Documentary: Freakonomics

To be entirely honest, I had almost forgot that I watched this documentary which tends to suggest that it wasn't all it's cracked up to be. In my/its defence, I do often have stints of 3 movie marathons some nights and it's hard to keep up with what I watch. I had a sleepover with a couple of friends the other night and somehow I brought up a fact that I had seen in this film and promised I would share it here so they could obtain.

Freakonomics (2010)

We all love a good documentary because they're almost always on some interest topic and I find, generally, evoke more emotion from me than any sort of fictitious film that exists. What captured my attention with this particular documentary that it comes from an economic stand point which for me is something I have never considered or paid much attention to. It was a book (written by Steven Levitt & Stephen Gubner) prior to being a movie and I suppose if you want some thorough exploration of the concepts rather than a fabricated image-based information session by all means, read the book. The other positive about the production is that, for all us with the fluctuating attention spans, it's broken up into 'chapters' or 'short films' which were made by other famed doco-makers. This in turn means that, unlike your average documentary that makes a really good point but then gets all self-indulgent and tangental (am I the only one that thinks that?), this is just 4 short sharp films that make their point and call it a day. You wanna know what the actual content is before you waste 700mb downloading it? 1. they examine whether what you name your child will affect its life 2. sumos are corrupt (this one made me a little depressed) 3. some university sets a scheme to bribe kids into doing well at school 4. a theory that legalised abortion was a major factor in the dropping crime levels some two decades later. 

I found a sizeable article that debunks the abortion theory. Might be worth a read once you've watched. 

Have fun with this little documentary! http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1BLLNJYM