Everything Nonfiction

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Best of Everything Nonfiction 2019

Here are the best books, films, and documentaries reviewed on Everything Nonfiction this year.

Books

An American Sickness by Elisabeth Rosenthal – A detailed look at our healthcare system.

Denial Written by Deborah E. Lipstadt – A writer is sued for libel by a holocaust denier.

Little Shoes written by Pamela Everett – Part memoir, part true crime, part wrongful conviction story.

Zoo Nebraska written by Carson Vaughan – A behind the scenes look at a roadside zoo and the story of one escaped chimpanzee.

Amity and Prosperity written by Eliza Griswold – A look at the environmental impact of fracking on two small rural Pennsylvania towns.

Charged written by Emily Bazelon – An examination of our broken criminal justice system and the resulting mass incarceration.

Poisoned written by Alan Bell – A memoir of the author’s experience dealing with an environmental poisoning.

The Fifth Risk written by Michael Lewis – The story of the inept Trump administration in the first few months of his term.

What the Eyes Don’t See written by Mona Hanna-Attisha – A memoir from the person who first identified the Flint water crisis.

Dark Money written by Jane Mayer – How a handful of people have shaped American politics, policy, and conspiracies.

The Children’s Blizzard written by David Laskin – Life on the great plains during the early days of weather forecasting and the story of one deadly blizzard.

Lassoing the Sun written by Mark Woods – Twelve national parks in one year.

Films

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind Written by Chiwetel Ejiofor and William Kamkwamba, directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor – A boy in a small African village builds a windmill to help power a water pump.

Hotel Mumbai written by John Collee and Anthony Maras. Directed by Anthony Maras – The 2008 terrorist attack on a hotel in Mumbai.

Apollo11 directed by Todd Douglas Miller – The story of Apollo 11 told through archive footage.

Bryan Banks written by Doug Atchison and directed by Tom Shadyac – A star college football player is convicted of a rape he did not commit.

Midway Written by Wes Tooke and Directed by Roland Emmerich – The Battle of Midway.

The Report written and directed by Scott Z. Burn – Uncovering the truth about enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA in the aftermath of 911.

Dark Waters written by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Mario Correa. Directed by Todd Haynes – A case of chemical pollution by Dupont.

Harriet directed by Kasi Lemons – The story of Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad used to help free slaves.

As is usual this time of year, there are several nonfiction films that have come out or will be out soon that I haven’t yet had a chance to see. But here are some that I am looking forward to seeing:

Ford vs Ferrari
Richard Jewell
Bombshell
Just Mercy
A Beautiful Day in the neighborhood

Documentaries

Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened Directed by Chris Smith – A con man, social media, and the musical festival that never was.

Abducted in Plain Sight directed by Skye Borgman – A kidnapping, a pedophile, religion, and the parents poor choices.

The Devil We Know Directed by Stephanie Soechtig and Jeremy Seifert – Tells the same chemical pollution story as told in the film Dark Waters.

American Factory Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Rechert – A look what happens when a Chinese company opens a factory in the U.S. and the culture clash that occurs.

One Child Nation – The devastating impact of China’s one child policy.

Docuseries

The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann Directed by Chris Smith – A look at the Madeleine McCann case.

Confession Tapes Season Two – False confessions

Exhibit A – This four-episode series tells stories of wrongful convictions that are the result of questionable forensics.

I Love You, Now Die written and directed by Erin Lee Carr – A two-part docuseries that looks at the manslaughter case against Michelle Carter, the seventeen-year-old accused of encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide through text messages.

Free Meek – A five-part docuseries covering Meek Mill’s interactions with a punishing, unfair probation system.

Inside Bill’s Brain – Catching up with Bill Gates’ philanthropical endeavors.

The Devil Next Door Directed by Yossi Bloch and Daniel Silvan – Was John Demjanjuk the murderous Ivan the Terrible, who worked the gas chambers at the Nazi death camp Treblinka, or was he a victim of misidentification? That’s the question at the center of this five-part Netflix documentary series.

Don’t F**K With Cats written and directed by Mark Lewis – An unbelievable tale of using the Internet to track down a psychopath.

Docudrama

John Adams – A seven episode miniseries starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. Besides offering an excellent history lesson on the birth of our nation, this series shows that political discord has been a part of politics from the very beginning.

The Loudest Voice – The rise and fall of Roger Ailes.

The Hot Zone – Based on the book The Hot Zone, which is about Ebola.

When They See Us – The wrongful conviction story of the Central Park Five.

Chernobyl – The how and why of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

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Review of Don’t F**K With Cats

Review of Don’t F**K WIth Cats written and directed by Mark Lewis
Rating *****

I was first drawn to this docuseries by the premise: a group of individuals forms a Facebook group to track down and identify the perpetrator of an animal cruelty video. What transpires over three episodes is a compelling story full of twists and turns that I did not see coming.

I’ve read or heard about other stories involving people using the Internet to help solve crimes and locate missing people. I have used the Internet myself to track down people I wanted to interview. In one case, I had the help of a Facebook pro who helped me locate someone who had no digital footprint. This person found who I was looking for by tracking down the man’s son. In another case, I was the subject of some Internet sleuths. It turns out that I had a close connection to an individual arrested for murder.

So, I had a keen interest in hearing how these people went about their digital detective work. The internet sleuths first dissect the video looking for clues. Despite the perpetrator’s efforts to conceal his identity, the videos he uploads contain clues: a wall socket, a vacuum cleaner, posters, a blanket. Each piece of evidence leads them closer to their target. They are a determined bunch. Just when you think the story is going one way, there is a revelation that takes the story in a whole other direction.

The filmmakers tell their story through a combination of interviews, computer graphics, Google map images, surveillance videos, and, eventually, videos of the subject in question. It’s fast-paced, suspenseful, and as compelling as it gets.

There is one part of this story, though, that I felt could have used a little more investigating. It has to do with Manny. The filmmakers cover this topic and conclude that he is a fabrication. I have some doubts about that conclusion. There are three clues concerning Manny that I believe are unresolved. One, the first video clearly shows that a second person was present during the filming. The surveillance video of Luka walking out of his apartment shows him holding what looks like a video cartridge. And lastly, there is the episode involving Luka being beaten and left naked on the beach. Is it plausible that he spent a year-and-a-half setting up this fictional Manny so he could bring him out at some future date?

Don’t miss this one.

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Review of Dark Waters

Review of Dark Waters written by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Mario Correa. Directed by Todd Haynes
Rating *****

I’m a fan of those who expose wrongdoing, whether that be in print, documentary, or film. In the case of Dark Waters, the wrongdoings of chemical giant Dupont have led to treatments in all three formats. Regardless of who is telling the story or in what format, the conclusions are the same: Dupont is responsible for manufacturing and selling a product harmful to humans. More egregious is the fact that Dupont continued to profit off of this product even though they knew it was dangerous.

The product in question is Teflon and similar products, such as waterproof flooring and Scotchguard. Imagine that we were to learn that microwave ovens caused cancer, but manufacturers of microwave ovens hid that information from the public and continued to sell the product because the profits were too significant to relinquish. That is what Dupont did with its chemical PFOA, also known as C-8.

Everyone associated with this film should be proud of their efforts. They took a complex story that took years from beginning to resolution and turned it into an entertaining expose of corporate greed and government malfeasance.

I first learned of this story after watching the documentary The Devil We Know, which I reviewed on this site. I highly recommend that you watch the documentary as a companion piece to this film. Both will leave you outraged.

Mark Ruffalo, who plays lawyer Robert Bilott, shows that you don’t have to be a superhero to accomplish great things. He gives an understated performance that lets the story evolve without trying to win an award through angry theatrics. The one outburst of indignation in the film comes not from Mark Ruffalo’s character but from Tim Robbins, who plays the head of the law firm that goes after Dupont. I couldn’t help while watching Tim Robbins in that scene that he wasn’t acting; he was showing how he felt about the facts uncovered not just in that scene but in the film as a whole.

Dark Waters tells an important story relevant to all of us. Even today, considering all that we know and have learned about the harmful effects of PFOAs, the Trump EPA refuses to set safety guidelines on how much PFOAs are safe in drinking water. The answer is that no amount of the chemical is safe, but the cost to cities and communities whose drinking water have been contaminated would be astronomical. So the EPAs solution is to avoid setting a guideline at all.

See the film and watch the documentary. You won’t be disappointed.

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The Report Quicktake

The Report written and directed by Scott Z. Burns
Rating *****

A few years ago the film Spotlight won an Oscar for best picture. I put this film in the same league as that picture. Both films cover investigations into wrongdoing. In the case of The Report, the wrongdoing is state sponsored torture by our own CIA.

While Spotlight involved a team of investigative journalists, this story has one determined individual undergoing the investigation. Working for Senator Dianne Feinstein, played by Annette Bening, Daniel Jones, played by Adam Driver, spends five years going through millions of pages of documents to uncover the truth of both the torture and the attempts to cover up the actions of the CIA.

I can remember at the time the claims by the Bush/Cheney administration that the enhanced interrogation of detainees resulted in actionable intelligence. The claims were false.

This film shows that a good story and acting can beat any super hero movie. Adam Driver gives an Oscar worthy performance. I would also nominate the script.

You can stream The Report right now on Amazon Prime.

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Review of Lassoing the Sun

Review of lassoing the Sun by Mark Woods
Rating ****

In August of 2016, my wife and I visited Yellowstone National Park. We didn’t know it when we planned the trip, but our visit coincided with the one-hundredth anniversary of the National Park Service. We found the experience to be so profound that we decided that every vacation from that point on would be to a different National Park. The book Lassoing the Sun was published to also coincide with the one-hundredth anniversary of the Park Service. The idea was for the author to visit a different National Park each month for a year.

The resulting book is not a travel guide or a must-see list of the top National Parks in the country. Instead, it’s a memoir of sorts where the author describes the past, present, and future of the National Park Service while also delving into his family history.

I won’t go into detail about each of the National Parks the author visits. The descriptions of the Parks themselves were minimal. Big Bend National Park, for example, seemed to be more of an afterthought on a drive across the country. The best moments in the book involve the author’s interactions with the people he meets along the way: Park Rangers, Park Superintendents, and fellow visitors.

If there is a message in the book, it’s that our National Parks are best experienced with others. As one person described it, “When you go into a new land or foreign place, your senses are heightened.” I can remember almost every minute of our trip to Yellowstone. The sights and memories of that visit are seared into my brain. The fact that I shared that experience with my wife makes it an even more special place.

My one complaint about the book was the lack of images. How can you write about National Parks and not include one or two pictures of the places you visited?

Note: The two images gracing the home page of this website were taken on this year’s visit to King Canyon National Park. The featureed image in this post was taken on our trip to Yellowstone.

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Review of Midway

Written by Wes Tooke and Directed by Roland Emmerich
Rating *****

I almost didn’t see this film because of the negative reviews. I knew something was amiss when I saw a 42% critic rating and 92% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Bottom line – The critics were wrong.

Midway is a must-see film, especially for anyone interested in WWII. The battle scenes are spectacular. This film had a 100 million dollar budget, and every penny is up on the screen. Mix in some archival footage that doesn’t look like archival footage, and you have an accurate portrayal of what it must have been like to witness these events.

While the battle of Midway is the highlight, the filmmakers spend plenty of time setting up the events leading to this pivotal air campaign. It was all about the aircraft carriers. The Japanese dealt the U.S. a severe blow when they attacked Pearl Harbor, expertly recreated here. But they didn’t get all of our aircraft carriers. If the Japanese were able to take out the remaining carriers, they would have a significant advantage in the war. Similarly, if the Americans were able to take out a few of the Japanese aircraft carriers, they would gain the advantage.

I’m not sure what the critics disliked. I read one review where the reviewer complained about banal dialogue. As one of the characters says in the film, “that’s cowboy bullshit.” I remember the critics gushing over Dunkirk, mostly because of who directed it. I hated that movie. See this movie on the big screen. You won’t be disappointed.