Fun Docs

[wesfau2]

I don't mean the ones that will dispense Lortabs like Pez or write you a weed 'scrip.  I watched the following documentaries recently and thought some of you idiots might enjoy them:

The Bill Murray Stories:  Murray has a rep for showing up in the most unexpected, anti-Hollywood, Joe Sixpack situations...and this is the chronicle of those tales.  It starts as a test of urban legend but ends as an exploration into the motives of a superstar.

I can't recommend this one enough.  Even if all you take away is a sliver of the excitement that each story's narrator experiences, it's totally worth it.

Perfect Bid:  The tale of a guy who watched waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much The Price is Right.  Ultimately, it seems that the film's primary subject was demonized for his singular focus.  Hollywood got lazy in their show production by recycling prizes and they had to give a bunch of pricey prizes away and that made them angry.

Murder Mountain: the nasty side of the weed business in the Emerald Triangle.  Crooked/Incompetent/Indifferent/Understaffed cops (you get to choose) face the struggle of enforcing unpopular laws in an area notorious for its rejection of law.  A once peaceful hippy commune becomes a bombed out warzone and folks start dying.

[wesfau2]

Watched a couple more over the last couple of days:

The Bundy Tapes, about Ted, obviously, and told largely through his own words.  I vaguely remember the Bundy execution, but most of my knowledge of him and his crimes has been gleaned from tv/movies.

The rap has always been how handsome and charming he was.  I guess he was a better-than-average looking guy, but any "charm" he used on his victims was spent by the time he got in front of the documentary camera.  He was insufferable in stuffing words he didn't really understand into conversations that were really just his stream of consciousness run amok. 

I see why his LSAT grades were disappointing.  Any self-respecting sociopath ought to be able to swing a 145...minimum.


Abducted in Plain Sight.  Holy balls were these parents dumber than dogshit.  I can't believe the FBI (or other appropriate law enforcement) never stepped in and removed the other children from their care.  The deference to the wishes/desires of a 12-14 year old was shocking and I wonder if the parents were too compromised to draw a line or if they truly thought they were powerless.

I think the larger story here is how this all played out in a largely (though only obliquely mentioned) LDS community and in the wake of (or concurrently with, I suppose) Berchtold's official reprimand by the church for his inappropriate behavior.  Then, the buried lede in all of it was that B spent 1 year in prison for raping a child.  That wasn't mentioned until just before the credits rolled.  WTF?

[Kaos]

Watched the Bundy Tapes as well. 

I remember Bundy's reign of horror fairly well.  What he pulled off in that (not really that long ago) period would be impossible today.  Innovations in surveillance, data collection/sharing and social media would prevent him (most likely) from melding into various different communities.  

Things that freaked me out a little.  1) I was in Utah recently and it's a marvelous place.  Highly recommend visiting there if you get the chance.  Wile I was there I had several days between project meetings so I explored some of the canyons, mountainous roads and trails.  I did not know I was trudging around in his old dumping ground.  2) I forgot he was captured in Pensacola and his next target was Mobile.  Many of the girls he killed were about the same ages as my daughters and I can easily imagine them willingly helping a nice, polite young man in a cast and on crutches with his books, packages or whatever.  

I didn't think the documentary was done particularly well.  They had more than 100 hours of tape.  I wish we'd heard more of that and less of the various people's reactions to the occasional snippets they played.  

When he lowered his voice and began to describe the killings in cold rational detail?  That was pretty spooky but they only gave you a bare taste of it before snatching it away.  

I want to get into the psychopathy of him, Gacy and others.  I want to know what drives them a click or two off the norm.  I could see glimpses of people I know in the behavior of Bundy.  I could see certain people on this board in them.  And I wonder what keeps me, you, them from acting on the impulses rather than surrendering to them.