i recently netflixed "night and fog" and "charlotte's web". what a contrast in films. "night and fog" is a short documentary about the german concentration camps of world war II. what's amazing about it is that it's from the 1950s. the war was not that long ago and yet the filmmakers felt it was already fading from memory and the lessons must not be forgotten. that those lessons are applicable for the present and the future. technically, it's different for the time. it's a mixture of current and archival footage, of color and black and white. for us now, this is normal. the images shown are graphic as well. for back then, it was new and shocking it seems. even now it is a bit shocking. the film is from france and as i watched the credits and looked at what else the filmmakers have done, i realized which people worked on this project. i must have known when i added it to my netflix queue but it has been so long that i have forgotten. people such as chris marker and those that worked on "hiroshima mon amor" (anatole dauman, henri colpi, anne sarraute, georges delerue, sacha vierny, alain resnais).

"charlotte's web" is a human version of the classic book. of course it's loaded with cgi and special effects to make the animals come to life. as someone who loved the book and the cartoon version as a child, this human version was such a disappointment. in fact, if i had kids, i wouldn't even show them this version. just have them read the book and watch the cartoon. what was bad about the film? well i honestly don't know what was good. i didn't feel it, you know? it just didn't feel like "charlotte's web". i didn't feel the build-up love for wilbur and charlotte. i never cared for any character. it was completely bland.