The Invisible Extinction, is a captivating, eye-opening and insightful documentary about the importance of good microbes for our body's immune system and how antibiotics kill both the bad and the good, essential microbes. Co-directors Sarah Schenck and Steve Lawrence do a wonderful job of presenting the information about microbes for audiences in a way that's clear and easy-to-follow, even for audiences who don't know what microbes are. They follow two microbiologists, Gloria Dominguez-Bello and her husband, Martin Blaser, who travel around the world to help improve the microbiome and to restore the good microbes. Without those good microbes, the immune system is weakened and there's an increased chance for diabetes, obesity, asthma and food allergies. T Probiotics available on the shelf aren't enough because they should be targeted differently for each individual. In one of the most illuminating parts of the film, Gloria Dominguez-Bello travels to the jungles of the Amazon to collect the poop of local villagers. That poop is then used through fecal transplant to inject good bacteria into other people with less healthy microbiomes. One woman who undergoes fecal transplants sees significant improvement to her health. This isn't the kind of documentary like SickoThe Invisible Extinction finds just the right balance between entertaining the audience and provoking them emotionally as well as intellectually. It opens at IFC Center in New York, Laemmle Monica in LA, and on VOD.

      The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%!, based on the self-help book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Mason, is a provocative and well-edited, but heavy-handed and incomplete documentary about finding true happiness while embracing one's own flaws and limitations. Mark Mason's perspectives on life, happiness and relationships are raw, honest and refreshing. He makes other self-help gurus who promote nothing but positivity seem like cheesy charlatans who don't know what they're talking about. That kind of approach is a bit condescending to opposing viewpoints. That would've been fine if director Nathan Price were to have included some other perspectives on happiness to counterbalance Mark's views and spark some debate. There are more than 2 sides to every coin: there are the sides, the ridges and so forth.

      Perhaps what Mark Mason is trying to say, but doesn't actually say it, is that we should all be seeing and treating ourselves as human beings without any sugar-coating. What about people who lack introspection, though? How could they know their true selves and find true happiness? Another important topic that's the elephant in the room in this doc is the issue of narcissism---people who have a huge ego and try to feel better about themselves by attaining more wealth and materialistic goods than others tend to be narcissistic. Self worth has far more intrinsic value than ego does, but neither this doc nor Mark Mason manage to go beyond scratching the surface of self-worth. That said, Mark Mason and director Nathan Price do a fine job of balancing the film's wisdom with comic relief so that it's not one of those dry, academic docs with lots of talking heads that make you go "When is the exam??" at the end. It's accessible, lively and entertaining while providing some food for thought, but it ultimately bites off more than it could chew. At a running time of 1 hour and 37 minutes, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%! opens at Village East by Angelika via Universal Pictures and Abramorama.

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M3GAN
Directed by Gerard Johnstone