Blu-ray and DVDebut: Stephanie Soechtig and Mark Monroe's doc on diet and obesity, FED UP

Among the facts, figures and statis-tics assembled for the documentary FED UP, written by Mark Monroe and Stephanie Soechtig (below) and directed by Ms Soechtig, is the fact that although the western world -- especially America -- is exercising more often and more faithfully than ever before, its rate of obesity keeps rising. As America is also "dieting" more heavily than ever, one might ask, as does this movie, What's going on here?

According to Katie Couric, who appears in the film and also co-executive produced it, the culprit is less our over-eating population than something quite else (Spoiler of sorts ahead, as the documentary doesn't reveal this information until around the halfway point): our food industry and its decision to add oodles of sugar (often in the guise of its many derivatives) into virtually all our processed foods.

Further, because of our very lax FDA and the powerful food industry lobby, Sugar and its Derivatives (let's call this SAID) are either not listed on the packaging of many foods, or the percentage of SAID that the package contains is not, either. That the obesity epidemic began just after the industry began overdosing us on its sweets is also germane to the discussion, as is the ability of the food industry and its most powerful corporations to package and sell "low-fat" products, the SAID percentage of which is often almost equivalent to that of the higher fat products. (Wait until you see the comparisons of Yogurt!)

In the course of Fed Up, we see and hear some of the usual talking heads who devote some of their time and energy to our current food crisis, and some of the more unusual variety, such as the overweight young lady shown below, who has been trying to shed those excess pounds for what seems like her entire life.

The facts and figures assembled here are impressive and fascinating. They are also quite maddening in the same manner as is the information we all have at our fingertips about how corporations are poisoning the environment. But it's all just business, right? And here in American that is what must come first -- ahead of health and humanity and anything else you might, for some odd reason, prize. And don't look to government to help, either, as our politicians are all "bought off" by food industry lobbyists.

Food, however, is something we can more easily control, right? We can buy what we wish and spend our money on other, healthier products. One would think. But it does not work this way due to the power of advertising and the lack of willpower among most of our populace.

My spouse felt that the documentary shortchanged its audience by not placing more responsibility on the very people who were becoming obese. Yes, blame the victim again: good corporate strategy. There is something to be said for this. But not much. Not while government agencies continue to favor business over health and corporations over people.

So we have yet another anger-making documentary that lays out before us how we are being cheated at every turn. There are things that we can do, and the doc piles this on at its conclusion, as well. Fed Up is definitely worth seeing and arguing about. Maybe someday we will even see some change occur -- in the right direction, I mean.

From Radius/TWC and running 92 minutes, the film hits the streets this Tuesday, September 9, on Blu-ray and DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment. (Yes, that's orange juice, above -- another culprit containing "added sugar." Eat an actual orange instead.)

Joe Cross' FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD is a surprisingly inspirational "juicer" tract

Who's Joe Cross? Among other things, he's the co-director (with Kurt Engfehr), producer, star and subject of the new documentary FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD. Does this sound like a vanity production? Maybe. But how vain is it to show a gut like Mr. Cross bore, just pre-vious to beginning his 60-day, Sydney-to-New York and then cross-country, vegetable-juice "fast"?  That was some gut, and we see all of it at the beginning of this tell-all confession that comes off like a non-stop commercial for a diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts and beans. Maybe it is that commercial. If so, TrustMovies would still like to buy in.

They say that there are none more committed than the recently converted. And at times, this film comes awfully close to a kind of religious revival -- with vegetable juice playing the role usually given to Jesus, Moses, Buddha or Muhammad. Yet so convincingly does this story -- two stories, really -- play itself out, that I think you won't mind at all being "preached to" by a fellow as funny, charming and, yes, "real" as Mr. Cross. (A propos the end of the above paragraph: the filmmaker/star does have his own company devoted to a vegetable-and-fruit juice lifestyle that anyone of the heavy-set persuasion might want to try. Called Reboot Your Life, it's accessible via the click of your mouse.)

Back to the movie itself: Cross begins in media res, buying some fresh vegetables somewhere down south. He then tells us why he (and by extension, we) are here, shows us that fat, fat belly and figure he possessed a short time ago, and also explains the particular autoimmune disease with which he has been diagnosed. (He says it's akin to having chronic hives.) Cross has come by now to the point at which so many addicts arrive: a kind of do or die. So he decides, with the help of his medical professionals, to go on this vegetable/juice fast diet, as he spends a month in one of his favorite cities, New York, and then spends the second juicy month traveling the country.

Along the way he meets a number of very obese people, whom he engages in conversations that come off so suprisingly genuine and honest that they are a pleasure to see and hear. An Australian by birth, Cross possesses that rather typical Aussie self-deprecating humor that goes a long way in endearing him to the folk he meets -- and to us viewers.

One day, at a truck stop, the filmmaker runs into an even heavier fellow (Phil Staples, above, 429 pounds) who has, in the film's biggest surprise, the same autoimmune disease as does Cross. This is a first for the filmmaker, and he bonds with the guy noticeably before taking his leave.

In the middle of the film -- just at the point at which Cross has finished his own fast and is feeling fine and fit -- something happens and Cross get a phone call.  I will say no more because what occurs from this point onwards is so unusual, moving and finally inspiring that it turns the film into something quite different than you might have expected. I think this movie might just get a large number of us Americans off our plump asses and into a healthier lifestyle. We shall see....  (I particularly hope that the subject of last year's "fat" film Lbs. gets to see Mr. Cross' film.)

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead (you've got to have one very large set of balls, have a fine sense of irony or be very dumb -- to give your movie a title like that) opens this Friday, April 1, at New York's Quad Cinema.  It will also be playing all across the country, with Mr. Cross making personal appearances at many of the scheduled venues. You can find all the playdates, cities and theaters here.

Addendum: For those interested in Mr. Cross and his crusade, here's a recent interview with the fellow via House of Fraser that also features some maybe tasty recipes....

All photographs by Daniel Marracino, 

except that of Mr. Cross, lifting a glass at top,

which is by Michele Aboud.