Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

This biographical documentary about Joan Rivers is absolutely inspiring. She is a force to be reckoned with. The film follows her ups and downs as she pushed past barriers in her past and continues to do so today. She is a constant workaholic. If you feel like sitting on your butt watching a movie, after this documentary you will feel inspired to get up off the couch and make something of yourself.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations is a really great travel show that has humor, cooking, and adventure. Anthony's humor is straight and to the point. He is the guy that says what everyone is thinking. Needless to say he does not hold back. It makes for a very fun experience as well as a truly honest portrayal of life in all sorts of exotic and extreme places.

Pregnant in America

Pregnant in America is a really intimate look at one couple's pregnancy.  It follows the hopes and fears of this filmmaker and his wife as they go through a home birth.  It is really a beautiful look at the process of starting a family and all the choices that one makes along the way.  Many interviews with midwives, doctors, mothers, and experts in this field give the viewer wonderful information as well. A really emotional documentary that left me quite touched.

This is Spinal Tap

This is Spinal Tap is a classic worth seeing again.  This is the film that was quoted all through my high school and college years. Such wonderful lines as: "Well, this piece is called 'Lick My Love Pump,' and  "I mean, people should be envying us, you know?"  And let's not forget that wonderful scene discussing the volume on the amp... "It goes to 11."  This movie will bring back wonderful memories.  Or if you've never seen it, there's no time like the present to catch up with the rest of us.

The Winning Season is a really a great independent film that should not be overlooked. Sam Rockwell's performance is funny, tragic and very touching. It is not your typical sports story, and yet has many of those same heroic moments without becoming cheesy or over the top. The relationships are at the heart of this movie and it makes for great storytelling.

Confessions of a Superhero

This documentary is simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking. It's impossible not to be cracked up by this colorful cast of characters.  It's also impossible not to feel a deep pang of pathos for these quixotic dreamers who travel a road less travelled.

Take Home Chef

This is such a fun twenty minute show! In each episode a women is surprised at the grocery store by a handsome Australian chef. He offers to go home with her and cook her a gourmet meal. It has everything: culinary insight, comedic suprises, and a cute Aussie! 50 episodes of fun that will leave you dressing up the next time you go to get groceries.

Colony

Because Mondays aren't depressing enough, today we suggest Colony, a beautiful and tragic look at the relationship between bees and their farmers. It follows the struggle of colony collapse and the uncertain future of the bees. This documentary is really informative and intimate in its demonstration of the beekeeper's tales of desperation.

Practical Magic

Practical Magic is a fun love story about witches. It is harder and harder to find stories about women banding together and empowering one another – this is one that manages to do that and also incorporates whimsy and fun.

Freakonomics

Freakonimics is a really quirky documentary looking at the world through economic eyes, and will change the way you view time and energy. Also? Surprisingly funny and entertaining.

Shutter Island

Is Friday movie night?  Then here is a perfect choice for you.  Shutter Island is a haunting psychological thriller. The story is filled with plot twists and reveals. This is really an entertaining film that will keep you guessing. Martin Scorsese nods to film noir and the thriller genre, and follows in the footsteps of Hitchcock with this one.

King of Crown

King of Crown is a really ridiculous TV show following a training school for beauty pageant contestants. It has really fun characters who all believe they are deserving of a crown: drama queens, southern belles, and divas. If you want an intimate view of pageants this is your show.

Oceans

Ah, Wednesday.  Half way through the week.  The perfect time to mellow out with this cool, crisp, relaxing documentary about the largest gulp of water on the planet. Oceans is a beautiful exploration of the great creatures under the sea. I was amazed by the images of animals that I had never seen before. It is beautifully shot, narrated, and quite informative.

Frontline: College Inc.

Frontline expose on how for-profit colleges could be scamming tax payers and selling false dreams.  This documentary is quite thorough in its examination of the online university system.  Really informative way to spend an hour and definitely not to be missed if you or anyone you know are thinking of going back to College.

The Verdict

The Verdict is one of the great courtroom dramas.  It has intrigue, scandal, and one big bonus: Paul Newman!  The story follows an ambulance chasing lawyer on his last leg climb his way back into a courtroom and discover why he loves the law.  If you like movies like The Rainmaker, Philadelphia, and A Few Good Men, you will enjoy The Verdict.