny - poverty, prostitution and eventual death by AIDS.
This is the foul side of the Asia tourist trade, with unflinching shots of the bar life, what the women face and even hidden camera shots of a child clearly being taken away to cater for the desires of paying client/s. As a documentary, it is horrifying yet so totally engaging as you hear Aoi's tale (as she talks to a mirror in the hotel room of O'Rourke as she couldn't face the camera to tell her sad story) and view the cinema verité hand-held style of O'Rourke as he makes the viewer face what depths people will go to to survive and be pleasured. Certainly not for the young but certainly will make you think.