Forget about "Fahrenheit"

In the documentary world of filmmaking, it's easy to miss out on important features when you've got big films like "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Super Size Me" grabbing for your attention. Sure it's easy to be attracted to Michael Moore's anti-Bush tirade or Morgan Spurlock's insane McDonald's eating binge, but what about documentaries dealing with a bigger subject range? Chances are you probably never heard much buzz about "The Corporation," so consider yourself about to be informed.\n"The Corporation," based on the book "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power" by author Joel Bakan, has been on a roll for quite some time. Sure it didn't pick up an Oscar nod at this year's ceremonies; it still collected 23 awards across numerous film festivals including a major win last year at Sundance, receiving the Best World Cinema -- Documentary Audience Award. To get straight to the heart of the matter, "The Corporation" is an analysis of corporate business on the global scale. The interviews range from company CEOs and VPs to the likes of fellow documentarian Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky. The film dissects various noteworthy companies and seeks to point out the harmful aspects of big business which range from IBM's connection with Nazi Germany during World War II to modern day problematic entities such as Enron and everything in-between. \nWhile it might seem like such a topic would be full of business world lingo and slowly-paced, "The Corporation" ends up being quite the opposite. The film takes a very civilized approach and remains both visually stimulating and entertaining. Sure the corporate interviewees talk the big talk, you still get plenty of humorous anecdotes from the likes of Michael Moore, journalists, whistleblowers and even a business spy. Plus "The Corporation" does an excellent job of conducting a psychological case study on how corporations fit every characteristic of a psychopath. \nMost documentary DVDs tend to be loaded with extra features and "The Corporation" is definitely no exception. On this 2-disc set, the first disc contains the 2 ½ hour film along with an extra 2 hours of content including Q&A sessions with the directors and author, eight deleted scenes, interviews, two commentary tracks and trailers. The second disc has an additional 5 hours of interview material from the 40 contributors which you can watch either according to topic or individual. And if you pop the DVD into your PC you can access a ton of other material via Web sites. \n"The Corporation" is worth your attention if you're interested in how businesses go about conducting affairs and handling problems that we've all seen covered on nightly news broadcasts. The film takes an amusing tone rather than an in-your-face harsh one and that makes a world of difference when it comes to viewing a documentary. So now that you've gotten your fill of political diatribes and fatty hamburgers over the past year, go ahead and give "The Corporation" a shot.