Life and Death

Directed by Steve James, Life itself pays tribute to legendary film critic Roger Ebert. It gives n account of his life and takes us through his life's journey. The audience gets to see how he ended up being a film critic. It also highlights his relationship with the people he worked with, especially Gene Siskel.
What I found most interesting was that most of the b-roll in the documentary consisted of old footage and pictures. The only footage the filmmakers shot were the interviews and anything with Roger Ebert in the hospital or at home. This makes sense because the filmmakers want to take the audience back in the past, in Ebert's past. Besides the old footage the filmmakers use Ebert's newspaper articles also.
It is hard to watch the situation Ebert was in because of his cancer but it is very interesting to see the way he is taking it. Despite being in pain and in a hospital, Ebert seems happy and that is what keeps the film lighthearted despite the hard circumstances he is in. It is balanced out by the laughter and good times he spent with the people he shared his life with, particularly his wife Chaz and the people he worked with.
This documentary also does something that I absolutely love. It takes the audience behind the scenes to some of the things the audience did not know about, specifically behind the scenes of Siskel & Ebert. It shows the relationship Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert had which is something audiences would have never seen unless they got the chance to go behind the scenes. However, what is even surprising is that they argued even more off-screen than thy did on-screen.
Overall, this documentary gives a great account of Roger Ebert's life. It show his life as a film critic, his relationships with the people he worked with and with his family, especially Chaz. But it also reflects his personality through his struggle with cancer in the last few years of his life. From the documentary it can be assumed that Ebert was content with life and died a happy man.

Bad=Good?

The Best Worst Movie was very entertaining. It is so hard to believe that people have made movies like Troll 2 and believe in a story that is basically nonsense. The amount of flaws Troll 2 has is probably equivalent to the amount of dialogues the entire cast has, or probably even more. But this documentary takes us into the present lives of the actors in the film. It shows us how they are doing and how working on Troll 2 has effected their lives. However, what caught my attention in this documentary is that it says something very interesting about our society and our generation.
It seems to be that whatever is bad is good. Despite being a horrible movie, Troll 2 has developed a cult following which has given the film a lot of success in recent years.
What is even more interesting is that at one point the actors realize that it's not everyone that knows about this movie but a certain demographic that enjoys Troll 2 for what it is.
The documentary is also very true to the reality of how the film effected the people involved in the making of the film, specifically the cast. For most of them, Troll 2 ruined their career in acting. It creates a very awkward and funny moments when people talk about how Troll 2 effected them but it is actually the reality of the situation and they are struggling in life because of the film.
What is also noteworthy is that the documentary shows the relationship of the director and the cast. It gives the audience of the documentary a chance to witness what it would have been like for the cast when they were actually Troll 2. The filmmakers do not shy away from the awkward situations at press conferences and other situations where the cast clashes with the director.