Nestle makes Dasani brand bottled water and sources their water in California.  They have no intention of slowing down.

No one is, and if they were, I and many of Mike's friends would be vehemently against it.  Let me do my best to explain why.

The hard truth is that Mike is simply in no position to be able to legally consent to being filmed or photographed.  For someone to do so, and I mean ANYONE including his own family, would be in really poor taste at this juncture.  Mike is in daily therapy, and while the progress he has made has been extraordinary and inspiring, he still has a long way to a full recovery.  If you know Mike personally, you know that he's a relatively modest guy.  I have to believe that if he was in a position to make his wishes clear, he wouldn't want this part of his recovery made public. 

I don't mean to be a downer or anything.  Mike has kicked ass, and will continue to do so.  But filming his journey wouldn't serve his best wishes at all.

I completely dropped the ball on the recipe's, and my sincere bad on that.  It's written, I just need to email them out.

It's impossible to say what Avengers 3 will look like.  I will say that the Russo Bros. impressed the hell out of me on Cap 2 and if there's anyone remotely possible of replacing Joss, it's them.  One advantage they'll have on Infinity Gauntlet that Joss won't have?  Two movies.  The first cut of AoU was a gnats ass under three hours.  I am DYING to see that cut because I suspect it might satisfy my only quibble with the film, which was a smidgen of unevenness.  It wasn't that it was bad, I just wanted way more of the good stuff, which got a bit rushed under all the velocity the story maintained.

Bethany = awesome.  Spider = awesome.  Evans = FINALLY Cap.  RDJ = most openly PTSD superhero cinema has ever seen, and I'm fascinated by that.  There's a lot to really like about AoU.  I look forward to the future, and I doubt Whedon is completely done with Marvel U.  Although, the current rumor is that Disney is lobbying him hard for another rather large franchise they now own.  If that's the case, light speed, buddy.

I didn't find it mean spirited.  When you lay the facts bare, they're pretty damning.  I think Gibney...is Ginney.  Which is TJ. Say, he's technically masterful but essentially one note.  He's never quite hit the high mark of Enron and while this film is solid, it's got a very solid book as framework.  What works best here is all the footage of Scientology meetings that do more damage than anything Marty Rathbun can.

Probably the Tao Te Ching.  I grappled mightily with existential questions around age 12, and simply wasn't finding answers I needed.  I was a bit lonely and aloof in my prepubescence.  When I was 13 I was playing a ton of tabletop RPG's and one of them was a Martial Arts themed game where your character class was essentially your style.  I first learned of Taosim from that and got curious enough to check out the Tao Te Ching at my library.  Suddenly, all those questions that churned inside me started to settle.  Not because the book had any answers.  It was because the book was basically....fuck answers.  Learning to find peace and stillness in surrendering the human need to assert control was immensely liberating.  It informed my world view then, as it does now.

If you could be any religion for a day, what would it be?

So now for my actual thoughts in the Announcement.  I'm normally verbose to a fault so I'll keep this brief. 

I was a good editor before I became a friend in your head.  I am far better at what I do now, in no small part because of this.  More than that though, this podcast has solidified friendships that will last me my lifetime.  I was friends with Trey when we started but the rest of the DIF/WAYDM family is exactly that, they're family to me.   I've been so stupidly lucky to have such wonderful people in my life as both friends and collaborators.  My 4 year old loves his Aunt Cloe and Uncle "Teeth," and you guys, this forum, have literally heard of his growth in real time.  While I'm sad to see FIYH in it's current iteration come to an end, I know that the relationships I've formed are anything but over, and at the end of the day, like Teague said, it's act of doing for the sake of doing that matters the most.

By hte way, Teague.  You.  You are a goddamned inspiration.  I stand in awe of your brain, your work ethic and most of all, your aggressive, in your face fucking KINDNESS.  You are the most decent guy I know.  I was honored when you asked me to be a part of this, and you've been nothing but supportive the entire time I've known you.  You are an entrenched part of my life, so get used to it, sucker.  Thank you for the totality of THIS.

And yeah...Documentality will live on.  Why?  Because you all have inspired me.  You all motivate me.  And like I said in our 1 year anniversary show, this podcast and this community filled the cinematic gap that was created when my father passed.  The film club we started was reincarnated when this community came into my life.  So for now, until the end of my days, I shall forever be...your friend (in your head).

Y'all are beuatiful.  I just got home from some fights and am a little drunk so I won't spill my guts here, but the love you guys have for the podcasts and this community writ large is humbling.  I'll post a longer thing later but in the meantime....thank you all.

I was JUST about to type Dogma 95, but Doc Sub beat me to it.  Same goes with a film like Barry Lyndon.  Incredible cinematic technique in a film that is mostly one camera lock offs.  It's like saying, "well there's twice as many cuts in film x versus film y, so film x is better edited."  Hogwash.  Again, and man I'm kinda gonna sound dickish saying this, but I think watching a wider variety of docs will benefit your understanding of what Directing actually, IS. 

Gates of Heaven
Vernon, Florida
The War Room
My Brothers Keeper

Those are four docs off the top of my head that have a minimalist style, but immense skill.

I don't think I could disagree with you more if the Hadron Collider created a whole pocket universe that housed all infinite disagreement..  And I'm sorry to say this, but criticizing a director's efforts because "the subject sells itself," is incredibly ignorant of the process and lazy in and of itself.  I wish I had half the balls she had.  Every time her camera turned on, she ran the risk of being arrested.  Every time she boarded a plane, every time she sent an email, she had the spectre of arrest hanging over her.  I found the film the opposite of bland, and the fact that she managed to weave in a bit of a love story is impressive of itself. 

To be this reductive of a film that has a very deft directorial hand is something else.

I am very fond of Blade 2.  Everything from the tone to the fight choreography just work.  Blade 3 does very little  for me.  Feels largely inert.  I could watch Blade 1 again but I wouldn't run to it.

BTW, Hedwig's haircut after that scene is fucking FIERCE.