Originally published December 2015

The other day I felt like watching a movie and learning something at the same time. A strange concept, I know, but Netflix happened to have two documentaries available for streaming that had come out within the past year. Both applied to subjects that interested me. Thus I decided to watch the documentaries: The Hacker Wars (2014) and Soaked in Bleach (2015).

Since these are documentaries, there's less talk about in terms of their quality, as it should be more about their content and subject matter. But I'll review them as films anyway, dammit! Besides, neither one is perfect.

The Hacker Wars

I'm casually computer savvy, but far from being capable of coding, let alone hacking. Nonetheless, the idea has always seemed intriguing to me and I enjoy learning about technological design and how a piece of technology, be it physical or digital, could be dissected. This film isn't about harmless tinkering, though. It's about the morality of individuals who hack corporations and government agencies, as well as the morality of the court decisions against those individuals who get caught. At least, that's what the documentary claims.

Pros

• Intriguing subject matter that raises a lot of questions

• This film ends up being a mandatory watch for anyone who's concerned about their privacy and their rights in America

• Taught me things I didn't know about people who hacked, got arrested, and were imprisoned

Cons

• Tries too hard to be entertaining and appealing to younger or short-attention-span audiences with all the music and graphics

• Not as informative as it could have been

• Idolizes hackers more than necessary

• One-sided argument

• Music choice was annoying (lots of dubstep)

Additional Thoughts

I'm fine with filmmakers trying to make a documentary more interesting or entertaining because sometimes the subject matter or presentation can drag down the pacing of the movie. An example of a documentary that managed to take a rather boring subject matter but still held my attention due to its snappy editing and clever interviews is Inequality for All. It's a documentary about something as boring and complicated as economic science and manages to make it both digestible and interesting. The Hacker Wars isn't boring, but it takes unnecessary liberties with its imagery, sound, and editing to discuss a topic, with which many people might be more familiar.

I often felt the need to mute the documentary just to get through segments because the music was so much louder than the interviews. And because it was dubstep. If you like dubstep, maybe this will help hold your attention, but for me, it was a hindrance.

I actually almost turned the movie off midway through because the ratio between information and edgy artistry was such an uneven number. When I watch a documentary, entertainment is lower on the priority list. I obviously still wanted to be entertained, or I wouldn't be watching a movie, but what I want most is to be educated and informed by the film. Finally, after they had finished introducing all their main hackers and decided to get to the f***ing point, the movie became more tolerable and informative.

It still didn't provide as much information as it could have and was a rather one-sided affair. Many of the people who were interviewed were young hackers themselves and members of various online communities. They all tended to share a similar opinion, as well as a similar vernacular. Occasionally this was broken up by the more eloquent philosophy professor or former NSA whistleblower who could articulate their point through meaningful examples without using the word "like" 50 times in a sentence. That isn't to say the hackers were not intelligent or sharp in their statements; a lot of what they had to say was very interesting and I agree with many of their opinions. I just wish that we had spent more time hearing both sides of the story, with more information provided about the issue (sans dubstep), and less time idolizing the hacker superheroes and villains.

TL;DR (Conclusion)

Despite how annoying The Hacker Wars got, and how it kind of missed an opportunity to really inform its audience, it still ended up being a film that I recommend people watch, if only for the sake of the issue itself. If you are concerned about your civil liberties, your freedom, and your privacy in the USA today, then you should watch this movie to at least inform yourself of how easily your information can be stolen and how little you are protected.

Soaked in Bleach

I'm a fan of Nirvana. I've been a fan since I first started listening to them and attempted to play their songs on guitar as a kid. Like any fan, I wonder what would have happened if Kurt Cobain had lived through the 90s and continued to make music. I also am willing to believe that his "suicide" is not as black and white as it was originally portrayed. Soaked in Bleach is about the events leading up to his death and how the conspiracy theorists who believed that his wife of the time, Courtney Love, might have had something to do with it.

Pros

• Solid production values

• Easy to follow

• Raises questions about inept law enforcement and the impact the media has on perception

• Actress who plays Courtney Love in the reenactments is very convincing

Cons

• Tries to entertain with needless, sometimes awkward, reenactments

• Once-sided presentation; no opinion from Courtney Love on the issue

• Evidence selectively presented

Additional Thoughts

While perhaps not as important in terms of the subject matter as The Hacker Wars, Soaked in Bleach still has an interesting subject that is probably important to many Nirvana fans or Courtney Love haters. There's been a theory floating around, ever since Cobain's death, that he didn't commit suicide as the media had claimed and that Courtney Love was likely involved in some way. There have always been certain details about Love that at least raised suspicions, but due to the various factors that the movie points out, such as the amount of wealth she inherited from his death, her drug habits at the time, and the alleged ineptitude of the police involved in the case, irrefutable proof that she was involved never seemed to surface.

There was one man who claimed to have that sufficient proof, however. Tom Grant, a private investigator whom she had hired in the days leading up to Cobain's death, has had audio tapes in his possession that contain conversations he had with her in the week before Cobain's death. Ever since Cobain's death, Grant has been one of the naysayers about it being a suicide and has claimed proof based on his personal experiences with the case and the audio tapes, but the media, law enforcement, and other "information" sources brushed him aside.

The thing that surprised me, however, was how the documentary chose to portray Grant. In the first few minutes of the documentary, after the initial reenactment scene, the various achievements of Grant are disclosed to showcase him as a reliable source. They then have an investigatory journalist claim he didn't have any secrets when he read up about him. The lack of skeletons in the closet could be a red flag for many out there, but in terms of negative things you could say about him, Courtney Love likely still has a much lengthier list. Nonetheless, it was rather striking and odd in the way they felt the need to focus on him in the beginning, rather than Cobain or Love, which is what the documentary is actually about. They obviously felt it was important for us to know how awesome a dude Grant is, right away.

As for Love, the person whom this documentary is condemning, we don't really get anything from her side beyond what's already been said publicly by her in the past. I don't recall seeing anything about if the filmmakers reached out to her, but she's never present to defend herself against the allegations. The most we get is an actress who's very good at portraying her in the awkward and unnecessary reenactments that pop up from time to time and Love's words on the audio tapes.

The audio tapes themselves are, of course, the main pieces of evidence against Love. What's presented on the tapes, through audio or through the docudrama scenes, make her activities and motives during this time rather suspicious, but it's still not damning. The problem with all this evidence is that it's rather selectively presented as only one side of the argument. Not all of the documentation is shown in much detail, and it seems like not enough people are looking at the information with the "shadow of a doubt" mentality that is necessary to convict someone of murder. They kept mentioning how Love and Cobain were heroin addicts, but that barely ever seemed to factor into talk about their erratic behavior. I certainly believe that Cobain's death is not as simple a case of suicide as the media had initially claimed, based on the actual forensics and the levels of heroin in his blood at the time of death. I also believe that Love had more than enough motive to want him dead. However, I'm not entirely convinced she was actually responsible, as her suspicious behavior could have just been the result of any other drugs she was on and subsequent withdrawals.

The thing about the movie I found most interesting is probably what was covered the least in the film. I wanted to know more about how the media had skewed the tragedy and had possibly impacted the investigation, along with the allegedly corrupt and arrogant behavior of the police involved. None of the authorities who were involved in the initial investigation, or those who believed the Cobain had killed himself were interviewed for the film either.

TL;DR (Conclusion)

It's a rather one-sided documentary that's certainly effective at pointing out how a person could get away with the murder of someone so prominent and famous as Cobain with the help of careless or corrupt police, and media outlets that are hungry for a story regardless of the truth. It's certainly a watchable documentary, and if you already believe Love was responsible in some way, this will only be cathartic preaching to the choir. If you believe otherwise, I'm not sure it will change your mind, but you'll probably still be entertained by the up-and-coming Courtney Love impersonator.