tyboulder

This is a pretty simple documentary, using mostly sit down interviews and uploaded video. But by simple I'm not knocking it... simple in this case works well, as it's sort of an essay on the history and current state of cats in pop culture through the eye of the internet. It's an upbeat, bright film, with nice people and lots of really cute cats. It's a good documentary for when you want something happy, laidback and fun.

The user reviews here really surprised me though. All but two or three called the cast of cats great, and the cast of humans awful, terrible manipulators totally "taking advantage of the system." A few people singled out Bubs' owner as the only altruistic character in the film-but if we're going to be hyper judgmental and God-like in our criticism, he also displayed some hypocrisy, virtue signaling and industry gatekeeping himself.

My point, however, is that no one profiled in this film was a monster, or an abuser of cats, or a truly evil, corporate-style machine. They all love their cats and none of them are seem to be trying to "farm" entertainment (which is something that does go on). You could argue that a couple cat Instagrammers weren't quite as "noble" as the rest-maybe the morbidly obese cat and the cat made to dress up in drag-but good grief people, of all the horrible forces at play on IG in search of profit, we're hardly looking at the worst offenders.

If someone is able to make some money on IG by making content people like with their cat, great! As the movie clearly stated, that's not easy to do. So much envy and so many holier-than-thou comments... It's as if no one rated this documentary for it merits as a film, but rated the cats at 10 and the humans at 1, averaging these two irrelevant facts (related to the movie's rating) at a 5-which is the score most reviewers gave out. If I was the director or someone who worked on the film I'd be upset by that. And if I was a cat owner, I'd be embarrassed to see the trite and worn out stereotypes about cat owners being so strongly reinforced across the board.

Anyway, it was a fun movie. If you're on the fence I'd say give it a watch. These reviews don't even represent the movie itself for the most part. I'm not even the biggest cat fan, and I liked it...so if you kitties, give it a watch.

This is a well executed look into a few Instagram user's past (and still evolving) relationship with Instagram. It provides insight into many of the trends, motivations and pitfalls associated with what is actually a very complex topic-people's social lives, self-edited and put on display for the world to see in near real-time.

It would've been much easier for the director to have made a cynical, Dateline-styled expose that piggybacks off all the easy, negative stereotypes and horror stories that people love to see tried in the (absurdly hypocritical) "court of public opinion." But instead, this documentary works hard at trying to tell full stories, with both the good and the bad.

If you're a parent you'll come away from this better educated than you started out, and in a far more realistic way than if this were a cheap hit piece. I think the same can be said for the generation of kids they're profiling. It seems to build a legitimate consensus of ideas and opinions. What it did leave out are users above the age of 21 and the business side of Instagram (both as a company and its advertisers). The idea of Instagram users becoming "sponsored" or trying to make money off their fame is covered, but not from the point of view of businesses (which would be another film anyway).

What's really interesting to me are the low scores for this film. (As of early May 2019.) I suspect the blonde (Kaylyn) who *seems* to be living a beautiful, happy-go-lucky life provokes some backlash in the form of jealousy, a topic that's covered in the film. But, I think she was a great casting choice, because she seems like a genuinely decent, open and honest person. Also, "females over 45" (i.e., moms and grandmothers) seem to show a strong dislike for this film, unfortunately mistaking their 1 star rating of the movie as a vote against Instagram.

(Also, had this come across as a planted campaign for Instagram-the way many celebrities and other corporations are using documentaries right now-I would've shut it off.)

This movie is a fascinating collection of opinions and thoughts on the subject of the Brexit vote, delivered straight to the camera from people living in Britain, post-vote. It also adds an interesting mix of "expert" opinion to the end of the film.

I felt this documentary really succeeded at capturing passionate and persuasive opinions from many angles. I really liked this approach. There were people who I agreed with and disagreed with on both sides of the issue. I could also feel my own opinion shift around a bit as I watched.

The film doesn't hide from the complexity of the situation, so as a result many ideas come into play. This makes it more interesting, but it also makes it harder to come to a simple resolution of your own. (Not a bad thing in my opinion.)

The last quote in the film is really interesting. I had to watch it twice to make sure I got it. It reinforced to me the careful approach that the film took-and the priority it made of helping to generate understanding (in place of its agenda or criticisms). Definitely recommended for those interested in the nature of Brexit- and in politics as they exist today.