That Sugar Film

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Greetings again from the darkness. Ever since Morgan Spurlock provided us with a gut check on the evils of McDonalds with his 2004 documentary Super Size Me, movie goers have shown a real appetite for information on food and nutrition. We have since had informative and entertaining documentaries on wheat, corn, fat, organics and gardening. This latest sweet film comes from Australian director Damon Gameau. He takes the Spurlock approach and personally becomes a lab rat to expose the effects of too much sugar. His mission is 60 days of eating "typical" sugar intake through what would ordinarily be considered "healthy" foods. In other words: no ice cream, candy or soda. Mr. Gameau introduces himself as a healthy guy who exercises regularly and eats a diet of mostly fruits and vegetables. His girlfriend is 6 months pregnant as he begins this 60 day experiment into the world of sugar. There is a quick history lesson on how sugar became a food staple, and fellow Australian Hugh Jackman explains the pivotal event that occurred in 1955 – a Dwight Eisenhauer heart attack. This spurred debate between US doctors who blamed it on high fat, while the British doctors attributed it to an excess of sugar. The low-fat revolution began, and was actually responsible for the increased amount of sugar in our processed foods. We learn that a full 80% of the standard products on grocery store shelves contain added sugar. A panel of medical experts provides the necessary tests upfront that set the baseline for blood work, enzyme levels, liver function, weight, etc. The comparison 60 days later is frightening, but it's Gameau's daily journey that provides the real insight and biggest eye-openers. He doesn't spend much time focusing on any particular brands, though Pepsi (Mountain Dew), Coca-Cola and Jamba Juice each takes some serious jabs. Instead we witness his mood swings and lack of motivation for exercise. British actor Stephen Fry explains the Glucose/Fructose make-up of Sucrose and we are given an overview of how our bodies process this – including a briefing on the role of insulin. As the days go on, we witness Gameau's weight gain and he explains his lethargy and most surprisingly, his mental inconsistencies. He has bouts of cloudiness in a mind that was once clear. It's this and the dramatic change in his liver that delivers the real scare. It seems clear that all calories are not created equally (a calorie from an apple is not processed the same as a calorie from a Snickers), and that food companies have put much effort into hiding, or at least disguising, the amount of sugars added to the massive amount of processed food consumed each year by the average person. Perhaps Diabetes and Obesity and tooth decay are not thought to be immediate enough threats to cause a shift away from the convenience of processed food. Mr. Gameau shows just how dramatic and severe the changes can be in only 60 days. So imagine 5 years. 25 years. Just how much warning do we need?

Taking a page out of the Morgan Spurlock Super Size Me documentary book, recognisable Australian actor Damon Gameau has here delivered a witty and informative documentary that might take a few to many turns into situations and scenarios that don't work out fully, but still comes out on top thanks to a unique and thoughtful way of displaying the effects that sugar has had on mankind. Utilising great use of CGI and talking heads, support of some name actors like Hugh Jackman and Stephen Fry and with a relatable and affable charisma, Gameau undoubtedly thought long and hard about how he would make the documentation of his 60 day sugar filled diet into something interesting and fun, all the while being quite shocking in many aspects and he succeeds in turning a dry subject matter into an easily watchable and digestible whole. I like many others could count myself as someone that thinks little about the effects sugar has on my life or my future life as it seems like a harmless and enjoyable addition to our diet. What Gameau does so well is showcases how even so called healthy snacks/drinks like Smoothies or breakfast meals are actually just as bad for you as most so called "bad" food and drinks. It's also shocking to see statements and information backed up by the physical transformation of Gameau over the period of the film and even the biggest doubters of the films message would struggle to deny the obvious change in the body of someone consuming the average amount of sugar per day that you and I could well be doing also. While it's not a ground breaking piece by any means, That Sugar Film is still a very enjoyable and thought provoking piece of documentary filmmaking that would be a valuable addition to children's education on the sugar intake effects and also a must see films for all those that might just love there Mountain Dew a little too much. 3 ½ tooth extractions out of 5

Hollow copy of Super Size Me, weak journalistic value and pasted charm. Great emphasis on special effects and silly humor, but it doesn't really add anything. What are Hugh Jackman and Stephen Fry doing there? It just feels forced, just like the guy's reaction throughout the movie. It's just silly. The effects and childish tone probably works great to maintain the attention of the most sugar fueled part of the audience's but if you where looking for something with real substance and well thought-out and executed documentary, this is definitely not it. Unfortunately it also lacks genuine charm to make up for the lack of documentary craftsmanship. The guy is just not the nice, funny, cool guy he's trying to be (and the end sequence really underlines this narcissistic approach - ugh!). ZZzzzZZZ.

This documentary is very biased like most documentaries. He says low fat yet he has chicken which is fat. Secondly lactose has way more problems that fructose do your own research. Also he blames everything sugar is involved in yet whole fruits have proved to reverse diabetes check out ALL HCLF mainly fruit eaters and find out for yourself. Also check out this documentary, Sugar V Fat The documentary is on You tube to watch IMDb has a trailer for it as well http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3564506/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 Two twin doctors one goes full fat meat diet and the other sugar vegan diet. The end result will astonish all who watch this film. The sugar eater lost actual fat went further from diabetes and became more coherent in everything. The fat eating doctor became almost diabetic, lost weight but gained body fat and lost muscle, and was much less coherent. Lastly check out this You tube channel: Nutritionfacts White sugar and lactose has its problems, but this guy had sodas which contain aspartame (much much worse) caramel colouring(again much worse) etc... Please do your research before believing this highly biased film that is out to plainly attack all good things about a good diet!!!

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source: That Sugar Film

1) TECHNICALLY: It engagedly depicts the problems and consequences of sugar consumption. There are highly funny and educative illustrations and animations inside the film. Contrary beliefs and thoughts stated by scientist sponsored by multinational companies are properly disproved. At the end of the film, there is a video clip summarizing the whole of it. Music and sound usage are appropriate and it's far away from being a just boring educator or documentary. 2) SUMMARY: A man will be father in a few months and he wonders what happens inside his body when he consumes sugar. He didn't used to eat anything containing sugar for 2 years but now he goes on a sugar diet. He eats 40 teaspoon of sugar everyday for 2 months to see what changes after all. Basically, he gets fat and face with fatty liver, which causes diabetes and heart disease. 3) FACTS: Sugar stimulate the same area in brain with cocaine and having sex. Even though you don't eat junk food, you still consume sugar by eating canned food, yoghurt, fruit juice and other beverages with artificial sweetener. Calorie is not responsible for getting fat alone, rather it results from which type of calorie you take. 1 grams oil has 9 calorie and 1 grams sugar has 4 calorie, however you get fatter when you consume sugar rather than oil. Just as in meat industry, multinational companies promote and sponsor researchers to justify their sugared products as healthy. Sugar has been in our life since 50 years and our body didn't evolve to process sugar like a factory. If you are fat, pimpled, diabetic or sick from coronary vessel system, SUGAR is guilty for it.