terrible... so disappointed.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Disturbing, creepy, sad documentary on how the body and personal effects of those who die without kin are handled by the coroner's office. The lack of music and narration, combined with carefully coldly composed cinematography all add to the disturbing sense of clinical isolation. The images of real dead bodies being discovered, cataloged, and eventually reduced to ash can't help but make one ponder mortality, and how alone we all are in the end. Yet sometimes the air of reserve feels forced, and there's a bit of repetitiveness, despite the short (69 min) running time. Still, a fascinating, macabre, thought provoking film

I really identified with this documentary because my father died in L.A. County and was cremated. Maybe I have a morbid sense of humor (or maybe I'm just a realist), but when I saw the scene with the industrial blender I was a little surprised at first, then I thought, "Oh my God, Daddy was in a blender!?" and laughed (knowing my father, he also would have thought that amusing - and you'll have to see the movie to know what I'm talking about).There's an old saying...there are two things you always do alone: you are born alone, and you die alone. This movie focuses on people who really do die alone, and the Los Angeles County Coroner's office staff who have the unfortunate job of disposing of the decedents and their respective property. There seems to be a lot of discussion on this board about the apartment that had to be cleaned out after one man died....the process, at least to me, was interesting to watch. The staff member was very thorough, had a checklist, and made sure that there was a witness (the landlord) to the entire procedure.The directors did a fine job on this documentary; it was an educational eye-opener. It showed the reality of death, and the professionalism and respect showed by the coroner's staff. I do hope the makers of this documentary will do another one soon.

Sometimes unsettling but rarely boring documentary answers an interesting, unexplored question: What happens to people who die with no next of kin? Producers followed the men and women in Los Angeles who are handed the task of trying to track down somebody -- anybody -- with relation to the deceased. Hundreds of unrelatable corpses slowly move through a process of storage, cremation and ultimately mass burial.Obviously such a topic deserves to be handled with sensitivity, and "A Certain Kind of Death" does just that. While the film never holds back -- we see our share of slowly-decaying bodies and red-hot roasting skulls -- but none if it ever comes off as exploitive. This is a mature film made by serious people. If you think the premise appeals to you, so will the film.

This is one of the best docs I have seen! Quiet and contemplative, it moves at a 'real time' pace. Highly informative, you feel as if you are in the movie via staring at the clock, or people's desks as they go about the long, drawn out process closing the deceased's affairs. That is what you want in a doc, right? This will also inspire you to get it together regarding paperwork, funeral arrangements etc. so the city/county/state doesn't have to. (It was creepy watching strangers go through a person's effects.) This movie will inspire me at least to do my dishes everyday, because you never know, it may be my last!