Purely Joyful Movie!

Admirable film.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a rip off Super Size Me. Hysterics. But in a sick way, good news. It means that men start to care about their own health. The bad news is that it goes the same way as the general direction for women: depression and eating disorders labeled as "I take care of my body".And if you take a moment to think it's all the S&M Christianity has ever offered: exercise is a way to punish the body. Even the producer says "we have to take him away from any temptation". Like with the anti vaccines nuts, the nutrition nuts do not have much science to back them, but they do have guilt in seemingly unlimited quantities. And the same way, as the diseases we vaccinate for are hard to notice, the same way famine is hard to notice. So food is bad. Pleasure is bad. The alternative is not happiness, the alternative is a dark place which will lead you to some sort of invisible paradise.Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch

Many years ago, I wrote an article about Hippocrates Institute in Florida, so I had to go there. Hippocrates concentrates on a whole food diet, wheat grass juice, with a day of fasting drinking only juice (not just wheat grass as I recall).I hated it. I lost my appetite totally and the wheat grass juice was beyond awful.I came back after a week, ten pounds thinner, and I hadn't been overweight to begin with. I also saw the results it had for the other people there, mostly people who had been given a terminally ill diagnosis for cancer. By using whole, unprocessed, raw foods, Hippocrates has cured people all over the world.I had no idea that "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" extolled the virtues of juicing and of whole food. For some reason I thought it was about eating junk food, like Supersize Me or whatever it was. Instead, it was about a man named Joe Cross who "rebooted" and lost a tremendous amount of weight by doing a 60-day juice fast and then moving on to a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables and continuing with his exercise program. He also was able to get off of all of his medications - he has a chronic immune disorder.Walking around New York City, Joe interviews a lot of people, and some of their answers are not only funny but expressed how many people feel. "I want to die happy," someone said, which reminded me of a big Hollywood producer interviewed about Chasen's Restaurant: "We led shorter lives, but fuller lives," he said. Joe also is able to help people, a woman with migraines who did a short juice fast and fits it into her lifestyle now, with no more migraines.Then we meet Phil, a 429-pound truck driver, who meets Joe and later begs him for help. His transformation was unbelievable, down to something like 227 pounds, off all of his meds, blood work excellent, and on an exercise program. He also opened a community juice bar and is now a nutritional trainer.I should point out that Phil's story is a complicated one and I believe is continued in FS&ND-2, which I haven't seen. I have read about Phil's journey since the end of the first film, though.One can't help but be moved and inspired by this film. A 60-day juice fast would be tough, but the health aspect of eating better is something to think about. Having seen the difference in women's appearances after just 14-days following Dr. Perricone's health plan - it's obvious that a healthy lifestyle, with the occasional treat, is critical.

I would like to start with the one and only positive thing I have to say about this documentary. I went out today and bought a Hamilton Beach Juicer and $100 worth of vegetables and fruit. I researched recipes (you'll see at the end of this) and am researching "juicing" so I know how much, long, etc… I'm excited to start this for a number of reasons. First, I've gained a significant amount of weight ever since my depression and anxiety became overwhelming this semester and was given even more medication to alleviate it (not working). Second, it gives me hope that I'll be able to be medication free, thinner, healthier and most of all – free of anxiety and migraines that the lady juicer in this movie mentioned.That's all the sugar I could muster. I thought this documentary was only impressive due to the amount of weight loss Joe and Phil had on a juicing diet. Otherwise, I thought it was a disjointed, uninformative, annoying and a self-promoting movie by Joe Cross – about Joe Cross and how completely amazing, rich, genius and unstoppable he is because, of course, he is a super-human on a levels. I shiver at the thought of meeting him in public and the reaction people would have when I shake his hand and tell him I lost quite a bit too but I learned absolutely nothing from his video about how juicing works (unless you count the cartoons), how long is normal (60 days clearly isn't unless you're morbidly obese), how he could see clearer skin on that lady when I sure couldn't even with an HDMI connection and a 1080p TV and then after I stop shaking his hand, walk slowly away and with my nicest tone of voice say "You are not a hero, nor a movie star and did a terrible disservice with the money your parents jump started your shiny life with, so I beg you Mr. Cross, please take that Australian Beach, your cancerous tan and your extra arm skin back home. And for the love of God and everything that is holy, don't release that new 2012 documentary anywhere where people have some self respect!"Joe never really showed us how to juice at all if you think about it. I had no idea if he was making one or two or 50 servings at a time. I had no idea what to use to juice besides onion, tomatoes and what appeared to be celery or lettuce. Except for a quick roadside stop at the beginning where he blatantly overpaid those "poor American's" selling their homegrown produce to show what a great guy he is (in the meantime degrading the farmers - save the tip for off camera you jerk) and a grocery trip where – well, heck…that doesn't even count it was so uninformative. I never learned where the rest of the vegetable and fruit fiber went or what you are supposed to do about not getting that fiber in our system. Are we talking mulch for the leftover and vitamins for us? Totally devoid of vital information.Don't get me wrong, juicing is a great idea but watch a documentary that has a LOT more information or do the research on it yourself. I'm still shaking my head days later at the utter lack of knowledge. A before and after picture of Phil with a byline on him would have inspired me into buying a juicer and taken far less of a toll on my nerves.I honestly thought I was well into hour 2 when I finally lost my temper and stopped the video only to see that I was 5 minutes from the end and it was at 1 hour, 32 mins. The LONGEST hour and a half of my life. I'm cutting this review short so I can continue watching Food Matters which I can't stand not paying 1000% attention to. THAT movie will change you and your family's lives.

The only way to convince people who are science savvy is to provide them with empirical data to back up the claims made. In this documentary the assertion that drinking vegetables and fruits cleanses the body. Why wasn't benchmarks to qualify the cleanse was actually working? Feeling better and healthier are subjective and ambiguous. When individuals are obese weight loss can serve as a benchmark but for non-obese people losing weight isn't necessarily a good thing and in most cases it is bad, especially if more than 1 pound per week.Beyond this Mr. Cross described his lifestyle as one of excess. Drinking too much, smoking cigars, not resting well, overworking. These are HUGE factors in one's health and they were barely mentioned in the film.The fundamental problems here are 2 things.1. Excess. Binge drinking alcohol, neglecting sleep & exercise and frequently eating fast food.2. Balance. Drinking liquid anything long term is bad because its not balanced. Metabolism will be slowed down tremendously and when you return to actual food the weight will mostly likely return.The 2 characters in the movie are not at all relatable to most people. Not many people are or meet millionaires who can take months off work to juice fast in another continent.I'm also curious to what his diet was like after the juice fast ended.