Movie Monday: Man on Wire

I don't know what it is with me and documentaries lately, but I watched three in the past week, and have probably watched ten in the past month. The big one of last week was Man on Wire. It was a random pick that I think I read about on Roger Ebert's site or something, but I really didn't know much about it until we started watching.

Simply put, it's what documentaries should aim for. The narrative is strung together well and the subject material is exciting and interesting. It tells the story of Phillipe Petit, who's goal is to walk a wire that is strung across the roofs of the World Trade Center towers. Even though the poster (pictured above) gives away the finale, it really doesn't affect the telling of the story which is enthusastically narrated by Petit (he's quite the character).

Now that we have the movie out of the way, I've been wondering what has been drawing me towards documentaries recently. I know that it's easy to become interested in other people's lives, especially if it is something completely different than your own (like in watching Trekkies) or if contains stories about your dreams (like watching Pole to Pole or the Planet Earth series).

So, I guess I answered myself. Fiction is a great way to escape, but sometimes I just like to see what other people are doing with this life thing. I'll see what I can to not watch any documentary stuff this week (aside from working through Pole to Pole) and see if it changes how I view anything.... it won't.