By Geo Ong

Now, I was going to write an article about the breathtaking originality of the TNT series Falling Skies or just how great the movie Real Steel looks to me, but instead I thought I’d put the spotlight on three documentary films, either just released or due out in the near future. No 3-D glasses required!

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Directed by Craig McCall

Put my name up there next to Martin Scorsese as, among so many other similarities, someone who loves classic films. Cinematographer Jack Cardiff worked on so many great films during his career, including The Red Shoes, The African Queen, and Black Narcissus, for which he won an Academy Award in 1948. This documentary showcases and celebrates the artistic talent of not only Cardiff but cinematography in theory, such an important aspect of film that doesn’t always receive the praise and attention it deserves.

Life 2.0
Directed by Jason Spingarn-Koff

As many know, the internet can be addicting. (Although psychologists have told me personally that there are no harmful effects from being addicted to the Urchin Movement.) Second Life, an online virtual world where participants essentially build separate fantasy lives, is the subject of Life 2.0, a documentary that follows real Second Life users who’ve gotten caught in its web, sometimes completely ignoring their real life.

Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
Directed by Rodman Flender

They say that certain things in life can make or break you. 2010 seems to have done both to our favourite redhead, Conan O’Brien. After suffering a very public career disappointment, O’Brien effectively reinvented his career, first taking his comedy online before embarking on his very first comedy tour. And while the tour proved a success, from the looks of this documentary, it didn’t look easy.